Home Sweet Home

September 28, 2013

Hello to our friends and family.  This will be the final post in the Paris Trike Trip 2013 blog. Some of you are already aware, but for those of you who aren't, we arrived home today, safe & sound, at about 2:45 pm. :) It feels great to be home! 

Brief statistics for the trip include a duration of six weeks and three days, 7,250 miles, six states, and three National Parks.  

We cannot describe how great this trip has been for us. The experiences we've had, the beauty we've seen and just the two of us being out there together on a great big adventure.  We couldn't have asked for anything more.

We'd like to thank each and every one of you for being part of our travels. Your "likes", comments and encouraging words along the way, have been so fun and important to us.  We always felt like we were still in touch even though we were so far away. 

As always, we wish you happy trails.....

Rick & Nancy

Tea, South Dakota to Decorah, Iowa

Friday, September 27, 2013

Can we just be home now?  We're really tired of this constant southerly wind cutting across our path as we head east. Cornfields  are now golden instead of the green they were on our way out.  Lots of hay has been harvested and is in neat round bales.  Lots of work going on in the fields.
We're trying to stay ahead of the rain that is about a day or so behind us. We put on about another 275 today.  They are long days but we both want to get the miles behind us. We're on happy, tired, and always windy trails.  :)

Martin, SD to Tea, SD

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Nothing too new to report today.  The wind stayed with us as we made our way across 273 miles of South Dakota.  Even the locals think it's windy!  We stopped at the Red Barn RV Park for the night in a town called Tea. There was a noisy thunderstorm during the night but the wind pretty much dried everything by the time morning arrived.  We are still on target to be home sometime late Saturday.
Thanks for staying with us.  Happy trails.

Gillette to Martin, South Dakota

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Other than the day we got soaked and hailed on, today was my least favorite weather day on the trip.  We fought 25-30 mph head and cross winds all day across the flat, dry plains in eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota.   It warmed up nicely so it wasn't cold, but we were pretty tired of the constant fight.  We were grateful for three wheels but I still felt bad for Rick.  Driving 300 miles in that is not easy.  We stopped in a small town called Martin. Pretty basic. No campgrounds and one inn, so that's where we stayed.  Got to our room around 6pm and never left.  Hope it's a little calmer tomorrow.  Windy trails.

Cody to Gillette

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

I bet some of you are thinking....isn't she done yet??  Just so you know, I'm going to blog until we set foot on Paris soil in Colgate, WI!  Should be by the end of this week.  We've got some family keeping pretty close tabs on us so I'm writing til we're home. 
It was a beautiful ride today from Cody to Gillette.  We drove through the Bighorn Scenic Byway and it sure was a pleasant surprise.  We thought we were pretty much done with mountains, but sure enough, we had some more.  Loved it.  We put on a total of 265 miles in about 6 hours.  Found a campground in Gillette called the Crazy Woman Campground.  I thought......how appropriate.  :)
Happy trails.

West Yellowstone to Cody

We left West Yellowstone this morning with a 36° temperature. Brrrrr.  In all seriousness, I had on two pair of long underwear, jeans, two pair of socks, two sweatshirts, one windbreaker, a hat under my helmet, a leather neck scarf, gloves and my coat.  I was absolutely comfortable the whole trip to Cody.  Wind was our biggest challenge today. Going around Yellowstone Lake was beautiful but really gusty.We made one last stop to the Upper Falls and Artist's Point before saying farewell to the park.  :(
It was a beautiful drive to Cody with different mountains. It is a neat cowboy town but the rodeos are all over for the season. We found a nice campsite.....yes, back to the camping.... and had a peaceful night.
Happy trails.

Yellowstone National Park

Friday, Sat., & Sun. Sept., 20, 21, & 22, 2013

We didn't know if Yellowstone could be more beautiful than the country we've already seen on this trip. We saved it for last hoping for the best. We didn't need to worry. 

Yellowstone is truly one of the most remarkable places on earth.  I had no idea it was a volcano.  I knew it had Old Faithful and other geysers but not that it had more than anywhere else in the world. The history, geography, and wildlife kept us fascinated the entire time we were here.  Only about 20% of the park is visible by road.  The other 80% is wilderness.  We traveled all the roads we could, got some beautiful pictures, and no doubt, memories that will last us a lifetime.  We went to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone on Sunday to see the two animals we did not see in the wild.  It was very educational and fun to see these two top predators in the park up close.
Tomorrow we will travel the park west to east one last time and start our journey home.  We have had such an experience.  Happy trails.