According to the Map, We’ve only gone Four Inches!

July 7-25

We packed up our camp after a very fun trip from Florida to Niagara Falls. It is now time to concentrate on the next leg of our adventure. This journey will take us from Canada to Yellowstone National Park. 1,932 miles and 18 days of new sights and many hours on the road. This trek will take us approximately 28 hours of driving time, with new learning opportunities, I’m sure.

First stop, Middlebury, Indiana. This was not supposed to be our first stop. I have stated before that we are on a budget. We allowed for $60.00 a day for campground sites. After just paying an exorbitant amount of money for our site in Niagara Falls, ( more than our budget) I tried to get creative and find us a free or a small fee site for the next couple of stops. Our plan was a Travel Plaza off the interstate which offered electricity for $20.00, and our next stop would be a free parking spot at a casino in Michigan. The travel Plaza was a decent, safe, stop alongside big rigs and motorists. No frills, just a safe spot. Jim had been driving for nearly 5 hours at this point. He threw out the idea of moving forward and finding a campground with a pool instead of the travel plaza. He said he was up to it, so I found us a KOA , which was another hour and a half away. There aren’t many campgrounds along this stretch of the road, so finding this KOA was a winner. We will forgo the casino stop and stay here for 2 nights.

We are on a “National Park” destination adventure. These National Parks are the destination. The Badlands and Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, and then Yellowstone in Montana is where we want to get to. It takes many days of driving and many stops along the way to reach those destinations. When I planned our route I used an app called RV Parky. It is an interactive map that shows you all the campgrounds along the route. We decide how many hours we want to drive, and how many miles that will entail. I choose my spots by ratings and location. There are many campgrounds along the way. Some are shitholes. Some are too expensive. Some aren’t even open! We are staying in many State Parks and several Army Corp. of Engineers parks, which, with our America The Beautiful Senior Pass, are very reasonable. It only makes sense to me that if we go over budget on some of the “destination“ sites, I will make the cost up with my creativity. Also, these State Parks and COE campgrounds are on beautiful land and usually by the water. Because they are so beautiful and inexpensive, we will utilize them many times on our adventures.

We arrived at the campsite and had us some dinner. I spent some time rewriting my last blog after losing part of it to some dumb glitch. It’s hard to determine time lately. At 9:00 pm it is still very light outside. I don’t think it gets nighttime dark until around 10:00 pm! Very strange.

The nice lady in the campground office told us that we must go to the Amish town of Shipshewana. Shipshewana and the LaGrange County area (known as Amish Country, Indiana) are home to the third-largest Amish community in the United States. The simple and modest lifestyle of the Amish is both fascinating and endearing. First we had to drive the 2 miles to the Michigan State Line. I am on a mission to complete our state map which I proudly display on our RV. We did not have any stops in Michigan because we spent 3 weeks on Lake Michigan on our Great Loop adventure. But, I need the sticker and our rule is we just need to go over a state line to be able to put the sticker on.😂

We then drove the 15 minutes through the beautiful countryside towards Shipshewana. A vast, nothing but green pastures, beautiful farms, silos and many horses, cows and goats lined these back roads. Corn stalks lined the roads also. We later found out that these are “feed” corn stalks, not sweet corn, for feeding all the cows around the area. Horse and buggy carriages are a common site as these are a major form of transportation for these Amish folks. Traditional Amish people do not believe or utilize modern conveniences. You’d expect any population to adapt to changes and advancements, but the Amish follow a different road. They don’t use automobiles and mostly cycle or ride horses. If they need to do tasks that require the use of a car, like mechanized farming, they will hire a tractor. But they will hire a non-Amish individual to operate it.

They also do without TVs, radios, and other electronic gadgets. Most homes don’t have electricity, so it’s common to have lamps light their spaces when it gets dark. However, the Amish find solutions to live with some convenience and use generators and solar panels for electricity when they need it.

I found this town to be charming. There is a lot to do in this town of only 859 people. It is a major tourist town which seems odd to me considering how this community believes in God over money. But, a conglomerate called Blue Gate has a corner market on this town and many people are employed by this corporation. There is a big, beautiful restaurant called, what else-The Blue Gate which is 3 stories tall and offers home cooked comfort food with either a menu service or a buffet. We did have lunch here, and boy oh boy, was it ever good! There is a huge shopping area where you will find all kinds of knickknacks and homemade arts. There is the Blue Gate Preforming Arts Theater, and the Blue Gate Hotel. There is the Blue Gate Horse and Buggy tour station which offered us a ride through the town, for a fee, of course. Many small little shops line the 3 block area of Shipshewana. I walked the whole three blocks and was enamored by it’s cleanliness and kindness.

We really enjoyed our time here. Don’t miss this beautiful place if you are ever in the area!

I told you I am on a mission to add state stickers to my rv map. We have traveled the outer states previously from as far east to Maine and as far west to California. This adventure is to fill in the blank states in the middle. I also am collecting stickers from our travels. It is so fun and much cheaper than T-shirts!

Onward and definitely upward, our next stop is Two Rivers Wisconsin on Lake Michigan.

As we drove towards Wisconsin, the signs on the interstate started to read the way to Chicago. As always, we reminisced on our Great Loop adventure. Chicago was certainly a high point of that journey. It’s where we picked up Jennifer at O’Hare Airport and made her official crew! It’s where we began the River System that would begin to take us home. While driving, we crossed over the Cal-Sag river and I caught site of the first bridges we went under on that trek.

Memories flooded in and all I could think about for that moment was how glad I was to finally be off Lake Michigan which had held us hostage for almost 3 weeks because of weather. Now we were headed back to that big, gigantic ocean of a lake, but on the opposite side.

As we continued to drive and get closer to our destination, we caught glimpses of the lake. When we finally arrived at our campsite in Two Rivers Wisconsin, I was pleased as punch with our location. We literally were directly across the street from the Lake. The weather was cool and crisp and clean. The breeze off the lake was incredible and Jim was happy, which of course makes me happy! I set up half camp. Half camp is where I just bring out chairs. I don’t put a tablecloth and flowers on the picnic table 😂 I was in hog heaven when I discovered this hotel and rv resort had a indoor pool with a hot jacuzzi! Now, I love taking baths at night. Every night. We recently acquired a jacuzzi at home, which takes bathing to another level for me. Camping does not afford the luxury of such things, so, this was a very pleasant surprise. Trust and believe I used the jacuzzi 4 times in our 2 day stay.

On day two, we took a long bike ride on the trail running along the lake. It was nice and cool with the sun shining brightly. We rode into town and over to a marina which led to a jetty. I got my obligatory photo in the lake and we rode back to camp.

We were anxious to drive into Manitowoc where the car ferry The Badger was going to be docking after its journey across the lake from Luddington, Michigan. My Looper friends who read this will know what I’m talking about if you stopped in Luddington. If you don’t know what the Badger is, The Badger Carferry is the last coal-fired vessel operating on the Great Lakes and is a National Historic Landmark. This vessel shuttles passengers, cars, RV’S and Big Rigs from Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. We had entertained the idea of diving up the Michigan side of the Lake and actually taking the ferry across to Wisconsin, but with the hefty price of over $300 to do that, we opted out. Way better ways to spend that kind of money, like on stickers! She a huge vessel that drops it’s anchor in the turning basin and pivots around, on its anchor, to back it into the port. It’s fun to watch and we made it right on time. When we were bike riding I could see her out on the lake making her way in to Manitowoc.

We drove around the town for a bit in search of a place to buy a sticker, but, believe it or not, there were none to be found. We returned to camp, and I busied myself straightening up and doing a load of laundry. I’m always grateful when a camp we stay at has a laundry facility. It’s the little things, I know.

After another nice soak in the jacuzzi, the day had come to its end. Our next stop, Highland Ridge Campground in Spring Valley Wisconsin.

We are now headed West and getting closer to Yellowstone National Park. I have to tell you about driving through Wisconsin. It is so beautiful. There are miles and miles of nothing but greenery. Acres and acres of farmland dotted with beautiful old farm houses, silos, and lots of horses and cows. This is dairy country for sure. Wisconsin is known for it cheese, and this is where it all starts. A fun fact- It’s not hard to notice that some of these barns have what look to be quilt’s emblazoned on the sides of them. They are big and they are each unique and different from one another. Upon some google researching this is what I found to be true.

The barn quilts are generally chosen from a family's own colorful quilt pattern that has been passed down through the years. Then the family's quilt pattern is turned into public art on their own barn or other building. Barn quilts are a form of Americana folk art that can have a couple of different meanings. Some are made in dedication to a specific person and hung up on a family barn. Others may represent a family as a whole or a community. The patterns on barn quilts celebrate the heritage of their place. Simple geometric shapes are put together to mean something native to the people making these shapes. But, more than anything, they symbolize the closeness of a community.

Some even go on to symbolize the family history of quilters. These patterns have now taken a more artsy style, and some people have also begun hanging them in their living rooms and garages. Some barn quilt designs also take people back to the memories of the times they cherish.

I found the barn quilts to be heartwarming and I’d like one for my home.

We arrived after a 5 hour drive to our stop for the next three nights. Highland Ridge Campground in Spring Valley, Wisconsin. Another lush green back road delivered us to a “real” forest where we landed at our huge, open campsite, where our closest neighbor is a half a football field away. This 700 acre park surrounds Eau Galle Reservoir, that we will check out while we are here. Jim and I have camped at 59 unique campsites over the past few years, but this one takes the cake. This is camping. The sound of birds and the smell of campfire makes you feel like you are in another world. The cool air is an added bonus, and what we have been searching for since leaving Florida. We actually both put on long sleeves! A quiet sense of peace and a definite feeling of serenity overwhelms your senses.

After settling in, Jim made us a campfire. This is the first campfire we have ever made, and it made my heart smile. He pulled out his hatchet and chipped off some kindling. . I called him a Cub Scout and we laughed. It was a wonderful campfire and another first in our adventures.

The campground hostess told us about a cheese factory where they specialize in cheese curds. We like cheese curds! A 25 minute drive takes us to Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery was established in 1910. A dairy cooperative with 400 family dairy farms, Ellsworth specializes in the production of 500-pound barrel cheddar cheese and whey, bagged or bulk. In 1983, Ellsworth, Wisconsin, was proclaimed the "Cheese Curd Capital of Wisconsin"

We bought a few bags of “squeaky” cheddar cheese curds on the advice of a local woman who, upon looking at my shopping basket, which held cheese curds from the shelf of bulk curds, told me that “squeaky” curds are the ones made that day. There was a barrel of them and I put the ones I had back and picked up a few of them. They really are “squeaky” when you chew them. Squeaky cheese is young and fresh cheese curds, formed during making Cheddar cheese. They are so young, they make a squeaking sound when you chew on them due to their rubbery texture.

Now you know😂

After coffee in the morning, we set out to a town called Menomonie. We’ve been trying to get Jim’s medications refilled for days. Evidently the insurance company server that handles his meds has been down and we have had quite a time with trying to get them filled. You don’t appreciate your hometown local pharmacy when it come to refilling your medications until you are traveling and need to find a day and time that you are going to be in that said town. Add a downed server and we went through 3 states and finally got this CVS in Menomonie to come to our rescue. The pharmacist Ashley was a real trooper and she went to battle for us and won the fight! It is people like her that go the extra mile for people like us who deserve a pat on the back and a homemade thank you card from us.

We also got to an AA meeting where we met a new tribe and an 88 year old lady Ann, who used the word Fuck. She was awesome. It’s funny to me to hear someone that old use that word. I’m sure that will be me when I’m 88. 😂

Our time here at Highland Ridge Campground was really awesome. It was relaxing and so beautiful. I’d definitely come back here in the future if given the opportunity. I made another rock for the camp hostess and thanked her for her hospitality. Until next time-

So, I think I’ve mentioned our State travel map and how much fun it has been to put new state stickers on it as we pass through each state. The rule is we just have to drive through the state lines. We don’t have to stop and we don’t have to stay. When I first planned our trip I really thought I had gotten all the states in our plans. I knew we didn’t have North Dakota which was too far out of the way to consider a stop there as we traveled through South Dakota. As we were driving, I kept looking at the map and I found that not only were we not going through North Dakota, we also were not going to Michigan, Iowa or Nebraska. I was traumatized 😂 Something needed to be done about that and pronto! As you recall from our time in Indiana, we did drive three miles into Michigan. That was easy. Figuring out how to get to Iowa and Nebraska was a different story. I stated my concerns to Jim, who always entertains my silliness, figured out a way to get us to both of those states. We reconfigured our travel stops in South Dakota and drove to Grand Falls Casino and resort in Larchwood, Iowa, where we did leave another small donation to help the Iowa economy. This stop is right on the state lines of Iowa and South Dakota. Then, if going out of our way to get there wasn’t enough, Jim figured out that if we drove another hour and a half out of our way, in totally the wrong direction of where we needed to be, we could cross the Nebraska State Line. He’s such a trooper and I’m so grateful that he understands my issues with blank states on our map. Understandably, I get why we can’t go to North Dakota. I’m going to make a sticker of my own to go on that state. It’s probably going to say “Fuck North Dakota” !

Our drive from the forest in Spring Valley, Wisconsin to Iowa, Nebraska and up to South Dakota, took us through Minnesota and many miles of what we have been looking at for days now. Green rolling hills and small, small towns. Little main streets with cute little shops, and diners. Traveling in the rv is not much different than cruising on the boat. Each side of street, road, or interstate gives you something different to look at. It’s so interesting to see how people live and try to figure out where they shop. We drove through several places that did not have any grocery stores to speak of, no Walmart or Dollar General. Some homes and farms were gorgeous, some homes and farms were falling apart, and i ventured to guess, with a strong wind, might get blown to smithereens . Miles and miles of corn fields with a spotting of cows and horses roaming freely on the hillsides. Our USA is a beautiful, wonderful, plethora of Americana and I truly hope you get to see what we’ve seen one day.

We had the first glitch in our travels. Our air conditioner went kaput 🥵 ugh. Thank god for the World Wide Web and Facebook. We were able to find someone to come to us in a few days. It will cost a pretty penny because these mobile mechanics hold all the cards. The guy we found has to drive a hour and half to our campground in the Badlands. He will charge us for the service call and by the hour. Alas, we must have cold air, for it is hot out here and only going to get hotter as we move forward. The air quality around her is horrible from the Canadian fires. You can’t see the sky at all. Kind of looks like Los Angeles on any given day. Smoggy. Dark.

We went to Walmart and bought a stand alone air conditioning unit which will keep us cool until we get help. Jim always says “if you can fix a problem with time or money, it is not a problem” . I just love him. He always takes care of me and I am so grateful for him.

We drove over to the Corn Palace which is a staple here in Mitchell.

IN 1892, South Dakota was begging for settlers. In order to showcase their magnificently rich soil, local officials commissioned the building of the Corn Palace in the middle of Mitchell, a town that bills itself as the “Corn Capital of the World.”

The Corn Palace has been rebuilt several times since its initial construction, first as part of Mitchell’s unsuccessful 1905 bid to replace Pierre as the state capital, and later to enhance its status as a tourist attraction. The distinctive Russian onion domes and minarets were added in 1937.

Do not be misled: the Corn Palace is built out of concrete, not corn. However, each year, the entire exterior is redecorated in murals made out of corn and various other local grains and grasses. These decorative facades are redesigned annually around a different theme created by local artists. Decorations from years past are displayed inside the building itself.

Today the Corn Palace is used as a sports arena, music venue, and convention center. Each year a half-million humans–and even more squirrels–flock to marvel at the giant, corn-covered citadel.

Just another “corney” fun day!

Made from different colored ears of corn.

Mt. Rushmore

Westward Ho-

The lure of a five-cent cup of coffee is powerful.

For hundreds of miles along Interstate 90, billboard after billboard offers an impossibly cheap cup of liquid relief to ease highway hypnosis. They pop up with alarming frequency, along with hand-painted promises of free ice water, a roaring T-Rex, ice cream, belt buckles, and a rideable jackalope.

They all summon you, like a tractor beam of Americana, to a mythical roadside utopia called Wall Drug. Each sign is like a mile marker drawing you closer, pummeling its existence into your brain. By the time the exit for Wall, South Dakota approaches you pretty much can’t not stop.

Badlands National Park is an otherworldly destination that offers visitors an immersive experience of the natural beauty and geologic uniqueness of the region. The rugged canyons, towering spires, and colorful rock formations create an awe-inspiring landscape that is unlike anything else in the world. To me, the Badlands look like a 3D movie on crack. You don’t need any glasses to help make these formations pop right out in front of you. Around every turn in the road you’ll see the majestic landscapes which are the Badlands.

We drove what’s called the Badlands Scenic Loop, which is a 30 mile drive around this huge park. We saw prairies dogs a plenty. Also, 3 Bison lounging on a hillside and a beautiful swarm of nesting swallows who built their nests out of soft white mud.

Harsh to live in, the Badlands are a beautiful place to visit. Theodore Roosevelt said the Badlands do not seem to belong to this earth.

While at the KOA, the mobile Rv tech came to us. He diagnosed the problem, a broken fan blade, and addressed some cracks in the seams on the roof that needed to be fixed. Alas, he had no fan blade in his truck. It would need to be ordered and sent overnight. These guys really have the market on these kinds of services to travelers like us who need help. He was located in Rapid City, which is a 2 hour drive from this campground. At $350.00 for a service call, and $150.00 per hour, our $25.00 fan blade, with a $50.00 over night fee turned out to be a $800.00 day, and absolutely nothing was done! The kicker is, we are moving forward and BJ, the tech, will have to meet us at Custer State Park in a few days. With another service call, a bit cheaper at $130.00, because Rapid City is only an hour from Custer, BJ met us at our campsite and completed the job. $1700.00 later, we were all fixed up with a working air conditioner and hopefully enough caulking to keep us from a leaky roof in the future.

Custer State Park is in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Home of Mt. Rushmore. Our plan was to go visit Mt. Rushmore and drive a scenic wildlife drive the following day. Our plans changed drastically the following morning.

I’ve talked about Jim not feeling well practically this whole trip so far. At an elevation of 6400 feet, his lack of energy and shortness of breath were unfortunately exacerbated. On arising in the morning he proclaimed he was not ok. We had a pact that if he said those words, we would seek medical attention immediately. I thank God that we were at this park and not back in the Badlands where there was no help whatsoever.

I found us an emergency room just 8 minutes from us. I packed him up and off we went. We were both very scared. We were met by a wonderful doctor, Dr. Lisa Brown. I have to tell you, this doctor was so amazing and took his symptoms very seriously. She worked him up from head to toe. She ruled out any blood clots and even called Jim’s Cardiologist and his Laryngologist, Dr. Hrelec, who has been treating Jim’s mass in his larynx. One of our fears was that the mass had grown back over the last few weeks and was occluding his airway. That was not the case, thank goodness. She started to think it might be a cardiac issue, but since this hospital was so small, they did not have the equipment to do an echocardiogram. Dr. Lisa made phone calls and when Jim had stabilized after giving him oxygen and medications, we left with an oxygen condenser and went to Rapid City and saw a cardiologist who performed the echocardiogram. It was reported very fast that Jim’s heart was doing just fine which was a huge relief.

Jim has been on oxygen for a few days now and states he hasn’t felt this good in weeks. He is sleeping well, and he can breathe. If Jim has to be on oxygen for the rest of his life, I’m all for it and so is he. We are hoping that as we get to lower elevations, that he won’t need it, but we will see. I was ready to call this whole trip quits and head for home that morning. I would have rather been home and around his doctors and a good hospital than have to worry about being in the middle of nowhere with no help. As it turned out, we both agreed that we would move forward with our adventures and take things one day at a time. I’m so grateful to Dr. Lisa and everything she did for us. Jim felt so good with the oxygen therapy that we were able to do a drive by of Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument that is being sculpted now.

We are headed to Yellowstone National Park. It will take a few days of driving. We will cross a few state lines and this stop is one I have been looking forward to. It’s where the Buffalo roam. 🦬

Our first stop, Buffalo, Wyoming, just for the night. It was an uneventful drive and Jim felt great. The rv campground had a pool, which was a welcomed amenity. It’s hot here!

Today is Sunday July 23, as I write. Our drive to Yellowstone was over six hours. It is beautiful driving through Wyoming and into Montana. There are green plains, beautiful mountains and the sky goes on forever.

We arrived at our campground Yellowstone RV Park in Gardiner, Montana around 3 in the afternoon. We followed the Yellowstone River for quite awhile today, and our campground is right on this river.

The Yellowstone River begins on the slopes of Yount Peak in the Absaroka Range of Wyoming. It then flows through Yellowstone National Park, streaming in and out of Yellowstone Lake, and drops 422 feet into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The river runs out of the park in Gardiner, Montana, working its way eastward out of Montana and into North Dakota, where it eventually joins the Missouri River.

July 24, 2023

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM! 🎂

Today was a day I’ve been waiting for! Yellowstone National Park! I’ve seen videos of people who encounter buffalo and other wildlife and I for one was all about it! My dream on this day would be to drive the hour and a half from Gardiner to Old Faithful. To hopefully run into a Buffalo (not literally), and to witness Old Faithful Geyser in its full eruption. I was not expecting anything like what I witnessed. The beauty and grandeur of this National Park is amazing. It is big. Around every corner there was always something wonderful to behold. Huge rock formations and incredible waterfalls. There are so many geysers and the steam that is made by them is eerily breathtaking. In some places it looked like the ground was going to explode and if you listen closely you can actually hear the bubbling boiling water.

Geysers are hot springs that erupt periodically. The eruptions is the result of super-heated water below-ground becoming trapped in channels leading to the surface. The hottest temperatures are at the bottom of these channels (nearer the hot rock that heats the water) but the deep water cannot vaporize because of the weight of the water above. Instead, steam is sent upwards in bubbles, collecting in the channel’s tight spots until they essentially become clogged, leading to a point where the confined bubbles actually lift the water above, causing the geyser to overflow. This causes the pressure to decrease until suddenly violent boiling occurs throughout much the length of the column, producing a tremendous volume of steam which forces the water out of the vent in a superheated mass. This is an eruption. As the eruption continues, the heat and pressure gradually decrease, and the eruption stops when the water reservoir is depleted or the steam runs out. The two types of geysers are fountain geysers (which shoot water out in various directions through a pool) and cone geysers (which shoot water out in a fairly narrow jet, usually from a cone-like formation).

There were pools of the most incredible blue I have ever seen. You could feel the heat and the smell of sulfur permeating every inch of airspace .

We made it to Old Faithful right at 10:00 in the morning. We had planned to have breakfast at the Old Faithful Inn and then stay until Old Faithful erupted. Upon entering the lobby of the hotel, I saw that they stopped seating guests at the restaurant at 10:00. It was, I swear, 10:01 when I approached the host. He told me they were done seating and I pulled the “my husband is on oxygen and it took us awhile to walk up the hill” , and “it’s his birthday”, sob story. Low and behold, we were having breakfast at the inn. 😂 Timed perfection led us outside to witness the Old Faithful eruption just minutes after finding a place amidst the hundreds of our new best friends who came to join in celebrating Jim’s birthday!

We got to the car and headed back towards home. We stopped several times to take in all that we could before our day would come to an end. You could certainly spend days here in this park. We only saw a small part, but, I think it was the best part! We stopped at waterfalls. I waded in a river. I hiked a few miles at least during our day here. Unfortunately, Jim was not able to join me on these jaunts, but I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, Jim always entertains my wanderlust and was more than willing to wait patiently in the car for me to do my exploring. I’m going to now post some videos of things I witnessed. Some are a few minutes long. Get your popcorn.

The ultimate event happened for Jim and I as we drove down the road. It was as if our Gods said “Here it is”. “Here is your wish”. “Here is what you dreamed of”. “Happy Birthday Jim”

Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

Home, home on the Range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

If I died today, I’d be happy. We saw our Buffalo. Just one. Not a herd. Just one big beautiful Bull taking a stroll, right next to our car, which by the way, he was bigger than. Strolling along, not a care in the world. It was magical!

It was the perfect end to a perfect day. This seems to be a good place to end this novel. We have traveled for 18 days on this leg of our adventure and put over 4000 miles in total on the odometer. We have crossed 12 state lines. We have laughed and been amazed. We have had a few scary moments and managed to be able to accept it all with some humor.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

We are both looking forward to what is to come next. California here we come!

PHOTO DUMP