October 1, 2021

To start the day, I took Cooper (my dog) for a long walk around the area we stayed overnight. It’s just such a cool area with some nice scenery, wide-open space, cool rock formations, and mountains surrounding the area. I had to spend some time taking it in. Here’s a better picture of where we

Read More
October 1, 2021 – From Monte Vista, CO to Rio Grande National Forest, CO

September 30, 2021

Upon waking up, I noticed that the roads were definitely wet, but not in terrible condition. I was worried about some of the low-lying areas leaving though. I really didn’t feel like getting stranded in the middle of nowhere. But, there’s only one way to find out if the roads are passable. If they weren’t

Read More
September 30, 2021 – Comanche National Grasslands to Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO

September 29, 2021

Now we’re starting to get into the good part of the trip. It’s starting to become less about putting in miles and more about enjoying the places I’m traveling through. My original goal was to stop at a free camping area next to Lake Merideth. Upon arrival, everything seemed ok at first. It looked like

Read More
September 29, 2021 – Colby, KS To Comanche National Grassland, CO

September 28, 2021

Now we’re talkin’! I know most people find the plain states to be, well, pretty plain. But I absolutely love it. Wide open space, no traffic, little congestion, friendly people… to me states like Nebraska and Kansas are wonderful. So needless to say, this was a good day. I was still trying to get some

Read More
September 28, 2021 – Omaha, NE to Colby, KS

September 27, 2021

Now that the van was working as it should, I wanted to get some miles under the tires. Normally I like to limit my driving to a few hours per day, but this was going to be a long stretch. My goal is to get to Colorado in just a few days, then slow down

Read More
September 27, 2021 – Holland, MI to Omaha, NE

September 26, 2021

Before winter hit, I wanted to take another trip out west. I planned it all out, got an oil change, tire rotation, cleaned and loaded the van up, and was all set to hit the open road. Unfortunately, the night before I left, I discovered my battery system was malfunctioning. Here’s what it was doing.

Read More
September 26, 2021 – Mount Pleasant, WI to Holland, MI

May 22, 2021

I decided to just stay in the area today to take in the views and drive the Badlands Loop which is a route that goes right through the canyon. I would then circle back around and camp out in the same spot. The Badlands is yet another place that feels like it’s from another planet!

Read More
May 22, 2021 – Driving The Badlands Loop

May 21, 2021

Today I was going from my mountain paradise west of Custer State Park to the Badlands, which wasn’t too far away. It seemed like almost half my trip was just getting off the mountain! The roads leaving the mountain were really sloppy from all the rain overnight, and I woke up to some pretty dense

Read More
May 21, 2021 – Custer State Park to Badlands, SD

May 20, 2021

Today was awesome. I’ve been so excited to get to the Badlands that I was just sort of going through Custer State Park since it was so close. Little did I know it would be one of my favorite places! I absolutely loved Custer State Park and will absolutely be back. As for Mount Rushmore…

Read More
May 20, 2021 – Mount Rushmore & Custer State Park

May 19, 2021

This is going to be a short entry, but not because I didn’t enjoy the day. Quite the opposite, actually! Today was mostly just going from point A to point B. I wanted to get close to Mount Rushmore and there was a nice free camping area up on a mountain in Deadwood, SD. Before

Read More
May 19, 2021 – Casper, WY to Deadwood, SD