Old Faithful erupting in Yellowstone NP
A geyser hole with hot springs
Our day our Geyser gazing
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Making Tracks in Wyoming...
We spent two nights in Cody, Wyoming. We made a trip into town from the RV park (on the edge of town) to see the historic Irma Hotel and the downtown area. The Irma Hotel, Buffalo Bill's Hotel, has a beautiful old famous cherry wood bar in the saloon (very neat!). Every evening they have a gunfighter's shootout on the street in front of the Irma Hotel. While we were in Deadwood, SD we saw Wild Bill Hickok killed, so we decided we wanted to know who died in Cody, WY. Old West characters: Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok (he obviously survived this shootout), Ned Christie, Wyatt Earp and Teton Jackson we involved here in the action-interesting.
We also checked out the Buffalo Bill dam on the Shoshone River outside Cody with its breath-taking view of the rugged canyon. WOW!!! it was a fantastic view and the wind was blowing 40+ mph. Built in 1905 and 295 ft. above the river it was then the tallest dam in the world.
We also had some work done on one of the rear wheels of the RV and we did laundry and provisioning while in Cody. When we were sailing/cruising, our travel/passages always centered around the weather and wind. Now that we are now C.L.O.D.S. (cruisers living on dirt) in our RV, and our travels are still dictated some by the winds. Wind direction and speed are a big factor when making passages. We had strong winds heading across Wyoming on I-90 to deal with. Very windy all the time it seems in the West.
After our two night stay in Cody, we traveled 80 miles west to Yellowstone National Park for several nights.
While in Yellowstone we were anchored in the Bridge Bay campground- 431 campsites - close to Yellowstone Lake- elevation 7744. We spend four days sightseeing in the park using the dinghy (our car) to get around with Jill and Wayne. We spent one day geyser gazing, the ones you can get to, toured the Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Falls, Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley (for the wildlife). One of the prettiest areas of the park is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, with its Upper Falls and Lower Falls!!! WOW!!! So beautiful!!! We hiked Uncle Tom's Trail down into the Lower Falls of the canyon - 328 steps down - a drop of 600 ft. The only way out was to do 328 steps back up to the top!!! We were all tired after that hike. We covered both the North Rim and the South Rim of the Canyon by car.We also did a one day, day trip 100 miles south to the Grand Teton National Park. Very cool place. All of the mountain tops are covered with snow - pretty much all year around. We also ate lunch in Jackson (in Jackson Hole) at the Pearl Street Market & Deli - great lunch and healthy too!! There is also a wonderful (mostly flat) biking trail in the the Teton Park which is paved and goes for miles!!! Lots of bikers riding the trail.
We have completed everything on our To-Do List in Yellowstone, so it is time to move on...headed to Ennis, Montana for a one night stop over and then on in to Missoula, Montana for a couple of nights. I will post some photos later since we had very limited wifi service in Yellowstone.
We also checked out the Buffalo Bill dam on the Shoshone River outside Cody with its breath-taking view of the rugged canyon. WOW!!! it was a fantastic view and the wind was blowing 40+ mph. Built in 1905 and 295 ft. above the river it was then the tallest dam in the world.
We also had some work done on one of the rear wheels of the RV and we did laundry and provisioning while in Cody. When we were sailing/cruising, our travel/passages always centered around the weather and wind. Now that we are now C.L.O.D.S. (cruisers living on dirt) in our RV, and our travels are still dictated some by the winds. Wind direction and speed are a big factor when making passages. We had strong winds heading across Wyoming on I-90 to deal with. Very windy all the time it seems in the West.
After our two night stay in Cody, we traveled 80 miles west to Yellowstone National Park for several nights.
While in Yellowstone we were anchored in the Bridge Bay campground- 431 campsites - close to Yellowstone Lake- elevation 7744. We spend four days sightseeing in the park using the dinghy (our car) to get around with Jill and Wayne. We spent one day geyser gazing, the ones you can get to, toured the Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Falls, Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley (for the wildlife). One of the prettiest areas of the park is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, with its Upper Falls and Lower Falls!!! WOW!!! So beautiful!!! We hiked Uncle Tom's Trail down into the Lower Falls of the canyon - 328 steps down - a drop of 600 ft. The only way out was to do 328 steps back up to the top!!! We were all tired after that hike. We covered both the North Rim and the South Rim of the Canyon by car.We also did a one day, day trip 100 miles south to the Grand Teton National Park. Very cool place. All of the mountain tops are covered with snow - pretty much all year around. We also ate lunch in Jackson (in Jackson Hole) at the Pearl Street Market & Deli - great lunch and healthy too!! There is also a wonderful (mostly flat) biking trail in the the Teton Park which is paved and goes for miles!!! Lots of bikers riding the trail.
We have completed everything on our To-Do List in Yellowstone, so it is time to move on...headed to Ennis, Montana for a one night stop over and then on in to Missoula, Montana for a couple of nights. I will post some photos later since we had very limited wifi service in Yellowstone.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Photos from the Badlands
Mark and Wayne climbing in the Badlands
Mark and Wayne as high as they could climb
Sue, Mark, Jill and Wayne
Mark, Sue, Jill and Wayne
Sunrise in the Badlands from our campsite
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Finally under way - 8 days in to our trip
It's been 8 days now since we left Fort Wayne, IN. Our journey for this trip really began in New Bern, NC on April 29 as we drove the RV to Indiana and left it at our son's house for a couple of weeks while we drove the car back to NC to take care of some business.
We returned to Indiana on May 30 and spent a week visiting with family and friends before heading west on our latest adventure- a 3 month summer trip West covering the northern route to the West Coast.
We departed Fort Wayne, IN on June 10 and headed to Shueyville, Iowa where we did an overnight stop at the Sandy Beach Campground on Coralville Lake. The following day we drove to Sioux Falls, SD with an overnight stop in the Big Sioux Recreation Area.
On June 12, we pulled in to the Badlands National Park, South Dakota where we met up with boating friends Jill and Wayne Poston from Florida. We spent 1 1/2 days touring and hiking in the Badlands. Mark and Wayne climbed the clay/mud formations which look like mountains. We also toured Wall, SD (population 766) - home of the famous Wall Drug. After lunch in the Cactus Cafe in Wall, we received the good news that we have officially sold our home in New Bern, NC. Our house for the last 9 years has officially been sold. We ended the afternoon in the town of Interior, SD - (population 99) - 2 miles from our campground at the Wagon Wheel Bar to celebrate.
Saturday, June 14, we drove Rt. 44 from the Badlands to Rapid City, SD - (the scenic route). We had rain for most of the 45 mile drive. Friday night and Saturday morning we had strong storms with high winds, heavy rains and hail at one point. On the way to Rapid City we saw hail piled up along side the road from the storms. Turned out not to be the best day for doing the "scenic drive". We spent the next 3 days in Custer State Park in the Black Hills. We drove the wildlife loop, Needles Highway, and all around the park and hiked several trails in the park. We also toured Sturgis, Deadwood, Lead and Custer experiencing the Wild West.
June 17, we left the Black Hills and drove to Gillette, WY, stopping to see Devils Tower - our nation's first National Monument, WY on the way. We hiked the 1.3 mile trail that encircles the tower and winds among rockfalls of gigantic columns that have fallen from the monolith. Devils Tower is steeped in Native American tradition. It is a sacred site for for many Tribes.
Today we drove from Gillette to Cody Wyoming through the Bighorn Mountain Range and open plains. WOW! Beautiful scenery- a fantastic drive. We will stay in Cody, WY for a couple of days before moving on to Yellowstone NP on Friday.
We will post some photos tomorrow!!
We returned to Indiana on May 30 and spent a week visiting with family and friends before heading west on our latest adventure- a 3 month summer trip West covering the northern route to the West Coast.
We departed Fort Wayne, IN on June 10 and headed to Shueyville, Iowa where we did an overnight stop at the Sandy Beach Campground on Coralville Lake. The following day we drove to Sioux Falls, SD with an overnight stop in the Big Sioux Recreation Area.
On June 12, we pulled in to the Badlands National Park, South Dakota where we met up with boating friends Jill and Wayne Poston from Florida. We spent 1 1/2 days touring and hiking in the Badlands. Mark and Wayne climbed the clay/mud formations which look like mountains. We also toured Wall, SD (population 766) - home of the famous Wall Drug. After lunch in the Cactus Cafe in Wall, we received the good news that we have officially sold our home in New Bern, NC. Our house for the last 9 years has officially been sold. We ended the afternoon in the town of Interior, SD - (population 99) - 2 miles from our campground at the Wagon Wheel Bar to celebrate.
Saturday, June 14, we drove Rt. 44 from the Badlands to Rapid City, SD - (the scenic route). We had rain for most of the 45 mile drive. Friday night and Saturday morning we had strong storms with high winds, heavy rains and hail at one point. On the way to Rapid City we saw hail piled up along side the road from the storms. Turned out not to be the best day for doing the "scenic drive". We spent the next 3 days in Custer State Park in the Black Hills. We drove the wildlife loop, Needles Highway, and all around the park and hiked several trails in the park. We also toured Sturgis, Deadwood, Lead and Custer experiencing the Wild West.
June 17, we left the Black Hills and drove to Gillette, WY, stopping to see Devils Tower - our nation's first National Monument, WY on the way. We hiked the 1.3 mile trail that encircles the tower and winds among rockfalls of gigantic columns that have fallen from the monolith. Devils Tower is steeped in Native American tradition. It is a sacred site for for many Tribes.
Today we drove from Gillette to Cody Wyoming through the Bighorn Mountain Range and open plains. WOW! Beautiful scenery- a fantastic drive. We will stay in Cody, WY for a couple of days before moving on to Yellowstone NP on Friday.
We will post some photos tomorrow!!
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