Devil's Tower, Wyoming

We departed from Cody at 6:30 this morning as we have a good drive ahead of us. In spite of a mountain climb from 5016 feet to 9568 ft, the scenery was beautiful. Part way up the mountain we pulled into an overlook area to give our babies a breather and to cool down. I am positive I heard the Road Runner say: " I think I can, I think I can!" Under my breathe I could hear myself say: "I'll be glad to get over the mountains!" It seems like that is all we have been in since Joshua Tree National Park. Yes, that was sometime before the 4Th of July! We have done our share of mountains and are ready for the Plains. But first we have some good hills in the Black Hills of South Dakota!

Lake View from Mountain Overpass

Coming through Buffalo, WY we had a small detour. Seems they were having a parade. We did see some fancy horse units that had already finished the route. We are now in Devil's Tower, WY in a KOA. Shortly after the Tilton Hilton and The Happy Turtle were hooked up to landlines (electricity that is), we took the Road Runner up to Devil's Tower National Monument.

For those followers who have never seen Devil's Tower, let me give you some statistics. The Tower rises 867 feet from its base and stands 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River and is 5,112 feet above sea level. The area of its teardrop-shaped top is 1.5 acres. The diameter of its base is 1,000 ft. It is also the first national monument, so designated by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. That's your history lesson for today.

Devil's Tower -West Side

Several Indian nations of the Great Plains share similar legends on the origin of this prominent butte. The Kiowa Indians say: "Eight children were there at play, seven sisters and their brother. Suddenly the lad was stuck dumb, he trembled and began to run upon his hands and feet. His fingers became claws, and his body was covered with fur. Where the boy had stood was now standing a bear. The sisters were terrified; they ran and the bear ran after them. They came to a stump of a great tree and the tree spoke to them. It told the sisters to climb upon it, and as they did so, the stump began to rise into the air. The bear came to kill them, but they were just beyond it's reach. It reared against the tree and scored the bark all around with it's claws. The seven sisters were borne into the sky and they became the stars of the Big Dipper.

If one saw the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", directed by Steven Speilberg and starring Richard Dreyfus and Teri Carr, right away one would remember Devil's Tower played a big part in the movie.

Devil's Tower -South side

Located in the park is a Prairie Dog Town. A sign says "DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS". Well to look at them, I would say they eat very well. Chubby little fellows. If one comes too close, they start this chattering to warn other prairie dogs , and down in their burrows they go.

I'll sit and pose if you take my picture, but don't come too close.

So back to camp, Our chef made spaghetti and sausage with garlic bread for dinner and just as we were about to sit down to eat, a rain storm with hail chased us indoors. We are heading for the Black Hills of South Dakota tomorrow. I hope they are hills, and NOT mountains.

The Terrific Threesome....rolling down the roads.

Buffalo Bill Historical Center - Part 2

Friday, August 7. After showers and laundry, Joan fixed us an egg and sausage omelet for breakfast, along with strawberries. Amye toasted the bread. Me, I showed up to eat! Then it was off in the Tilton Hilton for a second day at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. We had three more museums on the schedule as well as two gardens.

Sacagawea Statute

We started in the CODY FIREARMS MUSEUM. I have never seen such a collection of firearms! I didn't know there were so many manufacturers of guns. And after walking through the museum, if one didn't have enough, they could take an elevator to the floor below were there was an additional exhibit of 1200 more!

From there we went into the WHITNEY GALLERY OF WESTERN ART. This area even had a replica of Remington's art studio. I'm sure you are familiar with the bronze statutes that Remington created of horses and cowboys. Again, the museum was very child friendly. From a drawing area to an area where they could create postcards to send to family and friends.

We saw the Cashman Greever Garden that contained several statutes including Sacagawea and the boyhood home of Buffalo Bill Cody. It had been moved to Cody from Iowa where he was born. The Braun Garden also had statutes, but it also had bird houses and a play area for children.

The last museum, PLAINS INDIAN MUSEUM, was fascinating!

Young Indian Maiden with Dog

For thousands of years, dogs served as guardians, hunters and companions to Native people of the Plains. A large dog could drag a load of about 75 pounds of family belongings on a travois. After horses came to the plains, dogs continued to carry lighter loads.

As one might expect, the Plains Indians were very crafty. The picture below addresses this with the beaded Child's Vest and Pants.

Child's beaded vest and pants.

After our tour was over, we headed to the museum restaurant for a light lunch. From there, Amye drove us out to the Old Trail Town. This area contains historic buildings and artifacts that were preserved from old Cody and moved out by the Stampede Grounds, which by the way there is a nightly rodeo from June through August.

Old Trail Town

Across the road from the Old Trail Town, we checked on another museum...Tecumseh's Miniature Village and Museum. They boasted of having the West's largest model train layout, amazing western diorama and a museum.

Bar and Dining Room - Irma Hotel, Cody, WY

And last but certainly least, we visited the Irma Hotel. It has to be oldest in Wyoming. It was from the porch that we watch the Cody Gunfighter win a street gunfight two nights ago.

And so it goes.....We leave wonderful Cody, WY in the morning for Devil's Tower, WY. We have a 9585 ft mountain pass to cross tomorrow. Not looking forward to it!

The Terrific Threesome...living the good life!

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.