agesilaus

Interesting

The device is designed with that in mind

Let me mention something we discovered concerning Mammoth Caves: They do not allow you to use any federal pass: access, geezer pass etc, online to pay for tours. When we inquired at the visitor's center we were laughable told: 1) They would refund the discount when you showed up for a tour. I do not know your experience but mine is the sum total of federal refunds I have received is exactly zero 2) You could donate it to them amounting to the same result 3) you could order tickets there, a joke, since they are all gone by that point They claim people are gaming the system, but that is solved by every other federal facility requiring you to show the pass when you get there.

Tell that to the Olympic Athlete, in LA, who was standing on the sidewalk, in downtown LA, talking to a friend when one of your urban outdoorsmen threw a 10 inch bolt at her, with no warning, striking her in the face. Reportedly cause some injury.

(LONG POST) Well left Florida early June and went to a very nice and off the radar USFS campground with hookups in far northern FL I'm not going to mention it's name to try to keep it off the Radar. Next was Eastbank COE, OK but not my preferred COE park. The lake was eutrophic with mats of floating algae on the lake/river. Did visits to a couple FL State parks. Torreya and Three Rivers. Both still recovering from the Hurricane several years ago Three Rivers especially hard hit and I suggest avoiding it for a couple of more years. Florida Caverns is operating normally and the tour was much better thatn I recalled. Recommended. Did not look at cg there. Next off to Hardridge Creek COE in AL, a very nice standard COE park. In the middle of nowhere tho. BTW all of these parks have full reviews on Campground Review. Then an overnight at Peach Queen, also in AL and in the overnight stop if you must only. Off to Lebanon TN fairgrounds for the Escapade. A great time, 600+ RVs there over 1500 people and a week of activities from morning to night. The fairgrounds does not seem to be in RVTW but was a grass parking lot with w/e only. But finding a place for that many RV's cannot be easy. Next the Narrows COE, very nice COE park. Would have stayed longer but the 4th weekend loomed ahead. Off to Wax (strange name no one seems to know where it came from) first site right on the lake, swimming possible but bottom either had lots of slimy rocks. Very hard to walk on. Or really slimy shelf rock, impossible to walk on. But otherwise a good COE camp. Then we had to move for the 4th weekend to a no hookeup site which looked OK. But temps were in the mid 90's, no shade on site and we were roasting. Supposed to stay three days bailed out the second morning. To Fern Lake CG, private, near Paducah KY. Just a transit stop. Spent two days to get the fourth weekend done. Campground OK for what it is, FHU EZ In Out. Paducah from what we saw (not a lot) was not impressive. Next Gun Creek COE in Mo. Very narrow pads, barely wider than the RV with a drop off on the door side of 8 inches. Made the last step off the steps almost a foot. Heavy non biting gnat clouds. Electric only. Pad also took 4 plastic blocks to almost get it level side to side and could have used five or six but that was all we had,. Not very level front to back either, Off to Ray Behrens COE on Mark Twain Lake. Water only again. Also narrow pads, maybe not quite as narrow but very unlevel front to back. Otherwise nice park. Mark Twain's birthplace SP on the lake. They have his house but I'll leave the surprise for you to find. He was born in Florida MO a small village still there and still very small. And a trivia question: he refused to live in a house that did not have a cat in front of the fire. Heh. Seems like all these old COE parks are water only. Next planned stop: Nauvoo State Park in Nauvoo IL. Place was very old, twisty, narrow, potholed dirt roads and very unlevel pads. Suggest anything other than tents of small RVs avoid. Ended up in Ft Madison IA, right across the river, Rodeo park. Brand new city cg, First Come with FHU. So new we were supposedly the first to use our site. 20$/night highly recommended. Enjoyed that pageant in Nauvoo and the excellent historic, 1830, village and the play. All free. The tours are great each building has it's own tour guides. Post Office, Printer, Tin Smith, Gunsmith (John Browning!!!) and a number of others. Next off to a week at Grant River COE on the Mississippi in WI. You may notice our trend is north. Headed to the north woods, the source of the Mississippi and cooler temps. May a jog over to the upper peninsula. Hope the black flies are done.

I'd use silicone grease, sprays will not last long.

This one of those issues where we are split into two factions: The liberals (from my observations from the opposite side) don't believe people are responsible for their own lives and behavior. The conservatives, me included, believe that most people are captains of their own ships, and can take charge of their lives and change their circumstances. And that they should be held culpable for misdeeds. I think both sides agree their are mentally ill people who generally are not responsible. But we disagree on what should be done with them. Libs are for free ranging them and ignoring the terrible effects doing that; and Cons are for incarcerating them. Either in jail or preferably in a mental institutions. And keeping them there until then are responsible. If that rare event ever happens. We are just talking past each other since convincing the opposite side is a very rare occurrence.

OK I've seen studies that say something like 70% of these people are mentally ill. Why are they on the street, untreated, and many living the life of petty crime? This all goes back to the late 1970's and 1980's. You may recall that documentary showing folks being abused in some northern state's mental decrepit hospital, and then there was One flew over the Cuckoos Nest(1975). The result of all this was a frenzy to close State Mental Hospitals and 'free' the patients. Now I lived in a small town in the south, one of the primary employers was one of the three State Hospitals. I worked in the acute wards before going back to school. And actually was in charge of a ward on the swing shift. These were new buildings and the patients were intensely treated with several staff psychiatrists. Now you need to understand certain things about severe mental illness: 1) It is a learned process, the longer someone goes untreated the more committed they are to the experience of being mentally ill. They learn to like it , more or less. At least that was the theory of what was happening to them and so far as I know it still is. 2) So the only hope of returning these folks to productive and semi normal lives is to break the process in it's early stages. Before they become set into the dysfunctional mode of being schizophrenic. 3) So newly ill patients went to the acute wards and we worked to stabilize them with treatment and medications. 4) However many of these folks detest the meds, some of which had bad side effects, back then. And if left on their own will not take their meds. Thus lapsing into chronic and incurable mental illness. 5) So what of the chronic patients, most older and in poor health. They were warehoused. Given meds, supervision, bed and board and provided with lots of recreational opportunities, craft classes, swimming, work on site if they wanted to do so, field trips and shopping trips, medical care. There was a fully staffed and newish hospital on site. 6) Maybe not something most folks would want but it was humane and protective of people unable to care for themselves. Then came Nurse Rachet and liberal law firms fired up their litigation machine and attacked these hospitals. The states were running these facilities at great expense. Oddly all of the documentaries seemed to fine major fault with northeastern and west coast institutions. They finally got laws passed, the patients in theory went to community treatment programs which were and are a total failure. The patients actually ended up sleeping under overpasses, med and treatment free. These graduation to their current status of 'street people'. The states were free to spend all that money elsewhere where they thought they could more effectively buy votes. And that is the source of the current problem. Can you honestly say that these folks are better off drinking rotgut, taking drugs, not eating, diseased, subject to criminals and living on the street than they were when their predecessors were 'warehoused'??

Never seen them, with maybe an exception of an encounter with the 'rainbow people' if they still exist. And that was years ago. And we camp 250+ days a year. But I'll give my standard advice for avoiding crime, aka homeless critters. Do not camp near any large city. Do that you you'll never see them. Stay at least 30 or 40 miles away when possible. They will not travel that far from their city haunts and feeding areas.

You just call them andf use your Escapees member number, it's on your card and right here on your post SKP#:178910 You might want to look at Passport America for their discount program and buy an Annual Pass to National Parks/Monuments and all other federal properties. If you are over 62 you can get their lifetime pass and if either of you is disabled or a service connected veteran you can get their Access Pass also lifetime. Those will get you 50% off at most federal campgrounds and other facilities and free park access. You will find most federal campgrounds have a 14 or so day limit. Learn to use Recreation.gov for fed park reservations. Campground Reviews is another site you should get familiar with. There are a number of other discount programs: Good Sams (10% but many parks) , KOA (not worth it any more), Harvest Host (only worth it if you use their type of camps), and others be very careful of the very expensive ones, they can be traps.

Henry's Lake is on the west side in Idaho. Do they have that entrance open now?

Thanks for the update '

Any idea what happened to the BLM Carabella Campground. It was right on the river but a little higher ground. Not that it really matters until they get the Gardiner entrance open which might be years in my opinion. Prepare for environmental suits for the Gardiner highway.

And has been under construction for decades will no obvious progress. A lot of folks think it's a scam. Anyway, more westerly. Devils Tower is a few minutes off the interstate and worth a stop. There is a prairie dog town there too. There's a private campground outside the entrance, very pricey tho. Further down the road is Little Bighorn, the site of Custer's last stand. A nice loop drive and a visitor center. That one is right off the interstate. Next is the Badlands National Park, a longer drive thru but excellent views that you won't see in SC. A excellent KOA on the south side of the park. Rapid City has a very impressive gem and mineral museum at the University, nationally know. Almost as good as the Smithsonian but a little smaller. In the Badlands you should try to make reservations at Custer State Park campground ASAP, but do the drive thru to see Bison and all sorts of other critters. There are two National Park caves in the area but those are probably out, considering your mobility problems. Rushmore has a short walk to get near the carvings, it is paved and very wide. There is a Mammoth dig and museum south of the area, I have not been there. A warning about the Tetons suggestion. Yellowstone is mostly closed with just the Cody entrance open now and day use only unless you have a spot to stay in the park. They may get the Tetons entrance open by the time you get there but no guarantees. Either way Tetons will be packed with the folks kept out of YNP. Glacier Going to the Sun road is blocked by an avalanche which may be cleared by your dates. You need tickets to enter the park, get the online. You could return via Colorado where there are all sorts of things to see. Mesa Verde requires some strenuous walking tho for the cliff dwellings. Otherwise not much to see.

I thought I saw a sign for a camp around there, or are you boondocking? Good luck on your trip.

Latest info: http://GO.NPS.GOV/YELLFLOOD Also: http://NPS.GOV/YELL/PLANYOURVISIT/PAR... Supposed to have the latest official info and road access

We are there

And who said we are 'clever people', it's obvious that 95 out of a hundred can barely count to 20 using their fingers and toes, and those folks are dragged thru history by the thinking 5 per hundred in the western world. And IQ does not define whole falls in which bin. Attend a Mensa meeting to see what I mean.

I remember a Red Green Show episode about a new resident building a house in a spot no one had ever used before in hundreds of years. RED Green pointed out that if no one had ever built there, then there was a good reason not to. They built anyway and the expected disaster ensued. There is no doubt that buildings on coastal flood areas should not be allowed to renew their insurance to rebuild in flood areas. That is what is keeping those barrier island buildings in place. But back to the original topic, park officials are saying it could cost up to $1,000,000,000 to rebuild. A similar disaster in another park was delayed for 15 years by environmental lawsuits. They want to relocate the Gardiner highway. Construction season runs from May or June to October most years. 4 or 5 months.

Maybe but the energy source is temperature which has been increasing, gradually, since the end of the last ice age. 12,000 years ago. No human intervention required.

So what interval do they use for housing flood maps? I was an environmental and had a few CE classes that covered this, but is was way back in the Dark Ages As for Climate change there has been none, meaning average temp rise, in almost a decade. There was a few years before that with some temp jump, but before that something like 20 or 25 years of flat temps. Climate change is a way for 'so called climate scientists' to rake in Federal grants.

Cody will be inundated. Cody does not have that many campground or 4 that I know of plus that state park on the road to the north entrance. I do recall signs for one or two campgrounds on the YNP road nearer the North entrance Make your reservations now It's a long long drive from Cody to the geyser basins, several hours each way plus slowdowns for the massive traffic flow. Wow Google maps says 137 miles and 4 and a half hours, can that be right? Via US 14 passing by Fishing Bridge If that's true you better have reservations at the Yellowstone Lodge or other in park hotels. Is Fishing Bridge open?

OK they still do flood plain maps in areas where it matters. And those are based on 100 year flood predictions (statistical). Call your local planning dept. This was a 1000 year flood which no one can plan for.

Not exactly true, there was a massive earth quake not far from there killed a number of campers and altered the landscape, created a new lake.. The Yellowstone area is especially unstable, Floods, earthquake, hurricane and so on all modify the landscape. There was a major geological belief system fight over Gradualism vs Catastrophism. The Catastrophe bunch won. Back around 1900 or so. There was a major landslide just east of the Tetons too and one at Zion that damned the valley. The earth is in motion but on a human timescale many of us fail to notice it. This was a 1000 year flood tho, so more damaging than any most of us would ever see.

I posted in another post on the YNP part of this but Gardiner and the other towns along the Yellowstone river ar affected., Gardiner is heavily flooded and cut off the Carabella bridge washed out. Mail