Two Old Farts and A Trailer
Adventures in Retirement
SAWATZKIBLOG.TWOOLDFARTSANDATRAILER.COM
John's Photos
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| John and Stacy's Wedding | Azul Beach Hotel |
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| John, Allison, and Stacy at the Lake | Allison at the battleship 'Texas' |
Cory's Photos
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| Cory and Sandy | Taylor |
Katie's Photos
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| Katie and Jacob | Jacob |
The Great Western Adventure 2009 - Part 4
July 29th already! We arrived today at Jim & Mary's Campground in beautiful Missoula, Mt. On the first day of our three-day Missoula stay we headed for Philipsburg, Mt, and the nearby Gem Mountain sapphire mine. Gem Mountain was a lot of fun. You pay them $14 for a big bucket of gravel, and they give you the strainer, tweezers, old film can (to hold the sapphires), and appropriate instructions about how to wash and sort all the big sapphires out of the gravel. Seemed a little stupid at first - at least to Larry - but it was a beautiful day, and before long we were picking nice little sapphires out of our bucket of gravel. Must have taken us two hours, but we got a goodly number of the gleaming little beauties in our film can. Now you go inside where one of the ladies takes your bounty and sorts through it to tell you if you got anything good. We got three gem-quality sapphires, and a bunch of lesser ones. Of course it will cost you more if you want your gems processed. We were happy with what we had, and were having so much fun we decided to fork over another $14 and get another bucket. Second bucket wasn't as fruitful as the first. Larry suggested that the first may have indeed been a "sucker bucket". Anyway, we had fun. Stopped in Philipsburg at a local tavern for a brew to wash down all the mine dust.
Back in Missoula we stopped at the Big Sky Brewery, and took advantage of some free samples of their good local brews. Moose Drool and Trout Slayer are two of my personal favorites. One of the neat parts of this area is the local breweries. You can stop in anytime for a sample or two, and then get your "growler" filled. Growlers are half-gallon bottles that you take to the brewery or local tavern, and have it filled with your favorite draught beer for about $5. Not too bad. Need to get this going on in Texas.
Day 2 of Missoula visit was Walmart day. Been in the sticks for so long we needed to get some serious discount shopping done. Got haircuts, too, and then just goofed off at the trailer for the rest of the day.
Day 3 was really fun, as we went to the two Missoula farmers' markets and then their Saturday Arts & Crafts sale. Lots of good local fruits and vegetables. Fun stop was at Uncle Bill's booth. Bought some of Uncle Bill's Polish sausage, and a quart of his special sauerkraut to go with. It's a sweet sauerkraut with a different ingredient - juniper berries. Rye bread from a neighboring vendor, and we couldn't wait to get home and have our polish lunch. We did delay with some more shopping, and a stop at the Bayern Brewery - the other really good local house. St. Wilberweisen is my favorite beer of the trip so far.
Next stop - Swan Lake, Mt. Detoured around our planned route, thanks to the thoughtful advice of a fellow camper. US93 north of Missoula is all torn up, so we took a scenic route to the east passing through Seely Lake, instead. Lots of forest and lake scenery. Arrived at Swan Lake in one piece. This is a National Forest Service campground. No hookups. Pulled up near the office to register only to find out that the fresh water supply was behind us. Had to pull through the campground, go back outside, and turn around so we could fill the water tank. Oh well. The check-in went well. I told the guy I had a reservation, so he just tells me to just go park in the spot then. Never looked at any papers or asked me my name. Just a little on the laid-back side. Got into our back-in site with minimal problem and we are home again.
Swan Lake - the town - is on the small side. In fact it's a little hard to tell if you are there. Two bar & grill type places, one trading post, and one gas station. Very pretty lake, beautiful streams, and all very clean. It was pretty warm while we were there, with highs in the low 90's in the afternoons. If we had had electric hook-up, we would have run the A/C - just wimps. Instead of the A/C, we took a swim in the cold, clear Swan Lake water at the beach across the street from the campground. We also went wading in the stream that runs past the campground on its way to Swan Lake. Water was numbingly cold, and the stream bed was lined with multicolored stones. I tried to encourage Kay to take some, but she won't break the rules. Kay is such a community minded person.
Took a day trip around Swan and Flathead Lakes. East side of Flathead Lake is lined with cherry orchards. We were lucky that we timed it perfectly, and the cherries were in peak season. Lots and lots of dark, sweet cherries. Also visited Kerr Dam on the south side of the lake, near Polson. Kay read in one of the AAA tour books that there is a gorge on the south side of Flathead Lake that legend says was cut through the rocks by Paul Bunyan. Not sure where the gorge was, or how to get there, so I asked a woman in a store for directions. Got the "just arrived from the moon" look from the lady. We did finally figure out where the gorge was, and were treated with some nice scenery there.
Next stop - Hungry Horse, Mt., and Glacier National Park.
This part of northern Montana was our favorite. The area is just fantastically beautiful, and not nearly as crowded or commercialized as other parks. Our destination here was Mountain Meadow Campground. The whole campground is kind of on the side of a hill, and I was a little worried about maneuvering the HH around. The lady in the office was nice and assured me that the drive to the campsite was "not too scary", and that the site is the one they "put their parents in when they come up". Really a pretty steep climb, and a complete circle to the opposite side of the park, but we managed to navigate our way into the nicest site we enjoyed the whole trip. Trees very close on both sides, and a nice little clear area in the perfect spot for our front door. Nice picnic table and fire pit. All very private.
On our first full day at Hungry Horse, we scheduled a six-hour tour over Going to the Sun Road in one of the antique "Jammer" buses. (see picture of Kay waving) These are late 1930's model White coaches that have been mechanically modernized by Ford. What a great way to see this park. Of course the Going to the Sun Road is pretty old, and so it is very narrow in places. They don't allow any vehicles over 21' on the road - probably because the Jammers are that long. Our driver was a retired police officer from Kansas City. He was nice, and offered lots of colorful descriptions and information about the park. The day was a little on the chilly side, but the group voted to roll the top back to take optimum advantage of the scenery. Larry especially enjoyed this trip, because of the opportunity to take in all the scenery without having to worry about staying on the road. Kay enjoyed this part, too, as she didn't have to worry about watching Larry. The trip took us over the top at Logan Pass, and down the other side to Rising Sun Lodge where we had lunch. One of the two couples we had lunch with was from the Florida panhandle, but the guy was originally from Omaha - graduated from Tech. On the return trip, the group voted to put the top back on in favor of a little warmth. Imagine freezing in the first week of August!
Oh yeah, here we are trying to keep warm.
One highlight of the tour on Going to the Sun road happened during the stop at the Logan Pass visitors' center. Some of the other people on the tour decided to take a short hike up the trail behind the center. Kay and I decided to just take it easy, warm up, and save the hike for another time. Those who went on the short hike came back with stories about the mountain goats they saw, and bragging about the pictures they got. Of course it was now time for the tour to leave, so Larry was quite disappointed about the missed photo op. I guess I must have had the big, "open-mouthed" look. Kay thought this was funny, and soon she had the whole bus laughing about Larry's disappointment. We had a good time with it. Of course we had to take a drive back up the road on a later day so Larry could get his goat pictures. Did good.
The next day was KAY'S BIRTHDAY! Won't say how old she is now, but she's catching up on me. Big Day! Started out with a return trip to Swan Lake for their annual Huckleberry Festival. Just a small town "doin's" with food and crafts. The big bonus on our return to Swan Lake was our stop into a wood shop that features dozens of "chainsaw bears" in the front. While looking around, we found a rustic kind of coffee table made of northern larch. The top was about 6" thick. We asked the guy if he had any that were smaller, and featured a little thinner top - weight considerations. He said he didn't have anything, but that he could make us something if we just told him the size we wanted. Said he still had part of the same slab of larch and that he could cut it down for us. We worked out the details and the price, and he agreed to have it ready for us before we left the area. Really cool, as we have been wanting to get some kind of table for the rear of the trailer that could possibly double as a stool for the computer station. Next stop was Whitefish, Mt., where we went to another huckleberry festival. This one was much bigger than Swan Lake. Kay bought a few small things, and then we went to the Great Northern Brewery which was right across the street. Huckleberry Lager was the flavor of the day, so we got two pints, and a growler to go. Back to camp and got ready for our dinner at the Lake McDonald Lodge in Glacier NP. Elk and Buffalo sausage for appetizer. Kay had a steak for dinner, and I got trout. Both were very good. We both enjoyed Kay's birthday very much.
Next day we took a trip to Canada. For this trip we decided to take the road around the outside of Glacier NP, as this would probably be faster than the Going to the Sun road in the park. We followed the Flathead River along the west side of the park to the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex, Mt.
This is an antique railroad hotel that is in perfect condition, and is still used year around. It is still an active AMTRAK depot. One oddity is that they have several old rail cars that you can actually stay in. On the drive around the south end we stopped at a "goat lick" overlook, but didn't see any goats. Then we saw several "snow sheds" covering the railroad tracks, but of course there wasn't any snow on them in August. Pretty cool to see, just the same.
Our Canadian visit consisted of about a 5 hour tour of the Waterton National Park - their end of Glacier. The entry into Canada was fun. Of course we had taken our passports for this purpose. The female Canadian customs agent was cordial, and asked us about our trailer - having seen the fifth wheel hitch in the truck. Then she asked me if I had left my "handgun in the trailer today". I answered that I didn't even own a handgun. She was incredulous, and said that she thought "everyone in Texas had a handgun". Hard to live down cowboy perception. We all enjoyed a good laugh. Had to pay $16USD just to get in Waterton Park for a just a short visit - they don't recognize my Senior Pass. Within the first couple of miles in the park we encountered our first Canadian "bearjam". Nice black bear just browsing around on the north side of the busy park road.
The centerpiece of the Canadian side of the park is the Prince of Wales Hotel. This is an old, chalet-style hotel that is perfectly placed near a lake and having mountain vistas as background in virtually every direction. Take a minute to watch the film at the link below.
We had a nice lunch in the village, just down the hill from the hotel. There were deer in the village that seemed like pets. We saw some people feeding them, so we saved a couple of carrot sticks from lunch for them. The trip back across the border was kind of fun, too. The US customs agent asked me if I had any firewood. We still had the pack of firewood that I bought in Bellevue, Ne - just never took a chance to burn it. He asked where I had gotten it, and I told him that we had gotten it "back down the road in the US". He told me that we weren't supposed to take the wood into Canada. Just a little late for that. Had a chuckle, and pressed on.
On another day we took a hike to Avalanche Lake (see picture below) which is just up the road from McDonald Lodge. The book describes the hike as two miles (one way) and having a climb of about 500'. The hike starts with a .75 mile casual walk through what they call the "Trail of the Cedars". This is really neat, and features huge cedars that shade the forest floor into near darkness. The hike to Avalanche Lake then begins with a climb along the edge of the stream that flows out of the lake. Beautiful series of rapids that run between the rocks. The hike now continues for what seems more like 5 miles, and the climb seems more like 5000'. Pretty tired when we finally got up there, but the scenery was stunning. We took a long rest, had a snack, took pictures, and then started the long trek back. By the time we got back to the truck we were two whipped pups. Sandwiches out of the cooler never tasted better.
On our last day we decided to take the drive (had enough walking the day before) from the west park entrance to Pole Bridge, Mt. This is about a 25 mile drive on an unpaved (yes, UNPAVED) road through the western part of the Glacier NP forest. Not only is the road unpaved, but it is only one lane, and receives "minimal maintenance". Can't believe we did this again. We just took it slow and enjoyed the scenery. We did encounter other vehicles on this road, many of them going in the opposite direction. This got a little dicey a few times, but we made it. We saw some nice streams on the drive, and a few deer. No bears
. We did see a flock of Hungarian partridge, and they decided to sit still while I got some pictures.
The last part of the drive that was still within the park followed some cliffs overlooking the Flathead River. Some parts of the road were frighteningly close to the edge of the cliff which has been undercut by erosion. This was one of the scarier parts of the trip and we were glad to get past this one. Finally got across the river at the Pole Bridge entrance and back to some two lane road. Neat little store at Pole Bridge, where we got a couple of sodas to wash down the afternoon's trail dust.
The road after Pole Bridge was outside the park, two lanes wide, and the unpaved parts featured washboard ruts even Nebraskans would be proud of. The poor truck - and its occupants - got a good shaking up today. A stop at the Packers' Roost was a requirement, and a couple of brews at the local place were great.
As always, good things come to an end, and our stay in the NW Montana area was no exception. We now started our 2200 mile journey back toward Texas. The first day was a nice drive, passing Swan Lake and Seeley lake. Beautiful pine and spruce forest for most of the way. Our first stop was in Deer Lodge, Mt. Not much here, except a big prison museum. We got there too late for a tour. Just enjoyed a nice, wide-open pull-thru campsite.
Next day was another interesting drive. First objective was to get safely through Homestake Pass on I-90, just east for Butte. This was to be our first real mountain pass on the trip. We did our homework, and knew the length of the ascent on the west side, and, more importantly, the descent on the east. The descent features a 5 mile 6-7% grade, with curves near the bottom. The Dodge did well, holding 28 mph with the truck in second gear and with the jake brake on - no brakes applied. The worst part was a huge accident involving a semi that plowed through the median. They had the traffic down to one lane, but it wasn't busy, so it was no problem. I guess we are now real truckers.
Spent the night at the Yellowstone River RV park in Billings. Sites are full hook-up, but face-to-face. Very tight fit. Our neighbor had to pull in his awning so that we could get in. Went to a brew pub in downtown Billings for beers and supper. Had a couple of pints of nice Hefeweisen and some horrible nachos. We saw a platter of the nachos being served to a neighboring table, and they looked good. Decided that would be good enough for us for supper. The nachos turned out to be all you might expect from a Mexican place in Montana - BLANDO MAX. Oh well. Got the growler filled up and went home.
Next day was another travel day. This was the only part of the trip featuring three back-to-back travel days. Kitties weren't happy with me when I put them in the cage for the third day in a row. Drive to Casper, Wy. was a little bumpy. Parts of I-25 were the worst Interstate we saw on the trip - at least outside of Oklahoma. To make matters worse, we ran through rain for 3/4 of the day. If I had known how bad it would be, I would have spent another night in Billings. Oh well. Got to the KOA in Bar Nunn, Wy still in one piece. The KOA is out in the middle of nothing but junkyards. Not a very scenic place. They do have a nice indoor pool and hot tub which we used several times over our three day stay.
Had a nice visit to the Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Casper. The four main northern pioneer trails (Oregon, California, Mormon, and Pony Express) all passed through Casper. We drove west of Casper to Independence Rock. This is a big, fairly smooth granite outcropping that served as a milestone for the trails. If the pioneers made it to this waypoint by the 4th of July, they could expect to make it successfully to their western destination before the winter snows. People would celebrate reaching this point, and many carved their names in the rock. We found an A.J Brown carved on the rock. Who knows, these could have been some of Kay's people. The really neat part was the wagon ruts. They are pretty well preserved in many places. I have some pictures of this, but they don't really capture how dramatic the ruts are. Kay says she heard you can see them better at dusk, but unfortunately we were there in the middle of the afternoon.
On Saturday night, we were searching for something to do. We got really lucky and stumbled across a brochure which led us to the local Best Western Hotel and the Rocky Mountain Regional Old-Time Fiddlers' Championship. They had it in a big hall at the hotel, and we got there just in time to pay our $4 admissions and be seated. What a good time! They had fiddlers from all over the region, and all were having a good time. We ended up sitting there for three hours of the best fiddlin' we ever heard. Really, one of the highlights of the whole trip.
On Sunday, I set out to see at least the first half of a planned afternoon double header between the Casper Ghosts and the team from Billings. Nice little ballpark, but unfortunately, the rain from the previous day was still flooding center field. I was allowed to go in and visit the gift shop where I purchased a nice Ghosts shirt.
On the road again the next day on our way into Colorado. Made it to our planned stop at the Riverside RV park west of Loveland, Co in the early afternoon for a three night stay. Another nice campground, and a nice location on the Thompson River. First thing in the morning we set off for Rocky Mountain National Park. We took the drive up Fall River Road again, and it is still just as spectacular as we remembered. Spent some time shopping at the gift shop at the summit. We took a nice walk in the cold ( must have been around 40 - and windy) across the arctic tundra. See Picture. Do we look like we are cold? Notice the Creighton Prep hoodie.
Next day we went back to the park and visited Bear Lake. On the drive to the lake, I stopped the truck along side a nice stream that was loaded with willows. I said that this would be a great place to see a moose. At the same time, Kay was looking across the road on the other side when she saw a nice buck mule deer standing about 50 yards deep in the woods. She suddenly sucked in her breath and started stammering about what she saw. Finally she was able to blurt out what she saw and pointed at him. He didn't seem to be afraid of us, and even laid down to just pass the time and watch the people. Pretty cool.
We left the park and made it to the Bald Pate Inn just in time for their soup and salad lunch. We stayed at the Bald Pate for a few nights on our 2003 trip. Neat old inn, overlooking Estes Park from the mountains to the south.
Later that evening we visited our friends Bill and Lee Graham in Johnstown, just south of Loveland. Bill and I were stationed at Brunswick Naval Air Station together in 1971. One of the odd parts about it is that Bill is from Omaha, and graduated from Westside one year ahead of Kay. We hadn't seen them since the mid 70's in Omaha. Our friend Greg Lind found them on Facebook and shared this with us only a few weeks before our planned stop at Loveland. Bill was recovering from surgery, so he wasn't too mobile, but we really had a nice visit. We will look forward to keeping in touch with them and getting together again in the future.
Next day was a short, but hectic trip to our planned stop at Chatfield State Park on the southwest side of Denver. Kay encouraged me to take the big loop around the east side of Denver, avoiding the traffic. Most of this is a toll road, and of course I wasn't about to pay a big toll to go farther and avoid just a few cars. So, I got tow the HH through Denver traffic and three major Interstate interchanges. On one section we were in stop-and-go traffic for several miles because of construction. At least I saved the toll money
. Chatfield is a nice, modern state park with full hook-ups, wireless internet, and one of the nicest r/c flying fields I have ever seen. Too bad I didn't bring a plane on the trip.
On our first night our dinner guests at the trailer were Kay's cousin Linda and her husband, Ken. We ate outside, enjoying the nice Colorado evening and stayed up late talking. Next day we went to their beautiful home in Castle Rock. We went to lunch with Linda at a local taco restaurant that was really very good. After lunch, I took Ken to the flying field at Chatfield while the girls went shopping. We had a really nice visit with Ken and Linda, and look forward to seeing them again.
On Monday, I took off with the truck for some attention at a local Dodge dealer. Have been getting a trouble light intermittently, and now we have developed a noise in the rear end. They said they would look at the noise problem, but wouldn't have time for the light. After a 2 hour wait, I was told the truck needs a new drive shaft, but it will take 4-5 days to get it. Then the guy says I should just drive it back to Texas. "Don't worry about it, I guarantee it won't fall out." How comforting. Next stop was at the tire store to see about the right rear tire that has developed some big cracks (probably too many unpaved Montana roads), and is under suspicion by me of being the source of the rear end noise. The guy at the Discount Tire Store in Highlands Ranch said that the cracks are "normal" and that the tires are two years old. I guess BF Goodrich tires are only good for two years. Once again, not too happy. $275 later, and I had a new pair of tires on the rear of the truck, having employed the spare which was still new. Next stop was at Brakes Plus for a change of the rear end grease. This time I waited about an hour and gave up. I will just have this done when we get home.
Tuesday was a short move to Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado Springs. This is a brand new state park, well up the side of Cheyenne Mountain on the southwest side of Colorado Springs. The park is so new that it wasn't found with the navigator in the truck. It is a stiff climb, but we made it to our site and got set up with the back window facing the beautiful view of Colorado Springs. This was really nice at night.
Dinner guests again tonight. This time it was Guy and Debbie Arseneau. Kay went to Westside with Debbie. We had a really fun evening. We didn't get to sit outside for long, as it started a pretty steady rain shortly after they got there. We did brave the elements to cook the chicken on the grill. Guy and Debbie are really a lot of fun and we miss seeing them. One of our first camping experiences was with them in Texas in the mid 70's. Hope we get to see them again on a future trip.
On our first full day in Colorado Springs we took the cog railway to the summit of Pike's Peak. We enjoyed wonderful weather for the whole ride up, and got some of the nicest mountain views of the trip. Just as we arrived at the summit a cloud bank was approaching. I hurried to the far side of the summit so that I could get a picture of the cloud bank as it passed. Kay was hurrying to keep up with me and stepped in some nice mud. See picture of how she washed off the mud.
Anyway, our 45 allotted minutes at the summit were enjoyed in the fog. Oh well, the ride was fun and we had some more nice views on the trip down. On our second day, we went to the Royal Gorge. This is a bit of a tourist trap type place, but the bridge (and the gorge) are literally breathtaking. We walked across the bridge and were both a bit queasy. The surface of the bridge is just wooden planks with pretty good spaces between the boards. You can just look straight down over 1000' to the bottom. We were thinking about taking the aerial tram on the trip back, but it was a little scarier than old acrophobic Larry could tolerate. Walked back. We took the vertical railway to the bottom of the gorge for another thrill. Altogether, we had a really nice day at the gorge.
Next day it was bye-bye to the mountains and hello to flat, boring road ahead. We have really been spoiled in the mountains over the last few months. Trip to Dodge City was long and flat. Stopped in Rocky Ford, Co to pick up some fresh produce. Got a couple of nice dove melons. They are like a white-fleshed cantaloupe, and very tasty. We saved some of the seeds in case we are ever in one spot long enough to plant them. One other interesting roadside stop was outside of Ingalls, Ks. A highway sign said that there was a scenic overlook in one mile. Had to stop and see what this could be. Overlooked a feed lot. No lie!
Our Saturday at Dodge city turned out to be really fun. Took a walking tour of the old part of Dodge that was hosted by Charlie, a 74 year-old retired US Marshall. He dressed the part and did a nice job with the tour.
All of the really old buildings in Dodge City have been destroyed, either by fire or urban renewal. They do have a replica of the old front street in a museum. We had a fun tour of the museum, and then had beers at the Long Branch Saloon which is part of the museum.
Next stop - Chanute and the Hitchhiker factory. August 31. How time flies. Got there for our appointment on Monday morning and got started on the needed repairs arising from the Cody Massacre. Got a nice tour of the factory while our repairs were being made. Nice to see that they have some production underway again. They did put some gouges in our dining room table. I complained about it and they told us to come back the next day on our way out of town so they could give us a new table top. All was resolved and we bid farewell to Chanute and headed down the highway on the final leg of our 3 month journey. The drive across Oklahoma was very long - as usual. Still the worst highways in the United States - if not the civilized world. I really, really HATE Oklahoma.
Spent three nights in a lakeside lot at Texins on Texoma while we got moved back into the home house. No major problems with the plumbing this time, just the usual mess to face after being gone. I think we would both rather have just stayed gone.
It is amazing how quickly three months can go past. This was truly the trip of a lifetime. We are so lucky to be able to make this kind of trip in such a wonderful country. We are already planning our upcoming trips. First upcoming trip will be to Lockhart State Park (near San Marcos, Tx and our daughter Katie's home) the last week on September. We are going to take our grandson, Taylor camping with us, and be able to visit our other grandson, Jacob at the same time. We are also hopeful of seeing John and Stacy and Allison on the same trip. Look for another blog entry, with lots of pictures from this trip
So long until next time..........
Back in Missoula we stopped at the Big Sky Brewery, and took advantage of some free samples of their good local brews. Moose Drool and Trout Slayer are two of my personal favorites. One of the neat parts of this area is the local breweries. You can stop in anytime for a sample or two, and then get your "growler" filled. Growlers are half-gallon bottles that you take to the brewery or local tavern, and have it filled with your favorite draught beer for about $5. Not too bad. Need to get this going on in Texas.
Day 2 of Missoula visit was Walmart day. Been in the sticks for so long we needed to get some serious discount shopping done. Got haircuts, too, and then just goofed off at the trailer for the rest of the day.
Day 3 was really fun, as we went to the two Missoula farmers' markets and then their Saturday Arts & Crafts sale. Lots of good local fruits and vegetables. Fun stop was at Uncle Bill's booth. Bought some of Uncle Bill's Polish sausage, and a quart of his special sauerkraut to go with. It's a sweet sauerkraut with a different ingredient - juniper berries. Rye bread from a neighboring vendor, and we couldn't wait to get home and have our polish lunch. We did delay with some more shopping, and a stop at the Bayern Brewery - the other really good local house. St. Wilberweisen is my favorite beer of the trip so far.
Next stop - Swan Lake, Mt. Detoured around our planned route, thanks to the thoughtful advice of a fellow camper. US93 north of Missoula is all torn up, so we took a scenic route to the east passing through Seely Lake, instead. Lots of forest and lake scenery. Arrived at Swan Lake in one piece. This is a National Forest Service campground. No hookups. Pulled up near the office to register only to find out that the fresh water supply was behind us. Had to pull through the campground, go back outside, and turn around so we could fill the water tank. Oh well. The check-in went well. I told the guy I had a reservation, so he just tells me to just go park in the spot then. Never looked at any papers or asked me my name. Just a little on the laid-back side. Got into our back-in site with minimal problem and we are home again.
Swan Lake - the town - is on the small side. In fact it's a little hard to tell if you are there. Two bar & grill type places, one trading post, and one gas station. Very pretty lake, beautiful streams, and all very clean. It was pretty warm while we were there, with highs in the low 90's in the afternoons. If we had had electric hook-up, we would have run the A/C - just wimps. Instead of the A/C, we took a swim in the cold, clear Swan Lake water at the beach across the street from the campground. We also went wading in the stream that runs past the campground on its way to Swan Lake. Water was numbingly cold, and the stream bed was lined with multicolored stones. I tried to encourage Kay to take some, but she won't break the rules. Kay is such a community minded person.
Next stop - Hungry Horse, Mt., and Glacier National Park.
This part of northern Montana was our favorite. The area is just fantastically beautiful, and not nearly as crowded or commercialized as other parks. Our destination here was Mountain Meadow Campground. The whole campground is kind of on the side of a hill, and I was a little worried about maneuvering the HH around. The lady in the office was nice and assured me that the drive to the campsite was "not too scary", and that the site is the one they "put their parents in when they come up". Really a pretty steep climb, and a complete circle to the opposite side of the park, but we managed to navigate our way into the nicest site we enjoyed the whole trip. Trees very close on both sides, and a nice little clear area in the perfect spot for our front door. Nice picnic table and fire pit. All very private.
On our first full day at Hungry Horse, we scheduled a six-hour tour over Going to the Sun Road in one of the antique "Jammer" buses. (see picture of Kay waving) These are late 1930's model White coaches that have been mechanically modernized by Ford. What a great way to see this park. Of course the Going to the Sun Road is pretty old, and so it is very narrow in places. They don't allow any vehicles over 21' on the road - probably because the Jammers are that long. Our driver was a retired police officer from Kansas City. He was nice, and offered lots of colorful descriptions and information about the park. The day was a little on the chilly side, but the group voted to roll the top back to take optimum advantage of the scenery. Larry especially enjoyed this trip, because of the opportunity to take in all the scenery without having to worry about staying on the road. Kay enjoyed this part, too, as she didn't have to worry about watching Larry. The trip took us over the top at Logan Pass, and down the other side to Rising Sun Lodge where we had lunch. One of the two couples we had lunch with was from the Florida panhandle, but the guy was originally from Omaha - graduated from Tech. On the return trip, the group voted to put the top back on in favor of a little warmth. Imagine freezing in the first week of August!
Oh yeah, here we are trying to keep warm.
One highlight of the tour on Going to the Sun road happened during the stop at the Logan Pass visitors' center. Some of the other people on the tour decided to take a short hike up the trail behind the center. Kay and I decided to just take it easy, warm up, and save the hike for another time. Those who went on the short hike came back with stories about the mountain goats they saw, and bragging about the pictures they got. Of course it was now time for the tour to leave, so Larry was quite disappointed about the missed photo op. I guess I must have had the big, "open-mouthed" look. Kay thought this was funny, and soon she had the whole bus laughing about Larry's disappointment. We had a good time with it. Of course we had to take a drive back up the road on a later day so Larry could get his goat pictures. Did good.
The next day was KAY'S BIRTHDAY! Won't say how old she is now, but she's catching up on me. Big Day! Started out with a return trip to Swan Lake for their annual Huckleberry Festival. Just a small town "doin's" with food and crafts. The big bonus on our return to Swan Lake was our stop into a wood shop that features dozens of "chainsaw bears" in the front. While looking around, we found a rustic kind of coffee table made of northern larch. The top was about 6" thick. We asked the guy if he had any that were smaller, and featured a little thinner top - weight considerations. He said he didn't have anything, but that he could make us something if we just told him the size we wanted. Said he still had part of the same slab of larch and that he could cut it down for us. We worked out the details and the price, and he agreed to have it ready for us before we left the area. Really cool, as we have been wanting to get some kind of table for the rear of the trailer that could possibly double as a stool for the computer station. Next stop was Whitefish, Mt., where we went to another huckleberry festival. This one was much bigger than Swan Lake. Kay bought a few small things, and then we went to the Great Northern Brewery which was right across the street. Huckleberry Lager was the flavor of the day, so we got two pints, and a growler to go. Back to camp and got ready for our dinner at the Lake McDonald Lodge in Glacier NP. Elk and Buffalo sausage for appetizer. Kay had a steak for dinner, and I got trout. Both were very good. We both enjoyed Kay's birthday very much.
Next day we took a trip to Canada. For this trip we decided to take the road around the outside of Glacier NP, as this would probably be faster than the Going to the Sun road in the park. We followed the Flathead River along the west side of the park to the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex, Mt.
This is an antique railroad hotel that is in perfect condition, and is still used year around. It is still an active AMTRAK depot. One oddity is that they have several old rail cars that you can actually stay in. On the drive around the south end we stopped at a "goat lick" overlook, but didn't see any goats. Then we saw several "snow sheds" covering the railroad tracks, but of course there wasn't any snow on them in August. Pretty cool to see, just the same.
Our Canadian visit consisted of about a 5 hour tour of the Waterton National Park - their end of Glacier. The entry into Canada was fun. Of course we had taken our passports for this purpose. The female Canadian customs agent was cordial, and asked us about our trailer - having seen the fifth wheel hitch in the truck. Then she asked me if I had left my "handgun in the trailer today". I answered that I didn't even own a handgun. She was incredulous, and said that she thought "everyone in Texas had a handgun". Hard to live down cowboy perception. We all enjoyed a good laugh. Had to pay $16USD just to get in Waterton Park for a just a short visit - they don't recognize my Senior Pass. Within the first couple of miles in the park we encountered our first Canadian "bearjam". Nice black bear just browsing around on the north side of the busy park road.
The centerpiece of the Canadian side of the park is the Prince of Wales Hotel. This is an old, chalet-style hotel that is perfectly placed near a lake and having mountain vistas as background in virtually every direction. Take a minute to watch the film at the link below.
We had a nice lunch in the village, just down the hill from the hotel. There were deer in the village that seemed like pets. We saw some people feeding them, so we saved a couple of carrot sticks from lunch for them. The trip back across the border was kind of fun, too. The US customs agent asked me if I had any firewood. We still had the pack of firewood that I bought in Bellevue, Ne - just never took a chance to burn it. He asked where I had gotten it, and I told him that we had gotten it "back down the road in the US". He told me that we weren't supposed to take the wood into Canada. Just a little late for that. Had a chuckle, and pressed on.
On another day we took a hike to Avalanche Lake (see picture below) which is just up the road from McDonald Lodge. The book describes the hike as two miles (one way) and having a climb of about 500'. The hike starts with a .75 mile casual walk through what they call the "Trail of the Cedars". This is really neat, and features huge cedars that shade the forest floor into near darkness. The hike to Avalanche Lake then begins with a climb along the edge of the stream that flows out of the lake. Beautiful series of rapids that run between the rocks. The hike now continues for what seems more like 5 miles, and the climb seems more like 5000'. Pretty tired when we finally got up there, but the scenery was stunning. We took a long rest, had a snack, took pictures, and then started the long trek back. By the time we got back to the truck we were two whipped pups. Sandwiches out of the cooler never tasted better.
On our last day we decided to take the drive (had enough walking the day before) from the west park entrance to Pole Bridge, Mt. This is about a 25 mile drive on an unpaved (yes, UNPAVED) road through the western part of the Glacier NP forest. Not only is the road unpaved, but it is only one lane, and receives "minimal maintenance". Can't believe we did this again. We just took it slow and enjoyed the scenery. We did encounter other vehicles on this road, many of them going in the opposite direction. This got a little dicey a few times, but we made it. We saw some nice streams on the drive, and a few deer. No bears
. We did see a flock of Hungarian partridge, and they decided to sit still while I got some pictures.The last part of the drive that was still within the park followed some cliffs overlooking the Flathead River. Some parts of the road were frighteningly close to the edge of the cliff which has been undercut by erosion. This was one of the scarier parts of the trip and we were glad to get past this one. Finally got across the river at the Pole Bridge entrance and back to some two lane road. Neat little store at Pole Bridge, where we got a couple of sodas to wash down the afternoon's trail dust.
The road after Pole Bridge was outside the park, two lanes wide, and the unpaved parts featured washboard ruts even Nebraskans would be proud of. The poor truck - and its occupants - got a good shaking up today. A stop at the Packers' Roost was a requirement, and a couple of brews at the local place were great.
As always, good things come to an end, and our stay in the NW Montana area was no exception. We now started our 2200 mile journey back toward Texas. The first day was a nice drive, passing Swan Lake and Seeley lake. Beautiful pine and spruce forest for most of the way. Our first stop was in Deer Lodge, Mt. Not much here, except a big prison museum. We got there too late for a tour. Just enjoyed a nice, wide-open pull-thru campsite.
Next day was another interesting drive. First objective was to get safely through Homestake Pass on I-90, just east for Butte. This was to be our first real mountain pass on the trip. We did our homework, and knew the length of the ascent on the west side, and, more importantly, the descent on the east. The descent features a 5 mile 6-7% grade, with curves near the bottom. The Dodge did well, holding 28 mph with the truck in second gear and with the jake brake on - no brakes applied. The worst part was a huge accident involving a semi that plowed through the median. They had the traffic down to one lane, but it wasn't busy, so it was no problem. I guess we are now real truckers.
Spent the night at the Yellowstone River RV park in Billings. Sites are full hook-up, but face-to-face. Very tight fit. Our neighbor had to pull in his awning so that we could get in. Went to a brew pub in downtown Billings for beers and supper. Had a couple of pints of nice Hefeweisen and some horrible nachos. We saw a platter of the nachos being served to a neighboring table, and they looked good. Decided that would be good enough for us for supper. The nachos turned out to be all you might expect from a Mexican place in Montana - BLANDO MAX. Oh well. Got the growler filled up and went home.
Next day was another travel day. This was the only part of the trip featuring three back-to-back travel days. Kitties weren't happy with me when I put them in the cage for the third day in a row. Drive to Casper, Wy. was a little bumpy. Parts of I-25 were the worst Interstate we saw on the trip - at least outside of Oklahoma. To make matters worse, we ran through rain for 3/4 of the day. If I had known how bad it would be, I would have spent another night in Billings. Oh well. Got to the KOA in Bar Nunn, Wy still in one piece. The KOA is out in the middle of nothing but junkyards. Not a very scenic place. They do have a nice indoor pool and hot tub which we used several times over our three day stay.
Had a nice visit to the Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Casper. The four main northern pioneer trails (Oregon, California, Mormon, and Pony Express) all passed through Casper. We drove west of Casper to Independence Rock. This is a big, fairly smooth granite outcropping that served as a milestone for the trails. If the pioneers made it to this waypoint by the 4th of July, they could expect to make it successfully to their western destination before the winter snows. People would celebrate reaching this point, and many carved their names in the rock. We found an A.J Brown carved on the rock. Who knows, these could have been some of Kay's people. The really neat part was the wagon ruts. They are pretty well preserved in many places. I have some pictures of this, but they don't really capture how dramatic the ruts are. Kay says she heard you can see them better at dusk, but unfortunately we were there in the middle of the afternoon.
On Saturday night, we were searching for something to do. We got really lucky and stumbled across a brochure which led us to the local Best Western Hotel and the Rocky Mountain Regional Old-Time Fiddlers' Championship. They had it in a big hall at the hotel, and we got there just in time to pay our $4 admissions and be seated. What a good time! They had fiddlers from all over the region, and all were having a good time. We ended up sitting there for three hours of the best fiddlin' we ever heard. Really, one of the highlights of the whole trip.
On Sunday, I set out to see at least the first half of a planned afternoon double header between the Casper Ghosts and the team from Billings. Nice little ballpark, but unfortunately, the rain from the previous day was still flooding center field. I was allowed to go in and visit the gift shop where I purchased a nice Ghosts shirt.
On the road again the next day on our way into Colorado. Made it to our planned stop at the Riverside RV park west of Loveland, Co in the early afternoon for a three night stay. Another nice campground, and a nice location on the Thompson River. First thing in the morning we set off for Rocky Mountain National Park. We took the drive up Fall River Road again, and it is still just as spectacular as we remembered. Spent some time shopping at the gift shop at the summit. We took a nice walk in the cold ( must have been around 40 - and windy) across the arctic tundra. See Picture. Do we look like we are cold? Notice the Creighton Prep hoodie.
Next day we went back to the park and visited Bear Lake. On the drive to the lake, I stopped the truck along side a nice stream that was loaded with willows. I said that this would be a great place to see a moose. At the same time, Kay was looking across the road on the other side when she saw a nice buck mule deer standing about 50 yards deep in the woods. She suddenly sucked in her breath and started stammering about what she saw. Finally she was able to blurt out what she saw and pointed at him. He didn't seem to be afraid of us, and even laid down to just pass the time and watch the people. Pretty cool.
We left the park and made it to the Bald Pate Inn just in time for their soup and salad lunch. We stayed at the Bald Pate for a few nights on our 2003 trip. Neat old inn, overlooking Estes Park from the mountains to the south.
Later that evening we visited our friends Bill and Lee Graham in Johnstown, just south of Loveland. Bill and I were stationed at Brunswick Naval Air Station together in 1971. One of the odd parts about it is that Bill is from Omaha, and graduated from Westside one year ahead of Kay. We hadn't seen them since the mid 70's in Omaha. Our friend Greg Lind found them on Facebook and shared this with us only a few weeks before our planned stop at Loveland. Bill was recovering from surgery, so he wasn't too mobile, but we really had a nice visit. We will look forward to keeping in touch with them and getting together again in the future.
Next day was a short, but hectic trip to our planned stop at Chatfield State Park on the southwest side of Denver. Kay encouraged me to take the big loop around the east side of Denver, avoiding the traffic. Most of this is a toll road, and of course I wasn't about to pay a big toll to go farther and avoid just a few cars. So, I got tow the HH through Denver traffic and three major Interstate interchanges. On one section we were in stop-and-go traffic for several miles because of construction. At least I saved the toll money
. Chatfield is a nice, modern state park with full hook-ups, wireless internet, and one of the nicest r/c flying fields I have ever seen. Too bad I didn't bring a plane on the trip. On our first night our dinner guests at the trailer were Kay's cousin Linda and her husband, Ken. We ate outside, enjoying the nice Colorado evening and stayed up late talking. Next day we went to their beautiful home in Castle Rock. We went to lunch with Linda at a local taco restaurant that was really very good. After lunch, I took Ken to the flying field at Chatfield while the girls went shopping. We had a really nice visit with Ken and Linda, and look forward to seeing them again.
On Monday, I took off with the truck for some attention at a local Dodge dealer. Have been getting a trouble light intermittently, and now we have developed a noise in the rear end. They said they would look at the noise problem, but wouldn't have time for the light. After a 2 hour wait, I was told the truck needs a new drive shaft, but it will take 4-5 days to get it. Then the guy says I should just drive it back to Texas. "Don't worry about it, I guarantee it won't fall out." How comforting. Next stop was at the tire store to see about the right rear tire that has developed some big cracks (probably too many unpaved Montana roads), and is under suspicion by me of being the source of the rear end noise. The guy at the Discount Tire Store in Highlands Ranch said that the cracks are "normal" and that the tires are two years old. I guess BF Goodrich tires are only good for two years. Once again, not too happy. $275 later, and I had a new pair of tires on the rear of the truck, having employed the spare which was still new. Next stop was at Brakes Plus for a change of the rear end grease. This time I waited about an hour and gave up. I will just have this done when we get home.
Tuesday was a short move to Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado Springs. This is a brand new state park, well up the side of Cheyenne Mountain on the southwest side of Colorado Springs. The park is so new that it wasn't found with the navigator in the truck. It is a stiff climb, but we made it to our site and got set up with the back window facing the beautiful view of Colorado Springs. This was really nice at night.
On our first full day in Colorado Springs we took the cog railway to the summit of Pike's Peak. We enjoyed wonderful weather for the whole ride up, and got some of the nicest mountain views of the trip. Just as we arrived at the summit a cloud bank was approaching. I hurried to the far side of the summit so that I could get a picture of the cloud bank as it passed. Kay was hurrying to keep up with me and stepped in some nice mud. See picture of how she washed off the mud.
Anyway, our 45 allotted minutes at the summit were enjoyed in the fog. Oh well, the ride was fun and we had some more nice views on the trip down. On our second day, we went to the Royal Gorge. This is a bit of a tourist trap type place, but the bridge (and the gorge) are literally breathtaking. We walked across the bridge and were both a bit queasy. The surface of the bridge is just wooden planks with pretty good spaces between the boards. You can just look straight down over 1000' to the bottom. We were thinking about taking the aerial tram on the trip back, but it was a little scarier than old acrophobic Larry could tolerate. Walked back. We took the vertical railway to the bottom of the gorge for another thrill. Altogether, we had a really nice day at the gorge.
Next day it was bye-bye to the mountains and hello to flat, boring road ahead. We have really been spoiled in the mountains over the last few months. Trip to Dodge City was long and flat. Stopped in Rocky Ford, Co to pick up some fresh produce. Got a couple of nice dove melons. They are like a white-fleshed cantaloupe, and very tasty. We saved some of the seeds in case we are ever in one spot long enough to plant them. One other interesting roadside stop was outside of Ingalls, Ks. A highway sign said that there was a scenic overlook in one mile. Had to stop and see what this could be. Overlooked a feed lot. No lie!
Our Saturday at Dodge city turned out to be really fun. Took a walking tour of the old part of Dodge that was hosted by Charlie, a 74 year-old retired US Marshall. He dressed the part and did a nice job with the tour.
All of the really old buildings in Dodge City have been destroyed, either by fire or urban renewal. They do have a replica of the old front street in a museum. We had a fun tour of the museum, and then had beers at the Long Branch Saloon which is part of the museum.
Next stop - Chanute and the Hitchhiker factory. August 31. How time flies. Got there for our appointment on Monday morning and got started on the needed repairs arising from the Cody Massacre. Got a nice tour of the factory while our repairs were being made. Nice to see that they have some production underway again. They did put some gouges in our dining room table. I complained about it and they told us to come back the next day on our way out of town so they could give us a new table top. All was resolved and we bid farewell to Chanute and headed down the highway on the final leg of our 3 month journey. The drive across Oklahoma was very long - as usual. Still the worst highways in the United States - if not the civilized world. I really, really HATE Oklahoma.
Spent three nights in a lakeside lot at Texins on Texoma while we got moved back into the home house. No major problems with the plumbing this time, just the usual mess to face after being gone. I think we would both rather have just stayed gone.
It is amazing how quickly three months can go past. This was truly the trip of a lifetime. We are so lucky to be able to make this kind of trip in such a wonderful country. We are already planning our upcoming trips. First upcoming trip will be to Lockhart State Park (near San Marcos, Tx and our daughter Katie's home) the last week on September. We are going to take our grandson, Taylor camping with us, and be able to visit our other grandson, Jacob at the same time. We are also hopeful of seeing John and Stacy and Allison on the same trip. Look for another blog entry, with lots of pictures from this trip
So long until next time..........
The Great Western Adventure 2009 - Part 3
This blog entry is coming to you from Missoula, Montana. It is now July 29, 2009. Since the last installment we have been in Cody, Wyoming for one night, Yellowstone National Park for two weeks, Grand Teton National Park for six nights, and Dillon, Montana for three nights. Here's the rundown of our enjoyments.
Cody, Wyoming - Got in an accident in the Ponderosa RV Park - see picture. Yes, the old man managed to put a little ding in the side of the HH, and do some damage to the Cody, Wyoming electric company's property at he same time. What fun. I ran into an electrical junction box, and moved it about 6-8 inches above the ground it was originally placed in. Big doin's here. The Cody police department, Officer Harris, responded to the problem. Full report, in triplicate, along with another 4-page form I get to fill out and send to the Wyoming DOT. Real big doin's. Next was the guy from the power company who explained that the box I hit carries the electricity for half the citizens of Cody, Wyoming. Huge doin's. Imagine why they put such an important box of stuff right next to the driveway in an RV park where rookies like me would be driving past every 30 minutes. Unbelievable, awesome doin's. BTW - Coors played no part in the accident, but had a large role in the aftermath.
We were more than anxious to vacate our spot in Cody, and head for the scenic confines of Yellowstone National Park. Up early, and out of Cody. Pretty drive up the valley toward Yellowstone. My Senior Pass worked perfectly, getting us into the park via the East Entrance. The gateway has not changed since the park opened. What was once ample room for a horse and buggy to enter, now afforded me and my HH at least 1.5 inch on either side. Made it without a scratch. Up and over Sylvan Pass without a problem. On the downside of the pass, we encountered our first "bearjam". Whenever a bear is seen from the road, the first people to see him stop (in the road, off the road, whatever), jump out, and start pointing at the beast. Next, the first 50 cars from either direction stop also, making sure that everybody else will have no choice but to enjoy this rare viewing opportunity. This time it was a black bear, 20 yards from the road, eating whatever bears eat, and ignoring us humans. After clearing this jam, and within a mile of our campground, we came upon a "buffalojam". That's right, cars on the road, not moving, and buffalo on the side wondering what humans really do.
We arrived at the campground rather early, despite the jams, and were assigned a site on a corner lot. We were worried about maneuvering the HH because we had heard lots of stories about how little room there really is in the Fishing Bridge campground of Yellowstone. The position of the lot facilitated easier movement, and we were soon parked smartly for our two week stay.
Overall, Yellowstone is the number one place. With it's geysers and other thermal phenomena, it has more of these than the rest of the world combined. We saw Old Faithful go off on two different days, and saw lots of other geysers, hotsprings, mudpots, and fumeroles (holes in the ground with hot smelly gas coming out). It's scary to stand there and look at the stuff and think about the power that goes in to making all this happen. One day, as Kay and I were walking around one of the thermal sites, Kay heard a little kid ask his mother, "Mom, how did they make Yellowstone?" Six Flags went out of their way on this one! Of course Yellowstone isn't limited to the thermal stuff. Have to admire the lesser attractions like the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, or the beautiful Lake Yellowstone, or Firehole Canyon, or the surrounding mountains, or the plants and animals that live, walk and swim in this wonderland.
Some of the highlights of our stay were wildlife oriented. We saw hundreds of bison, and were treated to watching dozens of them just take off and swim the Yellowstone River one afternoon. Mostly moms and babies, they just decided to run to the river's edge, jump in, swim the swift current to the other side and shake it off when they got there. Really cool.
On one of our first days, we went to a ranger program that started at 7AM at the Grizzly Overlook in Hayden Valley. The theme of the talk and walk was the wildlife of the area, and in particular in Hayden valley. Everything can be seen in the valley, including bison, bear, elk, deer, wolves, and numerous other species. On our morning walk we saw a coyote howling atop a nearby hill, a river otter, and some wolves in the far distance that looked more like fleas in my binoculars. It was a very interesting program. Guida, our guide ranger, even picked up a pile of buffalo dung to show us. Those in the crowd who expressed revolt at the sight were quieted by Guida, who assured them that what she held was merely plant tissues that had passed through a buffalo. No big deal.
In addition to driving around and seeing the beautiful scenery, we took some time to ride our bikes and take some hikes. We took a bike ride to Lone Star Geyser, which is near Old Faithful, but back in the woods where you have to do something extra to go see it. It is a beautiful 2.5 mile ride to the geyser, following the fabulous Firehole River on the way. It is supposed to go off every couple of hours, so we packed our lunch and went to see it. Our luck changed on this day, and we got to see the full eruption of the geyser, starting only about 10 minutes after our arrival. Perfect timing. See picture below of the Geezer and the Geyser.
One of our favorites (especially Kay's favorite) is the White Pelican. There are lots of these in the park - they actually breed on an island in Lake Yellowstone. These are large, friendly-looking birds. Their pastime consists of floating effortlessly down the Yellowstone River looking for a bite to eat. Whenever they feel like they have gone far enough, they just take off, fly back up-river, and repeat the process. Kay just likes to sit and watch them do their thing.
Another of our favorites was the hike to Crystal Lake. This is another 5 mile round trip, but this one is entirely on foot - no bikes. Nice walk to a nice lake on a beautiful day. Along the trail I did find the wolf track that you see in the picture. Of course Kay doesn't believe it is really a wolf, preferring to believe that it was just somebody's dog or something like that. The phone in the picture is almost 4" long. What do you think?
One of our last nights at Yellowstone we went on a wagon trip to a Cowboy Cookout at the Roosevelt Lodge area. Seemed a little hokie at first, but it was really fun. Fun to ride in a horse-drawn wagon, through wonderful scenery, to all the ribeye steak you can eat.
We stayed busy every day of our two weeks in Yellowstone. We saw something new, different, and wonderful almost every step of the way. Two weeks is about the minimum that should be planned to really see a lot of Yellowstone. We hope we get a chance to go back another day.
After two glorious weeks in Yellowstone, we reluctantly packed our stuff, hitched up the HH, and headed down the road to Grand Teton National Park. It is only 100 miles from the Fishing Bridge to the Gros Ventre campground on the south end of Grand Teton NP, but it drives like 500. As you are heading southbound through the southern end of Yellowstone, there is a flashing sign that says there is construction ahead, expect delays, and "The pavement ends in 32 miles". They were not kidding. At the start of the construction area there is a bridge being refurbished, and it is cut down to just one narrow lane. They have flagmen on either side who meter the traffic in opposite directions. First they let about 300 cars go in one direction, and then 300 in the other. Queues at either end can run into the miles in length. Exacerbating the problem was a bearjam about a quarter of a mile north of the bridge. We sat for quite a while at the head of the southbound queue, waiting for the northbound cars to creep past the bear lookers. Oh well, could have been worse.......and it got that way. When they say the pavement ends, they mean it. We endured a dozen miles of rough, washboard, nasty stuff that wouldn't be tolerated in the hinterlands of rural Nebraska. It was a miracle that nothing in the trailer shook loose from the cupboards. I was just glad to get through it with all eight tires still inflated.
As bad as the road and traffic was, its memory is quickly erased by the first sight of the Tetons. This is absolutely the most magnificent looking range of mountains anywhere that I have seen. There are no buffering foothills to get you accustomed to the sight. Just the Snake River, and then they just rise up and take your breath away. Along this road we saw our first moose - a female - dining on some kind of aquatic plants near the edge of the Snake River.
Our campground got its name from its location along the bank of the Gros Ventre River. Gros Ventre is French for "big belly". It seems that the French explorers encountered some Indians nearby who were making arced signs with their hands in front of their stomachs, making a perfect charade game visage of a fat person. It stuck, and therefore the name. This was also our first attempt at "dry camping". Dry camping means that you have no utility hook-ups at all. The trailer is nicely self-contained, so we really didn't suffer at all. Of course we had the generator to provide some of the really basic necessities, e.g. the microwave to heat up leftovers.
One of the first days there we went to nearby Teton Village. This is a high-dollar ski area that features a gondola ride that rises over 4000' from the 7000' town to the top of the 11000'+ mountain. They said that the thing would carry 100 people. I am glad that there weren't that many people there on the day we went. Old Larry isn't too fond of these kinds of things. Although we enjoyed the whole thing, Larry was happy to have both feet firmly planted back on the earthquake prone ground. The picture below was taken looking behind us as we went up the cable. We are about 1/3 of the way up in the picture.
Probably the highpoint of our stay at GTNP was our morning float down the Snake River. It isn't really white water, but is pretty swift. The primary objective of the float is to observe wildlife and drink in the glory of the mountains. We saw a number of waterfowl, and no less than three bald eagles. This was really thrilling for us, as this was the closest we had ever been to one of the great birds. I got some nice pictures of the Tetons from the river, including the one below.
Some other highlights of our stay at Grand Teton NP was our 12-mile bike hike from the Moose Entry Station to South Jenny Lake and back. We made the 12 miles with no problem and the best part was that we got back to the truck just ahead of a down pouring rainstorm. Also fun was a boat ride across Jenny Lake and a rather strenuous hike up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. We pretty much got to see all there was to see in the park. Of course you continuously look at the overwhelming feature you see from everywhere - The Tetons.
Jackson, Wyoming is a fun place. We had a few drinks there, and few good meals there, went to the Saturday morning farmers' market, and even saw a shootout (staged) in the street. Larry had the best Mexican meal EVER at The Merry Piglet. Mahi-Mahi fajitas were magnificent. The brisket and beer at the Snake River Brewery weren't bad, either.
Back-to-back stays at two of the most wonderful national parks anywhere have us spoiled. What can top these? Guess we will have to head north and give Glacier NP a chance.
Sunday morning we hitched up once again and headed for Dillon, Montana. This will be our first night ever under the Big Sky. Nice drive following the Snake River all the way to Idaho Falls, Idaho. Yes, the Snake goes over Idaho Falls. Even got to see some potato fields on the way through the corner of Idaho. For the record, Larry is more excited about potato fields than Kay. Dillon is located on a flat river plane between mountains to the east and west. Nice RV park, and nice to have electricity again, not to mention high speed internet.
Really only had two days to tour this area, and with two weeks worth of laundry to do, and some grocery shopping, we were lucky to see some stuff. On the first day - after the laundry and grocery runs - we went to Bannack State Historical Park. This is a gold rush era ghost town about 25 miles west of Dillon. Really a neat, well preserved little town.
On our full day we decided to go east to Nevada City and Virginia City. Nevada City is another ghost town and Virginia City pretty much is too, but they have made it more into a tourist destination. Now that we have internet again, I decided to look at Google Maps to figure out how to get to Nevada City. Of course the primary route circumvents the intervening mountains on the north side, using all paved state roads. That's cool, but not too adventurous. Google Maps shows an alternate route taking some roads all named after creeks - Stone Creek, Cottonwood Creek, etc. Decided to just take that scenic route over and then the easy way home. Brilliant. The first part of the scenic route was an unpaved road (expected), but was fairly smooth and plenty wide. Soon we began a climb into the mountains, but the road was still fairly smooth and fairly wide. Soon we were a long way into the mountains and came upon a large mining area very high in the mountains. It appeared to be idle, with no work going on. As soon as we passed the mining area, the road began to narrow dramatically. Also, the little red lines that show the roads on the truck navigator screen (and serve to reassure the driver) began to go away, or at least significantly diverge from the indicated location of the truck. Shortly, the narrowing road became two ruts on the side of the mountain. Next came some turns that we weren't expecting. At one point we actually backed down a road for a couple blocks after we reasoned that this would be smart. After some really astute dead reckoning, and some incredibly good luck, the white knuckled driver and his navigating spouse found the way down the mountain on the other side. As we gingerly picked our way down the mountain on the path they call a road we swore an oath never to leave a paved road in Montana again. Just to put this into perspective - On the entire 50+ mile journey through the mountains we never encountered another operating vehicle. Only Texas folk are dumb enough to go this way.
tyyyyy
Anyway, we did some panning for garnets in the Ruby River Reservoir on the other side and had some fun in the ghost towns. Really wish we had more time in Dillon. Fly fishing is supposed to be some of the best in the world. Guess it will be an excuse to come back.
Cody, Wyoming - Got in an accident in the Ponderosa RV Park - see picture. Yes, the old man managed to put a little ding in the side of the HH, and do some damage to the Cody, Wyoming electric company's property at he same time. What fun. I ran into an electrical junction box, and moved it about 6-8 inches above the ground it was originally placed in. Big doin's here. The Cody police department, Officer Harris, responded to the problem. Full report, in triplicate, along with another 4-page form I get to fill out and send to the Wyoming DOT. Real big doin's. Next was the guy from the power company who explained that the box I hit carries the electricity for half the citizens of Cody, Wyoming. Huge doin's. Imagine why they put such an important box of stuff right next to the driveway in an RV park where rookies like me would be driving past every 30 minutes. Unbelievable, awesome doin's. BTW - Coors played no part in the accident, but had a large role in the aftermath.
We were more than anxious to vacate our spot in Cody, and head for the scenic confines of Yellowstone National Park. Up early, and out of Cody. Pretty drive up the valley toward Yellowstone. My Senior Pass worked perfectly, getting us into the park via the East Entrance. The gateway has not changed since the park opened. What was once ample room for a horse and buggy to enter, now afforded me and my HH at least 1.5 inch on either side. Made it without a scratch. Up and over Sylvan Pass without a problem. On the downside of the pass, we encountered our first "bearjam". Whenever a bear is seen from the road, the first people to see him stop (in the road, off the road, whatever), jump out, and start pointing at the beast. Next, the first 50 cars from either direction stop also, making sure that everybody else will have no choice but to enjoy this rare viewing opportunity. This time it was a black bear, 20 yards from the road, eating whatever bears eat, and ignoring us humans. After clearing this jam, and within a mile of our campground, we came upon a "buffalojam". That's right, cars on the road, not moving, and buffalo on the side wondering what humans really do.
We arrived at the campground rather early, despite the jams, and were assigned a site on a corner lot. We were worried about maneuvering the HH because we had heard lots of stories about how little room there really is in the Fishing Bridge campground of Yellowstone. The position of the lot facilitated easier movement, and we were soon parked smartly for our two week stay.
Overall, Yellowstone is the number one place. With it's geysers and other thermal phenomena, it has more of these than the rest of the world combined. We saw Old Faithful go off on two different days, and saw lots of other geysers, hotsprings, mudpots, and fumeroles (holes in the ground with hot smelly gas coming out). It's scary to stand there and look at the stuff and think about the power that goes in to making all this happen. One day, as Kay and I were walking around one of the thermal sites, Kay heard a little kid ask his mother, "Mom, how did they make Yellowstone?" Six Flags went out of their way on this one! Of course Yellowstone isn't limited to the thermal stuff. Have to admire the lesser attractions like the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, or the beautiful Lake Yellowstone, or Firehole Canyon, or the surrounding mountains, or the plants and animals that live, walk and swim in this wonderland.
Some of the highlights of our stay were wildlife oriented. We saw hundreds of bison, and were treated to watching dozens of them just take off and swim the Yellowstone River one afternoon. Mostly moms and babies, they just decided to run to the river's edge, jump in, swim the swift current to the other side and shake it off when they got there. Really cool.
In addition to driving around and seeing the beautiful scenery, we took some time to ride our bikes and take some hikes. We took a bike ride to Lone Star Geyser, which is near Old Faithful, but back in the woods where you have to do something extra to go see it. It is a beautiful 2.5 mile ride to the geyser, following the fabulous Firehole River on the way. It is supposed to go off every couple of hours, so we packed our lunch and went to see it. Our luck changed on this day, and we got to see the full eruption of the geyser, starting only about 10 minutes after our arrival. Perfect timing. See picture below of the Geezer and the Geyser.
One of our favorites (especially Kay's favorite) is the White Pelican. There are lots of these in the park - they actually breed on an island in Lake Yellowstone. These are large, friendly-looking birds. Their pastime consists of floating effortlessly down the Yellowstone River looking for a bite to eat. Whenever they feel like they have gone far enough, they just take off, fly back up-river, and repeat the process. Kay just likes to sit and watch them do their thing.
Another of our favorites was the hike to Crystal Lake. This is another 5 mile round trip, but this one is entirely on foot - no bikes. Nice walk to a nice lake on a beautiful day. Along the trail I did find the wolf track that you see in the picture. Of course Kay doesn't believe it is really a wolf, preferring to believe that it was just somebody's dog or something like that. The phone in the picture is almost 4" long. What do you think?
One of our last nights at Yellowstone we went on a wagon trip to a Cowboy Cookout at the Roosevelt Lodge area. Seemed a little hokie at first, but it was really fun. Fun to ride in a horse-drawn wagon, through wonderful scenery, to all the ribeye steak you can eat.
We stayed busy every day of our two weeks in Yellowstone. We saw something new, different, and wonderful almost every step of the way. Two weeks is about the minimum that should be planned to really see a lot of Yellowstone. We hope we get a chance to go back another day.
After two glorious weeks in Yellowstone, we reluctantly packed our stuff, hitched up the HH, and headed down the road to Grand Teton National Park. It is only 100 miles from the Fishing Bridge to the Gros Ventre campground on the south end of Grand Teton NP, but it drives like 500. As you are heading southbound through the southern end of Yellowstone, there is a flashing sign that says there is construction ahead, expect delays, and "The pavement ends in 32 miles". They were not kidding. At the start of the construction area there is a bridge being refurbished, and it is cut down to just one narrow lane. They have flagmen on either side who meter the traffic in opposite directions. First they let about 300 cars go in one direction, and then 300 in the other. Queues at either end can run into the miles in length. Exacerbating the problem was a bearjam about a quarter of a mile north of the bridge. We sat for quite a while at the head of the southbound queue, waiting for the northbound cars to creep past the bear lookers. Oh well, could have been worse.......and it got that way. When they say the pavement ends, they mean it. We endured a dozen miles of rough, washboard, nasty stuff that wouldn't be tolerated in the hinterlands of rural Nebraska. It was a miracle that nothing in the trailer shook loose from the cupboards. I was just glad to get through it with all eight tires still inflated.
As bad as the road and traffic was, its memory is quickly erased by the first sight of the Tetons. This is absolutely the most magnificent looking range of mountains anywhere that I have seen. There are no buffering foothills to get you accustomed to the sight. Just the Snake River, and then they just rise up and take your breath away. Along this road we saw our first moose - a female - dining on some kind of aquatic plants near the edge of the Snake River.
Our campground got its name from its location along the bank of the Gros Ventre River. Gros Ventre is French for "big belly". It seems that the French explorers encountered some Indians nearby who were making arced signs with their hands in front of their stomachs, making a perfect charade game visage of a fat person. It stuck, and therefore the name. This was also our first attempt at "dry camping". Dry camping means that you have no utility hook-ups at all. The trailer is nicely self-contained, so we really didn't suffer at all. Of course we had the generator to provide some of the really basic necessities, e.g. the microwave to heat up leftovers.
One of the first days there we went to nearby Teton Village. This is a high-dollar ski area that features a gondola ride that rises over 4000' from the 7000' town to the top of the 11000'+ mountain. They said that the thing would carry 100 people. I am glad that there weren't that many people there on the day we went. Old Larry isn't too fond of these kinds of things. Although we enjoyed the whole thing, Larry was happy to have both feet firmly planted back on the earthquake prone ground. The picture below was taken looking behind us as we went up the cable. We are about 1/3 of the way up in the picture.
Probably the highpoint of our stay at GTNP was our morning float down the Snake River. It isn't really white water, but is pretty swift. The primary objective of the float is to observe wildlife and drink in the glory of the mountains. We saw a number of waterfowl, and no less than three bald eagles. This was really thrilling for us, as this was the closest we had ever been to one of the great birds. I got some nice pictures of the Tetons from the river, including the one below.
Some other highlights of our stay at Grand Teton NP was our 12-mile bike hike from the Moose Entry Station to South Jenny Lake and back. We made the 12 miles with no problem and the best part was that we got back to the truck just ahead of a down pouring rainstorm. Also fun was a boat ride across Jenny Lake and a rather strenuous hike up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. We pretty much got to see all there was to see in the park. Of course you continuously look at the overwhelming feature you see from everywhere - The Tetons.
Jackson, Wyoming is a fun place. We had a few drinks there, and few good meals there, went to the Saturday morning farmers' market, and even saw a shootout (staged) in the street. Larry had the best Mexican meal EVER at The Merry Piglet. Mahi-Mahi fajitas were magnificent. The brisket and beer at the Snake River Brewery weren't bad, either.
Back-to-back stays at two of the most wonderful national parks anywhere have us spoiled. What can top these? Guess we will have to head north and give Glacier NP a chance.
Sunday morning we hitched up once again and headed for Dillon, Montana. This will be our first night ever under the Big Sky. Nice drive following the Snake River all the way to Idaho Falls, Idaho. Yes, the Snake goes over Idaho Falls. Even got to see some potato fields on the way through the corner of Idaho. For the record, Larry is more excited about potato fields than Kay. Dillon is located on a flat river plane between mountains to the east and west. Nice RV park, and nice to have electricity again, not to mention high speed internet.
Really only had two days to tour this area, and with two weeks worth of laundry to do, and some grocery shopping, we were lucky to see some stuff. On the first day - after the laundry and grocery runs - we went to Bannack State Historical Park. This is a gold rush era ghost town about 25 miles west of Dillon. Really a neat, well preserved little town.
On our full day we decided to go east to Nevada City and Virginia City. Nevada City is another ghost town and Virginia City pretty much is too, but they have made it more into a tourist destination. Now that we have internet again, I decided to look at Google Maps to figure out how to get to Nevada City. Of course the primary route circumvents the intervening mountains on the north side, using all paved state roads. That's cool, but not too adventurous. Google Maps shows an alternate route taking some roads all named after creeks - Stone Creek, Cottonwood Creek, etc. Decided to just take that scenic route over and then the easy way home. Brilliant. The first part of the scenic route was an unpaved road (expected), but was fairly smooth and plenty wide. Soon we began a climb into the mountains, but the road was still fairly smooth and fairly wide. Soon we were a long way into the mountains and came upon a large mining area very high in the mountains. It appeared to be idle, with no work going on. As soon as we passed the mining area, the road began to narrow dramatically. Also, the little red lines that show the roads on the truck navigator screen (and serve to reassure the driver) began to go away, or at least significantly diverge from the indicated location of the truck. Shortly, the narrowing road became two ruts on the side of the mountain. Next came some turns that we weren't expecting. At one point we actually backed down a road for a couple blocks after we reasoned that this would be smart. After some really astute dead reckoning, and some incredibly good luck, the white knuckled driver and his navigating spouse found the way down the mountain on the other side. As we gingerly picked our way down the mountain on the path they call a road we swore an oath never to leave a paved road in Montana again. Just to put this into perspective - On the entire 50+ mile journey through the mountains we never encountered another operating vehicle. Only Texas folk are dumb enough to go this way.
tyyyyy
Anyway, we did some panning for garnets in the Ruby River Reservoir on the other side and had some fun in the ghost towns. Really wish we had more time in Dillon. Fly fishing is supposed to be some of the best in the world. Guess it will be an excuse to come back.
The Great Western Adventure 2009 - Part 2.1
Had five nice days here in Sheridan, Wyoming. Didn't do a whole lot, but it was good to rest a bit before we head for more strenuous tourism this morning. Tonight we will spend in Cody, Wyoming, and then on Monday we head for Yellowstone National Park. We are going to be techno-challenged for a few weeks, so no entries for a while. Hopefully the next entry will be a big one, chronicling our big national parks visit.
The Great Western Adventure 2009 - Part 2
Back on line after 12 days in the hinterlands. Four days at Fort Robinson State Park in Crawford, Ne., and eight days at Custer State Park in Custer, SD. Good visits at both places. Had a neat stop-by visit at Chimney Rock on the way from Ogallala to Crawford. See picture of the rig and the rock.
Of course we had visited the Nebraska Pine Ridge in the 70's - before Katie was born! Not much has changed there in the last 33 years. It was nice to see again. We saw some nice archeological sites, including the Hudson-Meng Bison Kill site. This is an archeological dig site that is exposing a huge bone field resulting from the Indians apparently running the Bison over a cliff. Very interesting stuff.
One real highlight of our visit to Fort Robinson was doing our laundry. Yes, doing our laundry. We found out that Crawford, Nebraska has a bar named Diamond Jack's, and they just happen to have an adjoining laundromat. What a deal! We even went there during happy hour. We'd both be more enthusiastic about doing the laundry if we were always in Crawford.
The Black Hills of South Dakota was new territory for us. Very beautiful area, and a nice place to camp at Custer State Park. On our first day there, we took a drive on the Needles Highway through the park. The "Needles" is a group of ancient granite spires that is all that is left of a much higher mountain range. At three places on the road you are confronted with tunnels that, for the most part, have been bored through the granite. They are kind of scary, as they are barely wide enough for one vehicle to pass through. Good thing we didn't bring the HitchHiker along for the ride.
Custer State Park is loaded with wildlife, including buffalo, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, elk, mountain lions, turkeys, prairie dogs, and more. In addition to these, they have a number of burros who used to pull carts up to the top of Mount Harney (highest point in the state of South Dakota), but when they stopped taking the carts up the mountain, they just turned the burros loose. They now just roam freely throughout the park, some of them begging handouts from passing motorists - see picture of the one who stuck his head in Kay's side of the truck and managed to successfully panhandle a cookie.
Two other highlights of the stay in the Black Hills were the trip to Deadwood, and the visit to Mount Rushmore. In Deadwood we visited the saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was shot, and even stayed for a reenactment. Basically we just goofed around seeing the sights. They have numerous casinos, but we don't really go in too much for gambling. I did lose a $5 bill in a dollar slot machine in the #10 Saloon while waiting for the Wild Bill shooting. We also visited the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. Also on the same day, we visited the town of Lead, where there has been considerable gold mining over the years. Spent a couple of hours at the gold mining museum there that included a "simulated" mine tour that was really quite interesting.
Mount Rushmore is really awesome. It's a bit of a hassle getting in and getting parked in one of the multi-level parking garages, but it's worth the trouble. The beauty and magnitude of the place is something everyone should see.
Well, that's about it for this installment. We are currently in Sheridan, Wyoming, where we will be for the 4th of July, and then we will be heading for Yellowstone.
Of course we had visited the Nebraska Pine Ridge in the 70's - before Katie was born! Not much has changed there in the last 33 years. It was nice to see again. We saw some nice archeological sites, including the Hudson-Meng Bison Kill site. This is an archeological dig site that is exposing a huge bone field resulting from the Indians apparently running the Bison over a cliff. Very interesting stuff.
One real highlight of our visit to Fort Robinson was doing our laundry. Yes, doing our laundry. We found out that Crawford, Nebraska has a bar named Diamond Jack's, and they just happen to have an adjoining laundromat. What a deal! We even went there during happy hour. We'd both be more enthusiastic about doing the laundry if we were always in Crawford.
The Black Hills of South Dakota was new territory for us. Very beautiful area, and a nice place to camp at Custer State Park. On our first day there, we took a drive on the Needles Highway through the park. The "Needles" is a group of ancient granite spires that is all that is left of a much higher mountain range. At three places on the road you are confronted with tunnels that, for the most part, have been bored through the granite. They are kind of scary, as they are barely wide enough for one vehicle to pass through. Good thing we didn't bring the HitchHiker along for the ride.
Custer State Park is loaded with wildlife, including buffalo, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, elk, mountain lions, turkeys, prairie dogs, and more. In addition to these, they have a number of burros who used to pull carts up to the top of Mount Harney (highest point in the state of South Dakota), but when they stopped taking the carts up the mountain, they just turned the burros loose. They now just roam freely throughout the park, some of them begging handouts from passing motorists - see picture of the one who stuck his head in Kay's side of the truck and managed to successfully panhandle a cookie.
Two other highlights of the stay in the Black Hills were the trip to Deadwood, and the visit to Mount Rushmore. In Deadwood we visited the saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was shot, and even stayed for a reenactment. Basically we just goofed around seeing the sights. They have numerous casinos, but we don't really go in too much for gambling. I did lose a $5 bill in a dollar slot machine in the #10 Saloon while waiting for the Wild Bill shooting. We also visited the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. Also on the same day, we visited the town of Lead, where there has been considerable gold mining over the years. Spent a couple of hours at the gold mining museum there that included a "simulated" mine tour that was really quite interesting.
Mount Rushmore is really awesome. It's a bit of a hassle getting in and getting parked in one of the multi-level parking garages, but it's worth the trouble. The beauty and magnitude of the place is something everyone should see.
Well, that's about it for this installment. We are currently in Sheridan, Wyoming, where we will be for the 4th of July, and then we will be heading for Yellowstone.
The Great Western Adventure 2009 - Part 1
Can't believe we have already been on the road for 11 days, and haven't gotten an update posted yet. Tonight is the first time we have had a decent wifi connection. Oh well, we have been pretty busy so far. Don't know when we would have had time to get on here anyhow.
Tonight (June 18) finds us in Ogallala, Ne. Started the trip on June 7, spending the first two nights in Chanute, Ks. This is the town where our fifth-wheel was made. The factory has been shut down for several months, but they are going to start production in June. Unfortunately, they hadn't started yet, so we didn't get a tour of the the production line. Maybe next time. It was a good place to get started, as it was half way to our next destination - Omaha, Ne.
Spent a week at Haworth Park in Bellevue, Ne - just outside of Omaha. Nice city park, pretty good Rv facilities, good biking trails, but no wifi, as was advertised. Some city official decided they didn't need it. First day of visit was highighted by the traditional trip to Big Fred's for pizza with Que and Todd. Wednesday afternoon we had a nice visit at the trailer with Vicki (Nelson) King, and her sons Rob and Daniel. Lot of laughs and a couple of beers. Later that evening we had dinner at the trailer with Leonard and Doreen and sister Laura. Leonard and Doreen are leaving on Saturday, moving to Cape Coral, Fl. Thursday Larry had a special treat - lunch with brother Leo in Lincoln. We had a nice visit and got caught up on a lot of old news. I am going to try to attach a picture. Thursday night we had dinner at the trailer with Jim and Nancy Doll. Hadn't seen them in a long time - fun evening. Friday we stopped by Leonard's and helped with the last 2% of the truck loading. Felt bad that we didn't have more time to help. Friday afternoon we had a nice visit with Bob and Betty Mollner, Ralph and Darlene Gross, and Betty Kline. Brought back lots of old memories. Friday night was dinner at sister Laura's house. Laura got one of the old home movies transcribed onto a DVD. What a treat to watch! Saturday we went to the Farmers' Market in the Old Market area of Omaha. Lots of good fresh produce. Met Kay's brother Rick, Vicki and Rob, and Rick's daughter Elizabeth and her daughter Layla. Had a short visit with John and Laura at the trailer on Saturday afternoon, and then a wonderful dinner at Johnny's Cafe with Kay's cousin Dick. Sunday we went to the nursing home for a visit with Kay's aunt Marianne. She's still good for a few laughs, and always jokes about Larry being good looking. Sunday evening we went to Todd and Mary's house for a really nice cookout. Weather was just great, as it was most all week, and the company was great. We were joined there by Que and Todd's father Al. Monday we did a bunch of running around shopping early, and then had our traditional lunch at he Bohemian Cafe. No more Ferd's rye bread. Monday afternoon Todd brought Que out for a short visit and a tour of the trailer.
It was sure great to see everybody, but Kay and I are ready to hit the road and spend some quiet time on our own.
Tuesday morning (now June 16) we got all ready to hit the road, and then we discovered that our electric waste water dump valves were not functioning properly. Fortunately, the malfunction on the black water (yes the bad stuff) valve was that it would not open. After some trepidation and a few incantations, we made some calls and were finally able to locate a capable and willing individual in Grand Island, Ne. Right on the way! He (Al Koolman) looked it over, made a recommendation, and we ordered parts. Since the parts would not be there until Thursday, we went ahead with our plans for the visit to Pioneer Village in Minden, Ne. Spent several hours of Wednesday on our feet looking at lots of old pioneer stuff, and about 10000 old cars. It really is a pretty interesting place.
Today we went back to Grand Island where Al replaced both of the dump valves with more robust versions. We really enjoyed visiting with him. He looks and acts much like George Christopher, an old friend of mine from work. ......and that brings us up to tonight, here in Ogallala. Went to dinner in town, where we witnessed a nice staged shootout. Also took a short drive to see the local version of Boot Hill, their Mansion on the Hill, and Lake McCounaghy.
Tomorrow we head for Fort Robinson in the beautiful Pine Ridge area of northwest Nebraska.
Back soon with the next update on the Great Western Adventure.
Here are the brothers in Lincoln after lunch. Doesn't really look like we needed lunch, does it?
Larry and Kay
Tonight (June 18) finds us in Ogallala, Ne. Started the trip on June 7, spending the first two nights in Chanute, Ks. This is the town where our fifth-wheel was made. The factory has been shut down for several months, but they are going to start production in June. Unfortunately, they hadn't started yet, so we didn't get a tour of the the production line. Maybe next time. It was a good place to get started, as it was half way to our next destination - Omaha, Ne.
Spent a week at Haworth Park in Bellevue, Ne - just outside of Omaha. Nice city park, pretty good Rv facilities, good biking trails, but no wifi, as was advertised. Some city official decided they didn't need it. First day of visit was highighted by the traditional trip to Big Fred's for pizza with Que and Todd. Wednesday afternoon we had a nice visit at the trailer with Vicki (Nelson) King, and her sons Rob and Daniel. Lot of laughs and a couple of beers. Later that evening we had dinner at the trailer with Leonard and Doreen and sister Laura. Leonard and Doreen are leaving on Saturday, moving to Cape Coral, Fl. Thursday Larry had a special treat - lunch with brother Leo in Lincoln. We had a nice visit and got caught up on a lot of old news. I am going to try to attach a picture. Thursday night we had dinner at the trailer with Jim and Nancy Doll. Hadn't seen them in a long time - fun evening. Friday we stopped by Leonard's and helped with the last 2% of the truck loading. Felt bad that we didn't have more time to help. Friday afternoon we had a nice visit with Bob and Betty Mollner, Ralph and Darlene Gross, and Betty Kline. Brought back lots of old memories. Friday night was dinner at sister Laura's house. Laura got one of the old home movies transcribed onto a DVD. What a treat to watch! Saturday we went to the Farmers' Market in the Old Market area of Omaha. Lots of good fresh produce. Met Kay's brother Rick, Vicki and Rob, and Rick's daughter Elizabeth and her daughter Layla. Had a short visit with John and Laura at the trailer on Saturday afternoon, and then a wonderful dinner at Johnny's Cafe with Kay's cousin Dick. Sunday we went to the nursing home for a visit with Kay's aunt Marianne. She's still good for a few laughs, and always jokes about Larry being good looking. Sunday evening we went to Todd and Mary's house for a really nice cookout. Weather was just great, as it was most all week, and the company was great. We were joined there by Que and Todd's father Al. Monday we did a bunch of running around shopping early, and then had our traditional lunch at he Bohemian Cafe. No more Ferd's rye bread
. Monday afternoon Todd brought Que out for a short visit and a tour of the trailer. It was sure great to see everybody, but Kay and I are ready to hit the road and spend some quiet time on our own.
Tuesday morning (now June 16) we got all ready to hit the road, and then we discovered that our electric waste water dump valves were not functioning properly. Fortunately, the malfunction on the black water (yes the bad stuff) valve was that it would not open. After some trepidation and a few incantations, we made some calls and were finally able to locate a capable and willing individual in Grand Island, Ne. Right on the way! He (Al Koolman) looked it over, made a recommendation, and we ordered parts. Since the parts would not be there until Thursday, we went ahead with our plans for the visit to Pioneer Village in Minden, Ne. Spent several hours of Wednesday on our feet looking at lots of old pioneer stuff, and about 10000 old cars. It really is a pretty interesting place.
Today we went back to Grand Island where Al replaced both of the dump valves with more robust versions. We really enjoyed visiting with him. He looks and acts much like George Christopher, an old friend of mine from work. ......and that brings us up to tonight, here in Ogallala. Went to dinner in town, where we witnessed a nice staged shootout. Also took a short drive to see the local version of Boot Hill, their Mansion on the Hill, and Lake McCounaghy.
Tomorrow we head for Fort Robinson in the beautiful Pine Ridge area of northwest Nebraska.
Back soon with the next update on the Great Western Adventure.
Here are the brothers in Lincoln after lunch. Doesn't really look like we needed lunch, does it?
Larry and Kay
Getting Ready for the Next Adventure!
Been off the air here for a while. That's because we are at home planning our next great adventure. Plan now is to leave on June 7 and head north. Planned visits include, but are not limited to, Chanute, Ks., Omaha, Black HIlls, SD, Yellowstone NP, Wy., Grand Tetons NP, Wy, Glacier NP, Mt., Casper, Wy., Loveland, Co., Castle Rock, Co., Woodland Park, Co., Trinidad, Co., Dodge City, Ks., and returning home sometime during the first week of Sept.
We will be back updating the site as we go along. See you all then.
Larry & Kay
We will be back updating the site as we go along. See you all then.
Larry & Kay
San Marcos - 3-13-09
Here we are in San Marcos, after almost a month. Haven't been too good about updating the site, but that doesn't mean that there is nothing to put here. On the contrary, it has been a busy month. The biggest news is our grandson Jacob Lawrence Camden. He was born on February 26, weighing in at 8lb, 12oz, and standing 21" tall. Mom and baby were (and are) doing fine. (see picture)
Last weekend we had a visit from John, Stacy and Allison. As always, it was nice to see them.....they just weren't here long enough. This weekend we are looking forward to a visit from Cory, Sandy and Taylor. Then on Monday, we will be heading home to Sherman. We have a lot of work to do there before we hit the road northbound in late May.
Our stay here has been comfortable. We are staying at the Canyon Creek RV Resort on the south side of San Marcos. We had planned to stay at the Pecan Park RV Resort again, but the management there was not helpful (to say the very least), so we opted to come here. Really glad we did. Access to shopping and services is nicer from this location. Traffic in San Marcos is pretty painful at times. The town is not that large, and now the college has grown to 30,000 students. Since we are on the south side of town, we have been going to New Braunfels for shopping and things. We did find a meat market in New Braunfels that offers beef of Nebraska quality. We will probably take some home in the freezer.
During our stay we took a few side trips. We visited Palmetto State Park. This park is about 40 miles south of here, near Gonzalez, Tx. The park is on the banks of the San Marcos river and is named after the palmettos (dwarf palm trees) that grow in the park. The park has natural springs and lies directly over a fault line. They had active "boiling" mud pots until around 20 years ago. The park has some nice campsites, and could be a destination for us some other time.
We also visited Fredericksburg. This is a German-founded community about 70 miles west of San Marcos. We had a nice German lunch there and visited some interesting places along the way. On the trip out, we drove along the "Devil's Backbone" between Wimberly and Blanco. This is a raised ridge that gives some beautiful views across the Hill Country. At Blanco we visited Blanco State Park. Right on the Blanco River, this is a nice camping facility adjoining the town of Blanco. Again, this could be a camping destination for us some day. On the way home, we visited the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, Tx. Neat little driving tour guided by audio CD. Then we got a guided tour of the LBJ Texas White House. The house is in a beautiful location on the banks of the Pedernales River. We then visited Pedernales Falls State Park. Another nice future camping location.
Larry was able to get in several rounds of golf during our stay. Discovered that the Texas State University has a nice little 9-hole course in San Marcos. Daily green fee for seniors is $10. The course isn't the nicest around, but they are working to make it better. I will be looking forward to playing there again on future visits.
I guess this will be the "sign-off" for this trip. On one hand, it seems like we just started this trip. On the other, it seems like a long time since we have been home. We have found that the RV is both livable and comfortable. I think we are convinced that living in the thing is nice. For now we will be going home for a couple of months. We really need to work on the lake place and get it sold. Also want to get some work done on the home house. Will get back to updating this site around the end of May when we start our next adventure.
Larry
Last weekend we had a visit from John, Stacy and Allison. As always, it was nice to see them.....they just weren't here long enough. This weekend we are looking forward to a visit from Cory, Sandy and Taylor. Then on Monday, we will be heading home to Sherman. We have a lot of work to do there before we hit the road northbound in late May.
Our stay here has been comfortable. We are staying at the Canyon Creek RV Resort on the south side of San Marcos. We had planned to stay at the Pecan Park RV Resort again, but the management there was not helpful (to say the very least), so we opted to come here. Really glad we did. Access to shopping and services is nicer from this location. Traffic in San Marcos is pretty painful at times. The town is not that large, and now the college has grown to 30,000 students. Since we are on the south side of town, we have been going to New Braunfels for shopping and things. We did find a meat market in New Braunfels that offers beef of Nebraska quality. We will probably take some home in the freezer.
During our stay we took a few side trips. We visited Palmetto State Park. This park is about 40 miles south of here, near Gonzalez, Tx. The park is on the banks of the San Marcos river and is named after the palmettos (dwarf palm trees) that grow in the park. The park has natural springs and lies directly over a fault line. They had active "boiling" mud pots until around 20 years ago. The park has some nice campsites, and could be a destination for us some other time.
We also visited Fredericksburg. This is a German-founded community about 70 miles west of San Marcos. We had a nice German lunch there and visited some interesting places along the way. On the trip out, we drove along the "Devil's Backbone" between Wimberly and Blanco. This is a raised ridge that gives some beautiful views across the Hill Country. At Blanco we visited Blanco State Park. Right on the Blanco River, this is a nice camping facility adjoining the town of Blanco. Again, this could be a camping destination for us some day. On the way home, we visited the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, Tx. Neat little driving tour guided by audio CD. Then we got a guided tour of the LBJ Texas White House. The house is in a beautiful location on the banks of the Pedernales River. We then visited Pedernales Falls State Park. Another nice future camping location.
Larry was able to get in several rounds of golf during our stay. Discovered that the Texas State University has a nice little 9-hole course in San Marcos. Daily green fee for seniors is $10. The course isn't the nicest around, but they are working to make it better. I will be looking forward to playing there again on future visits.
I guess this will be the "sign-off" for this trip. On one hand, it seems like we just started this trip. On the other, it seems like a long time since we have been home. We have found that the RV is both livable and comfortable. I think we are convinced that living in the thing is nice. For now we will be going home for a couple of months. We really need to work on the lake place and get it sold. Also want to get some work done on the home house. Will get back to updating this site around the end of May when we start our next adventure.
Larry