Gillette Escapade Pre- and Post-HOP
June 26-27-28, 2008
July 5, 2008
Can you hear the call of the Old West? Where the deer and the antelope roam? OK, it’s a little sappy, but it’s true. If you are deciding on whether or not to attend the 30th anniversary of the Escapees RV Club, perhaps some great HOPs before and after the Escapade would help you decide. It would be wonderful to see some of the great sights of the West such as an overnight Yellowstone National Park tour, or Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial, and many more.
Below are listed the HOP events we have set up for Escapees members. You are welcome to attend more than one HOP. Registering for the Escapade is a prerequisite to registering for a HOP. Pre-event parking starts on Wednesday, June 25, and is full-hookup parking; this parking spot will be yours for the duration of the HOP and the Escapade, requiring upgraded parking for the Escapade. We hope you will be able to join us in Gillette, WY, and enjoy some great tours.
Devil’s Tower and Coal Mine Tour:
8:45 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Thursday, June 26; Saturday, June 28; and Saturday, July 5
This trip will start out with a visit to Devil’s Tower, broasted chicken lunch, and time for the gift shop and prairie dog town. On the way home, we’ll stop by the Eagle Butte Mine owned by Foundation Coal. This mine began operations in the Powder River Basin in the 1980s and has many years of reserves remaining. A step-on guide at the mine will give you facts, figures, and opportunities for great photos. This tour combines two of the highlights of northeastern Wyoming.
Tour price: $65 per person includes motorcoach transportation, guide, and entrance into park, taxes, and gratuities. Tour includes breakfast and lunch.
Presidents and Indians (Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, Vore Buffalo Jump):
8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Thursday, June 26; and Saturday, July 5
Tour Mount Rushmore in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. Between 1927 and 1941, Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers sculpted the 60-foot busts of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln to represent the first 150 years of American history. Sit back for the 2½-hour trip in our luxury bus and view scenic Spearfish Canyon and the wild Western countryside. Lunch will be at Mount Rushmore’s snack bar or Buffalo Dining Room (known for its buffalo stew and world-famous strawberry pie) on your own. You’ll want to stroll the Avenue of Flags, where each state is represented, and walk the Presidential Trail, which offers the closest viewpoints of the Mt. Rushmore faces. You’ll also have time to spend in the expanded gift shop and in the many exhibits explaining Mt. Rushmore’s colorful history.
Our next stop will be the Crazy Horse Memorial. “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too,” wrote Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear, inviting sculptor Korczak Ziolkovwski to carve a monument of Indian Chief Crazy Horse in the Black Hills. Started in 1948, the monument is still a work-in-progress. While at the monument, you’ll have time to visit the Native American Cultural Center, part of the Indian Museum of North America. During a typical season, dozens of Native American artists work and exhibit their creations. June 26 commemorates the anniversary of the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. Crazy Horse was a main strategist in the defeat of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his troops.
On the way back home, as we cross back over the Wyoming border, we’ll stop at the Vore Buffalo Jump. For over 300 years, the Plains Indians stampeded bison over the rim and into a deep natural “sink hole” at this site. It is believed that up to 20,000 of the shaggy bison were trapped at this one location. Each summer – for a limited few weeks – University of Wyoming students conduct archaeological digs at the site. Take the short trail down into the bottom of the Jump and see layers upon layers of bones and relics.
Tour price: $85 per person includes motorcoach transportation, guide, entrance fees, taxes, and gratuities. Breakfast is included.
Coal Mine Tour:
Thursday, June 26, 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon; Friday, June 27, 1:30-4:00 p.m.
Gillette is known as the Energy Capital of the Nation, due in part to the many coal mines in the area. See how the coal is mined from surface mines still containing billions of tons of low-sulfur coal. You’ll want to bring your camera to capture the size of truck tires the size of a two-story building. Depending on mine activities, you may see coal trains being loaded, explosions that loosen the dirt and the coal, 360-ton haul trucks bringing the coal to be processed, or giant draglines or shovels uncovering the coal from the ground. Learn about how coal was formed and how fossils and Indian relics have been found at the mines. This tour is close to Gillette, so you’ll only be gone a few hours.
Tour price: $45 per person includes motorcoach transportation, guide at the mine, taxes, and gratuities. Breakfast is included.
Little Bighorn Battlefield:
7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 28
Custer’s story begins long before the battle in 1876, as you’ll hear from your knowledgeable guide. As we get close to the Custer Battlefield, we’ll stop at the modern trading post and have a picnic lunch including authentic Native American fry bread. Little Bighorn National Monument is our next stop. It memorializes the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, which took place on June 25-26, 1876, between the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment led by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the Sioux and Cheyenne under the leadership of Sitting Bull. There will be many special activities as the park celebrates its anniversary the weekend of your visit. A visitor center and museum contain exhibits relating to the battle. The museum features exhibits of the history of the battle, Custer, weapons, archaeology, Plains Indian life, and a walking tour with interpretive markers. Adjoining the visitor center is Custer National Cemetery, which includes interments from abandoned frontier military posts, the world wars, Korea, and Vietnam.
Tour price: $85 per person includes motorcoach transportation, guide, and entrance into park, taxes, and gratuities. Tour includes breakfast and lunch.
Sheridan, WY – Voted Best Western Town in the Country:
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Friday, June 27; and Saturday, July 5
In 2006, Sheridan was selected by True West Magazine as the best Western town in America! Only an hour-and-a-half west of Gillette, you’ll see why when you visit this truly Western town. We’ll take you to Main Street where you can visit King’s Saddlery, one of the largest Western stores and museums in the nation; arts and crafts stores; divine dining spots; antique stores; clothing boutiques; and lots of opportunities to buy Western souvenirs and decorations. Ride the trolley for only $1, stopping at many popular locations during its continuous loop. Lunch is on your own. We’ll let you wander Sheridan’s historic district, museums, and restaurants for three hours, returning home to Gillette in plenty of time.
Suggested activities while in Sheridan:
*See the sights by trolley. Cost is $1 per ride. Stops include the Visitors Center, Historic Sheridan Inn, Main Street, Kendrick Park Ice Cream Stand, and Trail End Museum.
*Sheridan Inn – where Buffalo Bill held auditions for his Wild West Show; newly renovated Rib & Chop House Restaurant; on the National Register of Historic Places.
*Trail End State Historic Site – historic house museum features many original furnishings from WY Governor John Kendrick who lived here in the early 20th century. Kendrick was an orphan who trailed cattle to WY from Texas. He was self-educated and became one of the country’s wealthiest men.
*King’s Museum – Don King developed his own style, “the Sheridan Style,” saddle. His collection of memorabilia now makes up King’s Museum. The museum paints a picture of the Old West through artwork, silverwork, saddles, and Native America collections.
*Main Street – part of the National Main Street program of preserved historic Main Streets featuring turn-of-the-century architecture now filled with shops and restaurants.
Tour price: $45 per person includes motorcoach transportation, taxes, and gratuities. Breakfast is included.
Yellowstone National Park –America’s First National Park
7:00 a.m. departure day- return 10:00 p.m. next day
Friday, June 27, and return Saturday, June 28
We invite you to discover – or rediscover – Yellowstone National Park. During the late 1800s, when most of the West was undeveloped and wild, the wondrous geysers and hot springs, along with the bountiful wildlife, caused early explorers to realize they were standing on “sacred” ground. Your tour will leave Gillette in the early morning to allow for the drive over the Bighorn Mountains, through Cody, stopping for lunch at the Sunset House, and into the park. You’ll tour the Lower (southern) Loop, which includes the world-famous “Old Faithful,” the Lower Geyser Basin, the “Grand Canyon” of the Yellowstone, the Lower Falls, the Fishing Bridge, Yellowstone Lake, and countless varieties of wildlife, much of which are native only to this region. Your step-on guide is an expert on the Park and can answer your questions about the flora and fauna. You’ll spend the night at Grant’s Village. All rooms will be modern with a private bath. After a breakfast buffet at the Grant Village Dining Room, we’ll continue the Lower Loop tour until we leave the park, stopping at the Buffalo Bill Museum and Historical Center in Cody. Although we won’t have enough time to explore all the museum has to offer, you can get a glimpse of the magnitude of this site and put it on your list of places to visit again. Lunch will be at the historic Irma Hotel, named for Buffalo Bill’s daughter. After a relaxing trip back over the Bighorn Mountains, our last stop before home will be the Virginian in the Occidental Hotel in Buffalo. Packed with hungry diners every night, they’ll make room for you and serve you a delicious dinner of your choice of 3 entrees. After dinner, you’re only an hour away from Gillette and the comfort of your RV.
Tour price: $475. Per couple, $315. per person includes motorcoach transportation, step-on guide, park entrance fees, museum entrance fees, lodging, and baggage loading and unloading only, all meals, snacks on bus, all taxes, and gratuities.
Motorcycle HOP:
9:00 a.m. each day: Friday, June 27; and Saturday, June 28
Join Bud Carr and Bruce Schweichler as they ride their motorcycles through the beautiful Wyoming countryside. This is a two-day HOP with breakfast each day. Bud and Bruce will lead you through a scenic loop tour each day.
Tour price: $30 per person and includes breakfast each day and two days of led tours.
Other information to make your tours more enjoyable:
1. As hot as it may be during the day, when the sun goes down it can cool off considerably, often dropping as much as 30-40 degrees. A light jacket or sweatshirt is always a good idea.
2. Wyoming’s semi-arid climate calls for replacing lost moisture often during the day. Plan on taking a bottle of water, chapstick, and hand lotion for your comfort.
3. All motorcoaches are equipped with clean restrooms; however, we have also planned stops at visitor centers for additional facilities on our longer tours.
4. The Campbell County Chamber of Commerce (314 S. Gillette Ave.) has the downtown walking tour brochure for you to enjoy on your own leisure time. The brochure is free, and the tour is designed so you can stop and start the tour at your own pace. The tour covers sites such as the 1911 jail cell, the railroad that changed Gillette’s name, ghost sightings, and where Gillette’s semi-pro baseball team practiced in the early 1900s. Learn the history of your host community!
5. These HOP tours are not recommended for small children or for the handicapped, as they involve substantial walking and/or the buses are not handicap-accessible.
Pet Services:
The following small animal boarding services are available in Gillette.
Keystone Kennels at 307-686-2881
Animal Medical Clinic at 307-682-6831
John Henry’s Country Kennel at 307-682-3572
Minimum registration must be met for each HOP event; otherwise the event will be subject to cancellation. Full refunds would be given. The minimums have been met for all the above tours.
To register, please call the HOP department at 888-757-2582 or 936-327-8873 or e-mail hopinfo@escapees.com.
Cancellation insurance is available through Peterson Travel Services, CM #32. If you or a family member has a pre-existing condition, it must be purchased within 21 days of your initial payment. You can get more information about this insurance by calling John or Dorothy Peterson, SKP #81699, of Peterson Travel Services, at 800-737-6435, or email them at Dorothy@petersoncruises.com.
Short-term evacuation insurance is now available from SkyMed. For more information on this, you can call 337-263-3030 or e-mail Dick and Marilyn Rogers (SKP #61011) at rogers@skymed.com.
Please view the HOP Cancellation Policy.
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