Thursday, September 25, 2008
homeward bound
We woke up around 4 due to the noise, laid around until around 6 and gave it up to get anymore sleep. So we packed and left. Stopping at Denny's for breakfast and then we hit the road. The mountains are behind us. Not to be seen again until our next vacation. Its sad. The weather is rainy and deary. The road.... very long, boring and not a bathroom to be seen for miles. Our coffee was a mistake. Finally we saw a roadside stop. Rick stopped and as he walked to the outhouse a huge swarm of mosquitoes flew up in a cloud. Bad side. They landed on the windows and were huge. Gee maybe I don't have to go that bad after all. Rick returned looking pale. You don't want to use that restroom he gasped. It is the worse yet. You wouldn't be able to sit, or breath, or maybe even live through it. Hummmm, sounds grim. Off we go toward town looking for a McDonald's. Right outside of the town I see a park. With a new restroom. Would it be clean? We had been having terrible luck in Colorado with the rest stops. Was it a teenagers nationals past time to trash the pit stops? Kind of like tipping cows or Tee peeing houses in other towns? Still, I had had the endless pot of coffee at Denny's. Me with the bladder of a gnat. 100 miles ago. So we pulled in and I went in. Heaven. Clean, sparkling clean, smelled good. Working faucets. Toilets that flush. Paper towels. Yippy. It really is the little things in life, LOL. On our travels we hadn't seen many highway patrol. Maybe 3 in 3000 miles. No one drives the speed limit. That all changed when we hit Nebraska. All of a sudden about every 15 miles there was a highway patrolman with a speeder pulled over. We slowed down and stopped following the flow. What a bummer to end our trip with a ticket. So crawling along at 75 we worked our way home. The sun started peaking out and we were making good time. At this rate we should make it to town around 3:30 and could eat at our favorite restaurant before going home. I called my son to tell him the good news where he proceeded to remind me we were out of mountain time now and it was a hour later then we thought. Bummer. That meant we would be hitting Omaha at rush hour. Bigger Bummer. That would put it closer to 6 or 7 if we didn't get stuck in traffic behind a accident like happened to us last time. Why is it once you decide to go home you just want it to be over. Blink your eyes and be there. For the first time I was cramped in our van. Our tempers were short. And we did hit rush hour traffic from Lincoln Nebraska on. But no accidents. So we crept along and finally at 6:45 we pulled up at Sweet Fannies for supper and then home. Heaven. We got home and Zoey glued herself to us. We visited with our son and both talked at once about our trip. It had been wonderful. Expensive but wonderful. We put on a little over 4000 miles. 4000 miles of beautiful country. By the next day we are already planning the next trip. We can't wait.
Leaving Vernal we hit HWY 40. It is a long straight road that the Halaburton oil trucks use. Littered along side the road on both sides are bottles, beer and water like they just drive and toss it out of the windows. There antelope on both side of the highway and it was just a lovely day to travel. The speed limit seems to be whatever your comfortable driving in this state and everyone was over the speed limit. On the straights though it was fine. This is dinosaur country. We took pictures often. To Cache dey Poudre National Forest and Canyon. It was weird. So many of the tall trees are dying. In places more dead then living. Here is this beautiful forest with brown trees all over. I know in the black hills they say they have gotten a beatle that is killing the trees. I wonder if they are here also.
This is another very very tall mountain where they seem to delight in letting cattle run loose. Going around a hairpin it isn't unusual to have a cow in the road. We went to through high mountain aspen groves and saw deer all over. Again trout streams all over. We drove through Cameron Pass which was at 10,600 ft. Rick was checking out the altimeter on his watch like crazy all the way down. Next to the road runs a stream that is a favorite of fisherman. They were all over. Small water falls, rapids, it was just beautiful. The deeper in the canyon you get the higher the wall around you. Winding road which one crazy woman tried to pass on the outside with a double yellow and almost gave us a heart attack. She made it back to her side. Why do people do that?
We stopped in Steamboat Springs to use the park restroom. Getting out of the car we were struck by this rotten egg type smell. The park had a hot spring hole and it was steaming and smelling us a storm. Going to the restroom I found it had been totally trashed and was unusable. That seemed to be true most of the way through Colorado. Now a woman likes a nice clean spot to stop. Yellowstone was a dream come true. I travel with disinfectant wipes and gloves, hand sanitizer and my own tissue. But nothing could fix the filthy rest stops in Steamboat. Either the door didn't work, they were trashed or people had smeared the unmentionable on the walls. Why do people do that? I finally stopped a McDonalds. They always have clean restrooms.
Steamboat springs would be a nice town if your under 30, have no body fat and like to do sports. It was very busy. We stopped and watch some children in their kayaking class. That was fun. After stretching for awhile we drove on.
Past Walden we saw a huge bull moose crossing the road. I jumped out of the car to get pictures. It was just huge. It stopped briefly in the middle of the road to look at me and then jumped the fence like it was nothing. It was my first bull moose and I was thrilled.
Finally after driving through the canyon for hours and hours we drove to Ft. Collins Colorado. Another college town. Very busy. After all the hours on lonely long highways I am anxious in crowded towns. We checked into a motel and went to Old Chicago for supper. I think it was the first meal and we were hungry. Tomorrow we start home. The motel was OK. A large motel with lots of empty rooms they insisted on giving us a room next to someone who had a grill and cooler set outside his room. He was up the entire night talking outside the window with people who came and went. Drug dealers? Who knows but of all the rooms, why stick us there. We weren't as lucky with our motel rooms as we were getting tables at restaurants.
This is another very very tall mountain where they seem to delight in letting cattle run loose. Going around a hairpin it isn't unusual to have a cow in the road. We went to through high mountain aspen groves and saw deer all over. Again trout streams all over. We drove through Cameron Pass which was at 10,600 ft. Rick was checking out the altimeter on his watch like crazy all the way down. Next to the road runs a stream that is a favorite of fisherman. They were all over. Small water falls, rapids, it was just beautiful. The deeper in the canyon you get the higher the wall around you. Winding road which one crazy woman tried to pass on the outside with a double yellow and almost gave us a heart attack. She made it back to her side. Why do people do that?
We stopped in Steamboat Springs to use the park restroom. Getting out of the car we were struck by this rotten egg type smell. The park had a hot spring hole and it was steaming and smelling us a storm. Going to the restroom I found it had been totally trashed and was unusable. That seemed to be true most of the way through Colorado. Now a woman likes a nice clean spot to stop. Yellowstone was a dream come true. I travel with disinfectant wipes and gloves, hand sanitizer and my own tissue. But nothing could fix the filthy rest stops in Steamboat. Either the door didn't work, they were trashed or people had smeared the unmentionable on the walls. Why do people do that? I finally stopped a McDonalds. They always have clean restrooms.
Steamboat springs would be a nice town if your under 30, have no body fat and like to do sports. It was very busy. We stopped and watch some children in their kayaking class. That was fun. After stretching for awhile we drove on.
Past Walden we saw a huge bull moose crossing the road. I jumped out of the car to get pictures. It was just huge. It stopped briefly in the middle of the road to look at me and then jumped the fence like it was nothing. It was my first bull moose and I was thrilled.
Finally after driving through the canyon for hours and hours we drove to Ft. Collins Colorado. Another college town. Very busy. After all the hours on lonely long highways I am anxious in crowded towns. We checked into a motel and went to Old Chicago for supper. I think it was the first meal and we were hungry. Tomorrow we start home. The motel was OK. A large motel with lots of empty rooms they insisted on giving us a room next to someone who had a grill and cooler set outside his room. He was up the entire night talking outside the window with people who came and went. Drug dealers? Who knows but of all the rooms, why stick us there. We weren't as lucky with our motel rooms as we were getting tables at restaurants.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
9/06/08
I slept great again, thank goodness for sleeping pills. We went to the Teton Steak house for breakfast. They had a breakfast buffet which was good, great service and dark coffee. Yummy and the price was great. Then off to the Tetons for more pictures. They are just stunning. Neither camera, actually photographer could do them justice.
See the glacier on the mountain.
We drove to the lakes and passed streams were people were fly fishing again.
I stopped to get pictures and sat on this old bridge to get a better shot. Well it turned out to be a dirty bridge and I got grease all over my pants. But it was worth it as I think the shot looks pretty.
We did some hiking but not much as we still had a long way to go. The every present warning about grizzle bears makes you nervous also but it must not make the regulars nervous as there were many people backpacking. I wish we had more times.
Then we started on for the next part of our day. We always like traveling by the old highways instead of interstate.
We chose wisely today. We decided to take the old Flaming Gorge highway. HWY 43, 44 and then 191. Climbing up and down mountains. We saw numerous deer. Very pretty country. Cattle on steep mountain corners. Rick has this man thing of checking his watches altimeter at every mountain top. Finally he gets to use this function on this watch. Here we are going around 15 steep hairpin turns on the tops of mountains with 7800 ft drops and he's checking his watch to see if it the same as on the sign. Yikes. Keep your eyes on the road I grip. Who cares how far we have to fall if you drive off the edge. It still scares me on those turns. One steep hill was a 8.5 downhill grade with hairpin turns. 2 semi' cautiously making their way behind us. One the signs along side the road it says, only 6 more left, only 5 more left.... Ears popping every few thousand feet.
But what a beautiful road. Flaming Gorge with its red canyon walls and sapphire blue water. At the top of a mountain we stopped at the lookout to get a couple of pictures.
Rick is as happy as a lark standing at the edge of the world.
Have I mentioned before this is a beautiful country?
Tonight we only made it to Vernal, Utah Those mountain roads take forever to drive. The downtown is lovely with large baskets of petunia lining the entire main street. We got a so so room and had a so so meal and then hit the hay. We had hoped to make Steamboat Springs but were about 150 miles short. Still it was such a lovely day it didn't matter. We are slowly working our way back to home.
See the glacier on the mountain.
We drove to the lakes and passed streams were people were fly fishing again.
I stopped to get pictures and sat on this old bridge to get a better shot. Well it turned out to be a dirty bridge and I got grease all over my pants. But it was worth it as I think the shot looks pretty.
We did some hiking but not much as we still had a long way to go. The every present warning about grizzle bears makes you nervous also but it must not make the regulars nervous as there were many people backpacking. I wish we had more times.
Then we started on for the next part of our day. We always like traveling by the old highways instead of interstate.
We chose wisely today. We decided to take the old Flaming Gorge highway. HWY 43, 44 and then 191. Climbing up and down mountains. We saw numerous deer. Very pretty country. Cattle on steep mountain corners. Rick has this man thing of checking his watches altimeter at every mountain top. Finally he gets to use this function on this watch. Here we are going around 15 steep hairpin turns on the tops of mountains with 7800 ft drops and he's checking his watch to see if it the same as on the sign. Yikes. Keep your eyes on the road I grip. Who cares how far we have to fall if you drive off the edge. It still scares me on those turns. One steep hill was a 8.5 downhill grade with hairpin turns. 2 semi' cautiously making their way behind us. One the signs along side the road it says, only 6 more left, only 5 more left.... Ears popping every few thousand feet.
But what a beautiful road. Flaming Gorge with its red canyon walls and sapphire blue water. At the top of a mountain we stopped at the lookout to get a couple of pictures.
Rick is as happy as a lark standing at the edge of the world.
Have I mentioned before this is a beautiful country?
Tonight we only made it to Vernal, Utah Those mountain roads take forever to drive. The downtown is lovely with large baskets of petunia lining the entire main street. We got a so so room and had a so so meal and then hit the hay. We had hoped to make Steamboat Springs but were about 150 miles short. Still it was such a lovely day it didn't matter. We are slowly working our way back to home.
9/05/08
We didn't get the free breakfast after all as we decided to go back to Grannies. It was very good. Our timing was once again perfect. We got seated right before the pack filled the place up and from there on there was a waiting list. Now back to Yellowstone.
Today the weather was sunny and just beautiful. The pictures should turn out better.
Driving in we saw a female moose and her calf eating along side the road.
Then on to the park.
You really need at least 4 days to do the park and more to hike and see it all. Even with so much of it burned it is beautiful.
The fire area's are even interesting as you see how a forest recovers from a fire throughout the years. The first one from 10 years ago has new growth taller then me and the ones from this week just look sad. Wildflowers all over. There is a controlled burn going on so occasionally you get a whiff of smoke. Which smells much better then the mud pots by the way.
Today we saw sandhill cranes which are migrating through the park right now.
We saw mud flats, steam vents, waterfalls, lakes and mountains.
I gave Rick the Soni and I took the canon so we both have shots and Rick got some great ones. The colors are just beautiful also.
We did some backtracking to see things we didn't getto see the day before and then drove on through the park to the Grand Tetons. Coming around a corner 8 hours later, framed in a V in the road with trees on each side was our first view of the Tetons.
I have always wanted to see them and they were just as impressive and breathtaking as I had hoped. I snapped away as we drove by them but it was now dark and misty and we didn't stop
Years before my in laws had taken a trip for the summer and visited all the parks with my sons. My FIL kept saying, another beautiful panoramic view. We teased him but now I now why. Each corner brings a new wonder to view. These are the most impressive mountains I have ever seen. Snow capped and dark rugged peaks. We drive by a large lake with them on the other side for miles. We didn't get to linger long as we wanted to get to Jackson Hole before dark and we will be coming back tomorrow so we drove on.
Finally we made it to Jackson Hole and got a room at the Flat Creek inn. Very overpriced room just like one we had gotten for half that price in every other town. Jackson Hole is a rich persons tourist trap type place with lots of extremely overpriced items for sell and very very busy. People walking all over and right out in front of you if you weren't careful. The decor is neat, all log buildings. Lots of Eddie Bauer type clothing here. People are dressed like rich hunters or rich fly fisherman. College kids all over. Not my type of town. I like Cody better but still a pretty town and truthfully we weren't there long enough to know.
We went to Snake River Brewing to eat and when we first walked in I was dismayed to see how busy and noisy it was. I was tired and just wanted a beer and meal and then sleep in that order. However. The beer was tasty, the foodwas great and I relaxed once we were seated. Once again getting the last table in the room. Rick had the Green Chili Burritoand I had this great spiced chicken on linguine. It was just yummy. Huge portion again and my diet is definitely shot.
Today the weather was sunny and just beautiful. The pictures should turn out better.
Driving in we saw a female moose and her calf eating along side the road.
Then on to the park.
You really need at least 4 days to do the park and more to hike and see it all. Even with so much of it burned it is beautiful.
The fire area's are even interesting as you see how a forest recovers from a fire throughout the years. The first one from 10 years ago has new growth taller then me and the ones from this week just look sad. Wildflowers all over. There is a controlled burn going on so occasionally you get a whiff of smoke. Which smells much better then the mud pots by the way.
Today we saw sandhill cranes which are migrating through the park right now.
We saw mud flats, steam vents, waterfalls, lakes and mountains.
I gave Rick the Soni and I took the canon so we both have shots and Rick got some great ones. The colors are just beautiful also.
We did some backtracking to see things we didn't getto see the day before and then drove on through the park to the Grand Tetons. Coming around a corner 8 hours later, framed in a V in the road with trees on each side was our first view of the Tetons.
I have always wanted to see them and they were just as impressive and breathtaking as I had hoped. I snapped away as we drove by them but it was now dark and misty and we didn't stop
Years before my in laws had taken a trip for the summer and visited all the parks with my sons. My FIL kept saying, another beautiful panoramic view. We teased him but now I now why. Each corner brings a new wonder to view. These are the most impressive mountains I have ever seen. Snow capped and dark rugged peaks. We drive by a large lake with them on the other side for miles. We didn't get to linger long as we wanted to get to Jackson Hole before dark and we will be coming back tomorrow so we drove on.
Finally we made it to Jackson Hole and got a room at the Flat Creek inn. Very overpriced room just like one we had gotten for half that price in every other town. Jackson Hole is a rich persons tourist trap type place with lots of extremely overpriced items for sell and very very busy. People walking all over and right out in front of you if you weren't careful. The decor is neat, all log buildings. Lots of Eddie Bauer type clothing here. People are dressed like rich hunters or rich fly fisherman. College kids all over. Not my type of town. I like Cody better but still a pretty town and truthfully we weren't there long enough to know.
We went to Snake River Brewing to eat and when we first walked in I was dismayed to see how busy and noisy it was. I was tired and just wanted a beer and meal and then sleep in that order. However. The beer was tasty, the foodwas great and I relaxed once we were seated. Once again getting the last table in the room. Rick had the Green Chili Burritoand I had this great spiced chicken on linguine. It was just yummy. Huge portion again and my diet is definitely shot.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
9/4/08
I slept great and am enjoying a cup of coffee in the room. We only found out today that the mountains we drove through, and the forest were the Big Horn National Forest. This is trout fishing country. We saw so many beautiful streams and many of them had people fishing. I would love to learn how.
We decided to stay another day so I called the front desk to see if we could get the room for another night. They said this one was rented but they had another they could give us for the same rate. OK, cool. They said that room was already ready so we drove to the front desk and got the key and paid. Went back to the room and opened the door, nope not ready. Turns out it is right across from where we were staying. Strange. Why didn't they just clean this one and give it to the people who were coming and keep us in the same room? I talked to the housekeeping manager who said it didn't make sense either but admitted the people at the desk didn't always know what was going on in the cabins in the back. They would clean the room and get it ready for us. So.
We parked the van and walked around Cody. Such a pretty town. They have painted bear like we have painted prairie dogs here. I made Rick pose by a couple.
We did some shopping and I got a job offer. Now wouldn't that be nice. Then we stopped at the coffee shop, the Beta and got strong coffee with espresso.
Now that picked me right up. Then we walked to Grannies for a skillet brunch and then went back to see if the cabin was ready.
Nope. The manager was very very nice and we talked to him about how to get to Yellowstone and how long it would take. He told us the best way to do it. See some today, and then in the morning go back and turn so we could get to the Tetons. We were getting a much later start then we wanted so wouldn't be able to see it all. And it let me into the cabin so I could go to the bathroom. Now we were ready.
It was a long drive and we got todrive through a long tunnel.
. We stopped at the Buffalo Bill damn for pictures and then went to Yellowstone. The weather was overcast and spitting rain. We passed a fresh forest fire at the Shoshone national forest. The foot and a half of snow they had on the 1st is what put it out. I was a long drive to get there. Nice drive though.
It was a nice drive and we had a wonderful rock filled trout stream running along side the road most of the way.
There are reminders along side the stream that humans are not the only ones who enjoy fishing at the stream and we saw fresh bear scat and tracks. I kept my eyes open.
We hadn't quite realized it was as far as it was to Yellowstone from Cody. It was a beautiful drive though and occasionally the sun peaked out.
There is evidence all over of the huge fires in Yellowstone. At first you wonder if any trees left in yellowstone.
The weather was overcast and spitting rain. Cold cold cold. It was 2:30 by the time we got to the park.
Most of my pictures were terrible due to the rain.
We saw moose, elk, buffalo again. In fact we got stalled by the buffalo. I was happy the roads in Yellowstone, while windy and steep were wider then some of the mountain roads we had been on. Coming out of rocks all along the drive were waterfalls from the recent snow melt.
Flowers everywhere.
It is just beautiful. On one large lake along side of the road steam rises from underground hot springs.
This is repeated allover the park. It reminds you that we are on a large active volcano. I suppose as long as it is letting off steam we are fine.
I kept stopping to take pictures which didn't turn out for the most part and that turned out to be our downfall. We finally got to old faithful just in time to see it ending. We then had to wait 90 minutes for it to go off again. It was cold, in the 30's and spitting rain. We walked around and looked at the others and then waited. Tell the truth, it was not worth the hypothermia. We sat in the wrong place so we only saw steam coming at us and I was so cold I was just happy it was time to leave.
Burrrr. I was happy to see it though. Now I know why they have medic's in the park. To treat the frozen guests. The lodge was very cool though. Rick touched the water in the streams that run away from the geyser and it was cool.
In the parking lot we saw a truck that was so awesome. It was from South Africa. The windows were all barred and on the side was a world map with a red line showing where all they had been. It was the kind of truck that would go through streams and rivers, over deserts and mountains alike.
In the van I was so happy for the heated seats. I was not dressed for 37 degree weather.
Now we had the joy of driving 100miles back to Cody. It didn't seem like we had driven that far to get here but it sured seemed like that going home. Now we had to drive down the mountain. And it was foggy, rain mixed with snow and the temps were dropping. We were praying it wouldn't ice up and remembered that just 3 days ago they had had a foot and a half of snow here. Sure didn't want any of that on this steep winding road. We were lucky to be almost the only ones on the road. The parkis empty at this time of night with most people staying at lodges or cabins or campers and not leaving like us.
We saw buffalo on the road. It is hard to get them to move to the side. They are so big and not real friendly so you let them walk where they want. Beautiful fox along side the road and a great horned elk trotting through a meadow. I took pictures again at the lake.
The temp only got down to 35 so no freezing and we finally got back to town at 9:30. How nice to get back to our little cabin which was now ready and welcoming for us. They had put a silk rose, 2 free breakfast passes and a note of appology for the mix up of this morning. We were amused to see the cabin we had had to vacate this morning still sitting empty. It was too late to go anywhere to eat so we were glad we had a late brunch. Dinner tonight, sausage, cheese and crackers and bed. Tomorrow....free breakfast, back to Yellowstone and thenthe Grand Tetons.
We decided to stay another day so I called the front desk to see if we could get the room for another night. They said this one was rented but they had another they could give us for the same rate. OK, cool. They said that room was already ready so we drove to the front desk and got the key and paid. Went back to the room and opened the door, nope not ready. Turns out it is right across from where we were staying. Strange. Why didn't they just clean this one and give it to the people who were coming and keep us in the same room? I talked to the housekeeping manager who said it didn't make sense either but admitted the people at the desk didn't always know what was going on in the cabins in the back. They would clean the room and get it ready for us. So.
We parked the van and walked around Cody. Such a pretty town. They have painted bear like we have painted prairie dogs here. I made Rick pose by a couple.
We did some shopping and I got a job offer. Now wouldn't that be nice. Then we stopped at the coffee shop, the Beta and got strong coffee with espresso.
Now that picked me right up. Then we walked to Grannies for a skillet brunch and then went back to see if the cabin was ready.
Nope. The manager was very very nice and we talked to him about how to get to Yellowstone and how long it would take. He told us the best way to do it. See some today, and then in the morning go back and turn so we could get to the Tetons. We were getting a much later start then we wanted so wouldn't be able to see it all. And it let me into the cabin so I could go to the bathroom. Now we were ready.
It was a long drive and we got todrive through a long tunnel.
. We stopped at the Buffalo Bill damn for pictures and then went to Yellowstone. The weather was overcast and spitting rain. We passed a fresh forest fire at the Shoshone national forest. The foot and a half of snow they had on the 1st is what put it out. I was a long drive to get there. Nice drive though.
It was a nice drive and we had a wonderful rock filled trout stream running along side the road most of the way.
There are reminders along side the stream that humans are not the only ones who enjoy fishing at the stream and we saw fresh bear scat and tracks. I kept my eyes open.
We hadn't quite realized it was as far as it was to Yellowstone from Cody. It was a beautiful drive though and occasionally the sun peaked out.
There is evidence all over of the huge fires in Yellowstone. At first you wonder if any trees left in yellowstone.
The weather was overcast and spitting rain. Cold cold cold. It was 2:30 by the time we got to the park.
Most of my pictures were terrible due to the rain.
We saw moose, elk, buffalo again. In fact we got stalled by the buffalo. I was happy the roads in Yellowstone, while windy and steep were wider then some of the mountain roads we had been on. Coming out of rocks all along the drive were waterfalls from the recent snow melt.
Flowers everywhere.
It is just beautiful. On one large lake along side of the road steam rises from underground hot springs.
This is repeated allover the park. It reminds you that we are on a large active volcano. I suppose as long as it is letting off steam we are fine.
I kept stopping to take pictures which didn't turn out for the most part and that turned out to be our downfall. We finally got to old faithful just in time to see it ending. We then had to wait 90 minutes for it to go off again. It was cold, in the 30's and spitting rain. We walked around and looked at the others and then waited. Tell the truth, it was not worth the hypothermia. We sat in the wrong place so we only saw steam coming at us and I was so cold I was just happy it was time to leave.
Burrrr. I was happy to see it though. Now I know why they have medic's in the park. To treat the frozen guests. The lodge was very cool though. Rick touched the water in the streams that run away from the geyser and it was cool.
In the parking lot we saw a truck that was so awesome. It was from South Africa. The windows were all barred and on the side was a world map with a red line showing where all they had been. It was the kind of truck that would go through streams and rivers, over deserts and mountains alike.
In the van I was so happy for the heated seats. I was not dressed for 37 degree weather.
Now we had the joy of driving 100miles back to Cody. It didn't seem like we had driven that far to get here but it sured seemed like that going home. Now we had to drive down the mountain. And it was foggy, rain mixed with snow and the temps were dropping. We were praying it wouldn't ice up and remembered that just 3 days ago they had had a foot and a half of snow here. Sure didn't want any of that on this steep winding road. We were lucky to be almost the only ones on the road. The parkis empty at this time of night with most people staying at lodges or cabins or campers and not leaving like us.
We saw buffalo on the road. It is hard to get them to move to the side. They are so big and not real friendly so you let them walk where they want. Beautiful fox along side the road and a great horned elk trotting through a meadow. I took pictures again at the lake.
The temp only got down to 35 so no freezing and we finally got back to town at 9:30. How nice to get back to our little cabin which was now ready and welcoming for us. They had put a silk rose, 2 free breakfast passes and a note of appology for the mix up of this morning. We were amused to see the cabin we had had to vacate this morning still sitting empty. It was too late to go anywhere to eat so we were glad we had a late brunch. Dinner tonight, sausage, cheese and crackers and bed. Tomorrow....free breakfast, back to Yellowstone and thenthe Grand Tetons.
9/3/08
Off to
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument . We listening to the rangers talk which was very interesting. The weather was trying to rain at times and breezing. Then we walked around and looked over the site. It is so sad. Each side fighting for its own way of life and not budging in the least. The graves look so sad on the hillsides.
Then back on the road again. I love Montana. Open ranges, no government fences, beautiful. Each state is beautiful in its own way. You see lots of 4 X 4 trucks in this state. Long lonely roads. After driving for miles we entered Wyoming.
Again another beautiful state. In the distance we could see these big beautiful mountains. How cool.
When your from Iowa mountains just impress the heck out of you. There was snow on the tops and low laying clouds. These are the Big horn Mountains. Check out this photo galary on line. Great pictures. Now the temps have dropped to the 40's. 106 two days ago, 40's today. What a temperature change.
I didn't realize we were going to be driving up these very big mountains. And down. Wow. Just beautiful. We drove through clouds and then above them. Up high enough the tops were bare. Above the tree lines. My pictures just can't do it justice. We saw the medicine wheel at the top. And Snow!
Then down. I was shaking in my crocs at the steep descent.
Wouldn't you hate to be a truck driving and have to use the run a way ramp? They should have a changing room at the top because I would definitely have to change my pants.
When we got to the bottom we drove on a bridge that went right through a big lake. The water was down but it was still pretty. It was called Big Horn Lake.
Our next stop? Cody Wyoming.
We rented this charming little wood cabin located behind the Holiday inn. Buffalo Bill Village Cabins. They drive you back there in a golf cart to check out the room. They are clean and cute and each room has a stuffed buffalo to cuddle up with. I was charmed.
We cleaned up and went out to eat at Bubba's rib shack.
We have been so lucky with eating out. We will go to a place that is packed and still get seated right away at the last table. No wait at all. Ton's of people behind us waiting as tables get empty. It was this way the entire trip. anyway at Bubba's once again more foodthen I could possibly eat but Rick shared my meal. The food is great and I recommend it if you go there.
I really liked the town and there is so much to see I wanted to stay another day. The rooms are pricey so we shall see. We walked around and I got some knives for our sons. Then back to the room to sleep. Another great day.
Then back on the road again. I love Montana. Open ranges, no government fences, beautiful. Each state is beautiful in its own way. You see lots of 4 X 4 trucks in this state. Long lonely roads. After driving for miles we entered Wyoming.
Again another beautiful state. In the distance we could see these big beautiful mountains. How cool.
When your from Iowa mountains just impress the heck out of you. There was snow on the tops and low laying clouds. These are the Big horn Mountains. Check out this photo galary on line. Great pictures. Now the temps have dropped to the 40's. 106 two days ago, 40's today. What a temperature change.
I didn't realize we were going to be driving up these very big mountains. And down. Wow. Just beautiful. We drove through clouds and then above them. Up high enough the tops were bare. Above the tree lines. My pictures just can't do it justice. We saw the medicine wheel at the top. And Snow!
Then down. I was shaking in my crocs at the steep descent.
Wouldn't you hate to be a truck driving and have to use the run a way ramp? They should have a changing room at the top because I would definitely have to change my pants.
When we got to the bottom we drove on a bridge that went right through a big lake. The water was down but it was still pretty. It was called Big Horn Lake.
Our next stop? Cody Wyoming.
We rented this charming little wood cabin located behind the Holiday inn. Buffalo Bill Village Cabins. They drive you back there in a golf cart to check out the room. They are clean and cute and each room has a stuffed buffalo to cuddle up with. I was charmed.
We cleaned up and went out to eat at Bubba's rib shack.
We have been so lucky with eating out. We will go to a place that is packed and still get seated right away at the last table. No wait at all. Ton's of people behind us waiting as tables get empty. It was this way the entire trip. anyway at Bubba's once again more foodthen I could possibly eat but Rick shared my meal. The food is great and I recommend it if you go there.
I really liked the town and there is so much to see I wanted to stay another day. The rooms are pricey so we shall see. We walked around and I got some knives for our sons. Then back to the room to sleep. Another great day.
Monday, September 22, 2008
9/2/08
We got started early but sure didn't get very far. We stopped at Fort Buford. First we went to the visitors center and then to the fort. The visitor center is where the Yellowstone river meets the Missouri. The fort is where Sitting Bull surrendered thus ending the Indian Wars. We stood in the very room. I have read some books on the Indian wars so I found this very interesting. The guide giving the talk was amazing. We also walked through the graveyard and I got some pictures. Most people had died of disease, very few from actual fights with the Indians. There are indian scouts and soldiers as well as civilians.
We were the only visitors and Rick asked so many questions that it was late by the time we got back on the road. So on we went to Montana, the big sky country.
We hit mountain time again so all of a sudden it wasn't so late, back an hour. Cool. We drove the longest loneliest road. Highway 200 which turns into 16 and then interstate 94. It took us hours and it was late enough we didn't try to make Billings. So here we are at Econolodge in Miles City, Montana. Now to find a place to eat. We had eaten breakfast at Dakota Farms in Williston this morning but it is almost 7.
We were told about a restaurant we decided to try and were very pleased with. We ate at the Cattle-ac. Wonderful Mexican food. I had the best chicken and was stuffed. The servings are way to large here and I am not exercising enough to be eating like this. But it is wonderful. Then back to the motel to rest. Another just wonderful day.
We were the only visitors and Rick asked so many questions that it was late by the time we got back on the road. So on we went to Montana, the big sky country.
We hit mountain time again so all of a sudden it wasn't so late, back an hour. Cool. We drove the longest loneliest road. Highway 200 which turns into 16 and then interstate 94. It took us hours and it was late enough we didn't try to make Billings. So here we are at Econolodge in Miles City, Montana. Now to find a place to eat. We had eaten breakfast at Dakota Farms in Williston this morning but it is almost 7.
We were told about a restaurant we decided to try and were very pleased with. We ate at the Cattle-ac. Wonderful Mexican food. I had the best chicken and was stuffed. The servings are way to large here and I am not exercising enough to be eating like this. But it is wonderful. Then back to the motel to rest. Another just wonderful day.
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