Yellowstone - Day 14

July 5, 2013...Final day of vacation is bittersweet.  We are quite happy to be home but being away is so much fun!  Now it will be back to face a bushel of mail to open and do something with, lots of laundry, and work on Monday.  But I am very thankful and feel lucky to have experienced the last two weeks. 

Waking up early we headed down the road in the church van to Kearney, Nebraska.  There is a wonderful giant arch over the Interstate 80 that we wanted to see. We were very pleased that we took the time to experience it! The museum is wonderfully done and shows the history of settling the west from the early days of white man's arrival to the area.

We were given headphones to hear the stories that went along with the wonderfully created diaramas as we walked through.  WOW!  It was all so professionally done and reminded me of being at Disney where everything is nearly perfect.  Do not miss this the next time you are barreling down the highway headed west. 

The early pioneers stories mimic all the things we have been discussing the last two weeks.  Hardships galore with only a hope of a better life to come.  Again, I found myself wondering if I would have had the gumption to continue on from this point.  But for most, what choice would there have been?  They couldn't stay.  And they couldn't go back.  Onward was the only option.

There were two peekholes to view the interstate below.  That was fun and they had a radar up there reading the speed of the vehicles passing below. A lovely gift shop and café completed the inside of the archway part of the museum.

Outside was one of my favorite parts...the river.  Which had many big carp in them and feed to give to them. I don't know why but I LOVE feeding carp. If these carp lived at my house they would be so fat they couldn't swim for all the food I would give them!  I wished I had a five gallon bucket of food to give to them instead of a baggie full.  Next time.  ;)

Dan and I wandered around the outside exhibits including the garden and the lodge pole shelter.  It seems that this large round shelter was constructed by women and housed 20 or more families.  The huge lodge poles had to be brought in from further west because lodge pole pines do not grow in Nebraska.  What a gigantic effort those early settlers had to exert just to construct their home. 

Back on the highway these Illinois travelers headed east.  We talked some but I think most of us were pondering our experiences and tucking away favorite memories into our long term memory banks along with thinking of what awaited us at home....comfortable beds, pets we missed, and family and friends.

The people in our lives and our time spent with them are what makes life rich. I encourage you to take a vacation with friends and family even if it is only for a short time.  The few tense moments you experience but quickly overcome, the hours spent in each others company laughing, and the shared exploits to refer too later make for those lasting memories we will cherish when we are old and sitting in the rocking chair.  I plan to tell my grandchildren about my Yellowstone adventure and this blog will help flesh out the story.  Now, to get those photos and memories scrapbooked!  And now on to the next projects!

Thank you for taking the time to hear my Yellowstone story.  Sometimes it was a struggle to take the time to put fingers to keyboard (as opposed to pen to paper) but I am glad I did.  When I read the stats on how many of you read my words, I realize that somebody out there is listening to my thoughts and ramblings!  Thank you!!

Yellowstone - Day 13

July 4, 2013…Oh my gosh, what a day!  Things started out quite smoothly.  The campground was quiet after the excitement of last night!  We did see green shirt walking around but there was no sign of red shirt or orange shirt or even blue.  Wonder what happened there.   We ate a camp breakfast and loaded up the church van and headed off to see some more of the Flaming Gorge area.  We were looking for Chimney Rock and knew approximately where to find it.  We enjoyed the colorful scenery of rocks and sagebrush and finally saw the beautiful formation named Chimney Rock.

This area is so desolate I can’t imagine what the early settlers must have thought.  We are near the point in the Oregon Trail where settlers of the west either went one way to California or another route to Oregon.  As a mother how scary it would have been to look at the sight that lay before them.  They had already experienced months of hardships and sacrifice and knew that there was only more of it ahead.  This part of Wyoming is void of trees, water, black dirt, and people.  But still, it is very beautiful in its own way.

We stopped at a historical sight that was a stagecoach stop from the mid 1800’s.  The ruins of the stable is still there and some plaques explaining all about it have recently been erected.  We also viewed the restored station but up the hill I spied, what I declared looked like a cemetery because of the white fence surrounding it.  The guys poo-pooed us but the girls insisted and we headed up the hill.  As it turned out, it was indeed a cemetery.  Seven people had been murdered near here in a stagecoach robbery and had been buried here.  At this sight I saw and smelled babies breath.  There was so much of it growing wild that I could smell it coming in through the windows of the van.  Gin had read to me earlier in the trip that gypsophellia (babies breath) is an invasive weed to WY and they are working to eradicate it.  We pondered why that might be and came up with perhaps nothing eats is and it is crowding out the growth that the animals can eat.  Our theory anyway.

Our next stop was in Rawlins at the Montana State Penitentiary.  It is now a historical building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Built in 1901, it originally had no heating and with Wyoming winters often coming down to 40 degrees below zero, it had to have been a miserable place.  We took an official tour of the facility and our tour guide did a great job of keeping us entertained as we went through the facility.  We got to tour the cell blocks, the cafeteria, the shower rooms, and even saw the gas chamber.   This place is officially haunted according to our guide and has been featured on several television shows about hauntings.  It was a yucky place that’s for sure but everyone was fascinated by this gruesome part of old west history.  The cemetery for the prisoners was just over the hill and we made a stop by there to take a peek too.

Driving east on 80 we laughed and snacked the drive away.  That is until early afternoon between Laramie and Cheyenne when the church van started jumping around.  Again it was tire issues, this time in the front.  Dan and Tim changed it out for the spare at a beautiful WY rest area that had a huge monument of Abe Lincoln.  Why Abe Lincoln?  Well, I will tell you.  The Lincoln Monument was commissioned be the state of WY in 1959 to honor the 150^th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth.  The monument marks the highest point on the old Lincoln Highway.  It was moved to its present location in 1969 when interstate 80 was completed.  Now, how’s that for a history lesson?  Thank you, Laramie visitor’s guide for the explanation.

Back on the road we were still uncomfortable with the van.  We could feel the other front tire was not feeling right.  West on 80 we went.  We passed through Cheyenne and BOOM!  The driver’s side front tire shredded.  Tim expertly guided it to the side of the road.  We girls were a little shook but the guys were calm and put the bad tire they had previously removed back on the van.  We turned around and slowly made our way to a truck service center.

The guys at the truck service center only had tires for semis but told us to go to Wal-Mart only seven or so miles down the road.  We were glad we were not on the interstate but on a smaller road and head back to Cheyenne.  The Wal-Mart people were great and replaced two front tires for us within the 45 minutes they promised us.  Now, normally I detest Wal-Mart but today they were wonderful!

Back on the road east we headed.  I phoned the van rental place, MVP in Milan and left them a message.  I was very nice yet firm in my disappointment, but believe you me, when I get home they are getting a stern talking to.  Not only will I insist they pay for the replacement tires, I will be asking for a weeks rental refund.  That isn’t too much to ask for is it?  I don’t think so.  We were so lucky that things didn’t go more horribly wrong.  We have seven people’s lives that were depending on their renting us a van in good working order…including good dependable tires.  They knew where we were going and we were dang lucky that we were not on some mountaintop headed down a 8% grade like we were this morning!  Thank you, St. Christopher  for taking care of these travelers as we head toward Illinois.

We completed the day with a few fireworks in a small town in rural Nebraska.  Happy 4th America!

Yellowstone - Day 12

July 3, 2013…Today we decided not to leave as early as we have been and it was good to sleep in an extra hour.  Leaving the hostel parking lot we say three hot air balloons flying just a short piece away.  One of them was the same balloon that I rode in yesterday.  Lucky balloonists.  Heading south we soon were saying goodbye to the Grand Tetons and looking forward to our next adventure.

Our destination was the Flaming Gorge area and we checked into our campground in Moran, WY.  This time we opted for a large single cabin with a kitchen and bath in the unit instead of the two separate cabins.

Several of us were ready for some more road time and we headed to the Flaming Gorge area.  It took a couple of hours to get there through the most desolate landscape.  Some sage brush grows a few small juniper trees, but that’s about it.  But the stark beauty of the area is breath-taking!  Huge canyons, deep valleys, huge hills, craggy rock formations, and they have wonderful names for some of them like Deadman’s Gulch, and things like that!  Hilarious!  And I love the work gulch.  That’s a word we just don’t use in Orion very often!

Finally we could see water!  A huge lake appeared and I learned that it is a manmade lake.  A dam was built and the water formed this huge lake.  The largest trout ever was taken from this lake.  This lake is used extensively for recreation and saw people water skiing and fishing.  Tim, Gin, Sierra, and Sandy decided to swim a bit and when they got in they were surprised at how cold it was!  I stayed dry and took photos.  Unfortunately, the weather was overcast and the lighting was not great and we did not get as good of photos as we had hoped.

We stopped at their wonderful visitor’s center at the top of the dam and got our National Parks Passport stamped.  We sure did gather a lot of stamps in our passport this trip.  And I was able to add to my stick nail collection that I started in Germany.  What are stick nails you may wonder?  They are medallions between the size of a quarter or half dollar and made of metal.  They have tiny holes in each side into which you hammer tiny nails onto your hiking or walking stick.  They are a great thing to collect because they are not too expensive and are small to transport in your luggage. 

Back home to the campground we went and made a delicious supper of Rueben sandwiches.  After supper we were sitting on the porch and suddenly the Sweetwater County police department showed up with three units and pulled up just beyond our site.  Of course, being the nosey folks that we are we diligently watched the action progress.  It seems that a lady in a blue shirt with a man in an orange was accusing a lady in a red shirt who was with a man in a green shirt of drugs and not taking care of her child.  The police were there quite awhile and seemed to think that they had things straightened out and two of them left.  But no sooner than the third one was leaving the grounds when blue shirt slapped red shirt and orange shirt was holding red shirt still so her arms could not move and she started screaming!  Loud!  And we all stared.  They quieted down and soon we all went back inside and locked the door.  Many suggestions and theories of what was going on ensued and finally we all settled in for sleep.  Tomorrow we start for home.

Yellowstone - Day 11

July 2, 2013...Oh my gosh!  Today I checked off another bucket list activity!  Dan and I got up very early and were picked up at the hostel to get flight instructions.  You see, today we rode in a hot air balloon. I have always wanted to do this and today was the day!

We rode a short distance to a field where three balloons were laid out on the ground.   We received our safety instructions and soon large fans were blowing air into the balloons.  After they were full, heat was added and our balloon majestically rose up.  It was made from bright assorted colors and had a moose and a jackalope on it.  Surprisingly, it was made close to home in Galena, Illinois!  We climbed into the basket and I wasn't scared a bit.  I thought I might be, but I really wasn't.  The first balloon left the ground and we waited our turn.  After a couple of minutes the balloon gently left the ground and we were in the air and rising quickly.

Up, up, up we went and gently floated over the ground below.  It was very quiet when the heat was not on.  The mountains were to one side of us and ranches and fields of grass, streams, and trees everywhere else.  Once, the pilot brought us down over a small pond to kiss the water just for fun.  As we were descending an alarm on his controls beeped warning us that we were going down.  But back up we went and we were off again.

The ride lasted an hour but that was not nearly long enough for me.  I would have done this for several hours!  We did not go over a mountain as I thought we might.  Something about winds and downdrafts, and other technical stuff.  They have to keep to a specified flight pattern and we could not have flown if the breezes were not exactly right.  All too soon it was time to touch down and we had been watching the first balloon land.  We were enjoying watching the cows gather to watch this spectacle.

It seems that the landing spot is on a 3,000 acre cattle ranch.  The cattle were very curious and not afraid of the large colorful balloon and ran from all corners of the pasture to see what was going on. The ground crew had to keep shooing them away or they would have walked all over the now flattening balloon. 

All too soon we gently touched down and the cows gathered around us.  I love cows and think they are wonderful creatures and I enjoyed listening to them moo at us and I even enjoy the scent of cow pasture even with all its gooey surprises.

Out of the basket we climbed and the ground crew began deflating the balloon and we hopped in a van to go to a very picturesque spot by a stream for our graduation ceremony.  We received certificates of achievement and toasted with champagne, a tradition from France it seems.

Back to the hostel we go to wait for the rest of the group to catch up with us.  The other five chose to go horseback riding and when they returned we shared stories of our adventures over lunch.

The afternoon took us all in different directions, San and Gin went to a wildlife museum, Dane, Sierra, Tim and Dan went to do alpine sledding, and I went for a mani-pedi.  We gathered again only to again go our separate directions.  Tim, Gin and Sierra went shopping (not my favorite thing to do those of you who know me well already know) so Dan, San, Dane, and I wandered Jackson and toured Ripley's Believe it or Not.  This was on Dane's wish list and we were happy to oblige him after he had endured countless hours observing rocks and stuff earlier in the trip. 

We met again in the town square, the one with the antler arches, and headed for dinner at the Mangy Moose.  Eating outside with a mountain as a backdrop was fun and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely.  I love all the new types of flowers I get to see here.  These are lupines, Gin tells me.

Back to our rooms for a bit of computer time was next on the agenda and then to bed.  But not before I tried to knock myself out!  You see it was rather dark in the room and Sierra had her phone plugged in and I had to duck to under it as she was in the top bunk. No problem so far except that it was so dark that I didn't see the bottom of the wooden upper bunk board and smacked into it with my forehead!  Not a light tap either...it was a full blown hard hit that the boys heard in the next room!  Wow did it smart and I had visions of a large bruise and lump in the rest of the vacation pictures.  Those did not materialize, thankfully.  I guess because I hit it flat on and not on a corner it saved me from that.  And off to sleep we all went after a few minutes of laughter and giggles all around.

Yellowstone - Day 10

July 1, 2013…Thank heavens we left this primitive campground!  We are quite tired of dirty bathrooms and no electricity.  I doubt I would have made a very good pioneer woman.

We mugged for the camera at the entrance to the Grand Teton National Park and in our silly photo we always take, we all pointed to our own tetons…you see, Grand Teton in French means “large teat.”  The guys even took part and we all enjoyed a giggle as we headed into town to a real breakfast.

Off to do more sightseeing, our first stop was at another beautiful chapel named The Chapel of Transfiguration and was framed by the beautiful mountains.  The log church was open for our visit and again I am humbled by the beauty of this place.  The simple beauty of the logs against the raw splendor of the mountains is truly something wonderful to behold!

 

Down the road in Jackson Hole was a famous landmark, Morman Row.  My friend, Roger told me to be sure to stop by the most photographed barn in America and we did!  There was a wedding being photographed there and we took our own photos after they finished.  Just adjacent to the barn were a few other abandoned buildings...abandoned by everyone except another large herd of buffalo.  One big fella was casually scratching his back on the corner of the log house.  The herd casually walked by us headed to the next green patch of grass.  Below is the barn reported to be the most photographed barn in America.

 

 

We headed to Jackson where we will be staying in a hostel.  Sandy and I have stayed in them before but they are a new experience for the rest of the gang.  Should be fun!  After checking into our hostel we wanted to explore and first stop was the  town square in Jackson. We delighted in seeing the famous arches made from antlers.  It is quite a sight!  We killed some time looking in the very expensive shops and visited, The Bunnery for a raspberry scone another recommendation from Roger.  But the real action would come late in the afternoon when we took a whitewater raft tour!

 



We boarded a bus and headed to the Snake River for our adventure.  Our guide was a happy fella named Eric and we all took to him immediately.  Squeezed into life vests and given instructions as what to do in case of falling overboard, we started out down our stretch of the river.  Lots of laughing, getting wet, paddling, picture taking, adrenaline, and fun ensued.  I did not jump in the river as some of our group did and we all had a great time!  We finished out the day with laundry and a great meal out before bedtime in the hostel.  We have more adventures planned for tomorrow!

 



Yellowstone - Day 9

June 30, 2013... Waking up in Moran, WY at 5 am this morning was on our schedule.  It was quite cool and a bit damp.  We wanted to get some sunrise photos of the Tetons on the Snake River and headed out in the church van.  We stopped at several pull-outs and snapped away and then Gin got out her handy dandy guide book to see what else there was to see.

We read that there was a small cemetery at a particular location.  We looked and looked and couldn’t find it.   But we ran into a ranger and asked if he knew where it might be.  He gave us better directions than the book and it turned out it wasn’t where the book said anyway.  The park ranger also told us to be alert because a mama grizzly and her cub were seen quite often in the area recently.

 We headed to the cemetery of a family named Allen.  Charles Allen was a postmaster, and shopkeeper early settler of Jackson.  When he sold the land he insisted that the cemetery remain intact.  Someone still visits the graves because there appeared to be flowers that had been fairly recently.  But there obviously is not anyone doing any mowing because the place was run over with weeds, sage, and grass.  It was very disappointing and Western Township Cemetery groundskeepers would have a fit!  The old stones are wonderful to see.  One was even made from a piece of petrified wood!  It was awesome!

We did a very unhealthy and easy breakfast of doughnuts this morning.  We have been much better about eating well, but sluffed off today.  We were in a hurry to get on the road in our church van.  We headed to the Tetons and Jenny Lake which is nestled inside the mountain range.  While driving there we visited a beautiful log cabin Catholic Church along the road.  It faced the beautiful Tetons across a gorgeous blue lake.  Surprising to me, the church was open and we stepped inside to have a look around.   This beautiful log church holds two masses there each Sunday and I wish we had been there during mass time.  A gorgeous round stained glass is the centerpiece of the altar.  After our short visit I was happy to leave a small donation in their very sturdy donation box.

Part of our group chose to hike part of the way around it but Dan and I chose to take a boat cruise around.  Tim, Gin, Sierra, Sandy, and Dane took a boat half way across and from there hiked the final 3 ½ miles back to the beginning.

Dan and I hopped aboard a boat and cruised in comfort around Jenny Lake and learned so much about the lake and the area.  Jenny Lake is 259 feet deep and was a cool 55 degrees today.  Wouldn’t want to stay in very long!  It is a mountain run-off fed lake and there is a beautiful cascading waterfall that has dwindled to a small stream.  Our guide told us that just two weeks ago it was flowing so strongly that he could not take the boat in nearly as close as were today.  He pointed out the only glacier at Jenny Lake.  To be termed a glacier it has to be 100 feet thick and moving.  Gravity is constantly moving it downward.  There is still quite a lot of snow on the peaks and it certainly is beautiful!! 

We looked and looked for a mama bear and her cub that are often seen in a particular area that suffered a fire in 1999 because it is much shorter.  But we did not see her.  Our guide told us that he has seen both bears and moose swim across the lake.  He pointed out an osprey nest and shared that the osprey are better fishers than the eagles and sometimes the eagles will wait until the osprey have caught a fish and then they try to steal it and has watched them fight over it.

After Jenny Lake we headed to a cool spot for lunch.  In the shade of some trees we ate quickly and headed off to our home cabins.  We wanted to find Huckleberry Hot Springs that we had heard was in the area.  We suited up and headed to where we were told it was.  We found the small path and started to follow it.  Soon we saw a sign reminding us that this was a bear area and to take caution.  After quite a ways, we found the creek we were supposed to cross and followed the next path.  It was even further but finally found hot springs water flowing across the land.  Touching it, we knew that we could not possibly sit in it and headed back to Polecat Creek. 

We splashed and played in the creek while Dane and Sierra built a nice little rock dam.  But the days are not long enough here and we knew we had to get moving and make some supper.  Sandy made a delicious chicken and rice casserole and we had salad with it.  Around the campfire it was delicious for this starving group!

Now we find ourselves sitting at the fire and talking and I am writing my blog.  Soon it will be bedtime.  And let me tell you, I have never ever seen a darker place or heard more intense silence than here anywhere I have ever been!  This may be way too much info to share but I am going to anyway…Our campsite is the very last one in the campground and quite secluded.  Butting up next to it is forest that is occupied by moose, bears and other wild creatures.  There are lots of piles of moose (we think) poo in the trees next to us.  The bathroom and showers are quite far away and a pretty decent walk.  Now, back to telling more than I should…last night it was overcast and really, really, really  dark.  There are not any lights in the campground.  Not a very safe situation in my opinion.  But late night I had to piddle.  I was facing quite a dilemma…walk in the total dark far away to the bathroom or go round to back of the cabin and risk the bears and moose and other wild life.  What should I do?  I did not take the long hike.

Enough stories for tonight.  Hopefully, tomorrow I will have internet access again and catch up with the world.  Good night.

Yellowstone - Day 8

June 29, 2013…We broke camp in West Yellowstone and headed south in the church van.  As we left the city I spied some awesome trash receptacles.  They are all painted beautifully with lovely artwork.  An idea to tuck away in the brain for another time.  We made a quick, three mile side trip to Idaho to add that state to our travel list of states traveled and photo op at the Entering Idaho sign and were off to another day in Yellowstone.

Cruising through Yellowstone we made several stops at waterfalls, look-outs, and various other awesome sights. All of a sudden we came upon lots of parked cars and knew something good was happening!  It was bison.  A big mixed  herd of bison were to our left in a big meadow.  We pulled up and got out to take pictures.  As we were admiring them, all of a sudden they decided to cross the road.  Right in front of us!!  There was some distance between the car ahead of us and the church van.  Many of them crossed directly between our two vehicles.  We were all out of the van at that point and just backed up and huddled close to the side of the church van.  Bison crossed and crossed.  Bulls, females, young ones, and the cutest little calves you ever did see! 

They crossed in front of us for several minutes and headed to the meadow to our right.  Some made cute little grunting noises and some made what I would call a moo in cow-talk.  We were enchanted!  I filmed and snapped photos over and over.  After most of them crossed into the meadow they headed to the small river and crossed it into the next meadow.  We just couldn’t get enough of watching them!  Sandy and I counted and both came up with about 70 adults and 20 claves.  How lucky we were to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

Soon we were back in a paint pot area and walking the boardwalk amongst bubbling mud, small geysers, and lots of thermal features.  There is just so much for my eyes to see and I can’t get enough!  What must those early pioneers have thought when they came across this extraordinary landscape?  It boggles the mind to imagine.  Perhaps, if they were overly religious or quite superstitious that they may have thought they had reached Hell.  Hot, dry, bubbling, scalding, water that stinks, burns, and cascades everywhere.  Wow!

At one of the three Continental Divide stops we crossed we saw a little pond with lily pads. In this little pond were lots of leeches and no fishes. Ewww!  We looked and took pics and headed on to the next stop in Moran, WY at our next campsite.  On the way out of the park we came upon an accident scene.  A white Blazer-like car had crossed the center line and went nose first down an extremely steep embankment and some pine trees stopped it from going down into a lake.  Rather scary because a few minutes later and he may have hit us crossing over.  I hope there was no one hurt.

We arrived at Flagg Ranch campsite and I gotta say, we are disappointed in this campsite.  It has no electricity, no lights, and no wi-fi, and the biggest mosquitos we have ever seen!  They are deadly!  The bathrooms are not nearly as clean as we want them to be and some of us wish we were not staying here but there are not other options. We will live through this!  But not having internet is about killing us!

We ate a delicious supper of cheesy, broccoli and potato soup and called it a day.  In the darkest place on earth I have ever seen, without lights in our cabins or street lights on their drives!  Not darkest Africa, but certainly darkest Wyoming!

Yellowstone - Day 7

June 28, 2013...Waking up in West Yellowstone, we knew we would be in for a treat today!  Today is the day we get to see Old Faithful!  So after a camp breakfast we headed back into Yellowstone in our church van.

The thermal features of the park are remarkable!  It was chilly when we started out and they seemed to be steaming a bit extra for us this morning.  Dane and I would like to try an experiment, (of course we never would do this), take an egg, put it in a tea strainer, and dip it in the boiling spring and hard boil it!  I bet it has been done before and I have read how occasionally large animals fall in and are scalded.  I am especially annoyed to read some people go off the boardwalks and are hurt or killed.  I hate to sound  harsh, but they deserved it.  I saw a couple a few days ago, deliberately walk off the path to have their photo taken.  My sister, Gin yells at them when she sees them. I will also say something to those I see disobeying the park rules.  You know me, I'm kinda bossy and not afraid to speak up.  Fortunately, almost everyone complies because we understand how one little footprint could change things forever.  You know...the butterfly effect kind of thing.

Gorgeous waterfalls are on the agenda today too and I can't seem to ever fill my eyes enough with them.  The sounds and splendor and the beauty of this place amazes me. I am so glad to have seen all of this up close and personal!

We saw a huge herd of elk today as well as an awful lot of bicyclists.  Oh, to be young again and train to do this kind of thing.  They are amazing up and down the hills.

The Artist's Pain Pots feature are beautiful.  When you finally climb up to the top of the feature and look down, you see why exactly why it was named this.  Bubbling pools of liquid in all colors, blue, turquoise, yellows, purples, oranges, it was fabulous! What must those early peoples to this continent have thought?  It boggles the mind.

We ate a picnic lunch and headed to the Norris Ranger Museum.  I found this quite interesting.  In the old days, the soldiers kept outposts in different remote areas which were stocked and ready to hole up in if you happened to be in trouble and needed a place to stay during a blizzard or some other emergency.  They were quite well-equipped with food, cooking utensils, a cot and blankets, snowshoes, skis, matches and many other items that would be needed to survive.  I have heard of such a thing, but seeing it was great.  There even was an itemized list of what a person was to do when they left the cabin so that it was ready for the next person.  One of the instructions read to hang the mattress and blankets on a suspended wire so the mice would not get in it.  Oh, and to empty and reset the mouse traps.  Good idea!

Our next stop was Old Faithful and the Old Faithful Inn.  This grand building is a sight to behold and it is easy to sit on one of the benches and imagine wealthy people in the early 1900's pulling up here for a stay in the wilderness.  The Inn has retained much of the grandeur of that era while modernizing with quite nice bathrooms all tiled with modern plumbing as well as air conditioning in the shops and even an ice cream shop.  A huckleberry ice cream cone was delicious!  Huckleberries, looking a lot like a blueberry,  are native to the area and are a favorite food source for birds, black bears, and grizzlies.  Oh, and humans too!

Finally the time had come to see the infamous geyser, Old Faithful!  We waited in the hot sun with many hundreds of other people, on benches surrounding the feature  partially around it.  The day was clear with beautiful blue skies and I was eager to see it!  Gin was telling me that she had read that in years past, the army men would toss their dirty clothes down in the geyser hole and wait for it to erupt and spit their clothes back out, all perfectly steam cleaned!  How fascinating!

Suddenly Old Faithful seemed to be starting to get ready to explode and she did!  Steam and water shot out and the sight was breathtaking!  A spectacular sight filling the sky and my heart!  For some reason this sight really spoke to me!  After it called down I continued to watch as finally the water trickled down in rivulets to near where I was sitting and made its way to a stream.  What a sight!  Please do not miss seeing this for yourself!!

Some of the group decided to take the long hike around some of the features.  Because it was nearly a three mile hike and hot, Dan, Gin, and I decided to hang around the Old Faithful Inn and watch the people and the world go by.  I am fascinated by how many languages I have heard spoken here from everywhere in the world.  It seems to me that the Oriental nationalities especially, are here in force enjoying our National Park and spending lots of money.  Wonderful!!

It wasn't too much longer after some tine was spent in the gift shops and poking around the Inn waiting for the others that it was time for another eruption.  We strategically places ourselves to watch it again and I was not disappointed in the second eruption one bit!  It seemed to have more force this time and went higher and longer.  Others agreed with me about this and I was pleased to catch some of it on video on my camera. 

But finally it was time to head back to the campground to supper of leftovers we wanted to get eaten up; Italian beef, hotdogs, brats, and salad.  What a great day in the American west!

Dan and Tim went to their cabin and went to sleep so Dane was bored and came to hang out in the girls cabin with us.  He is quite funny and smart and was able to very quickly convert my video so it would not have to be viewed sideways!  I had filmed it with the camera longwise and so, of course it showed up on the screen sideways! I sure didn't know how to change it, (and still don't) but Dane had it fixed rather quickly.  What a guy!

Off to sleep to prepare for another adventure tomorrow!

Yellowstone - Day 6

June 27, 2013...WOW!  What a day!  Yellowstone is absolutely one of the most awesome places on this earth!  From the beautiful lakes, to the bluest skies ever, the green forests, and the rocky terrain everywhere!  I absolutely cannot say enough about it!  Today was a day of wonders!

Waking up in Gardiner this morning we packed up quickly and ate a cold cereal or sandwich breakfast.  We are making great time now with the packing and really have found our rhythm. Our little group and our church van headed into Yellowstone to see what we could see.

We stopped at a store to buy ice and Dan came out with a cupcake with a candle stuck in it.  You see, today is Sandy’s birthday.  We sang to her as she made her wish and blew out the candle.  The cupcake was not nearly large enough for all the candles we would have needed, had we used one for each year!  Happy Birthday, San!

Bison were plentiful today and we saw many of them while viewing thermal features.  At one particular sighting three big males were grazing near a water feature.  Most of our party headed to the right along the roadside.  But I had spied a trail to the left which took me out closer to the bison.  I snapped away until he decided to amble towards me.  I backed up some and he stopped.  I waited.  He began to walk toward me again and I backpedaled.  He stopped.  I took pictures.  He started towards me again and seemingly was headed right to me.  That was it!  I got outta there fast and my loving family, down quite a distance, laughed and laughed!  I guess the picture of chubby Debbie running from a bison was a sight to behold!  They  were  wishing they had video.  I was glad they didn’t!  But I got some great photos!

At another stop we encountered three buffalo grazing pretty close to the road and stopped to watch them.  That’s the funny thing about Yellowstone…people just stop everywhere, all the time, wherever they want, to watch what’s going on.  Anyway, one of the buffalo started to wallow in a dirt patch.  He rubbed and scratched and finally was satisfied and got up and ambled off.  Gin was all excited and ran across the meadow over to that spot and snatched up a handful of buffalo fur.  A prize for sure!

Soon we encountered three large male elk placidly eating foliage under some pine trees.  They were beautiful and their antlers were in full velvet.  The largest one was a twelve pointer and he came so close to me I could have reached out and touched him.  We had a sturdy fence between us but I was ready to back up at a moment’s notice!  It was almost difficult to remember that he is not a cow in the barnyard that I am able to pet if I wanted to, but a wild creature that has simply become accustomed to lots of people staring at him.

The wildlife here is abundant.  We saw brown jays, pelicans, osprey, and much more.  We are looking for moose as we have yet to see that and of course, wolves.  That elusive creature is still on the wish list!

Now let’s talk about the mud pots.  Oh my gosh!  I cannot get enough of looking at these features.  Some of the blurping, bubbling, mud looks just like stuff Dan buys in buckets and slaps on walls.  It was really fun to watch and we all wished that we could feel it….minus the burning hot part!  Waterfalls and more beautiful scenery than I can possibly describe to you completed our tour for the day.

Supper took us to town in search of supper and shopping.  It was Sandy’s birthday and she got to choose the place.  It was a pizza and pasta place and I had buffalo ravioli.  It was yummy!  Then, going along with the buffalo theme, Gin and Tim purchased a buffalo hide to place on their floor in the great room as a rug. Very nice!

We finished off the evening with ice cream cones.  I had peach cobbler ice cream.  What a great day in this little piece of heaven on earth!