Huckleberries

Everything here is huckleberry! I've seen lotions, candles, candies, pies, lip balm and various jars of huckleberry concoctions. Today Frank treated us to some of those wonders. Vickie and I had huckleberry ice cream and Bill and Frank had pie. Oh my!! The ice cream was a beautiful purple color with berries in a waffle cone and it was a little bit of heaven! Actually it was a LOT of heaven because it was huge! I thought I'd never finish such a big cone but I did. I tasted the pie and it was delicious too but I'm glad I had the ice cream. Vickie said the pie had too much cinnamon (is that possible?) but Bill ate every bite and said it was good. Huckleberries don't grow in our part of the country. They look just like a blueberry but they taste different. I am coming home with syrup, jam and various other goodies. YUM!

Glacier National Park

The beautiful Glacier National Park presented mountains, glaciers, water falls and breathtaking scenes unlike any other mountains I ever saw. You'd think that mountains would look pretty much the same any place but they are all SO different! The hard part is deciding which pictures to show you, I took so many. This one was taken after it got rainy but shows the snow and height well. Every time we wet around a curve the change in the look of the mountains was striking.

As cold and barren as the mountains look when you drive into them there are the most beautiful wild flowers growing in every nook and cranny that has a bit of dirt. Red, purple, white and yellow flowers grow in abundance along the road and under the trees. I really love the flowers!

The waterfalls were from melting snow and fell forever, down the mountain, under the road and on down to a creek or river that continued on down the mountain. There were so many! There was one place called the weeping wall that was sheer black rock that looked like it was weeping because so much water was dripping down. You wonder how there could be any snow or glaciers left on the mountain with all that melting and falling.

This was a construction zone and all the cars lined up are waiting for a pilot car to lead them, single file, along the road and then it turns around and leads the other other side. The wait can be long be we were lucky and didn't have too long to wait.

We finally saw a mountain goat and she was right next to the road! I could almost have touched it from the car!! Mindy was in the back of the Jeep and never even barked. She just watched and waited for the next exciting sight.

Notice how blue/green the water is!! I was amazed by the color of the water in all the creeks and rivers running down the mountain. I finally found out why in the book we bought about the glaciers. As the glaciers move they grind rock into a fine powder called flour that actually stays suspended in the water and as they reflect and refract sunlight they impart a beautiful turquoise blue to the water. Amazing!

Hungry Horse

We drove through rain and wind to get here but we made it! Hungry Horse is a little, bitty town of about 900 people. It is close to the West gate to the Glacier National Park so there are lots of tourist places and rv parks in the area. Bill has a cousin here that he hadn't seen since they were kids. She is the daughter of Ruthann, who came to Janette's wedding. We went out to dinner last night

This is Vickie and Frank standing at the Hungry Horse Dam with Bill. They have been so wonderful to us! She fixed us huckleberry pancakes for breakfast this morning before we set off to see the Glacier Park. They were delicious!

THE Great Falls

Ever since we arrived here we have wondered where THE Great Falls is. Every historical sign and museum talks about Lewis and Clark arriving at the falls and quoting Lewis as saying "...the grandest sight I ever beheld..." and he describes it in great detail. We wanted to see that grand sight for ourselves. We searched and searched for something that said where it is and couldn't find a map leading to it. There are 5 falls along the river but we wanted to see the GREAT falls! Finally we found it and were disappointed to find that a dam had been build just above the falls and it was no longer great or grand! The dam was built in 1915 so maybe they didn't know back then that they might be better off to leave some things alone! At the Black Eagle Falls there was also a small dam built just above the falls. We don't have the heart to search out the other 3 falls. It's still pretty to see but nothing like the sight that met the expedition. Oh well. Tomorrow we may go to the State Fair. We passed by the fairgrounds today and it looks like there are animals and real fair activities and not just a carnival. We'll check it out tomorrow.

Lewis & Clark

Today we went to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. I have never seen a museum laid out quite like this one and it was wonderful! You walked through room after room laid out with pictures and artifacts of the expedition and if you read all the articles you knew a lot about the trials they experienced. At the end we watched a movie and listened to a volunteer tell stories. It was entertaining and informative. There was to be another movie we could have watched but instead we bought it (and the one we had just watched) in the gift shop so we could share it with you all.

This is a sculpture that was beautiful. I wasn't familiar with the sculptor so don't remember his name but he truly captures the main characters of the expedition.

At the entrance is the top if this boat and the men pulling it. This is how they transported the boats with all their stuff when there wasn't a water way. The things they started the expedition with would FILL 3 semi-tractors of today. It weighed several tons! Imagine that!

I also bought a book telling stories about the expedition that are little known. It turns out that I knew most of them already because I've read a lot about them but it's a great book anyway. I'd love to share it with anyone interested!

Another really cool thing was that our National Parks Lifetime Pass got us in to the museum free! Man, was that $10 well spent or what!!

Great Falls

We went to the C. M. Russell Museum this morning and it was just wonderful! Magnificent Western art by a number of artists but mostly about Russell. There were Indian costumes, headdresses, displays of buffalo and original letters that Russell wrote over the years with illustrations on the pages. Awesome and a morning well spent.

We were driving along the river and saw this historical marker. If you click on the picture the words will be large enough to rea

d but I'll tell you it is a story by Lewis about an eagle who built her nest on an island in the middle of the river making it safe from predators. He was impressed by that and so am I.

Here is the island where the Eagle built her nest. Pretty smart Eagle!

We moved to a new RV park this afternoon. It turned out that there were just too many downs to the military site! No showers, no wi-fi, no TV and barely cell service and worst of all the 30 amp service wasn't enough to power the air conditioners and it is 95 degrees. When Bill went to the pharmacy he learned that his prescriptions won't be ready till Monday so we just didn't want to deal with all that so long. We called another park and they said we could have a spot till Tuesday! Great!! We packed up and came right over. Turns out that they may have made a mistake. The Fair starts tomorrow and they aren't sure we can still have a spot after tonight. We took it anyway and figured we could always go back to the base if we need to. In the meantime, we are happy with all the amenities here! Tomorrow we will go to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and find out what that means. My friend Sandy told us that the interpretive centers are great so we will see for ourselves tomorrow (thanks, Sandy!)

I'll tell you all about it tomorrow unless we are back on base in which case you will have to wait till we can find a wi-fi spot or until we move on. We miss you and love you!

Top of the World

Yesterday we went to the top of the world! At least that's how it seemed to us. We went for the drive that was supposed to be wonderful and at the beginning of it we saw a sign for Chief Joseph scenic drive. We figured it would loop around and we could do both drives. It worked out great except that it more than doubled the miles driven and time it took. It was late when we got back last night but well worth the time! Both drives were awesome and I would hate to have missed those sights.

We saw just about every type of terrain from arid, flat to lush green (irrigated) fields to high, HIGH mountains! We were above the snow line and the clouds! Yesterday was the first day I didn't take jackets along and the first time we needed them. Oh well, we just toughed it out and made our snowballs really fast and jumped back in the car.

You can see by the windy GPS road that it was quite a drive up the mountain (actually we climbed two mountains). What you can't tell by the GPS is the altitude we gained by each switch back! We wound up at 10,947 feet according to the sign at the top of the mountain. Our GPS read 10,940 but that's close enough. My picture was taken just before we saw the sign.

In the little town of Cooke City we decided to get some lunch. There was a BBQ restaurant with tables and chairs outside so Mindy and I sat down and Bill went inside to order. There was a screen door to go through and two dogs inside that lived there! We ordered brisket sandwiches and the cook came out the screen door to the BBQ grill outside and fixed our lunches. They were delicious! I have never heard of dogs being allowed inside a restaurant but I figure the health department hasn't been around lately! Especially since road construction started just outside of town and went all the way through town and out the other side! We didn't attach Mindy's leash to the table, thinking about Marley running off with the table in the movie! Of course, Mindy would

never do that, especially since we bought her a hot dog!

It was getting dark on the trip back and we saw this amazing buck grazing by the road. I took several pictures but they

are all a little fuzzy. I'm posting it anyway because he was so beautiful. Then we saw three does grazing in the yards where rangers live (I guess that's who lives in those houses close to Mammoth com

plex). We also saw lots of buffalo and two black bears. I didn't get pictures of either bear. Blast! One was little and down in

a gully too far away to get a picture. The other was much bigger but belly deep in grass and when we stopped to try for a picture a ranger came along and told us we would have to get off the road. There was no place close enough to get off the road and still see the bear so we moved on with wonder

ful pictures in our heads but none in the camera.

We passed the 3,000 mark for this trip. It's gone so fast and we have seen so much! Tomorrow we will move to Great Falls and spend a few days. Then on the Glacier!

Rocky Mountain RV

We are in a new park today less than a mile from the North gate to Yellowstone. We arrived intending to stay 2 nights but when we checked in the woman told Bill about a drive close by that is considered the #1 scenic drive in America. Well! We couldn't miss that so he signed up for another night so we can drive it. It's called the Beartooth drive and is highway 212 through the Beartooth/Absaroka Wilderness. Sounds like fun.

It rained today but looks like it is clearing now. We have been so lucky that the rain has come when we weren't trying to look at scenery. It has been in the late evening or when we are parked. All that good clean living is paying off!

Speaking of that...we had a stroke of good luck today! When we were coming through the mountains of Yellowstone we were on a very steep grade and smelled the brakes getting hot. We heard a whistling noise we couldn't find or identify. When we pulled into the RV park the owner came over to talk to Mindy who was in the drivers seat while Bill signed in and he said "Uh oh, you have a problem". Didn't like the sound of that! He said we had a flat tire but it was okay, he had a compressor and would pump the tire up enough for us to get in our spot and there is a tire repair place that would come out and change it and fix it. It turned out that there was nothing wrong with the tire at all. The tire monitor system that we paid big bucks for had failed and the caps on two of the tires had blown a hole which leaked the air out. One front tire flat and the other front tire low! Anyway, the good news is that the tires are fine so all we have to do is get them pumped up a bit more and we are in business. Needless to say, we took the other monitor caps off and will write a nasty email to Madison RV where we bought the system!

We will be here 3 nights and then head for Great Falls. We are still loving this trip (and each other!) This is really small quarters and we are together every minute but it's wonderful. Life is good.

Things we did right

Considering that we went into this project totally blind we did a number of things right. We picked the right RV. Our motor home is big enough to suit our needs comfortably and small enough to drive easily. We almost didn't get a vehicle to tow thinking we would just rent a car if we found the need. That would have been a big mistake! We have needed it almost every stop! When Bill told me he had found a Jeep we could tow I was skeptical. Well, I was wrong! The Jeep has been a blessing and it's easy to tow (we don't even know it's back there) and it will go any place we want to go. Mindy fits in the back and is happy there. Now that we figured out how to open the back without the window bar being in the way Mindy can jump right in. She has a pillow to lay on and a window to look out of. Life is good!

We replaced the vent fan in the bathroom before we left home and that has proven to be money well spent. It keeps the bathroom fresh and dry and helps ventilate the whole place. There is a skylight in there too that is great. Even without a window you don't have to turn the light on in the daytime. If we shower in there (and we do if there aren't showers or the showers aren't nice) there is light and air. Very nice.

We brought the right groceries! We will restock soon but so far we have had everything we've needed for quick breakfast or lunch and easy dinners if the need arises. We've eaten out quite a lot but we do that at home too so that's not a big deal. We've used the little grill that Wyatt gave us and love it. It has small bottles of gas so we don't have to carry charcoal and it does a great job. I forgot a grill brush to clean it but remembered that wadded up foil works and it does. Having a freezer is nice. I can grill chicken tenderloins or pork tenderloins (I bought the garlic pepper ones) and have dinner done in a flash.

Bringing Mindy was an excellent plan. She is the perfect travel dog. She doesn't bark, she sleeps all night, she either watches the scenery or sleeps when we are moving and she is an introduction to kids and strangers who want to pet her. She is learning the routine of walking on a leash all the time (or at least most of the time) and she is well behaved. She waits in the motor home when we are gone and doesn't bother anything or bark. One neighbor asked if she ever barks since they walked right under the window where she was and she didn't bark. I LOVE that dog!

Not having an itinerary has worked great. If we need an extra day or two we just stay on. If we decide to move on, that works too. We are moving slowly and taking our time. It's so nice not to have deadlines or obligations! We've only spent one night in a Wal-mart parking lot because we couldn't find a space but even that wasn't bad.

Just a few of the things we did right. This trip has been wonderful and we are looking forward to the rest of the journey!

A day in Yellowstone

I don't know how many times I can say the the day was full of amazing, beautiful sights without you getting tired of hearing it but today, our first in Yellowstone, was full of amazing sights. I have heard of the wonders of this place but couldn't really appreciate them until today.

We intended to see the southern part of the park today and then move north tomorrow and see that half but we are so tired tonight that we arranged to stay here another night and move on Sunday.

We stopped to see one geyser that was spewing but couldn't see it very well so we moved up (in the car) and as I took a great picture the wind caught the spray and blew it right into the car. It smelled like sulpher! It didn't take us long to move along to the next scene!

When we arrived at the Old Faithful sight there was a huge parking lot with buildings (and another being built) and a lot of people. We searched for a parking spot and finally found one and started over to the crowd. Just as I got close it blew! I didn't have time to scout the perfect place to photograph it but had to take what I could get as I ran closer and closer. The one with the unknown man in the middle was the geyser at its highest point (I think) but the one with the crowd in it is a better picture of Old Faithful. At least we didn't have to wait the 92 minutes till the next eruption. It was a wonderful thing to see!

One of the most beautiful was Firehole Spring. The color around it was wonderful and it would bubble a while then boil up then settle down again. Amazingly beautiful and there was a wood walkway close enough to get a really good look. Actually there were walkways everywhere but dogs aren't allowed on them so we didn't walk there. (I ventured out for a few pictures but didn't walk the miles and miles of wooden walkways.)

Janette asked the other day if we would cross the continental divide so when we passed the sign we took a picture. We crossed it 3 times (4 if you count the one we crossed twice).

We saw these two elk by the side of the road. One laying down in the background and one walking around. There were cars stopped on both sides of the road to see it. If there are cars stopped on the road there is sure to be something interesting to see. We saw buffalo and elk and I swear I saw two pelicans flying by! Do pelicans live around here ? Sure looked like pelicans to me. Didn't get a picture but that's my story and I'm sticking to it (until someone tells me that it couldn't have been pelicans.) There is so much water in massive lakes, streams and rivers that anything is possible.

Try to put my stories with the pictures again. I'm too tired to try to figure out how to do it right. I miss everyone and love you all dearly!

The Grand Tetons

This view of the Grand Teton (the highest peak in the Teton range) was taken from the car with just the zoom on my little camera. I thought it showed clearly how many peaks there really are. In the book we bought about the Tetons there is a picture of climbers on the ice heading for the top. It said peak climbing time is mid July to the end of September. We weren't even tempted but I thought of Clem. He would definitely be tempted and probably do it!

Mindy likes to see the views. There are so many scenic overlooks and pullouts to stop and look and photograph without blocking traffic. We stopped at most of them. Just couldn't get enough of the Tetons from different perspectives. They look different from different angles but they are beautiful from every angle.

It's a little hard to see in this picture but there is a lake between us and the mountains. This is Jackson Lake, the largest but there are 4 smaller lakes and many really small lakes all at the foot of the mountains. They are so serene and beautiful! There were lots of boats and canoes and that just made it prettier.

Mindy makes friends where ever we go! I think Bill likes her as a "chick magnet" although these particular chicks are a little young. She now knows the drill of getting in and out of the Jeep and loves looking out the back when the window is unzipped.

Wednesday, July 15th

We survived the night in the parking lot just fine. Really it wasn't bad at all except for the lack of a shower this morning it wasn't so different than any other place and we had a bonus when we looked out the window this morning. There was a beautiful female moose grazing in the grass very close to us. I grabbed the camera and took several pictures. Isn't she beautiful!

We had breakfast and left Casper headed for the Grand Teton RV Park. We called last night and made reservations for 3 nights. We didn't think there would be many Wal-Marts here and we were longing for a shower that would last more than a couple of minutes.

There was construction on the mountain road that held us up but the scenery was so gorgeous we didn't mind sitting and looking at it a little extra. As the Tetons came into view we could see snow and the temperature dropped to 65 degrees! It's warmer in the park but I expect it will be quite cool tonight. The stay at the Wal-Mart wasn't in vain...we bought an extra blanket.

We will spend the next few days viewing the sights close by. Both Teton National Park and Yellowstone are close. I'm looking forward to it.

I forgot the picture of the blast

So here it is! Don't get too excited...it will be over in seconds! I can't seem to place the pictures where I want them in the blog so they appear, in no particular order, in a string at the top. If anyone who reads this can help me do it right I am open to advice.

Tuesday, July 14

One of the outside doors broke off on the outside of the motor home and repairs had to be made before we could get on the road. Bill went out and started working and two neighboring campers came to help. After gathering tools and screws from various RVs the repair was complete and we were off to see the blast at Crazy Horse.

I don't know what I was expecting but a blast at Crazy Horse was something I definitely wanted to see. I was not alone! There were lots of people gathered outside the park to watch. A boom, a puff of dust, and it was over! We all got in our cars and left. That was it! I guess it gives me bragging rights that I witnessed a blast at Crazy Horse but it was over in seconds and was much lower on the mountain than I expected. Nobody even yelled "Fire in the hole!" that I could hear.

Anyway, we were off to Casper, Wyoming! We drove for miles and miles and miles with nothing but rolling grassland with an occasional herd of cattle grazing. We saw three trains all loaded with coal. I counted 135 cars in one of them! Very picturesque. I realized that I wanted to be out of here before winter set in when I saw miles of snow fence along the highway. There was one lone tree. Then in the distance the purple mountains appeared. How beautiful! Mindy couldn't be roused to witness the scenery. Notice the beautiful Indian blanket she is sleeping on? We got that last night just for her so she could sleep on the couch. At home she isn't allowed on the furniture but in the RV with the slide in there is no place else for her to go so she is loving this RV travel thing!

As we got closer to Casper I started calling campgrounds (all 4 of them!) and nobody had a space available. So here we are in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Bill insisted on going inside to ask if it was okay for us to stay here tonight. The manager said they don't mind at all but sometimes the police run everybody off. Great! That will make me sleep sound! Oh well, what is an adventure without some hardships. We'll go on tomorrow (or maybe the middle of the night) and I'll start calling for a space a bit earlier. Maybe that will help.

I thank everybody who reads this blog. It is fun to write it and I hope you are enjoying it too.

Custer State Park Wildlife Drive

This afternoon we decided to drive the wildlife loop in the park. When we went through the gate the ranger told us we could drive some of the gravel roads in our jeep to see the best sights. We did just that and saw hundreds of buffalo, antelope and prairie dogs! It turned out that even people in big RV's were driving the gravel roads so we had lots of company. We stopped and watched a huge herd of buffalo mosey down a hill into the valley. Another car stopped and I was telling them about it when even more buffalo appeared and started down the slope. The man finally told me to speak more slowly so they could understand. Turns out they were from Belgium! Wow! It was a man, wife and teenage daughter and they were having a grand time. We watched with them for a while and started driving again. We got behind a rented RV who was headed into a herd crossing the road. It took us a half hour to get by them but I got some awesome pictures. I have seen buffalo all my life but they still impress me! They were so beautiful roaming the grassy hills and ignoring us tourists with cameras. Mindy sat in the back and watched but never barked and certainly never thought about jumping out of the jeep even though the back window was open. She is such a hound dog!

Tonight we'll go see the light show at Crazy Horse. Clear sky and perfect temperature. If it gets a little cool we bought Crazy Horse sweat jackets so we'll be toasty. I'll tell you all about it later.

Crazy Horse

This has been one of the most amazing days of my life! We went to Crazy Horse and viewed the orientation about the beginning and the sculptor. We met Clem's friend, Rich and he took us up to the face of Crazy Horse and we walked out on his arm!! Oh my God! We heard stories about the blasting (Rich is a blaster) and learned so much about the memorial and how it will be completed. Rich was a wonderful guide and very gracious. He gave us a packet of information about Crazy Horse and other things in the area and a DVD copy of what we had seen in the orientation. He told us about a special blast planned for Tuesday and of course we immediately changed our plan to leave Sunday so we can be here for that blast. He got us an admission slip so we can get in. I LOVE that man! We are going back tonight or tomorrow night (suddenly we have lots of time here) for the laser light show. This has definitely been an amazing day. Thank you, Clem for hooking us up with Rich!