"Out West Adventure 2025"

Starting August 12, 2025

After a year of planning, months of hoping it will happen, then weeks of preparing and provisioning we are finally on the road for our 3/4 week trip to explore the Western States again. Included in this Journey is Rocky and Denise Langley with their 4 legged Chevy, Tom and Dana True, and Christine with our little Chick Magnet "Annie". 

Follow along and see what weeks on the road can be like.......................

                               But....... first things first....PREP

Jeep is almost ready to go...new tires, check brakes, fresh tune-up, load emergency kit, tools, test winch, etc.etc, and don't forget the GMRS radios.

After spending time and money to prepare the open trailer for this 3000+ mile adventure and thinking I am all done......think again....I find an enclosed trailer on Marketplace that will be better suited.  But first we must insulate and install a ceiling, along with more lights, and paint the interior white, repair the tailgate, take the new tires off the open trailer and install on this trailer, repair and paint tongue and hitch, take the tool box off the open trailer and........well you got it by now. Lots of work.  All within one week of pulling out.

Next, get the whole rig weighed for obvious reasons. But also to do a dry run (with Jeep loaded) up to Smiths Grove, also for obvious reasons. All went well, now back home to load everything else.

Day 1:

A stressful day for sure, Christine has a prescription to be ready on Monday .....the day before we leave....didn't happen....our 8:30 am departure just got delayed 4 hours and.....still no prescription...so we had to have it sent to CVS in Lentzville, Mo.  That worked, but now we are hitting St. Louis at rush hour and thru 3 rain storms. Now our super clean and freshly waxed Motorcoach and Trailer are nasty. (my scheduled departure time was planned to avoid this)......so I decided to find a truck wash and have this rig washed. Our first night was in a Rest Area.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR VIDEOS: Click the arrow in center of picture, then click on icon in lower right of screen to go full screen, volume turned on.

Day 2:

On the road again...destination Onawa, Iowa to meet up with our Happy Hoosier Buds from Indiana. Well our "Out West Adventure" turned into a "Wild, Wild, West" show.  Just a few miles from our destination we get a call from Rocky...He has crashed his coach. They blew a left front tire while passing another vehicle ......estimated speed around 70  mph.......violently pulling them into the median.....crashing into a cable guard railing......heading for oncoming traffic....but his driving skills kept this from ending in tragedy. We just thought Day 1 was stressful. 

There wasn't much left of this tire by the time Rocky got this beast stopped.

We have experienced this on our travels too but never a front tire. It sounds like someone fired a cannon in your coach.

Thanks to some quick thinking he avoided a tragedy. Hopefully our adventure can continue.

Stay tuned.....

This shot shows just how close to oncoming traffic they got.....

They were throwing gravel and dirt into the oncoming lanes.

Can you imagine how much Pucker Power it took to get this coach under control at 70 mph.

This is the point at which I got the phone call saying he had crashed.

The Police had not arrived yet, they showed up while we were talking I think.

He was certainly shook up and I told him we were on our way to help, but we were still 3-4 hours away.

We were about an hour from I-80 so we turned East and headed to help our friends who were 4 hours from us. We did not realize that Tom and Dana had already caught up with them and witnessed the entire crash event. They called us during this hectic event and said they were not injured and the coach was being towed to a tire shop to evaluate the damage and replace front tires. Since we learned they had someone with them to help we then turned around and headed for our destination. Rocky has gathered up all the crash debris and was going to try to make it to Onawa for the night. They arrived at the campground with a badly damaged motorhome but determined to patch and go.

Tom and Rocky (along with too very shook up but thankful wives) pulled into our destination for tonight with a badly damaged coach.

Day 3:

After carefully examining this damage, we three "Hot Rod Building","Street Rod Showing", "Race Car Driving", "Mechanics" decided we could fix this coach on the go.  So parts were ordered to be delivered in Montana, (headlight assembly) Fiberglass repair kit and other materials were purchased locally and all necessary tools were on board. We had air tools, compressor, cutting wheels, sanding discs, etc in the trailer. We then headed for our next destination.... Wall, South Dakota...But hang on, it ain't over yet.  About 10 minutes up the road Rocky calls....he has a flat tire on the rear.....time to find another tire store...this one was 6 miles into a town off I-80. Off we go to get four new rear tires.....now Rocky has all new tires....off we go again to Wall, S.D. ..... Arrived in time to experience one of those infamous South Dakota thunderstorms last night...winds rocking the coach, lightning, rain, hail, etc. 

Luckily they had 4 Toyo Tires in stock and had us back on the road again in on time.

But the stress level by this time is "off the charts"....especially for Rocky and Denise.

Maybe we can find a few Buffalo to help settle their nerves.......

       

Day 4:

We made to Wall so Tom and Rocky started on the fiberglass repairs while I pulled a wheel off the trailer to inspect a noise in the brakes. A camper heard us when we arrived and made me aware of the noisy wheel.....Thank goodness for that......turns out  the brake adjuster had broken and was rolling around in the brake drum..........Tom couldn't wait to put Rocky's busted coach back together. I was impressed at how good Tom is at body damage repair. He has a long history of Body Shop businesses. ..After putting on a few pieces of crash parts that Rocky had picked up, along with a layer of fiberglass we decided to drive our Jeeps thru the Badlands National Park and do some sightseeing.  Oh, and we experienced another Bad-Ass South Dakota thunderstorm again last night....Awesome light show, rain and hail............We are going to do this "Out West" trip any way possible. Ya Gotta love our determination.

Rocky gets down and dirty to get these pieces in the right order. he is a very talented builder of most anything.

You can't begin to imagine how many slivers of crashed fiberglass it took to put this corner back together.

Our work station consisted if our trailer (with compressor and air tools) and a gravel driveway. Complete with a picnic table for a workbench, breaks and lunch.

Other than a bent steering link, a busted fresh water tank valve, a crushed electrical box (behind this door) and some scratches and scrapes down the side (caused by the cable guard railing) all is good. 

Now we go do some Tourist Stuff while the fiberglass resin is setting up....every minute is taken.

So we took the Jeeps for a quick tour of the Badlands while we were in the neighborhood.

Mom says ....take a look at that.

Pictures just won't do justice for the views and Awesomeness of God's creations.

Good chance to show off some of the finest people you could ever meet......

Hometown "Citizen of the Year" winner

Tom True and Dana True.

They were very supportive of the children who were effected by the Tornado in Bowling Green a couple years ago. 

Thank you....

And three more of this team of determined Adventure Seeking buddies.

Rocky and Denise Langley along with Chevy the wonder-dog.

Two more of the world's Finest people

So glad we bumped into these two while residing at River Bend RV Resort in Florida..

And not much to say here, just a couple of old worn out Adventure Seekers from Kentucky.

Christine has held on for the ride for over 61 years.

Annie hangs in there too...she's been an "ocean going mariner"...a "mountain climbing trail rider"...and an"RV touring" sidekick." 

So much to see......and so hard to describe.

But we gotta get going, I need a new leather belt and Annie needs a cowgirl hat.

Off to Wall Drugs for some Western Style Retail Therapy.

If ever near the Badlands you must stop at Wall Drugs...

Dig into the History, get a 5 cent cup of coffee, and let the shopping begin.

This is our Third time here.

This was the model for Annie's new cowgirl hat....but for some reason I can't find the picture we took of Annie with her new hat.

I think it is because my camera was set on LIVE ......my bad.

This beautiful "Traveler's Chapel" is also part of Wall Drug Store. 

A replica of the Chapel at New Melleray Abbey, a Monastery 15 miles south of Dubuque, Iowa.

The altar is made of Minnesota Granite.

OK Guys....The resin is dry,

now get back to work.

We have a few minutes left in this day.....

Never a dull moment.

Tom can't wait to get back to being a Top Notch Body Builder...

And this will challenge even his skills...

Him and Rocky are working wonders while I bark out the detailed instructions. Part labeled A goes on first. The shiny piece that Rocky picked up by the guard rail goes on next. Now hold those in place while I start the screws.

Damn Guys......ya'll be looking good.

When we get that headlight assembly at Livingston we will be good to go. I have some color matching duct tape to finish her out.

It's amazing what these two guys can do ....

Day 5:

Next Stop;  Deadwood, South Dakota.....after a stop at WalMart in Rapid City we are currently at "Days of 76 Campground and Rodeo Museum" in downtown Deadwood.  Had some time to walk downtown and find the gang for dinner and some Casino action before bedtime. ......Christine and Annie hung back for some nap time, they are wore out. 

Never a dull moment when you travel with this bunch....

 We found the Historic Saloon #10 Bar where Wild Bill Hickok was killed while playing cards. Aces and Eights = Dead Mans Hand.

They had a musician/comedian that was the star of the bar....Totally a character.

The gang had a Historic Good Time at this bar.

The entertainment was unusual at the least.

He was reeling in off the streets.

And back at the Day of 76' campground the teams are preparing for another stroll to "Downtown Deadwood" for a show.

And looks like Chevy is busy watching her neighbor load up to go home after the Roping Event......

This was a lot like camping at a Livestock Yards but Hey....you don't know till you go...

And just a short walk to the Casino.

Day 6:

First chance to work on our Blog due to an eventful past few days. Got an early start this morning,..... got on the computer at 3:15 am......girls woke up at 5:00.....walked Annie at 5:15.....still can't get pictures and videos to load......gonna give up for now...time to cook breakfast and today we Jeep our way thru Needles Highway and the Custer Loop......the Happy Hoosiers have not seen this and it is a "must see" when in the Black Hills.

Well the day went well....  Almost....We took back country roads (mostly gravel and dirt) down to Custer because Highway 385 was closed at one point and we had to find an alternate route. Our Lunch destination was Custer, S.D. but reroute delays had us having lunch in Hill City......Good thing....because we arrived in Custer in a Hailacious Hail storm.  Put 190 miles on the Jeeps today. We are zapped.

We could't even get out of the Jeeps and thought we had damage. It was a a rain event like nothing you can imagine. Hope the videos do it justice. Arrived back in Deadwood in time to shower, eat left-overs, and crash. Happy Hoosiers went to the Casino for Dinner. Hey, they got 20 years on us....cut us some slack.

Open range cattle grazing along the road..

Probably on our way to the Wildlife Loop in the Custer State Park.

We had planned on Lunch in Custer but due to unforeseen circumstances we decided to stop in Hill City........just as another one of those South Dakota Hail Storms arrived.

We parked along the business's and held on.

These Harley's almost got swept away.

And what a lucky break that was....

Could not have asked for as better Pizza Joint...

Food was great, atmosphere, was good, and friends are fabulous.

This is what was going on in Custer to have us switch our Lunch Destination.......

Like we say.....you just gotta "Go with the Flow"

But we did make thru the Wildlife Loop and this big Bull Bison walked between our Jeeps and the roadside.

He looked directly into the side windows and never even flenched when Annie barked.

These three wanted Buffalo's...

They got Buffalo's

Looks like a happy trio..

Annie says...where's all those Buffalo going. I wanna play...... That sucks, lets go to the Needles Highway.  Wait...Wait...I think I want to bark some more, who are these guys?

Needles Highway is another must do if coming to the Black Hills......and it's even cooler on a Harley.

Again, pictures don't do it justice...

Jeeping thru the Black Hills...currently on.       www.youtube.com/jerrychafton

Day 7:

Scheduled departure time 8:30 am......Deadwood to Devil's Tower to Livingston, Montana.

This Lovely Lady sitting next to me had never seen the Devil's Tower....so.....

We took a little side trip on the way to Livingston, Montana to see it.

We will meet up with our Hoosier Hoodlums at the Campground.

It truly is a sight to see..

We ate an Old Fashion Hand Dipped Ice Cream, bought a couple jars of local Jam, took some pictures and just spent a few quiet minutes holding hands and walking around.

God is Good.....

This Adventure continues in the next Blog Post.....stay tuned.