Jackson, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park

Downtown Jackson Wyoming

After Salt Lake City our next port of call was the delightful town of Jackson, Wyoming, nestled at the base of the majestic Grand Teton mountains in the Jackson Valley - the valley is commonly known as 'Jackson Hole'. The town has a population of just under 10,000, but as it is only 1.5 hours south of Yellowstone National Park (NP), in summer holidays tourists swell the numbers. The town is also very popular in winter for the skiing season. I daresay accommodation is booked out during July and August, and the restaurants and other businesses do a roaring trade. The place was humming when we checked in for our day/night there. I know our campground was fully booked.

BAR-T-5

For dinner and entertainment, we had booked a Covered Wagon Cookout hosted by BarT5 (bart5.com). The BarT5 company has a great history starting with a young boy who at age 12 was adopted by the Shoshone Indians and spent 2 years with them. A few years after he returned to his family, he ended up being the first person to drive a wagon over the Grand Teton mountains, and then began a business taking visitors to camp in the area. The business continues to this day. Our trip included a 20 minute wagon ride to Cache Creek Canyon in a National Forest just out of Jackson, during which time we were 'attacked' by Indians! Each wagon, led by 2 draft horses, pulled the driver plus about 20 people per wagon - there were five wagons the night we went. It was a warm, pleasant evening, although we had a few spits of rain while we were under cover enjoying the cowboy entertainment. The food was cooked in Dutch Ovens, and it was delicious. We were offered prime rib (roast beef), chicken, corn on the cob, baked beans and a bread roll, with the offer of seconds. Most people went back for seconds as it was so tender and tasty. After dinner we were entertained by a group of 4 guys who sang and played various musical instruments (including a fiddle). Another chap dressed like Davy Crockett, but acted as a real hillbilly - he had an entertaining and audience-interactive segment. My cheeks were sore from grinning. It was still light when we got home, but after our long day, we were all ready to hit the hay, ready for an early morning drive to Yellowstone the next day. 

Jenny in front of the Grand Tetons

Jenny Lake

We had a fine day for our drive to Yellowstone, via the Grand Teton NP. We called into Jenny Lake on our way up, and weren't disappointed with our diversion. It was as beautiful as our previous visit. We saw lots of bison on our way to Yellowstone. Once we arrived in Yellowstone, our first point of call was to visit the Old Faithful Geyser. It erupts every 90 mins, and we had seen it erupting from a distance as we approached, we knew we would have to wait another 90 minutes before the next display. The parking lot was packed - so many people. Thousands of visitors were there - it was a weekend, and it was teeming with people. All of the accommodation (hotels and campgrounds) were booked out, but thankfully we had made our bookings back in early November last year - even back then we were limited to only one night due to heavy bookings! As we had time to kill, we walked around until we found a restaurant with a spare table and had lunch. Our restaurant was in the historic Old Faithful Inn - we had stayed a night there with Benn back in 2003.

After witnessing the geothermic spectacle of the geyser, we made our way north and saw the other geothermal sulphur pools and bubbling mud baths. We drove up and down the length of the Hayden Valley, and saw numerous bison. We eventually decided to call it a day and head to our accommodation, but on the way we had noticed a small sign for a turn off to a scenic outlook, known as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We took the turn and found a thunderous waterfall and cliffs carved by water and other geological activity over centuries. It was colourful and magnificent. It was our 4th visit to Yellowstone, but the first time we had seen this amazing sight. 

Waterfall at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

We met for dinner together that night, and enjoyed a light but tasty meal and some welcome drinks. 

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Bison in the morning fog

Off to bed early again, ready for yet another early start. We decided that we would drive to Hayden Valley where the bison usually are, and have our breakfast in the RV whilst watching the bison. As luck would have it, there was a heavy fog when we set out at 6.30am. However, when we found a small group of bison settled beside the road, we pulled up, and sat munching on our cereal. We also turned on the generator and boiled the kettle for a morning tea/coffee which we enjoyed as we watched the ghostly movements of the bison as they moved in the rolling fog. 

Jen watching the bison from the RV steps

Bison traffic jam - bison have the right of way!

We weren't far from the East exit of the park when we saw several deer - bucks and does, plus a lone bison right beside the road. It was a delightful farewell to the park. Sadly we never got to see any bears, elk or moose on this visit. Luckily we had seen a lot of elk during our trip to the Rockies a few days earlier, and we will see bears in South Dakota the day after tomorrow. 

This bison lumbered up to say goodbye

During our 2 days driving around Yellowstone, we had no internet signal. As soon as we arrived in Cody, Wyoming and realised that we had our internet signal back, we all grabbed our iPhones, iPads or laptops (all have Macs) and caught up with email, football scores, etc. We laughed at how addicted we all are...

Catching up on the internet

Jenny and Peter: Denver, Rocky Mountains, Cheyenne, Salt Lake City and Jackson Hole

Regular readers of this blog may recall that my nursing friend Jenny and her husband Peter came over from Australia last year to travel with us in the RV for one week. They have returned again this year, and they will spend 12 days travelling with us. Each night after dinner we drop them to their hotel, and Murray and I hook up at a nearby RV park. The next morning we pick them up and drive to the next destination. 

They flew into Denver, Colorado and we kept them on the hop, driving straight up to the quaint little city of Golden, Colorado, located at the base of the Rocky Mountains. There was an impressive array of vintage cars and some amazing motor bikes. After lunch we drove up a steep road to check out Buffalo Bill's grave. His name seems to be in every Western town we visit. 

Later that day we drove them into Denver city, and tried to remember some of the snippets of information that the tour driver had told us on our bus tour with Bev and Ross the day before. 

The next day we headed NW to the Rocky Mountains, starting our day out with morning tea beside a bubbling stream in beautiful Estes Park. That fortified us for the steep climb up into the Rocky Mountains where the higher elevations were still covered in snow. Thankfully we had a rental car, and it made quick work of the steep climb.

We saw lots of animals, and got very excited when we saw several large stag elk close to the road. The elk in the top left corner of the animal collage was sitting right below a large patch of snow. While we were taking photos of him, the marmot, blue jay and the 13 striped ground squirrel came into the camera lens view finder. What a great stop for wildlife viewing!

After our exhilarating visit to up the Rockies, including touching the Continental Divide sign, we made our way downhill back to Estes Park. We celebrated with a specialty ice-cream - very decadent!

From Denver we made our way north to Cheyenne (capital and most populated city of Wyoming), and paid another visit to Terry Bison Ranch for the night. We took a bus tour of Cheyenne, recommended by Bev and Ross. Then we hightailed it over to Salt Lake City, Utah. We got a good view of the Great Salt Lake and the start of the salt flats (part of the location of the Bonneville Speedway) immortalised in the movie 'The World's Fastest Indian'. Back in Salt Lake City, the four of us listened to a recital in the Mormon Tabernacle, and Jenny and Peter did a bus tour of the city. We found a superb bakery in the mall, and voted it the best bakery that we had visited in the USA. 

After 2 days in Salt Lake City, we headed NE to Jackson, Wyoming. What a unique, picturesque and quaint upmarket town. The photo below shows the scenery as we approached the southern entrance to the town. The next blog will cover our short but memorable visit. 

Bev and Ross, Cheyenne and Denver

Bev and Ross are Aussie friends of ours, now living in San Antonio. They arranged to meet up with us in Cheyenne and have 2 days together there, before the 4 of us drove south to Denver to have another 2 days together. They have written up 2 comprehensive blog entries of our time in Cheyenne and Denver, so take a look at their blog. 

(http://rossandbev.blogspot.com/2014/07/cheyenne-wyoming-pt1.html)

During our first 2 days in Cheyenne, we stayed at the Terry Bison Ranch. They were in a cabin, and we were in an RV site just across from them. Their cabin looked out over a bison herd. Here we are sitting on their verandah with wine and cheese as we observed the bison. 

We went into Cheyenne (capital city of the state of Wyoming) and checked out the Convention Centre and a Western store. A very Western city, that's for sure! Cheyenne information is included in the accompanying photo collage.

There was a nice cafe at the ranch, and we had breakfast there one morning. It was glorious out in the sun, but it didn't take long before we had to move under the tree into the shade. 

On our way south to Denver, we called into Fort Collins. What a pretty little place. Lots of breweries in the area. We wandered around the centre of town until we decided on a delightful eating place, and were pleasantly surprised by the professional and very friendly waitress, and the high standard of food. All ingredients were locally sourced. Ross ordered a version of a ploughman's lunch, and it was superb. 

Looks like a psychedelic roof on our bus - Murray to the left. Bev and Ross to the right.

 In Denver we took a ride on a tourist bus, and heard interesting snippets about the city. So many green spaces (parks). Apparently, the locals' regular enjoyment of the numerous city parks has resulted in the population having the lowest obesity rate in the country, and also the healthiest women.

After the bus tour, we walked to a Bubba Gump restaurant, and enjoyed the menu options. As well as a tasty feast, Ross enjoyed his margarita, complete with Corona sampler! Bev and Ross flew back to San Antonio the same day that Jen and Pete flew in from Australia. 

Spring has Sprung in North Dakota

What a difference a month makes in North Dakota's landscape. In each of the 3 double photos below, the upper photo was taken on our first trip to Audubon Lake on 6th May, and the lower photo was taken just over a month later on 9th June - except for the final photo where the lower photo of that duo was taken today, 12 June. At the moment everywhere is beautiful and green, and the trees are all 'leafed out'. Unlike the snow-burnt grass of May, it is now rich and green, everywhere you look.

View en route to Audubon - north of Bismark

View approaching Audubon from the south

In the top photo of this last lot, I have put a red oval shape around the campsite that we are now in (location of lower photo).The bare tree (stick) you can see to the left of the red oval is the tree to the left of the lower photo.

Post Holy Land

While Murray was away in the Holy Land some girlfriends regularly dropped in to visit and see that I was okay. In the previous blog I covered Jan's visit. Amanda picked me up and we had a nice dinner in town. Avalyn called in several times and we had coffee and some nice meals out. Memorial Day is commemorated by families placing flowers on deceased families graves and I accompanied Avalyn out to her home town of Baldwin where her parents and siblings are buried. After that we called in and visited her sister in law Gail. On another occasion Irene and Avalyn both came and had dinner in my RV. Irene picked up a hot chicken and some salad, as well as a naughty (but most enjoyable) dairy queen dessert each. A nice girls' catch up.

Avalyn at Baldwin Cemetery

Avalyn and Irene

Selection of photos of Murray's visit to the Holy Land

 Murray thoroughly enjoyed his 3 weeks in the Holy Land and was so impressed with what he saw over there. Mass will never be the same for him now, as he visited many of the places that are mentioned in the gospel. He got back to the campground just before midnight on a Saturday night, and by 6 pm Sunday night, we were celebrating his return with Wes, Avalyn and Irene. Margaritas are great over here - you almost need 2 hands to lift them! 

I really enjoy sweet potato fries or gems, but at this restaurant they offer a loaded sweet potato which has caramel and marshmallow on top. It sounded disgusting, but the locals and the staff say they are delicious, so I gave it a try. Sure made the sweet potato a LOT sweeter but not worth the extra calories.

As we left the restaurant I noticed Wes's boots for the first time. They are made of genuine snakeskin (python), and apparently are very soft and comfortable as well as durable. I asked him to pull his jeans up so I could get a photo. Very spiffy. I think Murray would get a few strange looks if he bought a pair and wore them back at home. Then again, he already gets strange looks…ha ha. You can't see it in the full photo of Wes below, but he also always wears a great cowboy belt, and usually has a white cowboy hat on his head. He is a true North Dakota local!

Wes with his python snakeskin boots

We are now back up at Audubon Lake for a few days before heading to South Dakota and onto Cheyenne to meet up with Bev and Ross: Aussie's who own a house in San Antonio. Clint from the ranch rang and asked if we would be around to help with the branding again this year, but unfortunately we won't be able to make it. Hopefully we'll get to see them at the Minot fair when we return in mid July. 

While Murray is away...

Murray flew to Tel Aviv for three weeks to fulfil a lifelong dream of visiting the Holy Land. On the left is his photo take of Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Impressive. Several of my North Dakota girlfriends will look in on me while he is away, and my friend Jan flew in to visit me, from her home in Frederick, Maryland. She was able to spend 3 nights with me in the RV, and it was wonderful to have the chance to catch up on each others lives. The last time we were together was on a Western Caribbean cruise in 2012, so we were well overdue for a catch up. 

We sat down and worked out our previous get togethers, and it was an impressive list:

2002/2003 - worked together in Maryland, USA for 2 years

2003 - Italy - 12 days driving around Milan, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Tuscany, Montecassino and Rome

2004 - Australia - Spent 3 days on a yacht in the Whitsunday Islands & snorkelled the Great Barrier Reef, followed by a week driving the south Island of New Zealand

2005 - Ottawa - 3 days (we stayed with our friend Judy)

2007 - Kentucky camping for 3 days, then Las Vegas for a bachelorette weekend for Jan's daughter

2008 - Nashville for 3 days 

2009 - Sydney, Australia (Bondi Beach, Blue Mountains etc) for a week

2012 - Western Caribbean Cruise (with friends Rainie and Tom, and Jan and Dick's daughter Nicole) for 5 days

2014 - Bismarck, North Dakota for 3 days

On arrival at Bismarck airport Jan picked up a rental car, and drove about 15 minutes to join me at the campground. On our first outing together, one of the first things we saw were two colourful scarves, so we couldn't resist buying them to express our shared friendship. We wore the scarves each day, and even swapped them over at one stage. Our first sightseeing stop was the North Dakota Heritage Center in the middle of downtown Bismarck. Some of the galleries and the gift shop opened in April this year, with the final opening being set for November. The Center houses an impressive display of information and artefacts dating back to the glacier and dinosaur era. While we were there, we saw school children enjoying the interactive displays scattered throughout the galleries. 

Fort Abraham Lincoln is about 30 minutes drive from our campground, and it was from this military Fort that General Custer rode out with over 200 soldiers to meet the Sioux at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876, and where Custer and his men died. The Custer house has been authentically re-built to replicate the original house he shared with his wife. The original house was demolished by locals looking for building materials for their own homes. In the photo of the Fort (above), the Commissary is the building in the far left, then you can only just see Custer's home to the right of it, and then the granary is further right again, which is almost in the centre of the photo. On the far right are the soldiers' barracks. What you can't see are the stables where Custer's horse Comanche had his stall. My family are very familiar with Comanche, the brave horse. The stables are further to the right of the photo, but missed the cut! I thought the scene was so picturesque I just had to ask Jan to stop the car so that I could take the photo.

We did a tour of the Custer house, led by a guide dressed in period costume. The top left photo is of Jan and I in Custer's private study (he loved to hunt, and his hunting trophies hung throughout the house - none of these are his original ones), and the photo on the right is Jan with our guide in the kitchen. Every room held some original item of furniture or crockery or other item from Custer's house. 

Not far from the Fort is On-A-Slant Indian Village which was built and occupied by the Mandan Indians from around 1575 to 1781, when they were almost all wiped out by smallpox; a disease introduced by the Europeans. The village has been carefully reconstructed to retain that part of American History. A small museum is part of the display.

Below you can see one of the typical mounds or 'earthlodges' that the Mandan Indians built to live, cook, meet and sleep in. There was a fireplace in the centre of each lodge - they were reportedly warm in winter and cool in summer. Jan was acting rather playful when I took the photo below!

We didn't spend ALL the time sightseeing though - we also had time to check out a few shops, and eat some nice meals - oh, yes, and enjoy a margarita. 

On Jan's last evening, we were sitting in the RV chatting around 9pm, when I looked to the West and saw the sun setting. Then I noticed some darker pink clouds to the North, and then a pinkish rainbow to the East. Murray had our main camera, so it was the iPhone to the rescue - the resultant panorama photo was taken with me standing on the steps of our RV. I panned from left to right (W

est to East). A perfect ending to a very special interlude. Thanks Jan.

They Have Done Piggin'

Front row: Bob and Bobbi. Back Row Me, Margaret, John, Murray

After a very pleasant two weeks in South Dakota we headed to North Dakota, but not before one last night with our new South Dakotan friends. Margaret and John were the campground hosts, and their school friends Bob and Bobbi joined us for dinner at a local pizza restaurant in Chamberlain, SD. There we were introduced to chilled beer with stuffed olives in it. Interesting, and nice. At a steakhouse the next night, we were told that the drink was called a South Dakota Martini. I had one two nights in a row, so I guess I found them very enjoyable!

South Dakota Martini

After we left our Cedar Shores campground to head north through Pierre, SD, we saw the most wildlife of the trip so far. Mind you, most of them were dead as it happened! There were lots and lots of pheasants (too early for hunting season yet) right alongside the road until we got to the North Dakota border, then we never saw a single one - the pheasants must know that North Dakota is the 'Hunting State' and are keeping out of there. Ha ha. We saw various water ducks and birds, some skunks (dead), some deer (dead), a raccoon (dead), lots of cattle and some long horned steers. 

As we drove into Gettysburg, South Dakota to fill up our propane tank (it runs our furnace heater every morning which has floor ducts in every room including the bathroom - couldn't have survived without it), we noticed some unusual little tin huts in a paddock. When Murray asked a local chap what they were, he said they were pig pens. Each sow has a litter in there. But the comment the chap made was that ' they have done piggin' ' for the year. So all the piglets have been sold and now the sows can have a rest. The photo on the top left are the huts that we saw through the windscreen as we drove along, then the next photo shows a wider view. The lower photo shows two sows next to one of their huts.

When I was researching a campground between our South Dakota stop in Oacoma, and our next stop on our favourite lake in North Dakota, I came across a campground (Bob's Resort) to the west of Gettysburg in South Dakota. It was also on the Missouri river, but the reviews gave a favourable mention of a steak house that was at the campground. The river and the steak house were like magnets to me, and so we booked in there for a night. The campground was basic and nothing to speak of - too far from the river to get a view, but the steakhouse made up for it. The view from our table, as you can see from the photo on the left, was superb, the South Dakota Martini hit the spot and each of our steaks were cooked to perfection, very tender, and delicious. Murray ordered a 22 oz (625 gm) sirloin which came with unlimited salad bar and Texas toast for $19.99. We both had enough steak left over to heat up for a steak sandwich the next day. And the flavour was just as good and the steak was just as tender the next day. Unbelievable. I wished I had asked where they sourced their steak. While we were there we met a couple from Cheyenne - they drive up with their boat to fish there every year. Who knows, we might get to catch up with them when we visit Cheyenne in July. 

We arrived at Audubon Lake, about an hour north of Bismarck, North Dakota on Tuesday this week. Avalyn and Wes were the only other campers here. No wonder, it was pretty darn cold. Murray was desperate to put a line in the lake, so he rugged up and dropped his line in just in front of our RV. That is him on the left, rushing back to the RV after putting his line in.







Just to put it in perspective, this lake freezes up each winter. There was 48 inches of ice, which only melted two weeks ago. During the winter, people drive their pick-up trucks out on the lake, set up ice houses, drill a hole in the ice, and fish. In the double photo below, the top picture was a photo taken of Murray during a summer about 7 years ago. The lower photo was taken this winter,  in roughly the same location, and shows the ice houses and a truck or two on the ice. The electricity poles along the highway are the reference point to show the similar location.

On our first night at the lake, Avalyn bought over her dominoes set, and we had our first game of the season. It was still light outside, but it would have been just after 7pm when I took this photo. Sunset is currently 9.07pm. Usually we play with Kathy and Milt as well, but they are still sunning themselves in Florida! Come on you two - time to come north!

Today we awoke to a glorious, sunny day. I grabbed the camera and took some photos. The top photo of the collage below shows us all alone on the front rows. The bottom right photo shows Avalyn and Wes's camper, cars and boat, backing onto us - sort of. The bottom left photo is of the families of Canada geese. The nests and eggs must be close by - no little goslings yet - we are a bit early this year. By the time we return in July the goslings will be swimming on the lake with the adults.