This is our last spot before leaving on Monday to go home.  We were here during COVID in December 2020 but things we did this time were not open then.  The campground is about 2 miles from town and last time we needed to drive into town and park the beast.  Not an easy task.  So much different now that Uber is running and it is a $6.91 ride.  

We arrived on Thursday in the pouring rain – day 9 of rain.  Today is sunny and then we have 3 more days to the trip so technically there could be a winner who guessed 12 days.  There is a 2% chance of rain tomorrow so we will see.

It has been fun tracking the rain and recording it.  I am not sure how we have done in the past for rain, but I am going to keep track on future trips.   We have been to 10 National Parks on this trip.  Our favorite was Theodore Roosevelt because of the animals.   We saw buffalo, wild horses and prairie dogs up close and personal.  And the park was beautiful.   It is hard to pick a second favorite since each park is so different and I loved all of them, even Yosemite with all the crowds, but that is one I would not go back to again.   We have been so lucky to be able to visit all of them.  This is really a dream come true for me.

We also were able to see the Columbia River Gorge and sleep in a couple of National Forests tucked away in the trees.   The State Parks of Texas were very pretty and relaxing.  We were in cities too, LA Bozeman, Fargo, San Antonio and Hot Springs.  It seems this trip gave us something of everything. Driving has been long, 6,400 miles so far with 700 or so to go till we are home.  Some days were grueling, some a pleasant drive through back country roads.  We passed through three time zones and even had an extra hour added to our lives during the trip with the return to Standard Time. 

I have talked to many people.  Once Jerry said to me, Are you going to bother those people with the NY license plate?  I told him you could never be a bother to a fellow New Yorker.   I even met two people with Staten Island connections. 

We saw so many stars, soaked in several hot springs and ate a lot of steak.  We save all year to go on these annual trips so we can sample as much food as we like in different towns.  I said to Jerry next year we should only eat BBQ across our trip and he groaned and then said, No, you can eat too much BBQ.   I disagree.

We have experienced highs of the low 100’s in AZ and lows in the 30’s in TX two weeks ago at night.  Jerry walked through the desert in AZ in sandals till I pointed out to him they were really good snake shoes, he changed them. 

But still we left some things undone, you can’t do everything there is to do and maintain your balance.  I would have stopped at some historical markers, hiked a few more trails, stayed out and watched the stars a bit longer, there is grace in knowing your limits, accepting them and being grateful for what you have seen.  And I am.

Here are some pictures from Hot Springs and the historic bath house. 

Some of the treatments, like the hot spring bath electrocution I am glad I did not experience.   There was another device where you stood in a shower that sprayed you with hot water (130*) and then they shot you with a hose of hot spring water at high velocity.   Another “treatment” was to lie on an embalming table and have hot spring water shot in you like an enema.  All this seemed more like torture to me than treatments.

We ate at Grateful Head Pizza.  The pizza was very good.  We will go back tomorrow for one last walk around town and then leave Monday morning to drive to St. Louis and then home on Tuesday.  Hope you enjoyed coming along with us.