|
DISCOVERY TOUR 2009
June 25, 2009 – Arrive at Grundy Funeral Home at
2:00 P.M. for pre trip meeting. Individual and
Group pictures will start at 2:30 p.m. We will
leave Grundy at 4:00 P.M. and drive to
Louisville, KY. Overnight in Louisville at most
likely Louisville Metro KOA.
Class A Uniform is required for photographs.
June 26, 2009 – Leave Louisville, KY and drive
to Kansas City, Missouri. Overnight at Kansas
City KOA. Today we will cross the Mississippi
River.
June 27, 2009 – Leave Kansas City, Missouri
and drive 15 miles to Independence, Missouri.
There we will tour the Harry S. Truman Museum.
Leave Truman Museum at approximately 11:00 a.m.
and drive to St. Joseph, Missouri. There, we
will tour the Pony Express Museum and
picnic on the grounds. After completing the
tour, we will drive to Mitchell, S.D. to
overnight at the Mitchell KOA. Class A Uniform
is required for Truman Museum.
June 28, 2009 – Leave Mitchell Koa and drive
into the town of Mitchell, SD. There we will
tour the Corn Palace. We will then drive
to Chamberlain, SD and visit the Lewis and
Clark exhibit and also eat lunch overlooking
the Missouri river. After lunch, we will travel
to the Badlands National Park and tour
the park. We will thentravel on to Rapid City,
SD to Mt Rushmore National Monument. At
approximately 9:15 p.m. that evening, we will
participate in the flag lowering ceremony at Mt.
Rushmore. Once the flag ceremony and the
lighting ceremony is complete we will travel 15
miles to our campground located one mile South
of Crazy Horse Memorial. Class A Uniform is
required for Mt. Rushmore
June 29, 2009 – Leaving our campground, we
will travel to the Crazy Horse Memorial
for a complete tour of the facility which will
include the movie, touring the art gallery, a
trip to the mountain for a close up view of the
head of crazy horse and finally a tour of the
artisans that have set up in and around the
grounds. After the tour of Crazy Horse
memorial, we will travel through the Black Hills
arriving a couple hours later at Devils Tower.
Located in Hulett, WY it is the United
States’ first National Monument. Once we
arrive there, we will be escorted by the
educational director at Devils Tower on a tour
of the area. We will then travel on to either
Sheridan or Billings, MT., and overnite there.
Class A Uniform is required for Crazy Horse and
Devils Tower.
June 30, 2009 – Leaving Billings or Sheridan,
we will travel in the direction of Waterton
International Peace Park in Waterton, Canada
via the Lewis and Clark National Forest.
We will overnite either in Choteau MT or St.
Mary’s KOA near the Canadian border.
July 1, 2009 – We will enter Canada at Chief
Mountain Customs Station. There we will have
our passports stamped and proceed on to Belly
River Group Campsite near the town of Waterton.
After establishing our camp, we will proceed on
to Waterton and then tour the Red Rock Canyon
area and the Cameron Falls/Lake area.
July 2, 2009 – Today we will take a boat ride
across Waterton Lake to the opposite side
of Waterton Township and we will take an 11 mile
hike to Crypt Lake. There we will picnic and
hike back down the mountain through Hell
Roaring Canyon. We will travel by boat back
to Waterton. At this time, we will allow the
group 2 hours to shop and explore the
Township of Waterton. This is an excellent
shopping experience but I do warn you that many
of the stores are very expensive as they tend to
have high quality merchandise. A side trip to
the Prince of Wales Hotel might be
interesting.
July 3, 2009 – We will leave Belly River
Campground to return to the United States
and on to West Glacier, MT. There we
will set up camp at the Glacier Bay Campground.
We will then travel to the Bear Park and
visit the Grizzly Bears and Black Bears in
captivity. The first time we visited them, the
Grizzlies were less than a year old and that was
9 years ago. They should be quite impressive by
now. This night is an excellent time to do some
laundry due to the large Laundromat located in
town.
July 4, 2009 – We will travel to Logan’s
Pass in Glacier National Park and proceed to
hike the 12 mile High Line Trail. There
we will walk though a variety of geographical
changes till we arrive at Granite Peak Chalet,
built by the Great Northern Railroad almost 100
years ago. After touring the Chalet, we will
travel off the mountain to our vehicles and back
to camp. Hopefully, since this is the birthday
of our country, there will be some fireworks
nearby.
July 5, 2009 – We will leave West Glacier,
Montana and proceed to the Grand Coulee Dam,
the largest Concrete structure in the United
States. For those who visited Hoover Dam in
2006, this dam is larger. We will tour the
Grand Coulee and then proceed on to Deschutes
River State Recreation area which is in view
of Mt. Hood.
July 6, 2009 – We will leave Deschutes and
proceed down the Columbia River Valley to
Fort Stevens State Park, near Astoria, Oregon.
This is the largest State Park in Oregon with
over 540 campsites. The park has Spruce and
Hemlock forests, fresh water lakes, hiking
trails and for over 80 years, served as a
defense location for our country. We will have
the opportunity to dip our feet in the Pacific
Ocean. Nearby is the area where Lewis and
Clark built a fort and lived in during the
winter of 1805-1806. Offshore to Fort
Stevens shipwrecks can be seen.
July 7, 2009 – We will travel South on the
Pacific Coast Highway to Cape Blanco.
Cape Blanco has the oldest Lighthouse in
Oregon and is strategically at the
Westernmost point in the state of Oregon.
Some of the Shoreline at Cape Blanco has gold in
the sand and you will have the opportunity to
“pan” for gold. A tour of the lighthouse
will be arranged.
July 8, 2009 – We will continue to travel
South to the State of California. There
we will arrive in Eureka and for the next two
days, and will tour the Redwood National Park.
July 9, 2009 – Continue to tour the Redwoods. A
hike of approximately 10 miles will be planned
on this day.
July 10, 2009 – We will travel today to
Yosemite South – Mariposa KOA This will be our
home for the next two days. We will enter into
Yosemite National Park via the Mariposa
grove of Sequoia’s. There we will tour the
Giant Sequoia trees and on to El Capitan.
Today there will be a hike in Yosemite Valley
and we will tour Yosemite Falls and the
Merced River basin.
July 11, 2009 – Continuing touring the Yosemite
National Park area.
July 12, 2009 – Today we will leave Yosemite and
travel to Wells, NV. This will be a long day
but we will have the enjoyment of traveling
along the Eastern portion of the mountains that
separate Nevada from California.
July 13, 2009 – Today, we will travel to
Jackson Hole, WY. We will overnite the next
two nights at Colter Bay Group Campsite in
the Grand Tetons National Park.
July 14, 2009 – We will leave early for
breakfast at the Lewis and Clark Outfitters
and Rafting Company. We will then travel by
bus to the Lower Snake River where we
will enjoy a whitewater rafting trip. When we
return to town, we will allow everyone a 4
hour shopping spree in Jackson. That
evening we will travel near Teton Village for
our dinner meal and finally back to Colter Bay.
July 15, 2009 – We will start home today by
way of Togwotee Pass.
We will travel through the Wind River Range
which is quite scenic and on to the Oregon
trail. We will overnight at Guernsey
State Park near the Nebraska – Wyoming
border.
July 16, 2009 – During the 15th
and 16th We will visit
Independence Rock, Devils Gate, Chimney Rock,
Wagon Ruts, Register Cliffs and Scottsbluff.
These are all important stops along the
Oregon Trail which was a wagon trail during
the 1850’s and 1860’s. This trail was used by
over ½ million pioneers by some estimates.
Tonight we will overnight in Grand Islands, NB.
July 17, 2009 – Today we will visit
Cabela’s and the Great Platte River Road Archway
Museum, both located in Kearney, Nebraska.
Tonight we will overnight at Finger Lakes
State Park in Columbia, MO. Finger Lakes
is a reclaimed open pit coal strip mine which
has much to offer its visitors.
July 18, 2009 – Today we will travel through
St. Louis, MO with a stop at the Arch
in St. Louis. We will tour the Museum of
Westward Expansion located at the
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.
Tonight we will stay in Louisville, KY.
July 19, 2009 – Travel to Grundy, VA
|
