Yellowstone to Glacier

Three days in Yellowstone .... could have spent 3 weeks !  What surprised me is that there are SO many different things to see; so much diversity in the land.  All of it was spectacular: waterfalls, geysers, rivers, mountains, high passes, meadows filled with wildlife, so many bison and elk, and we even saw one grizzly bear.  The joke of the day was "where are the moose?"  We saw ONE young moose by the roadside next to a stream, (and he was causing a traffic jam) and when we came back by several hours later he was in the same spot .... so we concluded he was a throwdown. :)

Tonite we are in Bozeman, Montana on the way north to Glacier Park.  I chickened out on coming by way of Beartooth Pass out of the north entrance of Yellowstone.  I was told it has 10 % grades with hairpins ... and I draw the line at 7 % in the motorhome.  We came over the Powder River Pass with 10% and hairpin switchbacks (in the motorhome, towing the car) ..... it was fun .... but "been there done that".

Charlie's friend from Mississippi is finally going to join us ... from Bozeman to Spokane.

So-o-o much to see everywhere here ... hard to make decisions which way to go and how long to stay.

Wish I could get the hang of attaching pictures to these blogs .... just can't seem to access the pictures from inside this program without downloading all our pictures into the companion Web program and I just don't want to do that.
Vera continues to play with it ... maybe soon .

Later,
Marilyn for the Three Travelers

Three & one-half lighthouses

When we were in Florida I was very proud of having climbed to the top of several lighthouses.  So, in the absence of lighthouses here in the Rocky Mountains I have associated major hikes up mountainsides with the energy of climbing a lighthouse.  Up until this point my hikes have been in the neighborhood of two lighthouse equivalents.
Well, today Charlie and I did a 3 1/2 equivalent ... or maybe even a four.   It was called Hidden Falls, which was a waterfall up at the top of a canyon on the back side of Jenny Lake, here in Jackson Hole Valley.  It was a true backcountry trail, and for me was really pushing my limits. But we made it and the view was definitely worth it. 
Of course I'm not sure if I will be able to walk tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will be leaving Victor, Idaho (which is just 20 minutes over Teton Pass from Jackson, Wyoming) where we have been for I guess about 10 days. We have been doing things here in Teton Park and surrounding area.  
We will be moving north 40 or 50 miles to West Yellowstone to stay for about 4 days while we explore Yellowstone Park.

The Teton Valley would be a wonderful place to live in the summer (only).  Actually I found out in the local newspaper that people can still ski near  the peaks where there is a good amount of snow left.  There are several ski ranches that take <mostly young daredevil types> up by horses to the edge of the snow, then they sidestep/climb on up and ski down.   Gotta wanta ski real bad if you ask me (or need a good way to waste energy).

Later,
Marilyn for the Three Travelers

White headed wisdom

When you look at the pictures you will see a boat full of young people, with three older ladies on the back row, just in front of the guide.  Charlie is on the left of the pictures (right side of the raft), and is shown to be rowing mightily .... as she should be.  In the middle you can just make out the head of Vera, who is leaning forward to hold on to the safety straps (mightily),,, (she didn't have to row cause she's so short I guess). Anyway, she got the best seat in the house.   And then on the right back corner (left side of the raft) .... is the white haired person who, you will notice, is NOT rowing ... because she is holding on tight and couldn't row and hold on at the same time!  
Now, some people might be embarrassed at not holding up their end of the group effort ..... HOWEVER, I look at it this way:  the white hair means a fair amount of wisdom has been accumulated up to this point in my life;   and (irregardless of the decision to actually BE in the raft at all) I quickly decided it was more important to hang on than paddle.

We had a wonderful time!!!

Later, Marilyn for the Three Travelers

Tick Control

Tick inspection of the dogs is a daily routine, and at nite it is a 3 person job:  one to hold the dog still; one to look for ticks; and the third person to run the crematorium.  I have always known the only way to kill a tick is to burn it with fire; so we have a creamation kit at the ready:  flashlight, tweezers, a small bowl and box of matches. We think we are winning the battle finally, tomorrow we will bug bomb the motorhome and car again and hope the cycle will be over soon.

White water !

Snake River, Teton Valley, Wyoming:
We survived .... we all three did a 16 mile long river run today, with about 8 miles of it being class 3 whitewater ..... fantastic !!!  It was a guided 8 person raft, and it was really fun.  Nobody got tumped, which is a good thing since the river water was 53 degrees.  They provided wet suits for everyone --- which is another story (seeing us in wet suits was I'm sure a topic of conversation among our fellow travelers - oh, well !)  We had to leave the camera behind because it was going to be wet, so fortunately there is no record with which to blackmail anyone.

The full moon over the snow capped peaks was beautiful. Any direction you look you can see the peaks - tallest being 13,700 feet elevation.

Vera is having a problem with her ankle, has a walking boot on it ..... but it's not slowing her down !  However, she has an appointment at the Clinic in Jackson to have an injection into it on Monday.

Everyone else is fine, we are just soaking in the beauty of this place.

Later,
Marilyn for the Three Travelers

up and down, up and down, up and down

Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons .....   Wow-e-e !!  I could never have imagined how beautiful.
We have been over at least 4 mountain passes that are over 9,000 feet. With lakes and rivers everywhere.

No campground in Yellowstone could accomodate our motorhome length, so we came on south toward Jackson Hole and stayed at a private campground.    And tonite we are settled in a Victor, Idaho, which is only 20 minutes back over to Jackson.  We will be staying here at least a week.  Charlie and I plan to float down the snake river (guided), and do a little walking on the "easy" trails.
Vera comes in Wednesday nite.

They really take the bear danger seriously around here.  They provide bear proof food storage bins for tent campers .... and at some camps they will not accept tents, pop-up campers or any "soft-sided" camper.
The motto you see everywhere is "a fed bear is a dead bear"..... trying to appeal to people not to unwittingly teach bears to associate food with people, because it will lead to the bear having to be killed.   It's a tough situation! 

Charlie and I sat outside this evening just soaking in the awesomeness of being completely surrounded by snow covered peaks.  Lovely.

Later,
Marilyn

Snow covered peaks

Charlie and I just traveled across Wyoming from east to west, tomorrow we will enter Yellowstone. Vera is in Pennsylvania right now at a High School Reunion; she will be rejoining us in Jackson Hole.
We had a horrific hail storm last night in Sundance, Wyoming. Ping pong size hail cracked the plastic skylight vent cover in the bathroom. I really was worried about the tent campers in the campground; but this morning all seemed to be ok, with all their bedding and belonging spread out on the grass to dry.
Today we traveled over the Big Horn Mountain Range (approx. 9,600 feet elev.).  Whoo-ee, we were actually ABOVE a lot of the snow capped peaks.  Then came the downhill side ..... 15 mph switchbacks ... VERY beautiful AND fun (although a little tense since this was my first really big mountains). 
Actually it was just as well that Vera wasn't with us because she prefers the mountain roads to have bigger guardrails. :)
But I tell you what, I am so-o-o-o impressed with the diesel engine in this motorhome !  The engine brake really does a wonderful job; holds the rig on the downhills to whatever you set it to .... makes me so glad we chose it.  I very rarely have to use the service brake .... even on the 15 mph switchbacks!
Tonite we are in Greybull, Wyoming. The name greybull is a reference back to the white buffalo which was sacred to the Indians.  This is very definitely western "cowboy" country; even the high schools have rodeo competition teams. Tomorrow we will travel thru Cody.

More later,
Marilyn, for the TWO travelers

the house is moving ... again - Toby

The dogs are amazing; they have the routine down, and of course are smelling the "roses" along the way. I think each has their own role in the travel pack: 
Bugsy is the main scout. He likes to look down the road where we are going ... Vera even bought him his own folding chair which he sits or lies in right beside the passenger chair.  When we are in the car, he almost always has his nose out the window.  I can imagine him reporting to the others whether we've been there before, what kind of animals live there, and of course when they need to wake up and bark at something.
Toby is in charge of keeping everyone accounted for.  He never wants to walk very far away from the motorhome during potty breaks while we are traveling; and he keeps track of everyone's whereabouts. (He's a mamas boy .. never to far from me).
Boo is in charge of social activities.  She often wakes Toby up to get him to play rope tug or ball.  If he is not really interested, she will try pushing the ball into his mouth. And of course, she has to keep all our laps warm from time to time.
People we encounter comment that Boo is probably the "boss" .... but actually Bugsy is grand ole man;  (Boo just wants to be boss).

Later,
Marilyn

Badlands and Needles

Right in the middle of the southern half of South Dakota is a region (very large) which the Indians called "land, bad".  Ironically, at the northern edge of this area is where the historical sod homesteaders flocked in the 1890's.  The homesteaders area is rolling prairies, not real lush .... just like in "The Little House on the Prairie".  Actually, Laura Ingall Wilders younger sister Carrie and her family homesteaded about 40 miles north of the "badlands".
The badlands is the most fantastic, unique, interesting place we have encountered thus far ..... very beautiful in a very stark, austere way.  The plains have eroded away (millions of years) and left canyons, and earthen shapes in very "earthy" colors (caused by minerals).  The tops often remain flat with the very tough prairie sod holding on for dear life.  You can drive thru them up close and personal ..... very interesting.

"The Needles" is about 100 miles to the west, in the middle of the Black Hills.  They are massive, vertically shapes spires, of granite, that millions of years ago were pushed straight up thru softer land.  They hardened, and over time the surrounding earth eroded away leaving these unusual shapes.  You can tell this entire area of hills is formed with these granite "up croppings" .... but this one area has so many more visible. The Black Hills are very lush, forested, very beautiful ..... a little like the Ozarks, only maybe taller hills.
The entire Black Hills are wonderful !  We've been here over a week, and hate to leave .... but Yellowstone beckons.

Vera is thinking of flying out of Rapid City to go to her high school reunion in Pennsylvania ... We'd pick her up in Jackson, Wyoming. 
One of Charlie's friends from Mississippi is flying to Jackson to spend a week or so with us ......... so see, all you friends out there ..... you should let us know where you want to join us and we'll welcome you.   Our next destination after Yellowstone/Teton will be the Oregon Coast.

Later,
Marilyn for the Three Travelers

TICKS !!! Yikes!

We have discovered we have a tick problem with the dogs, which is rapidly expanding. We have tick inspections several times a day (with resulting "bonfire" cremations). Tomorrow will be totally dedicated to the full treatment of all dogs and bedding, and the whole "house" being fumigated.  Man, what a mess !
We will have to be much more vigilant and brush the dogs (and ourselves) after they have been out for their walks. 

We are loving this country (Black Hills) !  
The Indian/ white man history here provides some terribly conflicting and sad emotions.  I guess if you lived here and depended on tourism for your livelihood .... well, enough said.
Mount Rushmore is awesome, although not as large as I anticipated it to be.  Crazy Horse Monument although nowhere near complete, is the most impressive thing I have ever seen.  It is humongous ... it uses the whole mountain.

Later,
Marilyn