Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Grand Ole RV Park

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It was a long day driving from Alton to Nashville. After about 6 hours, we arrived at the Grand Ole RV Park. I chose this park due to its low price. It was located about 15 miles north of Nashville in a suburb called Goodlettsville. The park was adequate with full hook ups and other amenities. The owners also had free entertainment under a large party tent, with local musicians and gospel singers performing and hoping get their name out there. The owners were very friendly and helpful. The only real down side was that the night before a horrendous storm went through the area and there was flooding in some of the low lying parts of town. This RV Park was very wet and muddy, despite the gravel roads and grassy areas. We found our site and got setup in the rain and wet ground. At this point, I just gave up trying to get my clan to not track mud and water into the RV. Oh well, it will get really cleaned up when we get home. We were very tired from driving so long and stayed inside the rest of the evening to have dinner and relax. It rained lightly most of the evening and night, so we really had no choice.

We had planned to only stay one night, but after looking into the activities that we wanted to do (we were able to get tickets to the Grand Old Opry), so we would have to stay one more night. That was fine, as it would be impossible to see most of the things we wanted to in one day. Kurt had never attended the Grand Ole Opry, so I wanted him to experience this. Back in the mid-1990’s, I was able to attend this event while in Nashville on business. However; when I went, the show was at the Ryman Theatre, which is the original auditorium for the Opry. A new Opry House had been built later and the Ryman is only used in performances during the winter. Anyway, I was excited that we were able to get the tickets; the main performers for the evening were Larry Gatlin, Craig Campbell and lastly Carrie Underwood. The tickets were selling fast, so we had to get two seats that were not together, but they were one row and four seats apart. The second night we would attend the Opry.

The next morning, we headed into Nashville to look around and see downtown and the special places. We went down to the riverfront and saw that the Cumberland River was several feet higher than normal. The main street area was filled with bars, souvenir shops, retail stores and restaurants. We also saw the Ryman Theatre, but did not take the inside tour (which cost more money). We scoped out the Honky Tonk Row and decided to come back later in the evening when it was really hopping. After leaving downtown, we drove to “Music Valley”, where the Opry house is and the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.  I had also visited the hotel when I was there on business, but I wanted Kurt to see the amazing interior, which is a huge atrium filled with fountains, gardens, streams, waterfalls and a shopping village. It’s so beautiful to walk through, you feel like you are outside. When I went there years ago, it was three weeks before Christmas and the whole place was decked out in Christmas lights and flowers like I have never seen in my life. It was truly amazing. After touring the hotel, we stopped by the Opry auditorium to pick up the tickets I had ordered online. We didn’t want to have to wait in line the next night to get them (turned out to be the best idea). We then headed back to the RV to get some dinner and change for the evening in downtown. We drove back downtown and found a city parking garage that was reasonably priced. We headed down Honky Tonk Row and visited four different bars. They all have country music playing all day and night. There was no cover charge, but the pricey drinks made up for that. We really had a great time and the music was really good. There are so many talented musicians in Nashville looking for their big break. The places were packed, as it was Friday night and there were many visitors and locals. We finally left downtown around 11pm to get some rest for the next day.

We awoke early the next morning to get ready to head to Lynchburg, Tennessee. This was an 85 mile one-way trip, but it was worth it to us. The Jack Daniel’s Distillery offers a free, full tour of the distillery. We chose to take the Sampling Tour, which cost $10 and we were able to sample the Old No.7 and Gentleman Jack spirits. It was an amazing tour and the tour guide was quite knowledgeable and humorous too. He showed us the whole process in producing Jack Daniel’s whiskey. Jack Daniel uses an uncommon process of filtering the liquor through charcoal. This mellows the flavor and enhances the oak and vanilla flavors. Jack Daniel’s is still made with the same process used since the beginning, over 100 years ago. It’s so hard to believe that all Jack Daniel’s whiskey is made right in Lynchburg Tennessee and it distributed throughout the whole world! After the tour, we visited Lynchburg Square and shopped. Kurt bought a Jack Daniel t-shirt. There were so many amazing JD souvenirs, but most of them were very expensive. For example, there were Adirondack chairs made with the used whiskey barrels, so many cool items made with repurposed materials. (They only use the whiskey barrels once, and then they are sold for many other purposes.) After the trip back to the campground, we relaxed for awhile and then got ready to go to the Opry.

We made our way to the Opry theatre. The parking lot was very full, as there was a 7pm show before ours. After finally getting into the theatre, the show started about 20 minutes late and the Opry began. This program has always been broadcast on live radio and is more like a variety show. There are commercial breaks and emcees change every 30 minutes or so. We saw several classic country artists, who also emceed. A newer artist, Craig Campbell, sang a couple of his songs that are becoming big hits. Then Larry Gatlin hosted the next segment. The classic singer/artists are quite amazing, some well into their 70’s and 80’s. Then finally Carrie Underwood performed. There were a lot of very young ladies in the audience who really got into her performance. But they seemed to be disappointed that she only sang three songs. But that is the Opry! It was a very enjoyable evening and it was a great way to spend our last night in Nashville. I would love to go back there again someday and spend some more time; would love to see some of the museums and learn more about the history of the city.

The next morning we prepared to leave in the rain and drove out through rain storms. It was another long day of driving to get to the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina.

Badlands National Park & Alton Illinois

Badlands National Park & Ft. Thompson, S. Dakota
Army Corps of Engineers C.G. – Missouri River

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South Dakota is 380 miles from west to east. The Black Hills are on the west side, so our drive through the state would take more hours than we wanted to drive in one day. We decided to stop about half-way across the state and rest for a couple of days. I had found an Army Corps of Engineers campground right on the Missouri River, a little over half way across the state. Along the way, we took the scenic drive through The Badlands National Park. We knew this would take a couple of hours, so our plan would work out great. The Badlands is located in southwestern South Dakota and includes 242,756 acres of eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. It’s so odd to see extreme desert lands and lush grasslands side by side. The 42 mile Hwy 240 is The Badlands Loop Road and the best way to see The Badlands by vehicle. There were several lookouts and parking areas. These were great opportunities to take awesome pictures of the scenery. Kirby and Kody were able to get out of the truck at many of the stops. We even had lunch at one of the picnic areas. The weather was good that day, so we enjoyed the ride.

After driving about 150 more miles, we arrived at the campground. This campground is at the dam on the Big Bend area of the Missouri River and the nearest town is about 17 miles away. A large part of the area north of the river is an Indian Reservation. The campground was very nice, as has been our experience with ACOE facilities. It was right on the water, downstream of the dam. The sites were spacious and very well designed. There was nice grass around each site, which the dogs enjoyed, since many places we have stayed were dirt or gravel. There was a concrete slab for the picnic table and a wind-break on the windward side of the table. We stayed there two nights, to relax and rest up a little. The second day we drove north along a scenic drive that followed the Missouri River. It also went through the Indian Reservation. We also both completed some maintenance chores and were ready to move on. Other than that, there was not much to do at this campground, unless you had a fishing boat. Otherwise, we enjoyed our time there and were able to relax (even Kurt).

Alton, Illinois

Pere Marquette State Park

We left the next morning to head toward my former home of Alton, Illinois. It would be a long drive, so we decided to do a Walmart stop over for one night to get us half way there. We stayed in the parking lot of a Walmart in Nebraska City, Nebraska. It was a little noisy, as we have found at 24 hour Walmarts, but worth the price (free).

The next day we drove along the Missouri River and followed a scenic drive. The road went through mostly farmlands, where there were enormous fields of corn and soy beans. We later found out that these crops are grown mostly for ethanol and bio-diesel fuels. We finally arrived at Pere Marquette State Park in Grafton, Illinois. My family used to camp at this park, as it was near the Army Missile Base where my father worked during our time there. The RV campground was very nice and spacious. We were able to pick our site and got setup quickly. It was later in the day, so we relaxed and prepared dinner.

The next morning we drove into Alton, first through the town of Grafton along the Mississippi River. Grafton used to be a tiny town with only some homes and a few restaurants/bars. It was a hangout for the soldiers that worked at the Nike Hercules Missile Base on the State Park property. The convergence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers is just at the south end of Grafton. We noticed right away that this little town was now a riverside, tourist resort area. We later found out that in 1994, there was a major flood of the Mississippi River that destroyed the Grafton riverfront, pretty much everything in the lower two roads was flooded. The town picked up, dried off and reinvented itself. Grafton is now a riverfront getaway tourist community. There are new restaurants, wineries, breweries, shops, antique stores, marinas, vacation rentals and bed & breakfasts. It doesn’t look the same. Some of the original buildings are still there (if there were brick or stone) and have been remodeled. We went to a marina bar/restaurant on the last night we were there for drinks and appetizers. It was quiet, but they told us that on the weekends, the town is filled with mostly people from St.Louis there for the weekend.

We continued our drive into Alton to see how the city had changed and also to look at my out stomping grounds; where we went to school and the house we lived in. We spent most of the day driving around Alton and Godfrey. In Godfrey we went by what used to be North Junior High School (my former junior high school), which is now North Elementary School. Also, Alton High School (where I spent my sophomore year and part of my junior year) is now Alton Middle School. Downtown Alton looks much the same, but the riverfront has been revamped with a beautiful park, amphitheater and a casino boat. The old bridge has been replaced with a modern suspension bridge. That part looks so different. Next we drove north through Godfrey. There is a new major highway crossing through town just south of where our neighborhood was. Our old house looks the same, other than the trees are large and overgrown. The whole neighborhood looks very nice; it seems that everyone has kept up their property. There are several new neighborhoods nearby our old one, and also some newer industrial areas. The Steiner family farm that was on the Godfrey road is now part of the Lewis & Clark Community College. I remember I dated one of the Steiner boys (Regan) that lived on the farm. It was wonderful to see one of the places that I lived, as we moved around the country following my Father’s Army career. My Father, Bruce, worked in the Nike Hercules Missile Systems during most of his time in the Army. During the time we lived in Alton, he was part of the team that was dismantling the bases, as the missile was being replaced by the Patriot Missile anti-ballistic system. He was very proud of the work that he did to help protect our country.

What a difference 45 years makes! This is the only former home that I have ever visited, other than those that are in Florida. It was worth the time to relive some old memories and share them with my sisters. The last night there, we went into Grafton for drinks and some food. The nostalgia tour of this area was over and it was wonderful to see it all.

Black Hills - Custer, S. Dakota

Black Hills S. Dakota

Custer’s Gulch RV Park

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The drive from Keyhole State Park to the Black Hills area was mostly on I-90, until we got to Spearfish, S. Dakota. This town is on the northern edge of the Black Hills National Forest. We stopped there for our Walmart shopping, then headed south on the Spearfish Canyon scenic byway. This road traversed through a canyon area, with many rocky outcroppings.

During this drive we began to notice the abundance of motorcycle riders. It was then that we realized that the Sturgis Rally was coming up later in the week. The next area we drove through was the towns of Lead (site of the huge gold mine that started the rush in S. Dakota) and then Hill City and finally Custer City. The RV campground was just east of Custer City right before the entrance to Custer State Park. The town of Custer was another one of the typical western towns, with many historic buildings and nestled in a valley. When we arrived at Custer’s Gulch RV Park, we found a very spacious campground that had all the amenities that we would want. This RV park was in a valley that was the site of Custer’s 1874 Expedition camp. This whole area is just filled with historical significance. The valley was beautiful and surrounded by Custer State Park on the east side, the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve and the Black Hills National Forest.  After getting the RV setup, we relaxed for the evening. Kurt took the dogs for a walk back into the woods surrounding the park. There were small, rocky hills right behind our campsite. The boys loved it.

The next morning, we drove north through the Black Hills on the “Needles Highway”. This is a winding, narrow mountain road, with many tight switchbacks. The views of the rocky Needles were amazing! We stopped at many overlooks to get great pictures. Also, there were motorcycles everywhere. They were really enjoying the mountain roads, but many of them drive way too close to the center line! Here we are in a large pickup truck and had to dodge them many times, almost running our tires off the road. We really don’t understand this mentality, since they are much smaller vehicles and should keep in the center of their lane. Anyway, most of them drove safely; it was just the minority that “hogged” the road. During this drive, there were two tunnels that we had to drive through. The tunnels were very narrow and low height, one being only 8’4” wide and 12’ high. We had to roll in our side mirrors so they didn’t touch the rock walls. The traffic had to take turns going though the one lane, rocky tunnels. It was fun and exciting!

At one point, we came to Sylvan Lake. We had found a hike there that we wanted to do. It was called Sunday Gulch, a 4 mile loop trail. The trail began in rocky outcroppings, headed down to a meadow valley, then back up into a rocky canyon. Wow, this part of the trail was so difficult that they installed some areas with concrete stairs and then metal handrails through some big, rocky climbs. It was a real challenge, but we really enjoyed this hike.

On the northern part of the drive, we came across Mt. Rushmore and pulled into that park to view the “heads”. The park was free entry, but the parking pass was $11.00, which was good until the end of the year. Upon entering the monument, there was a large visitors center and the amphitheater. There were some trails around the base of the Presidential carvings, but we chose not to hike them as the day was getting late. We went through the museum to view the historical story of this monument. After gazing and picture taking, we proceeded on our way. We then headed south through the “Iron Mountain” road. We drove most of this road and it was getting late, so we took a short cut road back to our campground. This was our 19^th anniversary and we had decided to go out for dinner in Custer City. I had found a nice restaurant online that had excellent reviews. We got ready and dressed for dinner then headed into town. After walking around awhile and taking some pictures, we went into the Sage Creek Grill. Wow! The dinner was wonderful, and the service was excellent! We truly had a nice anniversary dinner and enjoyed the evening.

The third morning, we headed back up to the Iron Mountain road, to complete that drive southward. This area of the road was more rocky outcroppings, but not like the Needles. There were also spectacular views. There were three more of the rocky tunnels that we had to pass through along this drive. One was particularly narrow; we could barely get the truck through this one. After completing this drive, we headed back to camp to get the dogs. We had another hike we wanted to do and take the dogs. We packed a picnic lunch, grabbed the dogs and headed to  Lovers Leap trail. This trail inside Custer State Park was supposed to be 3.2 miles, but ended up really being 4.5 miles. We found that in this park, the trail length estimates were always more than what they quoted. The trail headed up a fairly steep path until it reached the peak. This is where legend says that a young Indian couple leaped to their deaths from the cliffs. Not sure why though. The trail then went back downhill through more rocky areas, then into a small valley along a creek. As we ended the trail, it passed through a campground, where we came upon a lone bison sitting in a dirt volleyball court. It was very weird, and Kody ran right up to the bison before we even saw it. He backed off quickly when Kurt called him off. The bison just sat there calmly looking at the little dog! Wow, I startled us but not the animals. We continued back to the truck. From that point, we headed south in Custer S.P. to drive the large wildlife loop. It was very scenic, but we saw no wildlife, other than the wild donkeys that are in the park. We stopped at a couple of places and took some pictures. The donkeys were very tame and had obviously been given food by visitors! It always amazes me that people feed the wildlife, even with signs right there that says it’s unlawful. As we have seen, it’s usually children feeding them with their parents watching! After the drive, we headed back to camp. The dogs and I relaxed while Kurt took his kayak to nearby Stockade Lake and did an evening paddle. When he returned, we headed into Custer City to have some drinks and experience the local bars. One bar we went into, the lady owner offered me a “special” drink, as I was looking for a lemonade type of drive. When she brought it to me, I tasted it and it was yummy. She then told me it was Raspberry moonshine mixed with Sprite. Awesome! And quite strong. We headed back to camp to have some dinner and relax for the evening.

On the fourth day, we took our bicycles into Custer and parked near the Mickelson Trail. This is a 109 mile rail trail that ends in Custer City. We rode north about 5 miles, and then turned to go back. It was a nice paved trail that went through some industrial areas near town and also through rural properties and farmlands. On the way back, Kurt wanted to ride the spur trail that went out right past our campground. I drove back to camp and he called me a short while later to say he didn’t know where he was. I looked at the trail map and discovered he had not turned off on the spur trail, but was heading north.  I told him I would come and pick him up, as the weather was looking nasty and was beginning to rain. He said he could make it back, so he rode back in the rain. After he returned and got dried out, we took off to drive back to Mt. Rushmore for the night lighting program. We stopped and picked up some to-go Mexican food. We stopped along the road at a lake picnic area and ate our dinner. We arrived at Mt. Rushmore about an hour before dark, so we picked our seats in the amphitheater and relaxed until the show started. The program began with a ranger telling the story of the carvings, the history of the development and history of the Presidents involved. They played patriotic music and the whole program was very emotional. At dark, the lights came on to illuminate the faces. It was pretty spectacular and moving. We enjoyed this presentation and the history behind the mountain. As we drove home, a major rain storm started and involved horrible lightning and thunder. We made it back safely, but at about 3 am all hell broke loose! The storms got worse, the lightning went on constantly for about 30 minutes, and then it began to hail. We nervously laid in bed wondering what kind of damage we would find the next morning. When dawn finally came, we went outside to find large piles of hail, about moth ball sized. It looked like we had snowfall. Fortunately, there was no damage to our truck or RV. That was the most frightening nights we’ve spent in the RV.

We still had so much we wanted to do; so we decided to stay another night. So on our last day here, Kurt went on a hike that was on the Needles Highway, called Cathedral Spires, which also connected to another trail which lead up to Harney Peak. This peak is the highest peak in the US, east of the Rockies. The hike was beautiful, even in the early morning when there was still fog. The views were wonderful and the trail was challenging. While he was hiking, I had my usual “down day” of laundry and housekeeping. At the end of the day, we prepared for our move eastward in S. Dakota. We were going to make a short overnight stop as we make our way across S. Dakota.

Devil's Tower, Wyoming

Devil’s Tower Wyoming
Keyhole State Park

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The drive from Cheyenne to the Devil’s Tower area was non-eventful. The landscape in this part of Wyoming was pretty much desert. Other than that, while driving through Gillette Wyoming, we noticed miles and miles of some kind of mining activity. Kurt said it looked like coal strip mines. I Googled this and found that this area of Wyoming has major coal mines and produces 40% of all coal in the US. Wow, we were shocked, had no idea that there was coal in Wyoming. Also, the coal here is cleaner coal that doesn’t have to be washed prior to burning. The land is so vast up here; it seems that the mining doesn’t seem to impact any towns, other than Gillette, which has grown due to the jobs created by the mining. We proceeded to the small town of Pine Haven, where Keyhole State Park is located. This park is on a reservoir of the Belle Fourche river. The reservoir is very large and there are several campgrounds along the lake front. We paid for two nights and was able to pick our site in the Pronghorn Campground. We found a site that faces the lakefront on a small bay called Cottonwood. It was an awesome site, looking down to the water. We were able to park our kayaks on the lake front and go on an evening paddle.

The next day we drove up to Devil’s Tower. It was a pretty drive, as there were rolling hills with lots of grass and trees. The closer we go to the Tower, there were even more hills. We could actually see the very top of the Tower from the reservoir, when we stood on a high rocky point. The drive was about 45 miles away. As we got closer, the Tower was even more impressive!

Devils’ Tower is America’s first National Monument. President Theodore Roosevelt used the 1906 Antiquities Act to create the monument based on natural rather than cultural features. The site is considered Sacred to the Lakota and other tribes that have a connection to the area.

Viewing the Tower up close is very spectacular. The park is surrounded by lush green hills with many trees. There is a campground on the property, but it has no hookups and is first come, first serve. There is a main trail around the base of the Tower, called the Tower Trail. It is paved and very easy to hike, with some minor elevation changes. As we hiked around the Tower, we noticed two separate groups of rock climbers. With binoculars, we were able to watch them moving up the rock wall. This is understandably a popular place for climbers. After we rounded the main trail, we then hiked the Red Bed Trail. This was a 3.2 mile hike that went out farther beyond the Tower and followed some small canyons with red sandstone walls. This was a fun hike, as it also provided some great views of the surrounding valleys and ranches. There were rocky outcroppings and red canyon walls. During this hike, we saw two rock climbers on the top of the Tower, high-fiving and hollering, they made it! After the hike, we drove out of the Tower park and stopped to look at the prairie dog town. They are so cute and we have seen them all around Wyoming. Then we headed back to camp. The drive was worth it to see such an unusual rock formation. When we got back, Kurt put his kayak in the lake and went for an evening paddle. Later, he made one of his roaring campfires, which was nice as it cooled down considerably at night.

Since we really loved the lake and the campground, we decided to stay another night and paid for the third night. The last day we took our kayaks out on the lake. It was Sunday and there were quite a few boats out. The lake is a popular place for water skiing and wake boarding. The weather was beautiful and we paddled back into a few coves. We beached the kayaks and walked around, and also enjoyed some beverages! After a couple of hours, the weather started clouding up and it looked like a storm was coming. We began to paddle back across the lake toward our little cove. Well, we were then paddling into the wind and also had boat wake to deal with. It was a struggle getting across, but we finally made it. After getting back to camp, we were tired. We relaxed awhile and prepared dinner. Later, Kurt built a nice campfire.

The next morning we packed and prepared to head out. Our next stop is the Black Hills of South Dakota. Mt. Rushmore is one of the attractions in the area, along with the mountain roads with amazing views and tight switchbacks. We are looking forward to visiting this area and seeing all the special sights.

Cheyenne Wyoming - Frontier Days

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Cheyenne Frontier Days

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Next on our agenda was Cheyenne Frontier Days. This was our ultimate destination that everything else was scheduled around. This is an annual festival that started in 1896, to celebrate rodeo and the western culture. In 1968, I attended this festival with my high school band from Alton, Illinois.  Our school sent us to enter the marching band competition in the main parade. Believe it or not, the ”Marching 100” from Alton, Illinois won first place! It was a great experience for a teenager and I vowed to return one day. And here we are!

Cheyenne is the largest city in Wyoming and has the land to spread out into the countryside. This area is pretty much a high desert landscape, with small hills surrounding the area. It seems that the city is still growing, with many new neighborhoods outside the city limits. Warren Air Force Base is located in the area. Along with that, the Air National Guard resides at the air base. We also found everyone there to be so friendly and welcoming.

When we arrived at the RV park east of town, we found a spacious site with full hookups. This location was nice since it was not on a highway (noise) and was very quiet. The park was about 6 miles from the event. We were setup and felt at home, but ready to party at Frontier Days.  We then drove into town to Frontier Park to get information and get oriented on the location and the best route. The information personnel were very friendly and helpful. The CFD schedule brochure allowed us to plan the next four days and the events we wanted to attend. We purchased tickets to the rodeo and the Championship Bull Riding events. We had already purchased tickets online a few months ago to attend the Luke Bryan country music concert. So, we now had our four day schedule lined up. We returned to camp and prepared some dinner, and get rested up for the next four days.

The next morning, we awoke by 6 am to go into town for the free pancake breakfast. This event is held for 3 separate mornings and is free to everyone. It was held at the depot square downtown, which is adjacent to the large railroad yards. It’s amazing how fast they can move thousands of people through the lines; we were only in line for about 5 minutes before we got our food. That day there were over 5000 people served! It’s just one of the CFD experiences. We didn’t expect the breakfast to be so delicious; each person got 4 pancakes, butter, syrup, 2 slices of ham and coffee! Everything was yummy and we hung around and listened to some of the live country music. What a hoot! After walking around downtown for awhile, we headed back to camp to relax and get ready to go to the rodeo. The rodeo began at noon, so we changed and got to Frontier Park by 10 am. We had some lunch there (fair food), walked around looking at the vendors booths. Kurt was in search of his ultimate cowboy hat. He’s so picky (Kurt picky?), so he looked around and tried on many hats. Nothing was just right. Close to noon, we entered the rodeo arena. It was so exciting to finally be there! We had been looking forward to this for a few months. This rodeo is the “Daddy of ‘em All”. One of the longest running rodeos, since 1879. There was a grand entrance with all the CFD dignitaries, rodeo managers, beauty queens, local politicians, etc. Then the rodeo proceeded with the bull riding, bronc riding (saddled and bare back), steer wrestling, team steer roping, barrel racing and the finale, wild horse racing. The wild horse racing is s such a hoot; they bring in actual wild horses and there are a few teams each with 3 cowboys. They have to catch the horse, get a bridle and saddle on it and then race it around the track. These horses didn’t want to cooperate, but the cowboys did their best. There were about 4 of the 10 horses that actually made the complete ride. It was so much fun to watch. This rodeo lasted for over three hours. We will never be able to see another rodeo like this one. Guess we will have to come back someday!

After the rodeo, we went back downtown to check out some bars. We walked around awhile and found that most of the businesses were closed, except for a few bars and restaurants. We did stop in one bar for a drink, and then headed back to camp for the evening.

The next morning, we were back downtown for the 9 am parade. CFD has three separate parades during the festival. The parades are pretty much the same, with the majority of the participants being horses. There were several marching bands, many horse groups, antique stage coaches and wagons of all sorts, antique tractors, antique cars and trucks, military groups, Indian dancers and various local clubs. The parade was about 1 ½ miles long. It was very enjoyable and also very patriotic. This parade is so well organized, which makes it a great event for all the visitors. After the parade ended, we headed back to camp to take the dogs out for a walk and have some lunch. We relaxed for awhile and got ready to go to the bull riding championships that evening. The CBR started at 8pm, so we went early to go see the Indian village, where we watched a group of Indian dancers and then ate Indian Tacos. We also walked through the vendor’s exhibits and Kurt was able to find the perfect cowboy hat.

The CBR bull riding event was very exciting. We got to our seats early and settled in for the big event. The arena was setup in a smaller area, since it was only bull riding. The chutes were setup closer to the seating area, which made it much easier to see. This was a big event, the national finals! The cowboys that qualified for competition were the best 20 in the nation. The arena also has two large screens to see the action up close. The competition was fierce and amazing. These cowboys and the bulls were top notch. The event lasted about 1 ½ hours, until the final cowboy was named the best bull rider in the country. A young cowboy named Wesley Silcox from Utah won the competition and a nice check for $275,000. Not bad for a few 8 second rides! Wow, what an exciting night and a full moon to boot! After the event, we went over to the Buckin A Saloon for a couple of drinks. The band was awesome and the drinks were ice cold.

Our last day at CFD began with the pancake breakfast again! We just couldn’t resist as it was so much fun the first time. It was tough getting Kurt out of bed that morning, as the night before was a real party event. We went back to camp after breakfast to relax and get ready for the night’s concert. We had tickets to see Luke Bryan and Thompson Square. We headed to downtown before 5pm to hang out and then go out for Mexican food. I really wanted to get to Frontier Park early, since the concert started at 8, and Luke is a very popular country music star. We had dinner around 6pm, but at that point we knew we were running late. We drove to the park and was not able to find any parking space, all lots were full and even the surrounding neighborhood’s street parking was full. By this time it was close to 7pm, so Kurt dropped me off at the front gates and decided to go to a “park and ride” lot. He drove to the parking area and waited for the bus to arrive. In the meantime, I was waiting outside the gates for him to get there. It began raining and I was able to find a dry spot under the eve of a building. Kurt called me and said that the ½ hour bus had not arrived. The bus finally arrived at 8pm, so we missed the opening band, Thompson Square, who we really wanted to see. Kurt finally arrived just before 9pm, and Luke’s band was just setting up. We finally got to our seats, as the rain was coming down. The only good thing was our seats were under the roof, so we could stay fairly dry. Luke finally took the stage around 9:20, which was late due to the rain. We were totally underwhelmed! We had seen him in West Palm Beach when he opened up for Jason Aldean, and he was much better then. I guess success doesn’t always mean you get better. Anyway, the night was pretty disappointing. That’s too bad because we paid a lot for the tickets. Oh well, I guess we couldn’t have every night being perfect.

We had decided to stay an extra day just to get rested and ready to continue on our journey. We slept in late, then had a nice breakfast. This was a down day, where I was able to laundry and get some housekeeping done. Kurt went on a bicycle ride around the Cheyenne greenway. He also took the dogs for a truck ride to get them out of the RV for awhile. He then made the Walmart provisioning trip and we were ready to move on down the road. Next stop, Devil’s Tower in northeast Wyoming!

Cheyenne Frontier Days was such a wonderful experience and we truly enjoyed our time there and in the city. The western life style is awesome. We have found Wyoming to be such a friendly state; everywhere we went the locals were so helpful and welcoming. We hope to come back again one day and spend more time in the state; there is so much to see.

Thermopolis & Casper Wyoming

Thermopolis

Fountain of Youth RV Park

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The drive to Thermopolis was mostly through high desert, with some areas of rocky outcropping formations and cliffs. We stopped about halfway through the drive at a rest area out in the middle of nowhere. It was nestled into a very small canyon like area, which was beautiful.  Before arriving in Thermopolis, there was another major road construction area. For about 2 miles there was no asphalt, only gravel on the road. This really slowed down our drive time and was very frustrating. We finally arrived in Thermopolis and headed through town to the north side, where Fountain of Youth RV Park was located. We had chosen this one because it had availability. We had read reviews that it wasn’t such a great place. When we arrived, the owner greeted us in his golf cart, wearing only ratty looking shorts and no shirt. That would make any city person a little creeped out. It was not so bad, as we’ve seen much worse. But the facilities were adequate with full hook ups. However, there could have been some basic maintenance and it would have looked so much better (like some paint on the picnic tables). It was named Fountain of Youth, as they had their own hot springs pool on the property, but based on the general maintenance, I decided that I would not be getting in their pool!  We didn’t settle in too much, as we were only going to be there for two nights, so we just made the best of it.

We then drove back into town to go to the visitor center. We were able to get information that we needed on our intended activities for the next day. Kurt wanted to do a kayak float on the Big Horn River, which flows right through town and along the Hot Springs Park. We then drove south through town along the river to find where a put in would be. We did find a boat ramp upstream of town where he could launch. He would end at the Hot Springs SP and take out at the boat ramp there. We drove a little south into the Wind River Canyon, which was amazing. We turned back as we would be driving through there on our way out of town.

The next morning, we drove Kurt to the put in boat ramp. This park was named Wedding of the Waters. The surrounding lands in this area were once inhabited by the Arapahoe Indians. After the land changed hands to the US government, there was a treaty that was signed between the US and the Indians. The river was named Wind River and the US named it Big Horn. The treaty allowed the river within the reservation to continue to be called Wind River; but outside the reservation, it would be known as the Big Horn River. Kurt took off and merely floated downstream, as the river was running very fast. The boys and I headed back to camp so I could drop them off at the RV. I then headed to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. WOW, I couldn’t believe how many dinos were there and the extensive exhibits. In the Hall of Dinosaurs lies "The Thermopolis Specimen" the only Archaeopteryx in North America, "Jimbo" a Supersaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs ever mounted, and "Stan" a 35-foot T-Rex and a Triceratops, the Wyoming state dinosaur. They even had a working laboratory inside. Visitors could watch the archaeologists working on cleaning rocks to expose the fossils. My sister Terrie would love this! They sponsor several digs in Wyoming to get their specimens. This museum has been named one of the top ten in the US. Kurt called me and he had arrived at the take out boat ramp. I went to pick him up and we went back to the RV for lunch. After lunch, we headed north about 15 miles to a tiny town called Kirby. There we took a tour of the Wyoming Whiskey Distillery. This is a fairly new whiskey plant, started in 2009 by a family from Jackson, Wyoming. They are in their third year of releasing the whiskey for distribution. We then were able to have a taste testing and it was very good (however, I am not a big whiskey drinker) but it seemed very smooth for sipping. At this time, it is only available in Wyoming, so we purchased one bottle to take home and share with our friends at Christmastime! Can’t wait for everyone to taste it.

After the tour, we went back to the RV and picked up the dogs, then headed to the Hot Springs Park. We walked around the hot springs on the boardwalks and also across the swinging bridge, which goes over the Big Horn River. After our walk, I headed to the State Bath House to soak in the mineral waters. Kurt took the boys to the river so they could get in and cool off.  It was a nice way to end the afternoon.

For dinner, we had decided to go try out a Mexican restaurant in town. Prior to that, we visited a local bar called Macs. While we were in Flaming Gorge Rec Area, we met a couple that was from Thermopolis and they told us to make sure and go to this bar. It was very nice and there were a lot of locals in there. And they had a pool table, so Kurt had to put his quarters on the table and challenge the players. They were all very nice and I spoke with some of the ladies while the guys played pool. We stayed there until about 9pm, then headed out to eat. Well, this is a small town and by the time we got to the restaurant, they were closing. Bummer, we really wanted to eat there. At this late hour, our only choice was McDonalds or Pizza Hut. Kurt went into Pizza Hut and we ordered a takeout pizza and wings, then went back to eat at our RV. After dinner, we began preparing to leave the next morning.

Thermopolis was very interesting, but for us, it is not a “go back” destination. We were ready to move on to Casper, Wyoming the next day.

Casper, Wyoming

Fort Caspar Campground

Our drive toward Casper took us through the Wind River Canyon. The Wind River/Big Horn River created this amazing canyon, as the river flows northward toward Thermopolis. The highway is very near the bottom of the canyon, with the railroad running on the opposite side of the river. At some points, the canyon can be up to 2500’ high. It’s very strange; while driving on the highway, it appears that it is a downward slope, but the river is running upward in the opposite direction. The canyon was beautiful with high rocky walls and formations.

We arrived in Casper and checked into Fort Caspar RV Campground. This is on the grounds of the historic Fort Caspar (it is spelled with an A, unlike the city’s name). There are some historic buildings still on the site and a museum with historic information. This campground was pretty much a large gravel parking lot with full hookups. It was adequate and we were glad to have full hookups. The North Platte River flowed around the park, which was on a large peninsula. The back half of the property was left as a preserve and there was a nature walk along the river. After we were setup, we took the dogs on this trail and they loved it, as we let them off leash. Later in the evening we had dinner and relaxed watching some TV.

After dinner I received a very sad email from my sister Cindy, who lives in North Carolina. Her husband Tommy had been battling pancreatic cancer for almost four years. He had been doing remarkably well with chemo and was living a very good quality of life. He was in the hospital in ICU, as he had contracted pneumonia. By the next morning, he was quickly losing the battle and passed away peacefully just before noon. This was very painful and sad news for our family and we were shocked that he went so quickly. At least now he is with God and no longer has any suffering or pain. Tommy was one of the most kind, laid back and caring persons that I’ve ever known. He will be missed so much.

The second day in Casper, I was not able to go out and do anything after hearing the news about Tommy. I just stayed in the RV and had a very sad down day. I prayed for Tommy, my sister and his family. My sister had insisted that we not come to N. Carolina; she wanted us to continue our journey and not change our plans. Tommy would have wanted that for us.

While I stayed at camp, Kurt decided to drive around town and check out Casper. He went to the visitor center to check on kayaking and mountain biking. No one there was able to give him any detailed information on mountain biking, but he did find out about kayaking. The N. Platte River runs right through the city and is mostly used by locals to float in tubes downstream. Along the River is an 11 mile paved trail that travels along the river, the Platte River Parkway. This trail links downtown with other areas of Casper and several parks. Kurt took the bike and rode most of the trail, which ran just nearby the campground. Later he came back, got the dogs and took them for a ride to look for kayak put-ins and take-outs. This determined his plan to go kayaking the next day.

On the third day, I decided I needed to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. Tommy would want us to be happy. So, Kurt and I took the dogs for a hike on Casper Mountain. This was an awesome trail called Garden Creek Falls. The trail went back up the creek to a beautiful waterfall. The boys enjoyed getting in the water and playing. After the short hike, we took another trail that led up the mountain on one side of the waterfall, back down to the creek, then back up to the mountain on the other side of the falls. It was pretty steep in some places, and ended up being about 2.5 miles. Along the way were wonderful rock formations and great views of the plains. Also, the view of the city was awesome. The dogs were getting hot and tired, but we all survived and enjoyed the hike. The dogs had been stuck in the RV for the last couple of days, so it was great exercise and they needed to get outside.

After the hike, we went back to the RV for lunch. Next, Kurt wanted to kayak the N. Platte. I agreed to run shuttle for him, as I wanted to get some shopping and laundry done. His paddle on the Platte River was about 9 miles, but only took him a little over 2 hours. He did enjoy it, mostly watching the young people who were tubing on the river and having a fun time. I picked him up at the take out, which was at a large river park called Whitewater Park. At this park, the city had built a series of 5 artificial rapids to allow kayakers to learn to paddle these white water rapids. It looked like so much fun and was such an unusual feature for the city to create. While Kurt was paddling, I was able to get our shopping and laundry completed.

When we got back to camp, we began preparing for our departure the next day. We were excited to head to Cheyenne, which was our ultimate destination on this trip. We were going to be there for 5 days of Cheyenne Frontier Days celebration.

Cody, Wyoming

Cody, Wyoming

Buffalo Bill State Park

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The drive out of Yellowstone was amazing as expected. The road to Cody is through the east entrance of the park. The road passed through the Absaroka Mountain range and canyons, with beautiful rocky formations and following the Shoshone River. After leaving the park, Cody was 53 more miles ahead. We were then driving through the Shoshone National Forest. There were numerous recreation areas along the way, most offering camping. As we got closer to Cody, we entered Buffalo Bill State Park, where we were able to get a campsite. Our only choice was a non-hookup site, but we were okay with that. We now have the dry camping process down to a science. The site we chose faced the reservoir lake and was awesome! The dogs had a nice place to run off leash. Even though the campground rules required pets on leash, it seemed that no one was really enforcing this as other dogs were running free. We setup our living space there and sat back to enjoy the lake and the surrounding mountains. What a beautiful place, we felt lucky we were able to get a space here. After filling our water tank and getting setup¸ we discovered our water pump in the RV was not working. It seemed to be pumping, but no water came out. Kurt called Camping World service techs to help him diagnose the problem. The tech helped him locate the water pump and get to it by removing the cover. He was then able to determine that there was air in the water lines and then he worked on getting the air out. Whew! It was kind of nerve racking at first, as we would not have been able to camp there without a water pump. Anyway, as usual MacGyver pulled off this fix to save the day!

We then drove the couple of miles into Cody to check out the visitor’s center. As we headed to Cody, we drove through Shoshone Canyon, where the dam is located. This canyon was even more spectacular than any we had seen that day. There was a series of 3 tunnels that went through the mountain to get through the canyon. The city of Cody was wonderful and the visitor’s center was one of the best we’ve been to. While there, we collected brochures on activities in the area. We also purchased tickets to the Cody Nite Rodeo. The tickets were good for any night, as they only offered general admission. We were excited to see this rodeo.  After this we then went to Walmart to get our food for the week. When we returned to camp, the wind had picked up and was very strong. We were not able to keep our awning open or even build a campfire! Bummer, Kurt renamed this state Windoming! We ran our generators to charge the batteries and to be able to run the microwave and TV. After a long day we were tired and headed to bed.

The next day, we decided to visit the dam and learn about the history of this amazing engineering wonder. We were able to walk across the dam and look down at the river and canyon. There was a small museum that explained the history of the dam, how it was built and how Buffalo Bill was the first to create irrigation from the river to the local ranch lands. After this tour, we headed to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museum. WOW, we have never seen anything like this museum. It was mostly centered on the history and artifacts of Buffalo Bill (Col. William Cody). He was an amazing man; after homesteading in this area of Wyoming, he became a Pony Express Rider, then a scout for the US Cavalry and later became an officer. He was the founder of the town of Cody and later started his road show, the “Buffalo Bill Wild West Show”. His purpose was to take the “western” culture back to the east to entice people to come out to visit or live. He was an entrepreneur involved in the oil industry, hotels and tourism. He was a very interesting person with so many talents, especially for his time. The museum also had three other sections; American Indian Heritage, Natural History of Yellowstone, and a MAJOR gun collection (2700 guns dating back to the 1400’s, up to modern guns), which was amazing in itself.  This whole museum was so well done and was such a pleasure to visit. Even Kurt truly enjoyed it! We spent three hours in there, but could have stayed for at least a couple more. Amazing!

After the museum, we drove around Cody to check out the area. We needed propane gas for the RV and regular gas for the generators. We made those stops and also picked up some more provisions that we needed. We then headed back to camp for dinner and a wonderful campfire. It was so relaxing hanging out by the fire and having such an awesome view of the lake and the surrounding mountains. BTW, Kurt got a talking to about his campfire. The campground host came over and advised him that he should not have any logs hanging over the edge of the campfire ring! This was ridiculous, as the whole campsite was gravel! So much for Kurt’s cracker fires and I suppose he’s on another violator list in the Wyoming State Parks!

The following day, we had decided to head north of Cody for a scenic byway drive. This road went through the Shoshone National Forest and had some historical significance for the American Indians, which they originally used as a major trail. After driving an hour or so, we headed back to Cody. We went to a local sporting goods store to shop. I was looking for a backpack that sits around the waist and on the hips. I found one there that I loved. It is camo color (Mossy Oaks) and also had detachable shoulder straps if needed. It’s so nice to have a real backpack now. After that, we had found a city park with a bike trail along the Shoshone River. This trail ride was not too long, about 1 mile, but was gravel and had small hills. The best part was the river view, where we saw rafters riding the rapids.  After the ride, we had our lunch at one of the picnic tables in the park. It was a nice afternoon and we enjoyed the exercise. We then went back to camp to relax awhile. Later, we took the dogs and drove over the bridge to the other side of the lake to check out some hiking trails for the next day. We decided to go do the hike the next morning, and we would be able to take the dogs. Back to camp for the evening, dinner and a campfire!

The next morning, we drove back to Sheep Mountain, parked the truck and headed up the trail. The boys went with us and they really enjoyed the hike. This trail went up through the foothills into a small green valley. As we approached the valley area, there was a large water trough used for horse riders on the trail. Both boys enjoyed drinking the water and Kurt even put Kirby in the trough to cool him off. I’m not so sure he really enjoyed being in it, but I know he did feel much cooler. We continued up the trail for another couple of miles, when Kirby was beginning to huff and puff and the trail was getting really steep. He was getting tired and it was getting hotter. I decided to head back to the truck with Kirby, and Kurt was taking Kody. Well, Kody decided he was going back with me and Kirby. Kurt continued on the trail and we went back to the truck. We all drank some water and sat in the truck shade until Kurt returned. When Kurt returned, we headed back to camp for some lunch. We relaxed awhile and later got ready to go to the rodeo.  We headed into town and had an early dinner at the Irma Hotel. This is the historic hotel that was built by Buffalo Bill and named after one of his daughters. We ate outside on the patio and had buffalo burgers. It was wonderful! The Cody Nite Rodeo was next, as we headed to the rodeo arena. We truly enjoyed this rodeo; the participants are all “working cowboys”, not professionals. The events included bronco riding, bull riding, calf roping, ladies barrel racing, steer wrestling, and team steer roping. We really enjoyed this exciting rodeo. Just another great Wyoming experience!

Our last day in Cody was spent with Kurt doing some mountain biking and I was able to find a nice laundromat. I dropped Kurt off at the trailhead, which was just on the south side of town. He was able to ride his bike right back to the laundry, just when I was finishing the job. We drove through Cody back to the camp for lunch. The weather was warm, so we all wanted to get into the lake and cool off. The water was very chilly, but we all enjoyed our dip in the lake. Kurt wanted to go on another hike, which he had found on our way into the State Park. He took Kody and they had a nice hike on Four Bear Trail Creek, inside the Shoshone National Forest. Later, we began preparing for our departure the next morning.

We truly enjoyed our time in Cody and Buffalo Bill State Park. The campground was wonderful and was one of the best and biggest sites we’ve ever camped in, plus it was right on the lake. We felt so comfortable here and didn’t really want to leave, but on to Thermopolis!

Yellowstone National Park - east side

Yellowstone National Park

Fishing Bridge Campground – East side of Yellowstone

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Driving from Montana back into Yellowstone, we passed through Mammoth Hot Springs village. Since we had already been there, we just drove right through the area. This time we drove east on the Grand Loop Road towards our destination of Fishing Bridge Village and Campground. Along the way, we stopped by the Undine Falls overlook to see the terraced falls. Further down we stopped at the Tower-Roosevelt area for a break and Kurt hiked back into Tower Falls. I let the dogs get out of the truck for awhile and took them for a walk. There was major road construction in this area, the asphalt had been removed and the road was packed dirt with gravel. The speed limit was 20 mph and it was a grueling, slow drive. Ugh… Finally we were back on real road and continued to Fishing Bridge Campground. This area of Yellowstone had some pretty mountains and high meadows. There were many areas that were obviously part of the 1988 forest fires in Yellowstone. There were many young trees growing back, but it was sad to see the landscape like this. Canyon Village was also along the way. This is the area where the Yellowstone River flows through the canyon. There are two major falls, the Lower and Upper Falls of the Yellowstone. After realizing that this is a major feature of the park and river, we were making plans to spend some time back here after setting up camp.  Along the way there were a couple of places where the traffic was almost stopped. As we slowly moved forward, we discovered that some visitors were stopping in the road to look and take pictures of wildlife. This is not allowed in the park to stop on the roads, but so many people are so self centered that they don’t care and will block the traffic for their own pleasure. It’s so frustrating! Finally, we pulled into Fishing Bridge Campground and got registered for our site. Wow, this campground had the RVs packed in. We barely had room to setup our chairs in some space outside our camper and there were no campfires allowed. We were able to roll out our awning only about five feet. However, this campground is the only one in Yellowstone that has full hookups, which I reserved well in advance. Also, the campground only allows hard-sided RVs, as this is major bear country. (We never saw any bears in Yellowstone anywhere near the campground!) After setting up camp, we rode our bikes over to the Visitor Center to get information on hiking and possible kayaking. After returning to our campsite, we started Happy Hour and I made beef stew on our outside kitchen, which turned out really great.  We settled in for the night and got some rest.

The next day, we drove back north on the Grand Loop to Mt. Washburn. Kurt had decided to ride his bike back up a gravel road to the top of the mountain. I needed to get online and there was a signal at this high level of the mountain. I sat in the truck with the computer and was able to get some internet stuff done, but the signal was not strong enough to upload my pictures to Picasa. Kurt enjoyed his ride up the mountain, but didn’t continue up the hike to see the peak. Oh well, it was not that beautiful of a ride or hike. We continued back south on the road and stopped at a picnic site to eat our lunch. After that we went on a hike that went back to Cascade Lake.  The trail followed Cascade Creek through a beautiful mountain meadow. As we approached the lake, we saw a grizzly mama with two cubs about ½ mile away. I tried to move closer, but an off-duty ranger that was hiking near us advised us to leave the trail and head back. I was very aggravated as the bear was so far away and there were other hikers that were much closer to the bear and people fishing on the lake. The ranger got very belligerent with me and treated me like a child because I wanted to go just a little closer and get some pictures. Kurt got mad and started retreating, so I finally turned around and we headed back to the trailhead. As we have seen in the past, many rangers tend to blow things out of proportion! We were about ½ mile away and the bear was no danger to us. However, Kurt is the one who thinks that bison are not that dangerous and will get within 75 feet of one!  Oh well, an awesome hike spoiled…

On to the Canyon! After researching the canyon views, overlooks and hikes, we headed to the north rim of the canyon. We first drove the north rim drive, stopping along the way to do some hikes and overlooks. The first stop was the “brink of the lower falls”. This was a paved, switch back trail leading downward a couple of hundred feet. When we reached the brink, it was amazing to see the top of the falls and the amount of water and speed going over the brink. There was an overlook, where the view was back into the canyon and the river. I can’t even explain in words how amazing this looks. The pictures don’t even do it any justice! Not only do the pictures look like a painting, but the real view looks like a painting! It’s stunning! We also hiked along a rim trail that went down to another overlook, which looked back to the lower falls. After a few hours of viewing the north rim, we were exhausted and headed back to camp. At the end of the day, we were actually in love with Yellowstone; the canyon is really the highlight of the whole park!

The next day we headed toward the south rim of the canyon to see those sights. We first walked to an overlook to see the lower falls. It was an amazing view. We then found a picnic area at the brink of the upper falls, but we didn’t stop at one of the tables, Oh No! We headed down right by the river just above the brink and brought our chairs, cooler and food. This was an amazing place to watch the river flow right over the brink. Again, Kurt had to stand out on one of the ledges for a picture.  Imagine that! After that, we hiked down Uncle Tom’s Trail, which is a very steep series of steel steps and landings to get down near the bottom of the canyon for a view back to the lower falls! There were over 300 stairs and it was so nice going down, but the trip back up was grueling. However, it was so worth the effort. At this point, my feet were giving out on me, so Kurt hiked down to an amazing overlook called Artists Point. This is the location of most of the popular paintings of the Yellowstone Canyon portray. I drove the truck to the parking area and waited for Kurt. When he arrived, we were again stunned by the view and can understand how this is one of the most popular views of the canyon. After a few hours and dealing with too many people crowding and pushing their way into the area, we headed back to camp. An exhausting and amazing day in Yellowstone!

Our last day in Yellowstone was planned to ride our bikes back into the forest to a place called Natural Bridge, adjacent to Yellowstone Lake. The trailhead was at the Bridge Bay Marina, which we walked around and checked out first. We then rode our bikes about 1.5 miles back to the arch area. It was very beautiful and is much like some of the smaller arches in Utah’s parks. There was a short hike back up to the arch, but the trail was now closed to walk over the arch. After viewing this, we headed back on our bikes and back to camp for lunch. Kurt wanted to go on a hike by Yellowstone Lake called Elephant Back. Since my feet couldn’t take another hike, I stayed with the dogs at camp and also got some laundry and housekeeping taken care of. That’s kind of like a down day for me. Anyway, later be began prepping for our move the next day. Heading to Cody, Wyoming and we are looking forward to this place. So many people we have met told us this was a great place to visit. We will see!

Livingston, Montana

Livingston, Montana

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Osen’s RV Park, Livingston

Our drive up to Livingston began with a visit to Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone. After leaving the park and Wyoming, the highway followed the Yellowstone River all the way up to Livingston Montana. After driving through a mountain pass, we entered Paradise Valley. Wow, it was so beautiful with the Absaroka Mountains and the Gallatin National Forest on the east and the Madison Mountains on the west. There were several small towns along the way. As we approached Livingston, we passed through Rock Canyon, which was another amazing landscape. We arrived at the RV park, which was just a couple of miles outside the city limits. It was off the highway and back in a residential area. The park was well kept, with grassy areas around the camp sites. We setup our rig in the assigned space, which we really liked as it was along the edge of the park and there were no RVs behind us. There were some trees that also provided shade, as it was a warm day. The dogs enjoyed the grassy areas to hang out under the awning. The owners were very nice and helpful upon check in. They let us know they would be hosting a July 4^th barbeque for all the people staying at the park.

After getting settled, we needed to go to town for some groceries and to get oriented in this western town.  The town was hosting a large Independence Day celebration, beginning that day with a parade through downtown. We were sorry we didn’t make it there in time for the parade, as this is a big deal in Livingston! We checked out the events that would be taking place over the next three days. There was an art festival and the Livingston Rodeo Roundup followed by fireworks for all three days. It was going to be an exciting Independence Day celebration! We stopped in a liquor store downtown and purchased our necessities for the week. There was an adjoining bar, called The Office. This was a big hang out for the locals. When we returned to the RV park, I called our friend Annie Turner, who lives in Livingston and was the one that suggested that we come up this way, since we were going to be so close in Wyoming. She was working and would be each day, except for the 4th, so we made plans to get together the on that day.
We learned some history of Livingston while researching the events and the local area. The town was built around the railroad, which also brought industry to the area.  After Yellowstone was designated as the first National Park, the town soon grew bigger as it became the first gateway to Yellowstone. Visitors came into Livingston from the east by train and then changed to another train that went south into the Park. Thus, the growth of tourism in the area. Beyond that, we just fell in love with this western town that still had much of the original buildings and that old western feel.
The next day, Kurt rode his bike into town to visit the Chamber of Commerce. He was able to purchase the rodeo tickets, which we decided to go to on the 3^rd since the 4^th was already sold out. He also inquired about kayaking the Yellowstone River and shuttle services. When he returned, we decided to drive around town to explore some of the river access points for put in or take out. We found that Livingston has a really nice dog park along the river, where you can let the dogs run off leash. They can also get in the river to play and cool off. We also drove south outside of town along the Yellowstone to look at river access points in that area. With the help of a great river map, we were able to determine where we would put in and take out. The shuttle services here simply drive your vehicle to the take out, which made it so easy. On our way back to the campground, we stopped in the grocery and saw Annie. It was the first time we had seen her since February in Chokoloskee. We were excited about getting together with her and Lou the next day. After getting some dinner, we headed out to the rodeo. We decided to go early into downtown and have a drink, then walk to the fairgrounds. This was only about a couple of miles from where we parked.
It was exciting to go into the rodeo arena and see the cowboys and the local people enjoying the festivities. The rodeo is an annual event in Livingston and there were some top qualifying cowboys there. We saw bucking broncos, steer wrestling, ladies barrel riding, team calf roping, ladies stunt riding and of course, bull riding. The events were very fun to watch and there was some great competition! The rodeo ended with a great fireworks show that everyone enjoyed.
On July 4^th, we drove over to Annie’s house for a visit around noon. They were enjoying a day off work and getting some gardening done. It was great to see them again and have a couple of drinks together. They have two awesome dogs, one golden retriever (Jeff) and another large black lab (Jenny). We brought our dogs with us, and after the initial butt sniffing, everyone was okay with each other (the dogs that is). It was nice to get to know them a little better, as we had only briefly met them in Chokoloskee. We all decided to get together later downtown at The Office and have some drinks. We headed back to camp and returned in time for the barbeque provided by the campground owners. It was very nice with typical barbeque menu and we met some of the other visitors to the camp. We met Annie & Lou at The Office around 6pm and enjoyed the conversation and live music. After a couple of hours, Kurt and I decided we wanted to go down by the river and watch the fireworks show. Annie and Lou decided to head home. We took our cooler and chairs to a nice park along the Yellowstone River, just a few blocks from the rodeo grounds. We sat there and enjoyed the river sounds and then the fireworks display. It was a great way to end the Independence Day celebration.
The next morning, we gathered our stuff for hiking and headed south to a hiking trail in the Gallatin Forest in the Absaroka Mountains. We drove up a gravel road through the hills and forest, then back into the valley to the trailhead, near a campground. This was a hike called Pine Creek, as the trail followed the creek. It was about a 5 mile round trip back up to the waterfall. It began as a nice forest hike along the creek and then quickly changed to a steep climb up into the waterfall area. It was a very beautiful hike. When we arrived at the waterfall, it was very high and wide, with a nice footbridge that crossed the rocky creek at the base. When we crossed over the bridge, there was the other side of the falls. It split near the top, so there were two waterfall features, each one as beautiful as the other with many terraced ledges. I hung out by the waterfall while Kurt continued up a steeper trail that led to the top of the waterfall. After that, we headed back down the trail as it was getting very cloudy and overcast. In the distance we did hear some thunder, so we made it down the trail quickly. Just as we made it to the truck, the rain and storms came down on us. This was one of our favorite hikes on this whole trip. It was also in bear country, so we were hiking with the trusty bear spray. There were quite a few hikers on this trail, so we were not too concerned with a bear encounter. After this hike, we headed back to camp for lunch. We then took the dogs down to the river dog park in town. They had a lot of fun running free and playing in the river. We so enjoyed our time by the river and playing with the dogs.
The last day of our stay in Livingston was our epic paddle on the Yellowstone River. We had been looking forward to getting our kayaks on this river, it was so exciting. We parked the truck at Mill Creek Bridge and paddled about 20 miles downstream to Carters Bridge, which was in Paradise Valley. Since the river was so swift and running about 7 – 10 mph, it only took us about 3 hours to complete. Wow, we were moving faster than we have ever paddled, encountering many Class 1 rapids. There were places along the river that ran slower and was very calm; and then the rapids, which were very exciting. We did get wet, but we really enjoyed this paddle! The river flowed through many ranch lands and also some very upscale home properties along the water. Apparently, there are quite a few celebrities and wealthy people that live (or have another home) in this area. The weather was perfect his day, sunny and not a cloud in the sky. At the end of the paddle, we were so glad that we were able to do this run. This will not be our last time to get on this river. We hope to come back to Montana in the next couple of years and stay for an extended amount of time.

After returning to camp, we called Annie to see if she wanted to meet us at a place along the river where there is access for swimming and hanging out. She had mentioned that she loves to take her dogs down here to play in the water.  It was only a couple of miles from our camp. She met us there and brought her golden retriever, Jeff. The dogs and us all had a great time, playing retrieve the stick and having some colds drinks! The dogs played well together and had a great time; this was a chance for our boys to get out have some fun.  We then headed back to camp to prepare for the next day’s move to Yellowstone, on the east side of the park. We would be heading to Fishing Bridge to tour that side of the park.

Yellowstone National Park - Madison Campground

Yellowstone National Park

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Madison Campground – West side of Yellowstone

We were having such a great time in Grand Teton, but we were scheduled to move on to Yellowstone. The drive was only about 90 miles, so it was easy and there were a few really nice stops for scenic views. The road ran along the Yellowstone River. After entering the park, we stopped at the Grant Village visitor center for research about kayaking in Yellowstone. We were directed to the backcountry office. They advised us that our kayaks would need a further inspection by their staff and an additional permit sticker. The good thing is that there was no charge for this permit. Also, we found out that we could not paddle on any river or creek in the park due to spawning trout. There were only two small lakes where we can paddle in a limited area, and cannot put our boats on any shoreline! Oh well, more government regulations! So we got the permits just in case we do decide to get on the water.

Upon arrival at Madison Campground, we were assigned a site that we were not able to fit our trailer into! They were able to give us another site, which turned out to be very nice. This is an older campground with no hook ups and typically smaller sites, not designed for today’s larger RVs with slide outs. We were fortunate again to have very nice RV neighbors for the time we were there. The first family staying next to us was from Helena Montana, and they gave us a huge pile of firewood that he didn’t want to carry home. That was awesome!

The next day we made plans to tour the various geyser basins. Along the way, we took the Firehole Canyon Road that ran along the Firehole River. This road had awesome views of the river and a large waterfall. This river also ran downstream behind the campground through a beautiful valley. We continued south to see Old Faithful. There was a village there that had shopping, grocery, fuel and lodging. It was very modern and well organized. This area was one where a cell signal was available, so I tried to take advantage of this and get to the internet to post pictures and my blog. There was a large concrete walkway all around the geyser with bench seating to handle hundreds of people. We walked through the Visitor Center to read about the geology and volcanic activity that created this landscape of this park. When the time of the expected eruption was near, we moved outside to the benches and picked our spot. The geyser did erupt about 10 minutes prior to the predicted time; it erupts approximately every 90 minutes, plus or minus 10 minutes. When the geyser did erupt, it was exciting, but only lasted a few minutes. Unfortunately, it was not the spectacular event that we had anticipated. But it was worth the time to come and see the great one in Yellowstone. As we drove to the next geyser basin, there was an awesome falls along the road. Kepler Cascades was close to the road and we took some great pictures.

The next location was a visit to Biscuit Basin, where there were several geysers and nice boardwalks to get to each one. This basin had some very amazing thermal features. Along with geysers, there were hot spring pools and fumaroles. Some had quite brilliant colors and others were simply boiling pools. However, all of them were wonders that we have never seen before.  The different colors are due to the minerals, bacteria and gases that make up the feature.

We continued down the road to a bike/hike trail that would take us back to the Lone Star Geyser. This was a great chance for us to ride our bikes down this 5 mile trail. It was an old forest road through beautiful lodgepole pine forest with a creek running along most of the trail. At one point, we had to park the bikes and then hike back into the geyser area. This conical geyser is second in size to Old Faithful, but has a 3 hour interval for eruptions. We were in luck with our timing as the geyser was nearing the end of the eruption. A ranger had told us that this one had a series of three eruptions before ending the cycle. We watched until the cycle was over and got some great pictures. This one actually impressed me more than Old Faithful. We then headed back on our bikes and continued the forest ride.

After a few hours of geyser gazing, we headed back to the camp for a rest and to let the dogs out. By the time we got back it was late afternoon and we were ready to relax for the evening. Our RV neighbors gave us a load of firewood, so after dinner Kurt made a campfire and we invited them over to enjoy it with us.  

The next day we wanted to do a hike back to Mystic Falls. The trailhead was at one end of Biscuit Basin, where we had been the previous day. It was warm and sunny when we got to the trailhead. The trail was flat at first and then began a steep climb up a lovely trail through forest. The waterfall was about 2.1 miles back and was well worth the steep hike. Mystic Falls is a cascading, 70 foot waterfall. Kurt hiked on up the trail, which lead to an overlook at the top of the falls. I stayed at the bottom of the falls and went back to the base of the falls, where I found a nice rock to sit on, cool off and relax. As I gazed at the falls, I saw trout trying to jump up over waterfall terraces. I’m not sure that any of them made it, but maybe some did. They are however, in spawning season! It was so relaxing. I saw Kurt at the overlook and he took some nice pictures.  After Kurt came back down, we headed back down the trail. After returning to camp, we again enjoyed our evening around the campfire.

Our last full activity day we decided to head to Fountain Flat drive and ride our bikes on a 6 mile round trip trail. The gravel service road was not the easiest to ride on, but we were heading to Fairy Falls. The trail followed Fairy Creek, which is in a beautiful valley surrounded by meadows. When we reached the trailhead, we parked the bikes and hiked on up the trail.  Again, the day was warm and the trail went through high desert, pines and sagebrush. The waterfall, which was about 100 feet high, created its own weather. It was like a big air conditioner was turned on, along with a cool, fine mist. We stayed there a little while to cool off.  It was very relaxing and a nice respite from the heat. We now had to hike/bike back to the truck. It was a wonderful trek through the wilderness. Along the trail, there was a lone bison bull grazing, so we got some pictures of him. We then drove north on the main road to the lower geyser basin, where the main geyser is named Fountain Paint Pot. The variety of geysers there were very different colors and types. There were hot pools, mud pots and fumaroles. After another day of geyser gazing, we were preparing for our trip north to Mammoth Hot Springs then on to Livingston Montana.

The next morning, we headed north toward Mammoth Hot Springs. On the drive up, we stopped at a waterfall overlook, Gibbon Falls, which is a gigantic cascading waterfall. The overlook was very large; so many people were stopped there to get a look and pictures. Moving on up the road, we were able to find an RV parking space in Mammoth Village. We walked up to the hot springs, which were amazing terraced hot springs/geysers. The boardwalk up and around the terraces was extensive as we were able to see all the features of this amazing hot springs. We spent about an hour there getting some great pictures. While we were in Mammoth Village, there was a small herd of elk roaming the grassy areas and having lunch. It was cool to see them up so close. We then moved onward toward Montana. We stopped in the town of Gardiner to get some lunch. We got take out salads and went back to the RV to eat. The dogs enjoyed a nice walk around the area. On to Livingston!

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Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park - Jackson, Wyoming

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Gros Ventre Campground

Our move a day early to Grand Teton was a great decision. The campground that we had decided on did not allow reservations, so it didn’t matter that we got there a day early. The drive to the park was absolutely amazing. The first part was still mostly the high desert, but then as we approached the Jackson, the landscape changed to lush, green, steep mountains. There were also beautiful meadows full of wild flowers. The road mostly followed the path of the Snake River. The river was awesome, wide and swift, with lots of rapids. The mountains became craggier as we moved northward.

As we entered the town of Jackson, we found this to be a lovely mountain town; however, it was very busy and crowded with tourists. Being a rather large mountain town, it has all the amenities that a resident or visitor would need. We made our way through town and the road construction (uhg) and headed out to Gros Ventre (Grow Vont) Campground. The drive passed through the lush sage brush valley on the south side of the Grand Teton National Park, with a view of the Teton Mountains on the west side of the park. This campground is the largest in Grand Teton. It has over 350 sites (RV and tents) and runs along the Gros Ventre River. The National Elk Preserve is on the other side of the river. The ranger station assigned a very nice site for us and it was very spacious. It backs up to the river, but not a river view. But this was great as there was no one behind us! Perfect! The campground does not have any electrical or water hook ups, so we filled our RV water tank prior to setup and then hooked up the generators for power and battery charging. The dogs loved the site as we let them run a little off leash, but had to be careful as the rangers are very strict about this rule. After we were setup, we walked the dogs back to the river (on leash) to check it out. The Gros Ventre is a fairly wide and swift river, especially now with the snow melt filling all the rivers in the area. This area is known to have lots of wildlife roam into the campground. This happened the first night. We saw two large juvenile moose come into the campground and were grazing on the plants. They approached an RV about 3 sites down and seemed to be very rowdy, playing and jumping around. They started to come toward our site, but then headed back to the river. It was awesome to see these moose up so close.

We prepared our dinner and got ready for bed. We were able to watch some TV with the air antenna (some local stations out of Idaho). We started planning our activities for the next three days that we would be here.

The next morning was very chilly and we decided to drive through the park and stop at a visitor center. We went to Moose Junction and stopped for information. We found there was a paved bike trail that goes up to Jenny Lake, so we took our bikes off the truck and headed up the 7 mile trail to the lake. What an awesome way to see this part of the park. There were many beautiful vistas that we took pictures of and enjoyed stopping along the way. There were some glaciers up in the mountains and we got some great pictures. We finally made it to Jenny Lake and the view was incredible. What a lovely lake with crystal clear and blue water. We had packed a sandwich lunch and found a rock to sit on by the lake. It was very peaceful and relaxing. We walked around the visitor’s area and looked at some historical information about the area. A ranger was able to provide information about kayaking on Jenny Lake, which would require a special permit for boating in the National Parks. We really wanted to get our kayaks in this lake for a paddle, so we thought the next day we could do a paddle across the lake and then hike up to some hidden falls. On our way back to camp, we drove down the Antelope Flats Road, and along the way there was a huge herd of bison crossing the road. There were quite a few cars stopped to get a look and pictures. And of course, Kurt wanted to get a closer look. He walked down the road and got within 75 feet of the bison that were on the road. Oh my, I was so mad at him! He knew better, but those of you that know him and that he is a crazy dare devil can understand. I just turned around and couldn’t watch.  He finally backed away and came back to the truck; and eventually everyone was able to drive on past the herd. There were also some cute baby bison, they call them “little reds”.  Shortly after that we drove down “Mormon Row”. This is a large tract of land that was homesteaded by a group of Mormons, primarily the Moultons. One of the barns on the land is the most photographed barn in the US, as the photos usually show the Grand Tetons in the background. It was wonderful to read about the history of those settlers and how they created amazing farm lands and a great spiritual community. Later, when we were back at camp, we saw two young moose back in the campground again. They seem to come by most every night. A little later, we wanted to get the dogs out of the RV and out on a hike. We drove out of the park to a National Forest area, where there was a huge landslide years ago, the Gros Ventre Slide. The picture shows the information about this area; it was about 15 mile drive back into a valley past our campground. We were able to take the dogs on a hike through a nice trail that crossed over the natural dam that was created by the slide. A small lake was also formed on the upside of the dam. It is very interesting history of the area, as seven years later, the natural dam busted loose and the small town of Kelly was flooded with only 15 minutes warning for the residents. It was devastating as six people died and almost all the buildings were destroyed. The dogs really enjoyed running free on the hike and we also had a great time. By this hour of the day, we were very tired and ready to call it a night.

The next day we had to take some time to drive into the town of Jackson. We had a package waiting at a UPS store, a part for our tire pressure monitoring system on the RV. We picked that up and then also had to have a tire repaired for the RV. One of the tires had a slow leak (thanks to the tire pressure monitoring system we noticed it early on). We were able to get a simple fix and were back to getting our shopping done. We found a Mexican food restaurant and decided to have lunch there; it was okay, but not great. Kurt had found a mountain bike trail southeast of Jackson, so we drove out to the trailhead for him to take a ride. I was able to get a cell signal there and get on the internet to check emails and post my previous blog and pictures. On our drive back to the campground, we saw another herd of bison crossing the road into our campground. Again, many cars were stopped to look and we all had to wait for the bison to decide when they would cross the road. It was so exciting to watch these massive animals in their natural environment.

When we got up the next morning, we packed up for hiking and headed back to Moose Junction and found the trailhead for Taggart Lake. We had heard it was a beautiful hike back up to a mountain lake, which also included another lake called Bradley. The hike was awesome, as it followed along a beautiful creek, which we had to cross at a big waterfall area. The trail continued up through mountain meadows filled with wild flowers and aspen forest. It was amazing. We reached Bradley Lake first and then continued on to Taggart Lake. The hike was about 5 miles round trip. It was worth the climb, except my left foot was in pain by the time we got back to the truck. Kurt had wanted to do another hike by Jenny Lake, on the Hidden Falls trail. He went on the hike himself, while I relaxed in the truck and also went to the Visitor Center and shops at Jenny Lake.  On our way back to camp, we again drove Antelope Flats and saw several Pronghorn antelope. They are such beautiful animals. When we got back to camp, we also began prepping for our move the next day to another campground on Jackson Lake on the northern side of Grand Teton Park.

Colter Bay Village RV Park

The drive to Colter Bay was only about 25 miles, so we arrived there by noon. We were able to check in to our RV site early. This RV park has full hook ups, which we were looking forward to after four nights of boondocking. We were only going to stay here for two nights, mostly for full hook ups and to get some laundry done. The campground was very nice, but the sites were kind of small. The Village was a full service area; with grocery, laundry, fuel, marina and restaurants. After setting up the RV, we decided to go get lunch at the café.  We had been eating turkey sandwiches for days and just couldn’t take another one. It was a good for a change to get something different for lunch. After lunch, we went on a hike around Heritage Point. There were some small lakes, and views of Lake Jackson. The marina was full service and there were many boats there. The forest was lovely with lupine flowers everywhere. On the small lake named Swan Lake, we saw two trumpeter swans. There were also Canadian geese, white pelicans (there are really pelicans up here!) and a sand hill crane. After the hike we went back to the RV to relax and have some dinner.

The next day we took our kayaks down to Lake Jackson and put in near the swimming beach. We were on the east side of the lake and had made plans to paddle across the lake to look at a giant waterfall back in the valley named Waterfall Canyon and to see the shore line. We made the 3 mile trek across the lake and landed the kayaks on a gravel shore. We were able to get a closer view of the waterfall, but it was still several miles back into the canyon. There was no way to hike back there, no trails and also it would require some rock climbing to get even close to the waterfall. We simply enjoyed the view from the shore, and paddled around into some other little coves where we stopped and ate our lunch (sandwiches again). On the paddle back, the wind picked up a little and we were crossing some choppy water. It was much harder paddling back then it was going over. The complete trip lasted about three hours and was really fun. It was so awesome to be paddling in the shadows of the Teton Mountains, a new kayaking experience for us. We went back to camp to get some chores completed. Kurt walked the dogs and I got to do laundry. They had a really nice “launderette” and I was able to get a few loads done at once. We wanted to go down to the lake and take something for dinner. We went to the grocery store and got a frozen pizza. We baked the pizza in our RV oven and then loaded up the food, cooler, dogs and chairs. We headed to the beach about one hour before sunset, which up here is close to 10pm. The evening was beautiful and the sunset on the mountains was amazing. The purplish hue on the mountains is called alpenglow. The pictures do not do any justice to how it really looks. It was a great last evening for us in Grand Teton.  What a great time we had in Grand Teton. So far, this was my favorite stop on our trip. Now, on to Livingston Montana!