Our Casita rally starts tomorrow and lasts a week, at which time we head for Oklahoma.  Ft. Davis is quite the place for frustrations with package delivery from UPS and USPS!  Orders from Amazon are sent to Ft Davis and transferred to USPS, which doesn't deliver to the park unbeknownst to us until we get the notices that the packages have been sent back to their origin.  We go to the USPS and they say ok to general deliveries.   So we reorder everything and the post office rejects them again because they have no USPS labels on them.  Well, Amazon doesn't send out through USPS.  We go to Alpine, a few miles away, to visit the UPS office and they contact their driver and tell him to bring the packages back to the office, where we would pick up the next day...that has worked for one package so far, 2 more to go.  When we stopped by the post office in Ft. Davis on the way back to express our displeasure, we find that there is a special way to indicate on the UPS label to redirect the package to the park's PO Box.  Well, now we have resolved the mystery.  On the way out the post office clerk asks for our name and after giving it, she says "oh, wait a minute".  She then brings out a package for us that was identified as returned to its origin.  The previous clerk had intercepted and stored it after our first visit there.  We're thankful for that but if we had not stopped to express our displeasure, I reckon that package would had been there for quite some time.   Hopefully UPS will have our remaining 2 packages when we visit them again on Monday.  We have to go all the way to Alpine since no-one answers the phone as the one, very kind and helpful, person is by himself and is pretty busy.  WE WILL NOT ORDER ANYTHING HERE AGAIN.....here ends my rant!

On a good note, we are surrounded by beautiful views and friendly people.  There are several trails, carved out by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 1930's and early 40's.  I really didn't know the history surrounding the CCC until we watched a documentary on them at the campground's interpretive center.  Without getting too political, I think that documentary should be required watching at the early high school level AND by all who serve as elected officials!  The documentary we watched is from the PBS American Experience Series and is entitled The Civilian Conservation Corps.

So now back to the fun stuff...
We have hiked a lot of miles this week and met many people.  We can't wait for the rally to start and reacquaint with old friends and play a little music!  Yay!!
​Here are some of the pictures we took this week.

Wendy spotted this roadrunner, pretty cool!

Last night we had another visitor, this one was welcome.  We were cooking out late and this mule deer came strolling out and put its nose on Wendy's hand.  I suspect its used to being fed.  We couldn't give her any food...against park rules, but we did give her a bowl of water.  This was way cool!

We made it to the Javelina Roundup, a Casita rally at Davis Mountain SP, Fort Davis, TX.  We do have a very weak connection to the internet, but no phone service.  The Davis Mountains are quite beautiful.  It's hard to believe we're in Texas.  We'll get some pictures posted soon.

Aoudad Sheep are all over the cliffs here.  I thought this was large tribe of them but this evening there were twice as many trying to bed down for the night, probably 30+

The aoudad, also called Barbary sheep, is a species of caprid (goat-antelope) native to North Africa. The aoudad is a large, muscular animal with a thick coat of reddish-brown to tan wool and occasional black markings. Both sexes have horns, which are heavily ridged in males and more slender in females. Males stand about 1.2 m (4 ft) at the shoulder, while females are slightly smaller.
They are more closely related to goats.

Our next door neighbor for a night, Brian, from Canada, is touring across the country in a Jaguar and tent camping.  Of course he's in much better shape than I and a bit younger.  We enjoyed our brief visit and he has invited us to stay a night or two if ever we are in Canada.  We hope that happens!  As we were talking at the campsite a rather large and colorful tarantula joined us.  Wish I had my camera!

So, in one day we've come across Mule deer, Aoudad, tarantulas ( yes, plural, as we came across another one today), and an unwelcomed visitor last night....

We turned in around 11pm and at 11:30 we were asphyxiated by a skunk.  I mean, we had all the windows and vents open to allow the pleasant and cooling breezes pass through our trailer and suddenly things weren't so pleasant!!!  It was right outside our window and I thought we were sprayed, for sure.  The next morning revealed we were not sprayed....thank goodness!  This afternoon Wendy took this picture.  Tonight we will probably have the trailer closed up when we turn in.

This is our 3rd time here, maybe our last.  It's not what it was the other 2 times we were here.  We had to pick a reservable spot, from 3 available, and noticed 2 were occupied by someone who had no reservation.  That tells me that if we had to reserve a spot, it may or may not have an occupant.  It's ok, we'll find another place :)

We will leave tomorrow for Fort Davis State Park in Texas.

We understand there may not be cell/internet service so we may be out of touch for about 2 weeks.  So, may God bless and keep you and we will re-connect soon :)

​Bandelier National Monument is a 33,677-acre United States National Monument near Los Alamos in Sandoval and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico. The monument preserves the homes and territory of the Ancestral Puebloans of a later era in the Southwest. Most of the pueblo structures date to two eras, dating between 1150 and 1600 AD

We were here 2 nights and the time flew by.  We hiked about 7 miles around the park and the scenery was beautiful.

Wendy is carefully planning the next days hike.

She has determined I need a few more thousand miles of hiking to look like this :(

When the goin' gets tough, the tough get goin'

I was trying to get tough but this is all I could come up with.

Here's one a little more friendlier.

Mature Ponderosa Pines produce vanillin, used in the artificial vanilla.  They smell very nice.  I wonder how a forest of them would smell... probably like a big vanilla ice cream cone :)

This was a Harvest Host visit with a family we'd like to see again next time through this part of Colorado.  They are just getting started putting together their place.  They have their hands full with many projects.  We enjoyed meeting them and touring their farm. 

I used to have a few dark hairs in my beard.  Travis wins this one.  Their Irish Wolf Hound is about as friendly as he can be :)

This was the first time Wendy and I have ever tried goat's milk.  It was actually quite good.

Now that's a pair of guard dogs!

Penelope the pig has found a new friend!!!  Wendy was thrilled with this encounter :) 

Wendy had this problem with one of the turkeys nibbling her toes!

It was cloudy the night we were here but Travis says stargazing at his place is amazing and plans to start his observatory project soon.

We then traveled to Oasis State Park, NM, again and stopped along the way for some pictures of the gorgeous Colorado scenery 

The truck and trailer handled the 9400 ft. mountain pass wonderfully.  Gas mileage...not so good.

Nice winery along the Rio Grande :)

Another one night stop at a place we've been before.  It was such a quick stop we forgot to take pictures, save a few of the bunnies.

A very quick overnight stop here, allowed me to ...AGAIN... clean off the bugs!  We enjoyed a great meal at a Mexican restaurant a few blocks away.  We decided to walk so I called our hosts to ask if there were any questionable neighborhoods to avoid as we've never been here before.  The host laughed and informed me that no-one locks their doors at night and most leave their keys in the ignition.  Good enough for us! 

This was such a find for us.  We went to visit the monument as we did many years ago with Wendy's parents and decided to take a look at the campground on the way out.  We liked it and moved in for a week :)  There are quite a few trails to conquer and the scenery demanded we take hundreds of pictures; a few I'll post here.  It was a very calming and soul satisfying experience.  We plan to return next year, God permitting, and spend the maximum 2 weeks..hopefully on the same spot.  The turkeys know us by name :)

These little guys come through the campsite most every day :)

As you can see, the view is pretty awesome!

I photo-bombed this one...lol

We find the prairie dogs are too irresistible to ignore.

This one was a little too aggressive, I gave him a wide berth!

Many climbers make the climb most every day.  A couple stayed next to us.  They climbed the monument 3 times in 2 days.  Of course, they were much younger than I.

What's pretty cool is that they show "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" every night at 6pm.  BYOB :)

One very cool thing happened to us here...we met up with Alberta and Randy, a couple we met at the Oliver rally in Alabama earlier this year.  We didn't get to spend as much time with them as we would have liked.

But here goes!  We've been in and out, mostly out, of phone service for quite a while.  I'll be as brief as possible with all the stopovers followed by a few pictures.

We left River Falls, WI, and traveled to Moose Lake CG by Deer River , MN, for 1 night.  Then 3 nights at Leech Lake (didn't see any leeches :)) Recreation Area COE in Federal Dam, MN.  Next stop...Spirit Lake Casino near Devils Lake, ND for 3 nights to enjoy the cooler weather and wash vehicles.  Then on to Lake Metigoshe State Park, near Bottineau, ND, for a week.  23 and 24 Aug we were at Downstream CG COE at Lake Sakakawea, ND.  Next up was Theodore Roosevelt NP, ND for 12 days of boondocking.  Followed by 1 night at Enchanted Hwy CG, a city park in Regent, ND.  We then met Dwaine and Nancy on their return from Alaska (WOW) in Big Pine CG by Custer, SD.  Unfortunately, illness cut our visit short and they could only stay 1 night.  So, 2 nights for us there and on to Empire Lodge RV park in Pine Haven, WY.  And now we are currently at Belle Fouche River CG, WY, at Devils Tower National Monument, where we are boondocking, again, for 7 nights.  That's the road map for the past 5 weeks.

Next....here are some pictures starting with Moose Lake.  I did hear a Moose from across the Lake :)  Other than that it was pretty quiet here.

Leech Lake Rec Area COE Park at Federal Dam, MN.

This mighty, 200 year old, oak sheltered us on a quick rest during a hike. 

​ Wendy had to get a new phone here and I think it's going to take a while to train it :)  We had to go to Bemidji to get it one day and have them transfer data the next day.  That second day we traveled, truck only, another 40 miles or so to walk across the headwaters of the Mississippi. 

The sign behind us essentially says we are at 1475 ft elevation at the point the river starts its 2552 mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico.

Wendy spotted this black squirrel wandering around camp :)

Carolyn and Jim, this is the walleye meal I was telling you about.  One blackened and one fried, didn't hold a candle to the meal we shared together, a lifetime ago it seems, in Wisconsin :)

Spirit Lake Casino in St Michael, ND.  We stayed here an extra night for the cool temps :)

Another washing, for the record!

On the way to the Turtle Mountains we stopped to visit the geographical center of North America in Rugby, ND.  We visited here 25 years ago with Wendy's parents.

After stopping at the Bottineau city park we decided to just push on to Metagoshe SP, up in the Turtle Mountains.  The city park had this guy as an attraction :)  Tommy Turtle they call it.

Here at Metagoshe SP in ND we had a very relaxing time.

Believe it or not.....an ice cream truck comes through the campground on weekends, playing the music that was music to your ears as a kid.  I felt like I was back in the '50's waiting for it to come down our street!!! 

My trusty trail guide leads me along the way :)

Wen's trying to figure out which trail to take around the lake.

I did not know that a beaver would take on a tree this size!

While at Metagoshe we visited the International Peace Garden on the Canadian border.

Then, of course, we had the pleasure of going through customs.  We didn't realize we crossed into Canada as we didn't go through customs to get into the gardens.

​One bad thing about driving around the Dakotas.....

These guys just cover the road around the grain fields that haven't be harvested.  When you approach them they then jump up and get clobbered by whatever drives over them.  So only the lower half of the grill gets plastered and if you don't wash them that day they seem to turn into cement!  I saw a few vehicles that don't ever get washed and the front of them look as though they were just painted with grasshopper guts!

Close to Metagoshe we drove through Bottineau and visited an American Legion post and saw this big ball of metal next to it, so we had to investigate.  It is a grain silo that got caught up in a tornado.  You can see what it's supposed to look like in the poster.

Next up, 2 days at Downstream CG, COE, Lake Sakakewea, ND.

We used this stopover to visit Minot, ND, where I was stationed in the mid-70's.

​A new attraction has been added downtown Minot.

Scandinavian Heritage Park.​
The only outdoor museum in the world that features all five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Located in the heart of the Magic City, the Park includes a 240-year-old log house from Norway, a replica stabbur, 27-foot-tall Swedish Dala horse, the Gol Stave Church Museum, Finnish sauna, Danish windmill, statues, map plaza, picnic shelter, walking path, and gift shop. Adjacent to the Heritage House Museum.

They made the ceilings kinda low it seems :)

We visited the recently added air museum at Minot's airport.

This one's for you, Griff :)

I don't know what to say about this next picture.  The museum had a small section devoted to Minot Air Force Base and it included various relics and pictures.  As I gazed across the collection I saw this picture of a KC-135, which I worked on back in the day.  It was featuring an avionics troop working on the aircraft and I noticed the date was at a time I was stationed there.  So I closely inspected the photo and noticed my boss, Frank, standing off by the #3 engine and remarked "Hey! There's Frank!"  And then I noticed another person next to him, half cut out from the picture.  I had to squint to make him out and guess what, IT WAS ME!!!
Who would have figured I would see myself in a picture on the wall of a museum?  I left that place feeling quite a bit older than when I came in :(
​Wendy and the staff got a kick out of that!

On the way back through town I saw a familiar sign for a bowling alley I used to bowl at and wondered if it was still in existence.  It was.

The lady that owns it now is the daughter of the woman who owned it when we were there back in the 70's.  Her mom, now in her 90's, lives upstairs above the bowling alley.

Juniper CG in Theodore Roosevelt NP, ND was our next stop.  We boondocked there for 12 days and visited many buffalos.....I know, I know, they are really bison, but I grew up calling them buffalo and I'm stickin' with that!  I'll at least give in to calling a group of them a herd, which is the correct term to use for the bison :)

You'll call me what I tell you to call me!

At this point I decided to hold off cooking dinner.

You've gotta watch your step around here!

This odd vehicle is actually a firetruck converted to an RV.  The family is from The Netherlands and was granted a 1 1/2 year visa to travel here.  They've been to Canada, USA, and Mexico and want to go to South America.  They have a website at ​family_everywhere on Instagram.

As usual Wen is looking ahead, planning our next hike :)

This hike would be a bit of a problem!

What started out as a relativity benign hike...flat and dusty...the first 3 1/2 miles, to find the prairie dog town, turned nasty after making the decision to go the complete 11 1/2 mile trail.  After all, to turn back would mean another 3 1/2 miles back anyway and to continue on would merely add an additional 4 miles.  We were only 1/2 way through a water bottle and we had a full one left.  What could go wrong?  Well....at about the 4 mile point the terrain took a turn for the worse.

Now that I think about it, I believe this little guy was trying to tell us to turn back.  At the time I thought he was just trying to get us off his property :)  We continued onward......

During the first dramatic uphill slope, we stopped about 1/4 of the way up to calm our huffing and puffing.  After a sip of water we even discussed turning back, but rationalized turning back at that point would only do away with 2 miles of the 11 1/2  and we surely didn't want to do that.  So up we got and continued climbing.  This time we made it up almost to the peak of the first hill before collapsing again to rest and enjoy another sip of water.  This rest took a little longer.  Again we rose and continued upward and finally reached the summit.  It was not a particularly log ascent, just steep.  Less than 1/4 mile.  I was afraid to ask but I asked anyway..."how far have we been?"  "Oh, about 4 1/2 miles".  "Well now if we turn back we still have to go 9 miles total, so what's 2 1/2 more miles?  And after 1 more mile we will be halfway".  We trudged on and around the corner stood another hill in front of us.  We made it to the beginning of that ascent, rested up again and treated ourselves to another sip of water.  We're up pretty high at this point and feeling better.  

We knew we had to get down to road level at the bottom, we just didn't know we had to climb up and down 3 more times!  Each one taking more of a toll on us than the previous hill.  And we were on our last water bottle with 4 miles to go and 85 degree temps.

I didn't take much comfort in remembering that we brought the bear spray after seeing this!

At this point we were within 1 mile of the road and I prematurely hoisted my hand in celebration.  Turned out we had another down, up, and down trek to the road....at which point there were a mere 3 miles to go!

We crossed the road and the trail paralleled it for most of the way so if one of us collapsed the other could crawl over to the road and ask for assistance.  We were out of water at the 2 mile to go point.  I exaggerate when I say crawl, but really, we were concerned we would need help.  At the 1/2 mile to go point we just had to get ourselves onto the road and try to make it back to our truck.  One last, steep to us at this point, hill and we came across a sight we won't soon forget.

It took us the rest of the day to rehydrate and we had NO problem getting to sleep :)

This was a beautiful and relaxing stay for us!

25 years have passed since we visited here with Wendy's parents, and we feel their presence with us on our travels...

The Enchanted Highway, a 32 mile stretch of highway, features some of the world’s largest scrap metal sculptures. Seven different sculptures line the county highway, each one unique.
The sculpture “Geese in Flight”, is currently listed in the Guinness World Book of Records as the Largest Scrap Metal Sculpture in the entire world! The extremely large, metal sculptures depicting geese, deer, pheasants, grasshoppers, Teddy Roosevelt, and even a complete Tin Family. Local artist, Gary Greff, has welded, sandblasted, and painted the enormous figures.

The above picture on the right gives a good perspective on size.  That's not a stump below the deer hopping over the fence...that's ME :)

This was a push button menagerie of sorts.  A little lame but still a little cool :)

Big Pine CG in Custer, SD

We met Nancy and Dwaine here for a couple of nights but an illness cut our visit short and we didn't get to take many pictures.  They were kind enough to give us tickets to see the Jewel Cave and we enjoyed the tour very much.  They made it safely back home :)

Wen wanted to somehow fit this guy into our trailer but I had to put the kibosh on the idea!

Next up...Empire Lodge in Pine Haven, Wy.

This campground is run by a brother and sister who were very kind and helpful.

I'll wait a few days to post another next most excellent adventure at Devils Tower :)
​(my fingers are tired)

A quick test to see if I can send a video link