On Our Own

June 6--We left Columbia MS early heading towards St Louis on Saturday ( Happy B-Day Teressa). We thought it would take two full days, but we stopped within 3 hr of St Louis the first night. We were within a few miles of the 'throwd rolls' resturant but were so excited that we found a campground and managed to park that we had a glass of wine and went to sleep.
Arrived in O'Fallon (my daughter rebecca's home) in time for lunch. we parked, jeep in tow, in front of her house. There was more room than I thought there would be so I was more relaxed. The next day we took the coach to frieghtliner to have routien maintenance done. While the coach was being serviced we had a great visit with family.
Runway, the new dog, cough was getting worse so we needed to take him to the vet to get it diagnosed. Poor thing. It was Kennel Cough. Nothing to do but let it run its course.
The next day we took both dogs (different vet) to get a health certificate to cross the boarder.
the whole time hoping that Runway would not have a coughing spell. He didn't and we are good to go.
June10 Wednesday. We picked up the coach and headed west. the first night we spent in Big Lake state Park. Very nice, but we needed to unhook to park. The roads were narrow and the turns were sharp. Another adventure in parking for John.
June 11 Thursday. The weather was cloudy. I took my first attempt at driving during the day so John could take a rest. It most likely woke him up . We picked a passport America campground for the night. Close to the interstate but not completely dried out from the rain.(Very Muddy)
We tried to pick an easy out site. We did, but when we leveled, our left rear tire was 6"off the ground. We also hoped there was no more rain. so we would not have a problem exiting from the bottom of the campground. The showers were nice but the gentle rain on the roof was not comforting. All our worrying was for nought. We had no problems leaving in the morning.
June12 Friday. Out early, heading for the Badlands. Took time to stop in Wall and have breakfast at the Wall Drug Store. The store was interesting. We bought a few souvoniers. Had breakfast(not the best) and took pictures. We headed out towards Rapid City and the rain was comming. In and out of rain the rest of the way. I drove for about 45min. The first campground that we planned to stay at we couldn't get to because the exit was gone because of construction. I went to plan B but that campground did not appear to be in existence when we found the location. So I found a Good Sam In Rapid City. called. John turned around and we headed back through the city to the Lazy J. Very nice. We needed to unhook the jeep to Park. the campground overlooked Rapid City. Very pretty. Couldn't get internet at our site. thus the late entries.