Healy-Guttman Blog

Join Suzanne, Jack and “The Enterprise” for our 5000 mile ”Americana Tour” including 12 states and time in the  Black Hills of South Dakota,  Racing at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, a visit with niece Courtney in Ogden, Utah and a day at Yellowstone Park.

 

 

Early on a Saturday morning, Suzanne and I left our Whidbey “campus” in The Enterprise (our Safari Trek motorhome - get it?), caught the 6:30 AM ferry and after a lengthy 12 hour drive, ended up in Bozeman, Montana.  We were enroute to one of the biggest vintage car races of the year at Road America - a historic track near a very cool little town in Wisconsin called Elkhart Lake. 

Our car was hauled by Racecraft in their transporter along with 6 other cars so we didn’t have to haul a trailer.  Our plan was 4 days out, 4 days at the track and 5 days back.  We had the Vespa on the back of The Enterprise that would be our transportation during the trip and in the pits at Road America.  We have now affectionately named the Vespa “Scuzi” as we tend to scoot around people, cars and things occassionally mumbling “scuzi, scuzi”.  …yeah, I know - but that was the best we could do, so it stuck.

Our first night was in one of many RV campgrounds that we would stay in where the people are as entertaining as the scenery - we made some great connections and realized that this “RV thing” wasn’t as bad as we had envisioned, in fact quite the opposite.  Although we had considered investing in a little lamp post with a flower pot on each side (all plastic, of course) and a sign that says “The Healy’s” on it that we would put outside in front of our camping spot (like many of our neighbors), we changed things up by bringing along a life-sized plastic palm tree (thanks Bill!) matched with flamingo martini glasses (thanks Les!):

…and so it began…  This palm tree actually ended up being quite the novelty in the midwest and at the track where we had some pretty hysterical comments.  I ended up changing original idea of dumping the tree at the track and that stupid tree is still in our shower.  It seems to have become a permanent fixture in the traveling Healy-Guttman circus.

Our first real destination where we spent a few nights was in Custer, S. Dakota in the Black Hills.  Neither Suzanne or I had been here, but it was a pretty fantastic place with rolling hills dotted with Ponderosa Pine and Aspens.  We stayed at a place called the “Broken Arrow RV Park” and were met by a very friendly host that looked like she spent a fair bit of time on a horse.  We were parked next to a guy that new the area and who we ended up yacking with through the evening. 

Next day, we hopped on Scuzi, and motored to Crazy Horse.  I had low expectations, but this ended up being a trip highlight.  You probably can’t see the Indian head in the background, but it’s there - the folks at the entrance snapped this for us:

 

…yep - we look like dorks…

The story of Korczak Ziolkowski and his family is amazing and inspiring.  I loved their story as much as the behemoth sculpture that is being carved out of the mountain to represent a great Lakota warrior.  If you haven’t been there - go some day.

Next stop was Mt. Rushmore, a crowded stop where we did the obligatory kodak moment:

After this semi-disappointing stop, we had a very cool ride on Scuzi through some scenic areas and logged close to 100 miles on that little bike.  We capped off our evening with more “into the night conversations” with our campground neighbor and set off for more endless driving the next morning.  This was the view Suzanne saw to her left for close to 5000 miles:

 

 and straight ahead:

 

After a brief stay at a KOA in Rochester, Minnesota we rolled into Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin and the home of Road America racetrack on Wednesday afternoon in a major storm.  About 20 miles from the track, it started to really blow The Enterprise around and the rain started pouring from the skies.  By the time we rolled into the track, the winds were gusting to at least 80 MPH, it was dark as night (even though it was 3 PM), there was thunder and lightning and raindrops the size of snowballs!  I had to re-park The Enterprise 90 degrees into the wind for fear of getting blown over.

After registering during the storm (a story in and of itself) we waited for 2 hours outside the pit area due to the problems they were having with trees that had blown down (some onto trailers) and awnings & tents that had been uprooted and torn to shreds.  There were a few injuries but thankfully nothing serious.  By the time they let us in, there was a fair bit of confusion and we were led to a big field and told to “park anywhere”.  After trying a few places and finding that we were sinking into a mud hole due to the enormous amount of rain, we found a spot on the tarmac that looked stable.  It turned out to be a great home for the following 4 days:

…of course this photo was taken on one of the days after the storm.

Another one taken before heading out to the track:

We ended up next to a local father/son team that had raced in the area for years and were great neighbors.  Unlike most other races, we were not pitted next to Racecraft’s transporter due to space, but it worked out OK as our spot was somewhat secluded and out of the “hub bub” of the pits.  Road America is a very long track and I was able to get acclimated during a “test & tune” day on Thursday.  I was in “Group 8″ with “just” 65 other cars - most of which I would not normally race against but I managed to have fun nonetheless.  Here is a glimpse of how busy it was:

…yeah, that’s Pete behind the black 944 (he spun out, dropped an engine spilling oil all over the track and pissed off most of the other drivers on Saturday) and Terry Flanagan’s orange BMW 2002.

One of the few photos of Pete ahead of Flanagan and his smokin fast ‘02:

And one more of Pete ahead of his favorite rival - the 911:

Friend Fish and his brother Dave made the trip out along with my Dad and his wife.   Cheryl, my Dad’s wife who he just married (see the blog on Guatemala) decided she needed a lesson on how to ride “Scuzi” and Suzanne was happy to oblige:
 

…yeah, I know - they look like dorks…

Elkhart Lake is a historical and notable cute little town centered around a nice lake which a few large resorts surround. The area and town is enriched with a history of car racing. The track is a mile from the town. Both Friday and Saturday night they shut down the streets and have a car parade of cars, one night the race cars the other restored beautiful vintage cars. The streets are crowed with spectators and little parties in restaurants, etc.  We had a few great nights in Elkhart Lake at the infamous Siebkens Tavern and Lola’s on the Lake next to the Osthoff Resort. 

Somewhere along the way, another Kodak moment - this one with two Jack’s and Cheryl:

John Hall, a fellow racer asked several of us who had donated to “Team Fandango - Checkered Flag Club for Children’s Hospital” to get a photo at RA with the great shirts he had put together this year.  This “team” consists of fellow racers who get together to support Children’s.  It is a great cause.  Jim Froula, Terry Forland (both of Racecraft), John Murray and me obliged:

As “luck” would have it, Group 8 was the very last race on Sunday.  We wanted to leave right after the race, so my Dad and Suzanne plotted exit strategy:

Fish and photographer/friend Bob Pengraph helped clean up:

…well they relaxed a bit as well:

After the race on Sunday, we drove 3.5 hours to Keiler, WI. It wasn’t bad driving and the scenery was beautiful country of lush green farmlands and quarry like limestone rock lining the roadway.  Old windmills, barns, and farmhouses that depict the quintessential ‘americana’ postcard! We landed in Keiler, which is in the southwest corner of Wisconsin on the Iowa border.  We arrived into a small little RV park in time to catch the show of fireflies that were lighting up the fields around the campground.  Just 10 hours later we were crossing the Mississippi river into Iowa and headed for North Platte, Nebraska.  We hooked up with yet another interesting neighbor in that night’s campground and finally arrived in Ogden, Utah on Tuesday night for a visit with niece Courtney Vermaas who moved there last year.  …and it is hard to believe, but we forgot to take a photo…  Hmmm - maybe next time.

Next up on the docket was Yellowstone.  We rolled into the “Grizzly RV Park” in the afternoon and the weather was outstanding!  We had opted for a pretty decent “premium space” and it was worth every penny.  A quick unloading of Scuzi and off we rolled into West Yellowstone - a much bigger town than I had envisioned - and after some quick purchases in the “crap stores” (sorry, that’s what I call them), we checked out the local museum, hit the store for a few things and, of course, snapped at least one photo:

 

The next day we had an ambitious plan to do a 100+ mile loop around Yellowstone (called the Lower Loop) and as it turns out, with the wrong turn we made, we clocked 170 miles or so on Scuzi and paid for the mistake with some pretty sore butts…  First stop was the Fountain Paint Pot area.  The sign at the beginning says it all:

You get to see stuff like this:

…the smell was horrible…

 Another 20 miles and we were at Old Faithful:

Everywhere in the darndest places, you would see boiling cauldrons of mud:

The elevation in the park averages around 6700 feet in elevation or so.  Scuzi was breathing hard - especially over the divide:

..OK, OK - I know we look like dorks… 

We passed over the divide several times in the park - one of which was over 8300 feet (we were too tired to stop and get the photo…).

When we were supposed to turn left at West Thumb Geyser Basin, we kept going straight.  After a very long stretch, we saw the South Entrance.  …that didn’t look right…  We got some gas outside the park and headed back.  By the time we got to Lake Village, we needed a break:

The ice cream was great and the scenery even better:

That’s Yellowstone Lake at an elevation of 7700 feet!  After we started winding along the Yellowstone River, we finally got to see the bison we had heard about:

If you look closely, here’s a bison lounging by a boiling cauldron of mud:

…strange stuff…  But that is Yellowstone - amazing vistas, incredible volcanic activity, lots of Wildlife - and a fair bit of people…  All in all we are really happy we made the effort to see the park and I would like to go back some day and travel around the Upper Loop on the next trip…

In the meantime, the wildlife scene isn’t too bad here at the Healy-Guttman campus. This photo was taken from our back porch the day after we got back: