We took another VBT trip, this time in the USA. Here's the description from the vbt.com website:
CHARLESTON TO SAVANNAH: A SOUTHERN REELSavor the relaxed charm and unhurried pace of the uniquely American Southern Coast as you cruise past towering oak trees draped with Spanish moss and immerse yourself in the extraordinary Gullah culture. We’ll learn about Victorian influences as we tour the elegant cities of Savannah and Beaufort before dining on fresh local cuisine that draws from rich stocks of seafood.
Instead of flying, we drove our Roadtrek across country to meet up with the bike tour. We took our own bikes since ours are very similar to the VBT bikes, and we wanted to do some extra riding on the way.
Sep 13, mileage is 86804. Started our first cross country trip only 3 hours after we intended to. Yet another repair to the blower because Bruneel wired it in backwards. So the air conditioning literally sucked, and there was no way we were going to travel across the country in warm to hot weather without the air conditioner working. We stopped for flu shots in Boise at Walgreens, then spent 2 hours at Larry Miller Dodge getting the air conditioner wiring sorted out, and we finally left Boise at 3 o'clock. We didn't get as far as we expected, we spent the night at Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville, Utah, which is really only about 4 hours from our house. It is a lovely little RV park with a hot springs pool. Paid 22.50 with AAA discount. This is a place we should return to -- since we got in late, we didn't get a chance to use the pool. We cooked black bean burgers, put up the lovely Christmas lights on the awning, had a gummy bear and then christened the RV. It was a nice ending to a day that didn't start so well.
Sep 14, Sunday morning, we're headed for Cheyenne. Listened to the Packer game on internet radio. They won over the Jets, 31-24.
Finally made it to Cheyenne after a very long drive. We stayed at A.B. Camping and RV park, which was nice and a little pricey. Cold! They have a BBQ take-out place on site, and they delivered.
 |
| At a rest stop in Utah in Echo Canyon. Zoom in to see the moon. |
Sep 15, mileage 87581, leaving Cheyenne after a nice leisurely morning. A little stop at the grocery store and the liquor store, and we're off for Kearney, NE.
Stopped in South Platte Nebraska to visit the summer home of Buffalo Bill. Quaint and historic.
Found a campsite at Johnson Lake recreational area. Parked on the edge of the lake, got out on our bikes and then road about 11 miles around the lake. So beautiful, then the sunset over the water.
The mosquitoes and flies chased us inside and Dale cooked us steak fajitas on the grill inside. A little sangria and a beer. A perfect night. Our only neighbors were the park hosts.
 |
| Johnson Lake |
Sep 16, mileage 87880, headed for St. Joe, Missouri after some very sobering news. We've decided to continue our trip as planned although we will come back more quickly. Found our way easily to Shauna Hileys home in St Joe. Spend the night watching Sex in the City episodes in which Samantha announces and deals with her breast cancer. Nice nights sleep in a small bed. Gas is 319 a gallon here.
Sep 17, mileage 88209, cleaned the windshield and gassed up, ready to begin the drive to St Louis. Started the day with a tour of Southwestern Missouri State University campus with Shauna. We ended up in Hannibal, Missouri, and spent the night there. We took a river boat cruise, which was "interesting" but actually pretty lame.
 |
| The campground also had a winery. Yeah, we look retired! |
 |
| Had a couple of beers at the Mark Twain brewery waiting for our river boat cruise. |
 |
| Hannibal, Missouri |
Sep 18, mileage 88405, leaving Hannibal, Missouri, and bound for Bowling Green, Kentucky, to visit with Chris and Nancy. Arrived at Chris and Nancy's at about 5:00pm . They were waiting on the front steps for us and greeted us with a drink. We went out to dinner at Raffertys, a nightcap, and a good night's sleep in a small bed . A shower was a bonus.
Sep 19, mileage 88811, left Chris's at 8:45. We had some trouble with the battery, the inverter was beeping. We think the battery may need to be replaced. We're off to South Carolina and meeting up with Gary Cooper. We met in Spartanburg and Gary drove is to Greenville, South Carolina for an outdoor concert and a comedy show it was terrible.
 |
| It's says Bud Light on the cup, but it's really a nice IPA from a local brewery. |
After a wild ride back to our van in Spartanburg (Gary is a horrible driver), we parked the van at the Holiday Inn and had a noisy night with 3 am sprinklers. Still trouble with the back battery not holding a charge.
Sep 20, mileage 89187, our last day of driving. Should be a three hour drive to Charleston where we reserved a campsite at a city park . Should be a fun day of exploration and battery fixing. Found a new battery at an auto parts store, and it's been fine ever since. The campground was beautiful and immense with Christmas decorations everywhere. Dinner at Charleston Crab Shack where we shared a big pot of seafood.
We took a short bicycle ride in the rain which set the tone for the whole week of bicycling. As it turned out, the bike ride we did was the same as the warm up ride.
Now things get sketchy, since we were officially on the tour. Following are a bunch of pictures of the bike trip.
Sep 21:
 |
Sep 21, Seriously, great-great-...-granddad won this place in a poker game. It was a nice hotel and where we met up with the VBT tour guides and the rest of the group.
|
 |
| Great-great granddad was George. |
Sep 22:
Sep 23:
 |
| Panorama shot of a huge live oak tree. Click for a better look. |
 |
| Same tree, with Lisa for an idea of how large this thing is. |
 |
| A shot of the whole group. I don't remember any names... |
 |
| The only tea plantation in the USA. It's south and west of Charleston in the Low Country. |
 |
| Our Roadtrek and the VBT tour van. |
 |
| After the tea plantation tour, we visited the Firefly distillery. |
 |
| In Beaufort, SC. That is one nice looking woman... |
 |
| well, she's usually very nice looking. I'm wearing my tennis glasses since I lost my good glasses while swimming in the ocean. |
Sep 24:
 |
| Saw this on the bike ride out of Beaufort |
Sep 25:
 |
| In Savannah |
Sep 26:
 |
| On the ride to Wormsloe. Sometimes it's hard to get off of the bikes. |
 |
| The long driveway into Wormsloe. Gorgeous! |
 |
| Lunch at the Driftaway Cafe in south Savannah. |
 |
| It's one of those OCD things, who did this tile work? At the Moon River Brewing Company in Savannah. |
Sep 27, mileage 89590 we've begun the trip back to Idaho, leaving Savannah at 10 00 a.m. We chose not to stay another day because of the rain and overcast skies. It's Dale's birthday today and we're hoping to have a wonderful celebration somewhere. Navigating to Birmingham. Overnight at sleepy holler campground. $30 Quiet, a little primitive but a good night's sleep. We were not brave enough to look at the bathrooms. Cooked rib eye steaks on the grill and had a small piece of birthday cake.
Sep 28, mileage 90024, set the navigate to Graceland. Arrived at about noon and saw as much as we wanted to see from the front gate. It was a little too commercial for our taste and time. Found a Packer bar to watch the Packers play the Bears, then down Beale Street in Memphis to have a local beer at the Rum Boogie cafe. Spent the night at a perfectly beautiful RV park on the Mississippi River called the Tom Sawyer campground. Our front door was the Mississippi River and we watched the barge traffic up and down the river. absolutely clean shower and free laundry services. We could have stayed here for a few nights but we are off to Tulsa tomorrow.
 |
| View from Tom Sawyer campground. |
 |
| We have a little RV. |
Sep 29, mileage 90273 met some wonderful neighbors and for breakfast watched the barge traffic again. Navigating to Tulsa and listening to a wonderful audio book called the Red Necklace. Lunch in Little Rock at the Cajun Wharf. It was very good had some gumbo it was knock out good and a Kentucky hot brown and a cajun shrimp po boy. Navigated to the big Dam Bridge where are we mounted our bicycles rode up and over the bridge and then through a little park and back over the bridge.
Navigated on to Tulsa to Sandy Smith's home. There we were greeted by Christy, Sandy, Can, Sheree, her son Jimmy and Jane, whose husband was Herman Smith. We had barbecue and baked beans and drank some wine and beer and talked about the wonderful Murlin family. Stayed up late talking and laughing hysterically.
Sep 30. mileage 90700, reluctantly left Sandy Smith home in Tulsa. Navigated north through Kansas. We saw a real live coyote on the road. Stopped in Wichita at Jurassic Art. While looking for a campground we came across Coronado Heights Park in Langsborg, Kansas where Santiago Vasquez de Coronado was looking for the seven Golden cities. He found a little bluff over the small Kansas town and built a Scottish Castle with crenalated roof top.
 |
| A panorama of Coronado's castle. |
We are about 18 miles west of Landsberg south of Salina Kansas. We are camped at a beautiful state park on Kanopolis Lake we put out our lights set up the table and chairs. A couple of drinks and watched a magnificent lightning and thunder show unfold from left to right in front of us over the lake. I had a gumdrop Dale had a lemon drop. They were both delicious.
 |
| Kanopolis Lake during the thunderstorm. |
Oct 1, mileage 91005, leaving Kanopolis State Park $22 in Marquette Kansas. Perfectly beautiful state campground magnificent views of the lake . We drove across the big dam Road. Stopped at the Cathedral of the Plains in Victoria Kansas. We have our navigation set for Denver
Spent the night and in a run down campground, the Shady Grove in Seibert Colorado. It rained all night. $27. The only good thing about this place was it was close to the freeway.
Oct 2, mileage 91314, drove to Joe's warehouse in Denver where he is the manager of a medical marijuana grow operation, and had a personal guided tour through the pot growing facility.
 |
| "The Dale" |
We stopped at Denver mattress to purchase a new memory foam mattress, which is a huge improvement in our sleeping arrangement in the RV. Walmart for all the other stuff for the new bed. Pizza dinner with Joe Julie and Julie.
Oct 3, mileage 91455 got an early start for Moab. Joe and Julie both left for work so we headed west on Interstate 70. At lunchtime we stopped at Glenwood hot springs and took a long relaxing soak in the mineral hot springs pool. It was wonderful. We went to a little lunch place and had hot dogs and tacos, then we pressed hard for Moab. Before arriving there we took it off for Canyonlands National Park looking for a campground. We had no luck over enjoy the sites along the way. As it was turning dark we arrived in Moab and found a campsite at slick rock RV park. It was nice, sufficient but nothing special. $35.00 with AAA discount.
 |
| Canyonlands |
Oct 4, mileage 91892 leaving Slickrock campground in Moab. We arrived at Arches National Park at about 10:30 in the morning. The light was beautiful and iron red although rock formation with stunning. I would love to come back to this park next year in the spring and spend a couple of nights Arches National Park. We made a couple of small and easy hike to see some of the site but we would love to take on the more challenging trails to the delicate arch.
Lunch at an unremarkable Mexican restaurant in Green River and then a long drive to the Crystal hot springs north of Salt Lake City. Because there was no space available at Crystal hot springs, we continued on to Snowville Utah and stayed at that Lottie Dell campground 30 dollars. It was nice. A high desert campground with an attached driving range.
Oct 5, mileage 92284, after a stunning breakfast at Molly"s in Snowville, we set our navigation for City of Rocks. We arrived home at about 6 00
