BLOG 1--THE NEWFIE 3 CROSS THE COUNTRY!!

Welcome to our new 2015 blog!  It's a little different this time since we are traveling as usual in our Sprinter-based Airstream motorhome with 2 other Airstream RVing friends that live in the Washington Land Yacht Harbor in Olympia, WA as we do.  We're all heading for the top of Nova Scotia in the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada to join an Airstream (Wally Byam Caravan Club) Caravan to Newfoundland!  

Paul and Charli have a 34' Airstream trailer pulled with a Dodge pickup and carry Scout, a young super friendly and energetic American Staffordshire terrier and Woody the cat as passengers!   Nick and Emily have a 25' Airstream Safari trailer pulled with a spanking new very red Ford F-150 pickup and carry a young miniature Schnauzer named Grommit!  And we're just ourselves—no dog but getting a lot of doggie fixes from those 2 dogs!   And now we are The Newfie 3—3 RVs heading for Newfoundland!

We all left Olympia in convoy on April 5, 2015.  We entered Idaho at 4PM and drove to the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Elks Lodge RV Park for our1^st night with no problems. A long day of 342 miles. BUT...the morning of April 6, we all woke up to 3” of snow on the ground and more coming down!  We decided to stay put that day and not take any chances on icy spots on I-90 east.

And so we loaded up later in the morning for a trip to Walmart to buy boots for wet and snowy weather that we expect in Newfoundland as well.  Then we all had a pleasant lunch at Olive Garden and back to the campground where the snow was melting fast! 

On 4/7 the forecast was good and we headed out for the 2 high passes up to 5600' before Montana.   At Lookout Pass, we changed to Mountain Time and lost an hour. Lots of snow alongside the roads and up in the surrounding mountains but the roads were bare and dry with sunny skies!   

 Took a photograph of an coal train heading west over a mile long! 

At 4:55 PM we crossed the Continental Divide at 6393 feet—that's a big hill!  Our first campground try was long closed and deserted so onward to Cardwell where we found a great campground behind the Cardwell General Store with excellent areas for the dogs to run.  Did 319 miles today to make up some time.

On 4/8—now Day 4—bunnies running around the campground—Scout is very interested!  

We stopped at LittleBighorn Battlefield National Monument, watched the Visitor Center movie and walked up the hill to the Last Stand where Custer and his men were wiped out on June 25, 1876.  A large monument marks the place where 220 Army soldiers, scouts and civilians were buried.  Custer was reburied a year later at West Point.  Just below there are regulation tombstones where Custer and many of his soldiers fell. 

There is also a National Cemetery where many other soldier casualties from the Western Indian wars are buried.

A chilly wind was blowing and we took off again.  Entered the state of Wyoming at 3:50PM and headed for the Fairgrounds in Sheridan, WY.  Unfortunately, it was raining and very muddy and our electric box wasn't working so we moved to Peter D's Campground in town which was first rate with especially nice showers!

Battle of the Little Big Horn

Off on the 9^th 272 miles to Fort Laramie National Historic Site, one of the most important forts on the Western frontier opened in 1849 with adobe buildings!  Arrived at 2:30 and watched the Visitor Center movie and walked the circumference of the parade ground visiting all the open existing buildings.  When the Fort closed in 1890, it was sold at auction and ranchers and homesteaders scavenged the wood from many buildings so when the Park Service took over in 1938, they had to rebuild the most important buildings and refurnish them to represent the Army era.  They've done a great job and continue to do living history programs and even battle reenactments. 

Post Surgeon's Quarters

Parlor, Bedroom, Dining room and mountain lion rug in Surgeon's Quarters

The highlights for us were the houses on Officer's Row especially the Surgeon's Quarters, “Old Bedlam” the Bachelor Officer's Quarters and the Captain's Quarters, all beautifully and authentically furnished and finally, the Cavalry Barracks sleeping 60 men per room, with many rows of bunks, weapons and gear!  
  

 

Office, Dining room and bedroom at "Old Bedlam"

 

Captain's Quarters, Bedrooms and Parlor

Cavalry Barracks, sleeping quarters and Mess Hall

 

Gatling gun (predecessor of the machine gun) at Guard House

Leaving the Fort, we stopped at the King Iron Bridge with its 3 spans built to give all weather access to the Fort over the Laramie River.  

 


Life at frontier Forts was very hard and many didn't survive! Our camp was a mile or so away from the Fort in the town of the same name. 

 

The oil and coal trains went by next to the campground in Fort Laramie!

On 4/10 we entered the state of Nebraska and headed for two major Western landmarks, Scotts Bluff National Monument and Chimney Rock National Historical Site. 

Scotts Bluff is a huge bluff extending a mile or more at various heights with a pass through it later used by wagon trains.  After the Scotts Bluff Visitor Center, we drove up to the top of the Bluff, passing through 3 tunnels.  An overlook on the trail 500' above the town and surrounding prairie gave an excellent view.   

On another trail, there is a covered wagon sans cover!  Looks good with Scotts Bluff behind!  

 

And with a modern "covered wagon"!!

On the way out of town, we wanted to find the grave of Rebecca Winters we'd read about.  She was a 50 year old Mormon wife who died of cholera here, as many did on the wagon trains.  A friend of the family carved her name on a metal wagon hoop as a tombstone after she was buried and amazingly, the railroad was built around her grave and recently, she was exhumed and moved a small distance by the railroad and a proper memorial was built with the blessing of her family.  The hoop is still there marking the site too! 

The highway parallels the railroad and we were fascinated by the huge railroad machines laying tracks, preparing roadbed and testing the rails! 

ChimneyRock stands by itself and is amazing with overall height of 480' at the top of its tall spire which is visible at least 30 or 40 miles away.  The Visitor Center here is excellent with lots of history of the Western movement of the wagon trains.  

Note the Rattlesnake warning sign!

 

William Henry Jackson, a famous Western artist and later a photographer, has a wonderful painting of Chimney Rock in the distance as a wagon train approaches!    

One unique feature is the “Load Your Wagon” game for kids (of all ages!) where they can load bags of food and every other type of supply listed nearby as pioneer necessities and see the weight and whether their wagon is overloaded and they must leave some items behind—great idea!

We drove down a dirt road to get a better view of Chimney Rock and found another grave of a Mormon wife and mother of 8 children in the tiny old Chimney Rock Cemetery. 

We spent the night in Sidney, Nebraska at Cabela's RV Park, which was very nice with full hookups and good showers!  We visited the large Cabela's store also and enjoyed seeing their very tall wildlife display!  

At the entrance to Cabela's, there is a large monument to the Pony Express riders with a large bronze galloping Pony Express rider as the centerpiece!

That's it for this post.  Stay tuned for more The Newfie 3 adventures in Nebraska and Iowa coming soon!

 

Paul and Scout