Spending The Month in Florida
/ Kathryn HyslopSpending The Month in Florida
So we escaped the North for an entire month, well, Tim did. I only got to stay a couple weeks before I had to go back to work. We rented a cottage (park model trailer) at a camping resort in Zephyrhills. The resort had many amenities that we highly enjoyed, especially the pool and hot tub. The two weeks I was there it was warm and beautiful most days so we were able to take advantage of the pool. Tim enjoyed playing pool a few evenings a week as well as playing Euchre. We attempted shuffleboard and definitely need to practice that a bit to get better at it. We met some great people and enjoyed our stay. The rental unit wasn’t the greatest but next year we will have our own home with us. I can’t wait till this is our lifestyle!
Thanks for reading, next up will be some blog posts as we downsize.
That is, if Tim lets me get rid of anything.
I left off the last post as we arrived in Trempealeau, Wisconsin located just across the Minnesota border on the Mississippi River. I didn’t expect to find much to do in the area and thought we would just relax for 2 days and enjoy small river town life. Well, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that there were a couple of parks nearby, Perrot State Park and Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge, as well as a winery near Trempeleau. Plenty for us to fill a full day of activities.
As we left the Dakotas, we headed east into Minnesota. When we visit a new state, I do research online to select a few stops that we will enjoy. One of our goals is to see National Parks and Monuments as well as historical sites. I knew that I wanted to stop in Walnut Grove to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum so the goal was to find something along a route that would take us near there.
We enjoyed our time in South Dakota and didn’t really want to leave this magical place. So we decided to head northwest to North Dakota and visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This way we were staying in the Dakotas and Badlands. It was a beautiful day for a drive although it was probably the windiest day that we experienced on the trip. I was happy that the van was not a high top van during this drive. The wind was really pushing me but I was able to maintain it and enjoy the drive.
After 2 days of touring near Rapid City, SD, Tim needed a break. He decided to stay at the campground for a day with Trent and relax. Well, he did catch up on our laundry so it wasn’t total relaxation for him. While he did that, I decided to drive Needles Highway through Custer State Park. I knew that Tim would not like this drive with the tight hairpin turns, rock tunnels and lots of steep drop offs. I told him afterwards that the drive through Badlands National Park was kiddie land compared to this drive. Needles Highway is not for the faint of heart!
After our stops in Deadwood and Sturgis, we headed to Hart Ranch Camping Resort in Rapid City, SD for a 4 day stay. I picked this spot because it was part of our RPI membership and it appeared to be centrally located to the places we wanted to visit in South Dakota. It turned out to be the perfect place to stay in this amazing area and the price through RPI was fantastic - only $30 a night. There is so much to see near Rapid City and it was a perfect location for our bucket list stop: Mount Rushmore.
We had a great time visiting Deadwood and Sturgis over the Memorial Day weekend. Deadwood was very busy when we arrived early Saturday afternoon; filled with a mix of families, gamblers and many who just wanted to party. Definitely a great place to people watch.
As we prepared to leave Scotts Bluff, we had a decision to make, i.e. where to go??? I think that I had mentioned that the only reservation that I made in advance was for 4 nights at a campground in Rapid City, SD so that we could visit Mount Rushmore, which was our main destination for this trip. I didn’t want to go there over a holiday so we planned to get there on the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Well, it was only Friday, the start of the holiday weekend and we had no plans.
As we left the bison ranch in Cheyenne, we headed across the plains towards Nebraska. I expected a flat grassy expanse of the prairie and a boring drive. I have to say that we were pleasantly surprised by landscape along the way.
Initially, as we headed north out of Colorado towards Wyoming, the snow capped Rocky Mountains provided beautiful scenery until all of a sudden we were surrounded by the High Plains. It is hard to describe the beauty in the pastel greens and yellows of the rolling hills and large flat grazing lands of the plains. I know others who have said driving across the plains can get boring but I thought there was tremendous beauty all around us.

Springfield, IL has been on my bucket list since we started traveling and we finally made it there on our trip back home to PA. After an overnight stop in Davenport, IA, we headed to Springfield, IL and arrived late morning. Plenty of time to tour “all things” Lincoln, and believe me, there is quite a bit to see.