The Entire State of Wyoming, in a Nutshell

This morning was our last morning in Yellowstone.  We knew that we had a long drive today, so we set the alarm for 5:00am.  Loading the car in the dark would normally not be my favorite thing, but this morning we were treated to an incredible lightening storm that lasted about 20 minutes.  It was just north of the park, so a safe distance away, but it felt like it was close enough to reach out and touch.

We made one last stop on our way out.  We had to stop at the most photographed place in the park, the Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  We visited the north side of the falls the other day, but hadn’t seen it from this view.

We were making good time on our way out, until we got stuck in the usual traffic jam.

Thank goodness he was on the other side of the road.  And thank goodness my husband read all the signs about not getting too close.

We stopped in Cody, Wyoming to eat and fill up our gas tank.  We weren’t sure what to expect much past Cody and didn’t want to get stranded somewhere.

Ok, I have to tell you a story, but you have to promise not to tell Scott that I told you.  He made me swear!

So we stop in Cody and get a bite to eat at a little hometown diner.  Right next door, in the same parking lot, is a gas station.  After breakfast, I pull the car around and Scott proceeds to start pumping the gas.  He made some comment about me washing the windows (which I hate to do) so I pretended to be busy on the phone (I was actually checking Facebook).  He starts washing the windows, you know how a guy does when he is pretending to be you complaining about having to do anything.  The gas shuts off and he’s like “great why did the gas shut off!”.  I said something to the effect that it was probably because we only needed a quarter tank to be full.  He continues with what he is doing, mocking me the whole time because I am sitting in the car, not helping.  He finishes what he doing, comes around to the passenger side, gets in, puts his seatbelt on, reviews the map, and we are prepared to go.  I pull a short ways out when suddenly I hear this noise out of my window.  I can’t even describe what the noise sounded like.  I look in my side view mirror just in time to see the nozzle and hose of the gas pump go flying from the side of my car, snap back towards the actual pump, bounce off that and land in the bushes.

Oh my gosh, you should have seen the look on his face; not to mention the face of the station owner, the faces of everyone else at the gas station, and oh, did I mention all the people in the restaurant who had also witnessed this event!  In all his emphasizing on how much he has to do while I sit in the car, he forgot pretty much one of the most important steps.  He never took the nozzle out of the car!  Luckily everyone and everything was fine and we proceeded on our way.  I barely made it out of the parking lot before I started laughing so hard I couldn’t catch my breath.  Oh, I just had to share that with you guys.

We crossed over the entire state of Wyoming and pulled off at Devil’s Tower. 

Devil’s Tower is pretty amazing.  It’s about 1,500 feet tall and is constantly being climbed by professional climbers.  It’s intense to watch these climbers.  I was also impressed to find out that the climbers on the rescue team have to be able to scale to the top in under one hour!

At the base of the tower is a meadow called Prairie Dog City.  It looks like a basic meadow until you stand real still and realize that the whole meadow is moving.  There are thousands of prairie dogs that live underground and wander around the meadow searching for food.  One cute note about prairie dogs, when they approach each other, they actually kiss to identify if they are part of the same batch.  I saw this a couple of times, but wasn’t able to catch a photo of it.

We ended the day in Cabin #1 at the Holy Smoke Resort in Keystone, South Dakota.  It’s going to be a long three days if Scott keeps saying “Holy Smoke” about everything!  It wasn’t funny the first time.

One Day, Two Parks

Just south of Yellowstone Park are the Grand Tetons.  We decided to spend the day driving down to see them.  One thing you should know is that we stayed at the absolute top part of the park.  We knew that it would take all day to make this drive.

Scott got up early to go out and take pictures of the sunrise in our area.

The light changes constantly.  Just in the time it takes to change the settings on your camera, the colors can drastically change.

It’s also nice to get out early, before the tour buses arrive and you don’t have to fight with the crowds.

It doesn’t matter what time you go out, you are never truly alone!

The drive to the Tetons took us six hours to get from the very tippy top of Yellowstone to the very bottom of the Tetons.  We made a point to stop along the way down and see all the sights.  It only took four and half hours to make the trip back up.

We stopped at Old Faithful (a must see for any first-timer!)  Unfortunately we had just missed it and it would be about another 90 minutes until the next one.  We decided to skip the show and head on.  Here we are at the Grand Prismatic Spring.

The Tetons were beautiful!  We did see a bear along the side of the road, but he was hiding behind the bushes and the pictures really don’t show anything.

We got home late and had just enough time to eat dinner in the dining room before they closed at 10:00pm.  By the time we made it to our cabin, it was time to pack up and get everything ready to load into the car.  Wednesday is a long day of driving and in order to see everything on our list, we need to get an early morning head start.  Good thing Scott likes to drive so that I can take a nap.

Life in the Upper Loop

This morning started early, but only because we wanted it to.  The mornings here are so peaceful.  Most people don’t get out and get moving until 7:00am or later.  We decided last night that we would each go out and exercise this morning.  We woke up around 6:00am (which, for those of you in the Pacific Time Zone is really 5:00am) and started out.  Scott ran about four miles and I walked about two miles.  We both agreed to stick close to the Mammoth complex, not knowing what we could possibly run into.  We both saw some elk, but nothing too exciting.  It was so nice; we plan to do it again tomorrow.

After getting cleaned up, we were ready to go.  Scott took a quick break from loading the car to show off the cabin where we are staying.  What you can’t see is the bathroom, which is located two cabins away.  Hey, it’s not worth the extra $100 a night to have our own bathroom! (Although I was strongly reconsidering this at 2:00am this morning)

We had plans in the afternoon for up in Roosevelt, just northwest of Tower Falls, so we decided to stick to the upper loop today.

We had to backtrack a few miles in order to get the standard photo at the Roosevelt Arch, located five miles north of Mammoth at the north entrance to the park.

Driving south, we stopped at the Museum of the National Park Ranger.  This building was originally built in 1908 to house approximately 20 soldiers who were responsible for patrolling this portion of the park.  It has been maintained very well and now displays information about park rangers from almost every national park.

At Norris we cut across the center of the “figure eight” and drove east to Canyon Village.  Canyon Village is home to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  We decided to take a different hike then last time.  It was extremely windy at the lookout, but the view is still breathtaking.

We had a little time to kill before our 3:30pm plans so we decided to take a small side trip to the petrified tree.  Yeah, it’s an old tree, what more can I say.

At 3:30pm we met up with our group at Roosevelt in the northeast corner of the loop.  We had plans to go on a Chuck Wagon Cookout.  Here, on our ride out to the cookout, we saw the only wildlife we would see all day.  This lonely bison (and yes, this is with the zoom on!)

About halfway out, the sky opened up.  The lightening and thunder was almost directly overhead.  It was quite a show, but made for a wet time. 

Rain or shine, the cowboys still put together one heck of a campfire cookout.

Scott couldn’t resist the cowboy coffee.  I am pretty sure this is cup number two.

This is Rick.  Not only was he our chuck wagon driver, but he also sang and entertained everyone with stories while we sat and ate our dinner.

At the end, just before we boarded the wagons to head back, Rick gathered everyone around the campfire and we sang along to Home on the Range.  He ended with my Dad’s favorite song, Happy Trails.

The rain had stopped just before we headed back, but the wind blew and it made for a cool ride. 

We had a lot of fun and I am glad that we decided to be “tourists” for the afternoon and participate.

Back in Mammoth, the sun was setting just as we were getting back. 

Tomorrow we are heading south for some more sightseeing, and hopefully some wildlife spottings.

A Step Back In Time

We left Lewiston this morning, bright and early.  We knew going into the day that it was going to be a long one.  We really only had one stop in mind, before reaching our destination.  Don’t let me get ahead of myself.

We took Hwy 12.  If anyone ever tells you that this is a scenic Highway, listen to them.  It took us almost three hours to go 99 miles. When the sign says “winding road” it means it!!!

This Highway follows the Lewis and Clark trail.  There are hundreds of historical roadside signs. We saw all of them.

Did you see that?  I didn’t say that we stopped at any of them.  This is a first hand view of what they look like at 70 miles an hours.  We would still be out there if we stopped to read the descriptions.  You know how it went down.  Lewis and Clark came West; hence, there are now people living in Oregon.

The one place we had on our list to stop today was the Grant-Kohrs Ranch.

This is the only Montana Cattle Baron Ranch that exists today.  Started in the 1860’s, the last of the family sold/traded what was left the National Park Service in the 1960’s.  The ranch offers an up-close view of what cattle ranching in Montana was like 100 years ago.  We signed up to take both the Wagon Tour and the House Tour.  Heck, we drove all this way, why not.

While waiting for the Wagon Tour, Scott made friends with the local chuck wagon cook.  He treated Scott to a real cup of coffee, made just the way a cowboy likes it.  (I am pretty sure that Scott is still spitting out the grounds from that cup of coffee.)

The Wagon Tour took us around the property.  There are still 90 original buildings left on-site.  In addition, the park service still raises cattle on this ranch.

After the Wagon Tour, we waited a few minutes for the House Tour to begin.  The original part of the house was built in the 1860’s, with the back part added on in the 1890’s. 

There is so much more to the history of this place than I have time to tell you tonight.  We spent almost two hours walking around the site.  It is definitely a must see for anyone passing this way.

I can just imagine Augusta Kohrs sitting on her back porch of the old brick house watching the cowboys do their work (I know that’s where I would have been!)

From the Grant-Kohrs Ranch we continued East to Yellowstone.  We made it here just in time to check in to our little cabin and catch dinner in the dining room.  We saw a few elk and a mountain goat but it was too dark to take pictures. 

Trust me, I am sure you will be sick of these pictures before we are done.

The Who and What of the Day

It ‘s not natural to wake up before the sunrise.  I don’t care what anyone says.  When we got up this morning, it was well before the sun even thought about making an appearance.

We knew that, in order to make all of our destinations for the day, we had to leave early, early.  We were loaded and on the road by 5:30am.

Heading 277 miles straight up Highway 97.  There is a curve ever now and then, but for the most part, it pretty much a straight shot.  I absolutely love the northern part of this highway.

It was really smoky today.  We were pretty much surrounded by wildland fires.  Mt. Adams was almost hidden behind all of the smoke.

After eight hours on the road, with few stops, we reach our first scheduled destination.  The Whitman Mission National Heritage Site, located just outside of Walla Walla, Washington.  I have read several books on the Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and plan to include information on them in a later blog.

To summarize, Marcus and Narcissa, along with three other people, were the first five white people to come west, after Lewis and Clark, in 1836.  They were sent here to convert the Indians into Christians.  They lived here peacefully for eleven years, until the measles broke out.  Marcus Whitman, a doctor, was able to treat the white children, but the Indian children had no immunity to the disease and half of the tribe was wiped out.  The Indians felt that Whitman did this on purpose and waged a war on his mission. They killed him, his wife, and several others in the mission before kidnapping the others and exchanging them for ransom with the Hudson Bay Trading Company.  The Indians would eventually all be put to death.  Things would never be the same between the white settlers and the Indians.

This park employee was reenacting the part of David Douglas and his part in the white settlers coming to the Oregon Territory.

It took 50 years for colleagues of the Whitman's to create the monument that now marks the spot of the massacre.  It was finally erected in 1897.

One amazing part of this historical site is the remains of the original Oregon Trail.  It’s impossible to walk these wagon trails and not wonder about what these people thought as they were reaching the end of their destination.  What they must have gone through in the months it took them to get here.

We left the site sooner than we thought we would.  It was well over 100 degrees outside.  Way too hot for me.  Most of the sites were outside, in the clear open.  I was melting halfway through the walking path.

From this spot, we continued on about an hour and a half to Lewiston, Idaho. Again, you can see that it wasn’t getting any cooler.

 

This is really just a layover for us.  We researched earlier in the week for places to stay here and discovered that there were several things going on this weekend.  When we check into our motel, we asked the girl at the front desk for recommendations for places to eat.  She suggested that we walk two blocks down Main Street to a place called Macullen’s.  She also told us that, if we had time, we should walk up to the park and see the car show, as well as see the “Who” who were playing in concert.

As we walked to dinner, Scott and I talked about whether or not we thought the actual “Who” were playing.  We highly doubted this.  As we reached the restaurant a limousine pulled up and out popped “The Guess Who”.  Not quite the “Who”, but still a band from the 70’s.  They entered the restaurant right behind us and were escorted to a table not far from us.

So, no, we didn’t walk down to the car show, but we did have dinner with (or close to) The Guess Who!

Tomorrow is another early morning, but it will be so worth it when we reach our destination tomorrow night.  I can’t wait to get to sleep so that we can get on the road!

The Weekend in Photos

This past weekend was whirlwind crazy.  Last time we spoke, Scott and I were snuggled away in the cozy town of Leavenworth.  The next few days would bring a long drive through some of the most beautiful part of the United States we have seen so far.

I could spend hours telling you about all of it, but I will let the photos (and a few words) tell you instead.

Did you know that the world’s largest concrete structure exists in Washington State. 



The Grand Coulee Dam is almost three times the size of Hoover Dam in Las Vegas.  It is sometimes considered the eighth wonder of the world.

We stopped in Spokane to visit the Clay Family.  Tim and Crystal showed off their new house (VERY EXCITING!!!).



Alex showed us how he can now ride his bike all the way around his neighborhood.



Ashley showed me all of her Barbies.  Some of her Barbies are really old (they belonged to her mom!).



And Zack showed us what happens if you don’t pull up on your handlebars when you go to jump the curb!



It was a wonderful visit!

From Spokane we headed East to the border of Idaho and Montana to the area known as Taft.  A side note, Taft was a thriving railroad town founded in 1908.  The entire town burned to the ground in “The Big Burn” wildfire on August 20, 1910.  Nothing remains of the town.

This area is now known for the Route of the Hiawatha Bike Trail.  This trail used to be the main railroad line.  It has now been converted to an awesome bike ride.  We rented bikes and rode the seventeen mile trail.



The trail winds through 10 tunnels and 7 high trestles.  This includes the 1.66 mile Taft tunnel at the very beginning of the ride.







Here I am at the end.  I could see the truck; I wasn’t about to stop!

Heading to Ontario for the final leg of this journey.  On the way we stopped at the Nez Perce National Historic Park.  Scott found a great place to enjoy the shade.



He also got another stamp in his National Park Passport.



Ontario means getting to see Patty. 


We had a great couple of days to catch up with everything that has been going on with the family.  The three of us also ventured over to Boise for a day of shopping and fun.  After getting the scheduled appointments out of the way, we chowed down at our favorite local hangout, Donnie Mac’s Trailer Park Cuisine.


The day ended with a perfect sunset.  The sunsets are one of my favorite things about Ontario.



What a crazy six days.

Now we are at home, regrouping for our actual summer vacation.  Saturday morning will be here before we know it and the road will be calling early in the morning. 

Be sure to tune back in for all the happenings on our trip to the Dakotas.