2022 USA - Here we go again!!

Left CDA and spent the last night in Oroville on Osoyoos Lake...almost home....just one more sleep in the USA....just one more.... It does not seem possible that almost 9 weeks ago we spent our "first night" on the road at the Omak Casino....so excited for all we were going to enjoy together...and then..... just like that....we are driving by the same spot....but in reverse...now reminiscing all the days... Feeling sooooo very blessed and thankful  to have had such great people in our work lives to have allowed this to happen...yet again.. We were so lucky to have avoided any drastic weather ...always a few days ahead or behind....bonus... Travelled about 15,500 km travelled....no breakdowns only a small fortune in fuel.... Thid was our third time driving to Florida....every single time was so awesome, still leave our hearts on those amazing endless beaches....each trip a monumental undertaking but so worth it...maybe our next Florida visit will be by ...

We feel very blessed to have been able to travel as much as we have in our lives together ...and of all the roads we have travelled and all the towns and cities and beaches we have visited......be both feel that if we could realistically call any place in the USA home....it would be right here in Coeur d'Alene...now that's not to say we wouldn't visit Florida every winter....but this would be the place.  Went for a drive to Post Falls, which is just a few minutes away... the water is flowing pretty fast here. The waterfront area is just so well done here, connected by miles and miles of bike paths and parks along the lake and the Spokane River.  And then my favourite....if only I could find a small version of this for the back yard. Love these! We had great weather today, about 26 degrees, so very nice for touring around and finishing off the day relaxing ...

Woke up super early at the Walmart...there were even more RV's than when we went to sleep.  It's one of the busiest ones we have been to, there were also many vehicles, and on closer observation....they were people's homes....some looked trashy of course but many looked like pretty decent clean well kept vehicles but people were living in them...very sad. Didn't have a very good night's sleep, maybe it was the curse of a woman's ears....hearing everything going on every which way....every vehicle...every generator...every door open and close....and then trying to analyze what I  just heard and how it may affect us...ug... Drove the 1-90 from Bozeman Montana into Coeur d'Alene Washington. We had forgotten how beautiful the drive was... Everything looked so vibrant and green!!! Love this area of odd shaped boulders... you just turn a bend in the highway and boom!...there they are...like they just dropped from the sky in this one area...  ...

Left South Dakota this morning, through a part of Wyoming and into Montana. The scenery in this area is really gorgeous.  But before long the weather changed...storms up ahead and apparently through the night in Bozeman. Free night at the Walmart with about another 30  or so RV/camper vans......hoping for a quiet night...cold here tonight....used the furnace for the first time in a very long time on this trip...brrrr

I think after 8 weeks on the road we were both feeling a chill day.  There were things going on downtown again but it seemed too busy to take Lu there so we just chilled the day away, not even a single picture...just one of those days....

Woke up this morning and darn near froze...17 degrees at 7:00...brrr, not used to those temperatures. A nice leisurely 3 hour drive to Deadwood. We drove through the Badlands National Park today, we have been here two times previously but it's always so nice to see. We were pretty early so the traffic was not heavy yet. There was a quite a bit of road construction through the park and this poor guy must have lost a bet or something because he was out in the middle of nowhere holding the sign for traffic coming down the dirt road....we never saw a single car.... Got into Deadwood pretty early, relaxed a bit, gave Lu her special pill and went into town to see Sawyer Brown playing live for Wild Bill Days. They block off all traffic downtown and then the stage right there! Unfortunately four songs in they had to pack it ...

In a matter of 5 minutes we left Nebraska, drove into Iowa and then entered South Dakota. Saw our first sign advertising Wall Drug South Dakota, only 375 miles away!! In the span of 1 mile we have already seen 3 signs...we counted 57 signs on the drive. They advertise the heck out of this place.  This part of the drive through South Dakota is billboard after billboard advertising the next tourist stop ....been there done that.... Stopped at a huge rest area in Chamberlain, South Dakota. She is called "Dignity" of earth and sky. She stands 50 feet tall. Pretty impressive! She overlooks the Missouri River. Still pretty windy driving here today, luckily the temperatures are much more tolerable today. Pretty flat land until you get close to the Badlands... Staying in a campsite outside of the Badlands National Park, we have a nice view of the south end of the park from the campsite. ...