Cody, Wyoming

Thursday, August 6th and all is well. What a surprise Cody, Wyoming is! So much so, we are going to spend another night. After getting two of the three rigs set up and eating left overs for supper, Joan and the Happy Turtle drove us down into town last night for the 7 PM re-enactment of a "Good Guys vs Bad Guys" skit. It is performed Monday through Saturday in front of the historic Irma Hotel. All proceeds from selling seating to posters, etc. go to charities.



Joan took the Happy Turtle to an RV repair shop this morning to see if she could get the plumbing problem fixed. Amye and I spent the morning cleaning, emptying holding tanks, taking on fresh water and doing some battery maintenance. My LP gas detector went off three times last night. I finally disconnected it so I could get some sleep!



This afternoon we went into town in the Road Runner for a visit to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Let me say this.....there are five museums in one! And it is well worth it for the price. Our ticket gives us two days to see it. It takes that long!!

Title says it all

The five museums include (1) The Draper Museum of Natural History, (2) Buffalo Bill Museum, (3) The Plains Indian Museum, (4) Whitney Gallery of Western Art, and (5) The Cody Firearm Museum. There was also a special art exhibit on paintings about the Lewis & Clark Expedition and Buffalo Bill's boyhood home is also on the grounds of the museum. There is an extensive gift shop as well as restaurant. This is quite a museum!

Wells Fargo Stagecoach

The Buffalo Bill Museum contains many artifacts of W. F Cody and his family. One thing that caught my eye was a silver coin "Billie's" mother had been saving. His dad was deceased at the time. Billie took the coin and accidently dropped it into a river. He was 5 years old at the time. He engaged some older lads to search for the coin in the river's bottom. One of the boys went to Billie's mother and told her what had happend. With switch in hand and ready to give a beating, Mrs. Cody went down to the river and wanted to know just what was he thinking in taking the coin. He had a quick answer for her. He was teaching the boys how to mine for gold. I am happy to say the coin was found.

One of the most interesting museum was the Draper Museum of Natural History. It was certainly "child-friendly". The exhibits were amazing. And so many "hands-on" exhibits. Children can get a "Greater Yellowstone Adventure Passport" and the "Explorer's Guide for Families". There are 6 areas in this museum and the children can emboss a stamp on the passport for each area they visit. The Museum is filled with sights and sounds of the natural world. The Explorer's Guide allows the child to record what they see and hear. I have posted some pictures from this museum.

Black Bear

Moose

A Greater Sage Grouse
I think he is showing off or trying to impress his mate!

Tomorrow we are going back and see what we missed today! If you are ever in this area, please put this museum on your list of things to do in Cody, Wyoming! By the way, we had rain tonight. This is the first substantial rain we have left since we started out on our journey.

The Terrific Threesome...enjoying the sights.

More of Yellowstone NP

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

In order to do Yellowstone Park justice, one almost needs 4 to 5 days here. There is so much to take in. In one day (12 hours!) we only got to see the lower loop of the Park. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is breath-taking! The falls, colors in the rocks and great photo opportunities.

Momma Buffalo with her Baby

Our timing was perfect in the earlier evening at the Sulfur Caldron! We got to see two female buffalo with their babies. Later, as we drove farther down the road, many buffalo could be seen.

Sulfur Caldron

The Sulfur Caldron is ten times more acidic than lemon juice. The Caldron sits on the edge of one of the most active areas of Yellowstone's buried volcano. Sulfur-rich gases rise furiously here, filling Sulfur Caldron with sulfuric acid. Incredibly, this muddy pool is teeming with life. Billions of termacidophiles thrive here. They convert the pool's hydrogen sulfide gas into sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid breaks rock and soil into mud, making this spring a very muddy home.

Mud Volcano

In 1870, explorers stood in awe as Mud Volcano spewed mud into the treetops, shaking the ground with each eruption. Two years later it was a pool of bubbling, muddy water. Mud Volcano has blown itself apart.

Dragon's Mouth Spring

One of the most interesting geysers in Yellowstone NP is the Dragon's Mouth Spring. Every few seconds, this geyser will spew water from the hole along with steam, rising up in the sky. I would say someone needs to give him some mouthwash! It was fun to watch this guy.

So there you have some of our adventure in Yellowstone National Park. An absolutely beautiful place! But remember, one needs more than two days here!

The Terrific Three on our quest to see many National Parks. On to Cody, WY.

Old Faithful - Right on Time

Our day started off by having two other Rialta owners, Fay and Gene, pick us up at the KOA and treated us to a wonderful and knowledgeable tour of Yellowstone National Park. And what a day it was! We entered from West Yellowstone at about 8:30 AM and within a few miles there was a traffic jam. A female bald eagle was sitting in a tree watching over her nest and a young'un. Farther down the road was a few of the elk from the Madison Herd. Yes, I know you want animal pictures, but today I am going to focus on geysers.

Old Faithful - After showing off.

Our first geyser stop was at the Lower Geyser Basin. We walked the whole loop. Because there were so many, I will limited this to the most spectacular ones. The photos below were taken at the Excelisor Geyser. The first two are of the Grand Presmatic Spring. The colors were beautiful. There were several other ones at this location...like The Opal and The Turquoise. I wish I could post all of the pictures.

The Grand Presmatic Spring

Another shot of the Grand Presmatic Spring

Aren't the colors remarkable? The Excelsior Geyser is also exceptional. After leaving this area, we did a couple of side-road drives where we saw more geysers and a beautiful river in the Park.

When we got to "Old Faithful" we had about a 30 minute wait before "She" erupted again. And she is always on time...every 92 minutes. We enjoyed Trout Almondine in the Yellowstone Old Faithful Lodge cafeteria. Yummy! After lunch we strolled over to the Yellowstone Inn where we took an informative tour of the Inn. We even got to see one of the original guest rooms of the Inn. This one had no bath, as many of them don't. The guest share bathrooms down the hall or around the corner. Yes, some of the rooms did have the luxury of having an adjoining bath.

The afternoon found us taking a drive around the rest of the lower loop. Yellowstone is divided into basically two loops. I was so surprised to see the enormous Yellowstone Lake. We stopped at several more geyser locations and at the last one, we got to see TWO! Not ONE! Female buffalo with young'uns. Then we saw a hugh male Elk. What a rack he was supporting! After the buffalo siting, we were taken to this stunning waterfalls. I Promise: I WILL POST MORE PICTURES tomorrow.

On to Cody, WY tomorrow...

We returned to West Yellowstone about 12 hours from when we began. We enjoyed dinner together, said our goodbyes and I believe the TTT's went to bed.

Deer Lodge, MT

Montana Territorial Prison

We rolled into the Deer Lodge KOA around 3 PM. Deer Lodge, MT is a very small town and the KOA is located just on the south side of town. Can't really say much about the town, except it is the home of the Old Montana Territorial Prison. Today there is a museum next to the prison. I can't give you any history on it, but I thought it was kind of neat!

As we were standing outside talking with other campers, this cute Model T Ford Station Wagon drove by. We went over to ask about it. The gentleman was from North Puyallup, Washington and belonged to the Carbonado, WA Antique Car Club. The man said the car really belongs to his wife and she wanted something to drive the grandchildren around. I thought it was kind of neat.

Model T Ford Station Wagon

Since we had eaten a late and big lunch at a Cracker Barrel, we won't worry about supper tonight. Laundry and planning our trip to Yellowstone are on the agenda. Heading for Old Faithful in the morning.

Do you know me?

This little critter landed on the Road Runner? Sure has long black & white tentacles! It is some sort of beetle.

On The Road Again

Mountain Goat (courtesy of Joan)

The "Red Jammers"

Sunday: Today was a travel day from West Glacier, MT to Deer Lodge, MT. The road was good except the last 10 miles before we got on I-90. The Montana DOT is widening Rt 93 to 4 lanes. Road crews were not working today, but a lot of the time we traveled dirt road! It was like an old wash board. Joan got stuck behind a U-haul doing about 10mph in a 35 mph zone. We are settled in at a campground and doing laundry. So I thought I would just post more pictures of Glacier National Park.

Rapids in a Creek



Another mountain stream

Waterfalls

Bishop's Hat

Tomorrow it is on to Yellowstone and "Old Faithful". I tried to buy a second battery for my camera, but WalMart was out of the one that would fit. Oh, well! I will charge it up again tonight.

Cold and Hot!

Amye & Joan's Arrival at West Glacier KOA

Friday's departure from Post Falls, ID was uneventful until later in the day. On our way to West Glacier, we stopped in a Visitor's Information Center in St. Regis, MT. We got lots of information about Glacier National Park as well as a free sample sample of Wild Huckleberry Coffee. Since Amye doesn't drink coffee, she received a package of hot chocolate. Around one o'clock, Joan said her muffler had come loose. She had it installed in Pennsylvania just before she left her daughter's. Joan checked her GPS and found a Midas Muffler shop in Kalispell, not far from where we were. They could not help her, but gave her the name and address of a shop nearby that could. We had to leave her rig for a short spell and went to find some lunch. On Joan's suggestion, I left them behind and headed for the campground to check us in. They didn't expect to be out of the shop for a couple of hours and being Friday, with heavy traffic in the area, we figured they would be in by 6 P.M. I set up the Road Runner and when Amye called to say they were almost there, I went to the gate to greet them. Joan was extremely pleased with the muffler service! It's early to bed tonight as we have signed up for "The Red Bus Tour" of Glacier National Park.

Approaching one of two tunnels in Glacier N.P.

It's a chilly morning! We aren't used to this! Our "Red Bus" arrives and we board it. The KOA campground is the first pick-up of the morning, so we chose seats close to windows. One has to sit four across in the tour bus. Let me tell you a little bit about the buses that are used. They date back to the 1930's, they have a canvas roof that can be rolled back so one can stand up and take pictures (when the bus is stopped, of course) and the drivers are called "Gear Jammers". One can understand the terminology after seeing them drive up and down the mountains. Thanks to the Ford Motor Company, in 2002 they completely overhauled each of the 33 buses so they are much improved. Now back to today's adventure.

We pick up our remaining passengers at two more stops before our trek up the mountain. Only the driver's portion of the roof is opened at this point. It is a good thing as we are all cold. But not to worry, the driver offers blankets to help keep us warm. As we start around Lake MacDonald, the driver stops and with the help of a male passenger, the roof is rolled back. Now it really is cold! Not to worry! As we start to climb the mountains on "GO TO THE SUN ROAD" and we come into clearings, the sun is out and it begins to warm us. Off with the blankets! The road is narrow and very winding, but the scenery is beyond words. Wild flowers are blooming, some snow on some mountains, waterfalls, place where an avalanche happened over the winter can be seen, and believe it or not, ROAD WORK! I cannot look down at times as we are right on the edge of the road with a very little low stone wall as a guard rail. At the top of Logan Pass, we stop at an interpretive center for about twenty minutes. It is beautiful here.

Lake St. Mary's

We continue our journey down the east side of Logan's pass to St. Mary's where we enjoy lunch in the Two Dogs Restaurant. Climbing back aboard the Red Bus, we are now ready for our return trip back across Logan's Pass. This gives us a different view of the mountains. At the Wailing Wall our driver steers a little to the right almost under the water falling from the rocks. It sure was cooling, even though some of us got slightly wet. Coming off the summit a mountain several mountain goats come into view. Our driver accommodates us by finding a place to pull over so we can get pictures. My battery has just died on my camera. Joan emailed me a picture of the goat, but I haven't found out how to get it from my email to my picture file. I will tonight though. There are so many things to see here in the park I just can't describe them all, from the rapids in some creeks, the numerous waterfalls,etc., etc. One must plan to put this on their "Bucket List"! Our tour lasted about 7.5 hours. Well worth the money and I would recommend it to everyone. As Greyhound Bus Line would say: "Leave the driving to us". This way Amye, Joan and I got to see everything without worries.

Glacier in Glacier N.P.

I wish I could post all the pictures we took. It was a rewarding day! After dinner our Chef Joan cooked, we planned our travel for tomorrow. We decided several days ago to not do the 400+ miles between here and Yellowstone National Park in one day. We are going to split it up. SO tomorrow to Deer Lodge, MT. hoping to meet up with the Caldwells who are heading to Glacier in their Rialta. Old Faithful, here we come!

Note: We found out after making our reservations on the Red Bus, that Glacier has a free shuttle service that runs through the Park. One can get off and on at many stops. I don't know what information about the Park the drivers give but I do know that on the east side time waits for the bus may be half hour between buses. It runs more frequently on the west side. Cheap way to see the Park and it is FREE!

North Cascades Highway and Points East

Lake Diablo on the North Cascades Hwy.

Wednesday morning: We departed Camano Island heading East across the North Cascades Highway on recommendations from my daughter and friends. They were right! It is more spectacular than I-90 over Snoqualamie Pass. There were lots of places to pull off and take pictures. The prettiest was at the overlook for Lake Diablo. The color of the water is this beautiful blue-green. I could have added more pictures, but space is limited. Our destination for the night was Carlton, WA. It's basically a one-man town. He owns the country store, a restaurant and the small campground. It would take all of three words to describe it...unlevel, antiquated (old fuses on the electric boxes, not circuit breakers) and unclean! It's a good thing we didn't have to pay full rate!

Grand Coulee Dam

Thursday: Off and running early continuing eastbound and down. Our destination today is Post Falls, Idaho. All the campgrounds in Coeur D'alene, ID were booked solid due to an Arts/Crafts Festival, so we opted for Post Falls. Not much option, really. On or way we stopped at two huge dams. The first was Chief Joseph's Dam and the second was the Grand Coulee Dam. Both were enormous dams. Roosevelt Lake can be seen on the southern end of the dam.

Continuing southeast towards Spokane, we ran into some traffic and another Rialta! A single lady was driving this one, too. We all passed Reta and at the first rest area we all pulled in, hoping the other Rialta would stop. We introduced ourselves to Reta and gave her many suggestions. Her problem was quite different from ours. So we spent a little time evaluating her problem and called one of our club members (Gene) to see if he could offer some assistance. Since the dreaded red light had not come on and her rig was running okay, Gene saw no reason for not going on to her destination. She wanted to join up with us for lunch before going on to her destination in Idaho. After a light lunch in the campground, we went shopping at Cabelo's, one of Amye's favorite things. Tomorrow we hope to be in West Glacier, MT.

4 Rialtas heading East.