I have journaled off and on for at least fifty years. Don't go trying to figure out how old I was when I started. I'll just say I could write by myself, but I was VERY young. Most of what I write is of little or no interest to anyone else but me, but it is a fun way to gather thoughts and feelings and reflect back on how gracious God has been. I sometimes sit and read one of my old journals and cannot for the life of me figure out why I thought that stuff was important enough to write about. Once in awhile, there is a very interesting historical tid-bit or some good juicy family gossip. One of the most interesting things I ever journaled about was the Easter flood in Jackson in the late 1970's. At the time I had no idea it would be an oft talked about historical event.
This past spring I made the decision to retire from my job of 26+ years. As a young woman I never wanted a career. I only wanted to get married, have a house with children and a great husband. Well I did all of that and was able to stay at home with the three children until our baby was about 13 years old. So, finally I became a working mom. I loved my job. As a child I always liked playing school, shuffling papers and bossing my little sister around. Perfect practice for my job as administrative assistant.
As I looked forward to retirement, there were so many things I still wanted to do before the old eyes and ears went to the dogs. All types of arts and crafts interest me. My list of projects included grandchildren projects, sewing, yard and garden work and attempting to become an artist and photographer.
The only problem was I forgot to let God know about my list. The entire first month of freedom from punching the clock was spent trying to get my hands around the financial situation which comes with retirement!! If you have not thought about retirement and are anywhere close to that time in your life, I highly recommend learning a bit about investing and trying to figure out a way to hold on to what you have and not let Uncle Sam get his hands on most of it. I backed my ears and started studying everything I could about IRA's, large cap, mid cap, annuities, stocks, fixed annuities,........... Ugh!!! Stuff like that could make a grown woman cry. This was like studying French for the first time in my life. It was much easier when I got paid on the first of the month and I had spent almost every penny of it by day 30 and I got paid again.
Before I got all this settled, I developed a roaring case of shingles. I can honestly say this was undoubtedly the most painful thing I have ever endured. I have had some really weird medical problems in the past and I am a really tough old bird, but this one put me down and out for about seven weeks.
I recovered just in time to try to get myself together for our trip to the west coast. Up to the night before we left, I was praying that I was up to the task. If you followed my blog of the trip, you know that the Lord was so good and I made it just fine. We had a fantastic adventure and thoroughly enjoyed all 26 days and 7,675 miles on the road. What a nice retirement party we shared with my sister and her husband in their summer home in Oregon.
As we got back home, we learned that my 87 year old mother-in-law was very sick and so we brought her home with us. After nursing her for over a week, she ended up in the hospital for several days. She is so precious and does not want to be a bother to anybody. We have home health care coming several days a week to help us, but there is still much to learn about caring for the elderly. This is like learning yet another language. Since we started this new chapter in my retirement, we have all had the stomach virus and a major cold. Yes sir, we are having fun now.
She is wrapped up to her chin in a snuggy by the wood burning stove and I am in my bikini day and night. The TV volume bar is up to the top of the screen so we can listen to all the squealing on Deal or No Deal and I am the official phone receptionist for all the sweet little ladies in her Sunday School class who call at least once a day, unless they forget and call several times a day and have the exact same conversation which neither one remembers. This definitely was not on my bucket list, but I do realize how blessed we all are that the Lord knew what would happen and I don't have to worry about trying to hold down a demanding job. Strange how all that has worked out so well. I guess I am saying all this to say that life is so unpredictable and sometimes you just have to take the good with the bad. One day I may be in the position that Mamaa is and I surely hope that there will be someone to tend to me with the same love that I feel for her. So this is retirement!
The other side of the coin was, after getting Mamaa all situated for the day, I spent about an hour today at grandson #4's school at his book fair. He was excited to see me and we had a great time picking out books that he liked, plus the money we spent will help his school. Pre-retirement, I would not have been able to do this. So, this is retirement :)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The Oregon Trail - Day 26
As we soared through Lake Village, Arkansas in a hurry to get home, we saw beautiful cypress trees along the lake bank. The new bridge over the Mississippi River at Fairview was really pretty. Lake Providence, Louisiana had some beautiful old anti-bellum homes.
During the whole trip we saw rainbows at least six different times. Each time they were all but impossible to capture with the camera. However, this time just east of Vicksburg there was a beautiful rainbow that touched down right in the highway in front of us. What a perfect way to end a wonderful trip. Even the rain and clouds couldn't dampen the moment. What a great end to a great adventure.
We drove a total of 6,650 miles and drove 1,025 miles in the RV for a grand total of travel on the trip of 7,675 miles. What fun!!!!
Marmalade's Side of the Story
Oh Sidney, I am almost home and there is pizza for everyone. Hurry and get here. I need a hug. That Mississippi River Bridge at Vicksburg was a wonderful sight because I was getting closer to my snuggy buggy.
During the whole trip we saw rainbows at least six different times. Each time they were all but impossible to capture with the camera. However, this time just east of Vicksburg there was a beautiful rainbow that touched down right in the highway in front of us. What a perfect way to end a wonderful trip. Even the rain and clouds couldn't dampen the moment. What a great end to a great adventure.
We drove a total of 6,650 miles and drove 1,025 miles in the RV for a grand total of travel on the trip of 7,675 miles. What fun!!!!
Marmalade's Side of the Story
Oh Sidney, I am almost home and there is pizza for everyone. Hurry and get here. I need a hug. That Mississippi River Bridge at Vicksburg was a wonderful sight because I was getting closer to my snuggy buggy.
The Oregon Trail - Day 25
We are both getting eager to get home. The clouds were heavy. Kansas is not exactly chock full of thrilling sightseeing objects. Kansas really plays up the Wizard of Oz fame. Note the sign on the side of the road in the picture below. The other thing I like about Kansas is the state flower - Sunflower - my favorite flower. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's museum and library is in Abilene, Kansas. Also, there was a sign in Gorham, Kansas that said it was the boyhood home of Bob Dole and Arlan Spector. I don't know if they were bragging or complaining. Just kidding.
At Vesper,Kansas we drove for miles, maybe 15, and saw thousands of those huge wind turbines. Alternative energy is really being pushed out west. I hope it works out and all those things are maintained and the major initial cost is going to be recovered. Time will tell.
Marmalade's Side of the Story
I am feeling like the seat cover. I want to go home to my Sidney.
We are proud of Aunt Tonya. She made all 60 miles in the walk for breast cancer research in Atlanta this weekend!!! Yippee!!! I am so tired of riding, I might even like to get out and walk about 60 miles. Not really.
Nonnie put me out by the Oklahoma state sign in a wind storm and I got all blown over. You can hardly see me laying down in all that tall grass. Sidney, Baker, can you see me?
I am in front of the Oklahoma sign's right leg. My fur even got messed up in that grass.
At Vesper,Kansas we drove for miles, maybe 15, and saw thousands of those huge wind turbines. Alternative energy is really being pushed out west. I hope it works out and all those things are maintained and the major initial cost is going to be recovered. Time will tell.
Marmalade's Side of the Story
I am feeling like the seat cover. I want to go home to my Sidney.
We are proud of Aunt Tonya. She made all 60 miles in the walk for breast cancer research in Atlanta this weekend!!! Yippee!!! I am so tired of riding, I might even like to get out and walk about 60 miles. Not really.
Nonnie put me out by the Oklahoma state sign in a wind storm and I got all blown over. You can hardly see me laying down in all that tall grass. Sidney, Baker, can you see me?
I am in front of the Oklahoma sign's right leg. My fur even got messed up in that grass.
The Oregon Trail - Day 24
Before saying good-bye to Wall, we just had to try their world famous breakfast and homemade donuts. Wouldn't you know this day the donuts were not ready yet!!! Ugh!!! Oh well, the breakfast was great and we were on the road again. One more look at one of the big dinosaurs as we fill up with gas across the highway. 80 feet!!!
About the only thing I can say about this leg of the trip home was that it is really hard to compete with what we have already experienced. Corn fields and hay bales were just not overly interesting. About the most exciting thing we did was take Hwy 23 in Kansas. It turned out to be a one lane dirt road running down the middle of a corn field for several miles. This turn of events made us feel lots better about our Mississippi roads.
Oil wells and sunset pictures were about all my tired little camera clicking finger could handle. Sunsets are beautiful no matter where you are. Sure would be nice if some of those many oil wells were on our little piece of the world in Mississippi.
Marmalade's Side of the Story
Oh yes, Sidney, Nonnie told it right. There was not much to see, so I just played on the back seat and thought about getting home and giving my snuggy buggy a big hug.
Can you believe they would sell Santa's reindeer skins at Wall Drug? Oh my goodness! At least they did not have any giraffe hides for sale.
About the only thing I can say about this leg of the trip home was that it is really hard to compete with what we have already experienced. Corn fields and hay bales were just not overly interesting. About the most exciting thing we did was take Hwy 23 in Kansas. It turned out to be a one lane dirt road running down the middle of a corn field for several miles. This turn of events made us feel lots better about our Mississippi roads.
Oil wells and sunset pictures were about all my tired little camera clicking finger could handle. Sunsets are beautiful no matter where you are. Sure would be nice if some of those many oil wells were on our little piece of the world in Mississippi.
Marmalade's Side of the Story
Oh yes, Sidney, Nonnie told it right. There was not much to see, so I just played on the back seat and thought about getting home and giving my snuggy buggy a big hug.
Can you believe they would sell Santa's reindeer skins at Wall Drug? Oh my goodness! At least they did not have any giraffe hides for sale.
The Oregon Trail - Day 23
We woke to a warmish day in Custer, South Dakota and hit and miss rain. Our motel room looked like it had not changed a bit since 1950. Lucy and Desi Arnez would have been right at home. Actually rather cool.
In just a few minutes we arrived at Crazy Horse Memorial Park. The rain and mist was so heavy we could not even see the mountain/monument right ahead of us and the bus trips up to the mountain were temporarily cancelled. We toured the museum and enjoyed the massive exhibits and millions of dollars worth of original native Indian art on display. Outstanding museum!
I honestly never gave a second thought to our nation's Indian history. I find it amazing that relations between the cultures have evolved into the harmonious country we live in. Our knowledge about this part of our country was so limited, it was almost like being in a foreign country. Almost all names, places and living styles make reference to Indians, livestock and Lewis and Clark, but mostly Indians.
Finally the clouds lifted and we were able to get a good look at the Crazy Horse monument honoring our native American heritage off in the distance. Crazy Horse was a war leader of the Oglala Lakota tribe and fought in the war against the Americans in Wyoming in 1865-1868. This great warrior was called Crazy Horse because his horse was crazy/spirited. He led the war party in the Battle of Little Bighorn and was killed by the Americans in 1877 while resisting arrest.
The story of Korczah Ziolkowski, the sculptor who began the huge sculpture in 1947, his wife, Ruth, and ten children is truly amazing. He was commissioned by Chief Henry Standing Bear to do the sculpture. He had become well known while consulting with Gutzon Borglum who was sculpting Mt. Rushmore. Even though Korczah has died, his wife and seven of his ten children still keep the dream alive. They do most of the measuring and blasting of the rock and run the business. When it is completed, it will be something like ten times the size of Mt Rushmore. This is what it will look like when completed.
It has taken over 60 years to get to this point.
Not far from Crazy Horse Monument is Mt. Rushmore National Monument. After seeing the size of Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore seemed almost small. However, it was very impressive as we walked up the entrance and viewed it among the state flags. The busts of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were done by sculptor Gutzon Borglum from 1927-1941.
Scenic 44 east of Rapid City, South Dakota, took us to the Badlands National Park. They certainly named it correctly. This was about the most desolate looking place I have ever seen, or at least right up there with Hell's Canyon, but different. The dirt looked poor and totally worthless. It didn't even look like it could support anything but sage brush and rattlesnakes. Among all the extreme desolation was strange beauty. There were some of the most extremes in colors of rocks and dirt. We felt like we might be on the surface of the moon or some foreign place. There were signs warning us to beware of rattlesnakes. Oh yes, we definitely were trying to be aware!
Marmalade's Side of the Story
Mt. Rushmore was good, but I had more fun at Wall Drug. I got to sit on another buffalo and a jack-o-lope with Nonnie. There was lots of silly stuff and they even put some HUGE dinosaurs out in the fields along the road so people would come see what else is at the drug store.
In just a few minutes we arrived at Crazy Horse Memorial Park. The rain and mist was so heavy we could not even see the mountain/monument right ahead of us and the bus trips up to the mountain were temporarily cancelled. We toured the museum and enjoyed the massive exhibits and millions of dollars worth of original native Indian art on display. Outstanding museum!
I honestly never gave a second thought to our nation's Indian history. I find it amazing that relations between the cultures have evolved into the harmonious country we live in. Our knowledge about this part of our country was so limited, it was almost like being in a foreign country. Almost all names, places and living styles make reference to Indians, livestock and Lewis and Clark, but mostly Indians.
Finally the clouds lifted and we were able to get a good look at the Crazy Horse monument honoring our native American heritage off in the distance. Crazy Horse was a war leader of the Oglala Lakota tribe and fought in the war against the Americans in Wyoming in 1865-1868. This great warrior was called Crazy Horse because his horse was crazy/spirited. He led the war party in the Battle of Little Bighorn and was killed by the Americans in 1877 while resisting arrest.
The story of Korczah Ziolkowski, the sculptor who began the huge sculpture in 1947, his wife, Ruth, and ten children is truly amazing. He was commissioned by Chief Henry Standing Bear to do the sculpture. He had become well known while consulting with Gutzon Borglum who was sculpting Mt. Rushmore. Even though Korczah has died, his wife and seven of his ten children still keep the dream alive. They do most of the measuring and blasting of the rock and run the business. When it is completed, it will be something like ten times the size of Mt Rushmore. This is what it will look like when completed.
It has taken over 60 years to get to this point.
Not far from Crazy Horse Monument is Mt. Rushmore National Monument. After seeing the size of Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore seemed almost small. However, it was very impressive as we walked up the entrance and viewed it among the state flags. The busts of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were done by sculptor Gutzon Borglum from 1927-1941.
Scenic 44 east of Rapid City, South Dakota, took us to the Badlands National Park. They certainly named it correctly. This was about the most desolate looking place I have ever seen, or at least right up there with Hell's Canyon, but different. The dirt looked poor and totally worthless. It didn't even look like it could support anything but sage brush and rattlesnakes. Among all the extreme desolation was strange beauty. There were some of the most extremes in colors of rocks and dirt. We felt like we might be on the surface of the moon or some foreign place. There were signs warning us to beware of rattlesnakes. Oh yes, we definitely were trying to be aware!
Marmalade's Side of the Story
Mt. Rushmore was good, but I had more fun at Wall Drug. I got to sit on another buffalo and a jack-o-lope with Nonnie. There was lots of silly stuff and they even put some HUGE dinosaurs out in the fields along the road so people would come see what else is at the drug store.
Even Boppie liked shopping and looking at all the guy stuff in the store. I don't know if we ever found the Drug Store part, but Nonnie thought it was funny because there are Wall Drug signs and pictures of dinosaurs all over the world. They say things like "5,437 miles to Wall Drug" in Seoul, Korea and places like that. Nonnie says that is their gimmick. I don't know what that means, but we saw the signs all along our trip in lots of different places which were a long way from the store. Pretty smart of them. It made us want to come to see what was so great about it.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Oregon Trail - Day 22
As we left Cody headed east on Alt. 14 Chief Joseph Scenic Highway toward Powell, Wyoming, the sunrise was just beautiful. I don't think I have ever seen so many beautiful sunrises, sunsets and rainbows as I have during this trip. There were oil wells and horses all along the highway. The big crop they were harvesting all along this area was sugar beets.
We made a little side trip into Bighorn Canyon and to Devil's Canyon Overlook. Just beautiful. A herd of mountain goats was walking right down the road beside us. They have beautiful clear yellow/brown eyes. The unusual mountains just inside the canyon looked to be made of a loose powdery type of substance and we could see lots of tracks where people had been trying to climb the mountain in some type of vehicles, maybe jeeps or 4-wheel ATV's or something like that.
All along the highway we saw hundreds of antelope. They really are pretty animals. One of them ran across the road in front of us and had trouble jumping over the barbed wire fence. They must not be good jumpers like deer. We saw almost as many mule deer out in the pastures as antelope.
Picnic lunch at Selby Lake was good and the weather was perfect. I saw a little chipmunk sitting on a rock and he stayed put long enough for a quick picture. They are the cutest things and can run so fast they just look like a streak.
Happy 2nd Birthday, Sidney. Have fun at your party and we will be home to give you a birthday kiss soon.
Marmalade's Side of the Story
We stopped at a place called Old Town in Upton, Wyoming. They had moved lots of old buildings and put them all back together so we could see how people used to live long time ago. Can you believe this old house is made of grass and dirt like Bop used to grow at his grass farm. It had a dirt roof too. I liked the chair made out of old vines. I pretended I was a cowboy sitting on my porch after driving my cows to Oregon. Nonnie thought the other building in the picture was funny and I don't know why. I think somebody sick used to live in there.
The whole time we've been gone we have seen lots of play-like buffalo that I can sit on and have my picture made. This time we stopped in Moorecroft, Wyoming and they had a big Texas Longhorn cow for me to have my picture made with. That was because this was the re-supply place where all the cattle drives stopped when the cowboys were trying to get the cows out to the west coast. 1898 was a long time ago to be coming all the way out here with no roads or trucks or hotels to spend the night in. I am glad I was not a cowboy back then. I just want to be one now and wear big boots and a cool hat.
I got to sit on another buffalo. This one is in front of the Rocket Motel where we stayed in Custer, South Dakota tonight. Nonnie and Bop went out for supper while I took a nap and do you know they ate at a place called the Dark Horse and Nonnie ate a buffalo burger!!!! Can you believe she actually ate a buffalo? What was she thinking?
We made a little side trip into Bighorn Canyon and to Devil's Canyon Overlook. Just beautiful. A herd of mountain goats was walking right down the road beside us. They have beautiful clear yellow/brown eyes. The unusual mountains just inside the canyon looked to be made of a loose powdery type of substance and we could see lots of tracks where people had been trying to climb the mountain in some type of vehicles, maybe jeeps or 4-wheel ATV's or something like that.
All along the highway we saw hundreds of antelope. They really are pretty animals. One of them ran across the road in front of us and had trouble jumping over the barbed wire fence. They must not be good jumpers like deer. We saw almost as many mule deer out in the pastures as antelope.
Picnic lunch at Selby Lake was good and the weather was perfect. I saw a little chipmunk sitting on a rock and he stayed put long enough for a quick picture. They are the cutest things and can run so fast they just look like a streak.
Happy 2nd Birthday, Sidney. Have fun at your party and we will be home to give you a birthday kiss soon.
Marmalade's Side of the Story
We stopped at a place called Old Town in Upton, Wyoming. They had moved lots of old buildings and put them all back together so we could see how people used to live long time ago. Can you believe this old house is made of grass and dirt like Bop used to grow at his grass farm. It had a dirt roof too. I liked the chair made out of old vines. I pretended I was a cowboy sitting on my porch after driving my cows to Oregon. Nonnie thought the other building in the picture was funny and I don't know why. I think somebody sick used to live in there.
The whole time we've been gone we have seen lots of play-like buffalo that I can sit on and have my picture made. This time we stopped in Moorecroft, Wyoming and they had a big Texas Longhorn cow for me to have my picture made with. That was because this was the re-supply place where all the cattle drives stopped when the cowboys were trying to get the cows out to the west coast. 1898 was a long time ago to be coming all the way out here with no roads or trucks or hotels to spend the night in. I am glad I was not a cowboy back then. I just want to be one now and wear big boots and a cool hat.
I got to sit on another buffalo. This one is in front of the Rocket Motel where we stayed in Custer, South Dakota tonight. Nonnie and Bop went out for supper while I took a nap and do you know they ate at a place called the Dark Horse and Nonnie ate a buffalo burger!!!! Can you believe she actually ate a buffalo? What was she thinking?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SIDNEY!!!!!
I'll be home soon to give you a birthday hug.
The Oregon Trail - Day 21
After a great night's sleep in the cabin, not the car, we stopped for gas just to make sure we did not get stranded inside Yellowstone. Lesson learned last night. While we were in the gas station we met a couple who had stayed in the same set of cabins we did and they were from Oregon near Kit and Mike. We enjoyed sharing stories with them and talking about how much fun we had in Oregon. It was a cold 21 degrees at 8:30 a.m. and not a cloud in the sky.
There was a big herd of buffalo crossing the road down in the geyser fields and everyone stopped and took the opportunity to make pictures. Some of those crazy people got out of their cars and set up tripods with cameras. I felt a lot safer standing up through the sun roof. It was fun to watch how slowly those big boys were moving and would just stand in the middle of the road; then all of a sudden they would take off just running across the pasture with their heels kicking up the dust.
At one of the geyser pools there was a couple from Norway, or somewhere like that, who had camped out the night before and run out of propane. I looked into the pool and they were boiling 4 eggs for breakfast. Illegal, I am sure. I had seen the man sneaking over the railing when we drove up. Sure hope they didn't burn their little tootsies off fixing breakfast.
I just had to sneak this picture.
About noon we made it to the big lodge and had a burger at the Geyser Grill. Of course we had to buy a few souvenirs. We look like a homeless couple living out of our vehicle. One more sack of trinkets and I'll have to run along side the car the rest of the way home.
Old Faithful is not too far from the lodge across a huge parking area. She blows about every 40-126 minutes. We weren't sure how long it had been since it blew, so we just took a seat and soaked up the nice sun on our backs, watched the crowd gathering with us and watched the other lesser geyser that was spewing from time to time in the background. Old Faithful constantly sent up steam in varying density and burped some water from time to time. Just teasing us and keeping us on our toes with cameras cocked and ready to go. Finally about an hour and a half after we sat down, it blew. The water shot over 100 feet high and lasted maybe three to five minutes. It was well worth the wait. If you look really closely, you can see the rainbow in the first picture just above the tree line. Pictures just don't capture rainbows very well, but it was really pretty.
The West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake was just beautiful and so blue.
We left Yellowstone behind and headed toward the rest of Wyoming. It looked so different even just outside of the Park and it seemed we were at a lower elevation. Horses were everywhere and obviously big business in Wyoming. There was much more fall color along the roadside with all the aspens and cottonwood trees. I guess it was a fair trade off - beautiful fall trees, but no wild flowers along the road like there had been in all the other states.
We got a room for the night in Cody, Wyoming at the Big Bear Motel. Way too cold to even think about camping and we have gotten less committed to the idea as each day has passed.
Marmalade's Side of the Story
Woohoo!!! Everybody let out a yell when Old Faithful blew up. It was great!
We saw this really strange tree that someone had made out of antlers and skulls in their front yard. Yuk. Nonnie thought it was cool, but I thought it was creepy. Baker, what do you think?
There was a big herd of buffalo crossing the road down in the geyser fields and everyone stopped and took the opportunity to make pictures. Some of those crazy people got out of their cars and set up tripods with cameras. I felt a lot safer standing up through the sun roof. It was fun to watch how slowly those big boys were moving and would just stand in the middle of the road; then all of a sudden they would take off just running across the pasture with their heels kicking up the dust.
At one of the geyser pools there was a couple from Norway, or somewhere like that, who had camped out the night before and run out of propane. I looked into the pool and they were boiling 4 eggs for breakfast. Illegal, I am sure. I had seen the man sneaking over the railing when we drove up. Sure hope they didn't burn their little tootsies off fixing breakfast.
I just had to sneak this picture.
About noon we made it to the big lodge and had a burger at the Geyser Grill. Of course we had to buy a few souvenirs. We look like a homeless couple living out of our vehicle. One more sack of trinkets and I'll have to run along side the car the rest of the way home.
Old Faithful is not too far from the lodge across a huge parking area. She blows about every 40-126 minutes. We weren't sure how long it had been since it blew, so we just took a seat and soaked up the nice sun on our backs, watched the crowd gathering with us and watched the other lesser geyser that was spewing from time to time in the background. Old Faithful constantly sent up steam in varying density and burped some water from time to time. Just teasing us and keeping us on our toes with cameras cocked and ready to go. Finally about an hour and a half after we sat down, it blew. The water shot over 100 feet high and lasted maybe three to five minutes. It was well worth the wait. If you look really closely, you can see the rainbow in the first picture just above the tree line. Pictures just don't capture rainbows very well, but it was really pretty.
The West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake was just beautiful and so blue.
We left Yellowstone behind and headed toward the rest of Wyoming. It looked so different even just outside of the Park and it seemed we were at a lower elevation. Horses were everywhere and obviously big business in Wyoming. There was much more fall color along the roadside with all the aspens and cottonwood trees. I guess it was a fair trade off - beautiful fall trees, but no wild flowers along the road like there had been in all the other states.
We got a room for the night in Cody, Wyoming at the Big Bear Motel. Way too cold to even think about camping and we have gotten less committed to the idea as each day has passed.
Marmalade's Side of the Story
Woohoo!!! Everybody let out a yell when Old Faithful blew up. It was great!
We saw this really strange tree that someone had made out of antlers and skulls in their front yard. Yuk. Nonnie thought it was cool, but I thought it was creepy. Baker, what do you think?
Saturday, November 6, 2010
The Oregon Trail - Day 20
So far, this is the coldest place we have been - Missoula, Montana - 25 degrees at 8:30 a.m. and a beautiful day.
Montana is just full of huge cattle and sheep ranches and you can see for miles and miles in all directions with mountains way off in the distance. I actually saw my first moose of the trip. It was laying in the shade of a sign near some horses in a pasture. Not exactly a Kodak moment, but at least I saw one. They are large ugly animals only a mother could love.
We actually arrived at Yellowstone National Park right after noon, but had to drive for several more hours before getting to West Yellowstone near the main entrance to the actual geyser park. We ate lunch at the Gusher Restaurant and Pizza Cafe. Most everything in the town was closed down for the winter. This was the only eatery open at all. I would say this is the very best time of year to be sightseeing in this area - no crowds, lines and the prices are excellent. We went on and got a room at the Hibernation Station. It is a cute little mom & pop type place with individual cabins with a fireplace and front porch. After unpacking the car we decided we would spend the rest of the afternoon in Yellowstone driving around the upper/small loop. There are two driving loops, one small and one large, where you can basically see the entire park. The small loop is in the northern part and immediately upon entering the park we saw a buffalo and then two elk. I was thrilled and just clicked away with my camera. The whole park was just beautiful.
I spotted a large plume of smoke through the trees and I thought it might be Old Faithful. Johnny promptly informed me it was a cloud. Well, it turned out to be one of the many geyser basins that just dots the whole middle of the park. Most interesting. The water is actually boiling in some of the pools and holes in the earth. Steam is escaping from others. Some pools are sending spurts of hot water into the air for several feet. Seems like everyone of them is a bit different. We wanted to see it all and just couldn't pass up anything. We saw hundreds of elk, many of them right down in the middle of the little resort area of Mammoth. We saw buffalo everywhere and in no hurry to move out of the middle of the highway. The buffalo seem to be able to walk in the geysers without the boiling acid water causing them any harm. I was very careful to keep my feet on the path like they advised. Don't need to eat the bottom off my tennis shoes for no reason except curiosity.
We were walking back to the car and noticed two large ravens near our car. Johnny just casually stated that he hoped those birds had not gotten in our car. He had left the sun roof open - my perch for taking pictures of the buffalo and elk. We got in and checked and everything was fine. When we got to the next scenic stop, we decided that we would get a snack. Seven individual sized bags of potato chips were missing and one in the car had beak holes all in it. Those rascals had robbed us! I bet some of the other tourists had seen them and thought it was funny. We were just so glad the birds didn't get all excited and pooh all over the car. Maybe they will have a cholesterol attack after eating all those greasy chips.
We stopped to view the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone about sundown and got some beautiful pictures. Just up the road was Roosevelt Lodge and then the "Road Closed" sign!!!! Uh, oh!!!!
Now what? We were almost 80 miles into the park and there was only one way out - back track!!!! What if the other gate was also closed at dark? We were resigned that we might have to rough it in the park in the car. I certainly was not about to pitch the tent where the deer and the antelope roam - and bears!!!! Our other problem was the number of huge animals roaming very slowly around every bend in the road. So the trip to back track out of the park took about two and a half hours. We were some kind of relieved when we finally made it to the west entrance and the gate was still open and we had not run down a strolling buffalo or elk. Home sweet cabin! After it was all over and we were free, we just laughed and laughed and wondered what would have been so bad about spending the night out there. We surely did enjoy that sandwich in our cabin about 10:00 p.m. We'll try the big loop tomorrow bright and early.
Marmalade's Side of the Story
Well, today was really, really good and really, really scary. Now I know what Nonnie was talking about seeing a yellow stone. That is the name of the big, big park where you ride and ride and look at cool stuff. I am just glad I did not have to sleep in the car.
I did see lots of BIG animals. I got to sit on yet another buffalo. It was not real. I feel like a cowboy. The real ones were walking very slow and had big mean looking eyes. I think they were looking at Nonnie sticking out the top of the car. It was kind of funny.
It was pretty funny when the birds ate our snacks. They were bigger than me. I thought they looked like buzzards.
Those geysers that spew water and steam up out of the ground were very stinky sometimes. They smelled like eggs. Maybe I did finally see why they call the park Yellowstone. The Yellowstone Grand Canyon mountains look yellow and lots of the other mountains were yellowish in color, too.
Sidney, I am holding on so I won't fall over and get a steam bath. I am going to go sit by the fireplace before I go to bed.
Montana is just full of huge cattle and sheep ranches and you can see for miles and miles in all directions with mountains way off in the distance. I actually saw my first moose of the trip. It was laying in the shade of a sign near some horses in a pasture. Not exactly a Kodak moment, but at least I saw one. They are large ugly animals only a mother could love.
We actually arrived at Yellowstone National Park right after noon, but had to drive for several more hours before getting to West Yellowstone near the main entrance to the actual geyser park. We ate lunch at the Gusher Restaurant and Pizza Cafe. Most everything in the town was closed down for the winter. This was the only eatery open at all. I would say this is the very best time of year to be sightseeing in this area - no crowds, lines and the prices are excellent. We went on and got a room at the Hibernation Station. It is a cute little mom & pop type place with individual cabins with a fireplace and front porch. After unpacking the car we decided we would spend the rest of the afternoon in Yellowstone driving around the upper/small loop. There are two driving loops, one small and one large, where you can basically see the entire park. The small loop is in the northern part and immediately upon entering the park we saw a buffalo and then two elk. I was thrilled and just clicked away with my camera. The whole park was just beautiful.
I spotted a large plume of smoke through the trees and I thought it might be Old Faithful. Johnny promptly informed me it was a cloud. Well, it turned out to be one of the many geyser basins that just dots the whole middle of the park. Most interesting. The water is actually boiling in some of the pools and holes in the earth. Steam is escaping from others. Some pools are sending spurts of hot water into the air for several feet. Seems like everyone of them is a bit different. We wanted to see it all and just couldn't pass up anything. We saw hundreds of elk, many of them right down in the middle of the little resort area of Mammoth. We saw buffalo everywhere and in no hurry to move out of the middle of the highway. The buffalo seem to be able to walk in the geysers without the boiling acid water causing them any harm. I was very careful to keep my feet on the path like they advised. Don't need to eat the bottom off my tennis shoes for no reason except curiosity.
We stopped at Norris Geyser Basin to see the geysers and got robbed!
We stopped to view the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone about sundown and got some beautiful pictures. Just up the road was Roosevelt Lodge and then the "Road Closed" sign!!!! Uh, oh!!!!
Now what? We were almost 80 miles into the park and there was only one way out - back track!!!! What if the other gate was also closed at dark? We were resigned that we might have to rough it in the park in the car. I certainly was not about to pitch the tent where the deer and the antelope roam - and bears!!!! Our other problem was the number of huge animals roaming very slowly around every bend in the road. So the trip to back track out of the park took about two and a half hours. We were some kind of relieved when we finally made it to the west entrance and the gate was still open and we had not run down a strolling buffalo or elk. Home sweet cabin! After it was all over and we were free, we just laughed and laughed and wondered what would have been so bad about spending the night out there. We surely did enjoy that sandwich in our cabin about 10:00 p.m. We'll try the big loop tomorrow bright and early.
Marmalade's Side of the Story
Well, today was really, really good and really, really scary. Now I know what Nonnie was talking about seeing a yellow stone. That is the name of the big, big park where you ride and ride and look at cool stuff. I am just glad I did not have to sleep in the car.
I did see lots of BIG animals. I got to sit on yet another buffalo. It was not real. I feel like a cowboy. The real ones were walking very slow and had big mean looking eyes. I think they were looking at Nonnie sticking out the top of the car. It was kind of funny.
It was pretty funny when the birds ate our snacks. They were bigger than me. I thought they looked like buzzards.
Those geysers that spew water and steam up out of the ground were very stinky sometimes. They smelled like eggs. Maybe I did finally see why they call the park Yellowstone. The Yellowstone Grand Canyon mountains look yellow and lots of the other mountains were yellowish in color, too.
Sidney, I am holding on so I won't fall over and get a steam bath. I am going to go sit by the fireplace before I go to bed.
Me and the longhorns. I just might become a cowboy. Baker, do you have a cowboy hat I can use?
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