Sacramento to Atlanta 2021

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.“

Susan Sontag

This is Magic, the handsome American Foxhound, writing another travel blog for my humans. We have been living full-time in our Class A motorhome, named Tana, since 2019 and continue to see the U.S. We left hot Sacramento headed for Sparks Marina in Nevada as our first stop. Well I do not recall a Marina, and the dog park was full of gravel. We moved on the next day to Elko, Nevada and enjoyed some grass and trees. Momma Dog even practiced yoga outside before the day heated up.

So we hired an RV technician, and stayed an extra night to get this fixed. And it seemed tight again although the glass was still missing.

The humans chose to park in the parking lot of the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot, Idaho. This is a Harvest Host location, and guests are invited to buy admission to the museum and my humans also enjoyed baked potatoes and potato huckleberry ice cream.We were there with two other RV’s-but no canine friends for me.

We left Idaho in rain and headed to Livingston, Montana. Our route took us through the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park and Momma Dog was very nervous about the curvy roads, many with pot holes and rugged shoulders. We stopped at a pull-off for lunch and I romped through the grass. It is very long drive through YNP and near the end, Tana’s tire went into a big pothole and our driver side got scratched by a guard rail. This was a sad and scary moment for all of us. We made it to our KOA in Livingston/Paradise Valley in Montana with plans to return to YNP in a smaller vehicle-which turned out to be another U-Haul pickup.

The day in Yellowstone was very rainy for the humans. However that did not seem to stop the crowds.

Back in Livingston at our KOA, we waited for our new piece of mirror glass to arrive and it never did. Well actually it did arrive a few days after we left. We enjoyed this KOA, and attended an ice cream social and shopped in the gift store.

Our next destination was Miles City, Montana. I don’t really remember much about this place but on the way there the humans had to use lots of duct tape to fix the mirror again. There was lots of rain and the humans walked to the Montana Bar for dinner.

Our next stop was Bismarck, North Dakota. The humans and I had stayed at this park in 2019. Happily, we received our glass for the mirror at this location. We hired another RV technician to work on mounting the mirror for us. He put even longer screws in and we all prayed the mirror would stay attached. Big Dog and Momma Dog successfully affixed the mirror glass and they even changed out a broken headlight bulb. I wanted to give them a high five with my paw but they didn’t pay any attention to me. It always makes their tails wag when they know how to fix something that breaks in the RV.

My humans found an Uber and explored the state capital of North Dakota in Bismarck. The Uber driver was originally from Kansas and had gone to their alma mater, Wichita State University.

After touring the beautiful Art Deco capital the humans checked out an amazing museum on the grounds. Momma Dog took these pictures to teach me about not being greedy.

We left North Dakota and traveled to Ashby, Minnesota. We stayed at a small campground called Prairie Cove on Pelican Lake. And it rained again.

Then we headed for Wisconsin and our first stop was Chippewa Falls. The humans enjoyed a visit to the Leinenkugel Brewery. They took a tour and sampled beer and had a nice taxi ride home.

Our next stop was Milton, Wisconsin at a beautiful, award-winning KOA. I really liked it because of the dog park.

The human spent a day touring the capital of Wisconsin in Madison.

While we were traveling through Illinois, Big Dog noticed the mirror tilting and this quickly happened.

So we found some tape and the soft hammer and put it back together.

We had a Harvest Host night in Edwards, Illinois at Kickapoo Creek Winery. We were one of two RVs there and enjoyed a winetasting and beautiful walk through their property. Well I actually did not have any wine, but the humans did and they bought a few bottles to use in the future. There was a lake and fields full of grapevines and some fun places to sniff and do my business.

Then we were headed to St. Peters, Missouri. The plan was to meet up with Joanna, Zach, Jennie, Steve and Annie. My humans were invited to the lovely wedding of Hannah and Khye-friends of Joanna from St. Louis. Joanna was a beautiful bridesmaid and Jennie was the amazing wedding officiant. My humans and Steve were Annie keepers during the ceremony and reception.

We loved being at Lakeside Park in St. Peters, Missouri. It was a new city park with an RV park within it. My humans took me to a nice dog park and I loved being lakeside. They even rode a double recumbent bike around the lake.

Indiana called us next and we tried a Harvest Host called Steckler Grassfed Farm. We saw chickens, turkeys, sheep and cows.

The humans enjoyed meeting the friendly farmer and enjoyed his cheese and purchased some beef. The farmers dog befriended me and this little fellow would not leave me alone.

And the next day we were off to Kentucky for our first “Boondockers Welcome” experience. To boondock means you park and stay somewhere that does not have utility hookups. Boondockers Welcome consists of places across the country for free RV stays and we stayed in a Baptist church parking lot. We forgot to take a photo, but enjoyed walking all around the church campus and seeing the youth group playing outside. We received a warm welcome from Dan, one of the pastors, who said he ministered to boondockers.

The next day we took a short drive to Tennessee and the humans visited the Museum of Appalachia.

We stayed at the North Knoxville KOA and Momma Dog had enough points for a free stay! Woof woof! And a grassy dog park for me. We liked this KOA and the weather was beautiful. There was a diesel gas station right outside of the entrance and the humans were amazed the price was $2.99 per gallon! In California in August, they paid $4.11 per gallon.

Our last stop before returning to Georgia was Spartanburg, South Carolina. The road construction was extreme but we made it safe and sound. We had a free night again complete with a gas grill, round table with umbrella and chairs-and even a swing where the humans could sit next to each other. There were two dog parks and abundant grass for canines. We enjoyed some relaxation and then unfortunately they gave me a bath on our last day there. I heard them say something about the smell of a hound dog…

Now we were finally bound for Georgia.

Our one night stay before taking Tana in for repair work was in Fort Yargo State Park.

So our trip has ended for now. Our travels to the west coast and back were memorable and we are glad to be back with our family again. As always, here is a big thank you bark for reading my travel blog. I will continue to write it because it sure helps Big Dog and Momma Dog remember where they have been.

So we will be in Georgia for a month to be with family, celebrate Annie’s baptism and enjoy some non-travel time. The humans have a camping trip planned in Alabama with the Georgia Azaleas in late October and then we will be at a new work camping gig in Florida for five months.

Magic