Photos Days 74 to 77

The tram for our trip up the mountain

Roy on top of the world - well Rendezvous mountain anyway!

 Bless, he likes making new friends!

 A cowbow cooking biscuits

 Bar J supper room

 Bar J Wranglers performing

 One of many photos of motorbikes Roy has taken on this trip!

Amazing Mount Rushmore

 Me about to go for our Ranger talk

 George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt & Abraham Lincoln

TTFN xxx

Days 74 - 77 Jackson Wy, to Oakoma South Dakota 27-30.06.12

Day 74 Jackson, Wyoming 27.06.12

I’m going to surprise you all but – it was chilly last night! I might have felt it more because I caught the sun again yesterday.

We got ready & set off for Teton Village hoping that the gas leak from yesterday has been fixed.

When we got there it had been sorted so we went into the shops & bought a few gifts then went to the aerial tram to buy our tickets for the ride up Rendezvous Mountain, which is one of the smaller peaks in the Tetons. It cost us $52 dollars for the 2 of us, lasts 12 minutes each way & rises 4,139 feet making the elevation over 10,000 feet. You can really feel it as it does make catching your breath difficult, especially if you walk up hills.

When we got to the top it was lovely & sunny & we could see for miles, even Jackson Lake in Yellowstone & a huge cloud of smoke from the wild fires in the distance. It was a bit chilly though when the wind blew & there was lots of snow still around. Skiers use the mountain in the winter (up until May / June!) & mountain bikers use the trail in the summer.

We went into Corbett’s cabin for a hot chocolate & waffles with nutella & sat outside to have them while looking around us at the wonderful view.

On the way down in the tram we were able to get a good look at the bike trail & it looked amazing, pity we haven’t got anywhere like this for our youngsters to use up their energy in the midlands. We also found out we could go up in the chairlift on the same ticket so did a roundtrip which was fun.

We went back to the hotel & Roy watched the second half of the Spain v Portugal match, then we sat by the pool reading for a couple of hours & getting splashed by the kids jumping in!

Tonight we’ve got tickets to go to Bar J Chuckwagon a few miles up the road for supper & entertainment cowboy style. We got there at 6 & wandered around looking at the trail around it with models of buffalo, bears, cowboys & wigwams then watched a cowboy cooking over a fire. We were on table B11 with a family group from Boston, Mass. who were celebrating their twins 12^th birthday. the evening started with the warm up guy asking where people had come from & I shouted out, ‘England’, as you do, so that started people talking to us, which was great.

Everybody had to go up for food in order of tables & it was all very calm & civilised. We had to collect cutlery & a metal plate divided into sections then work our way past the people dishing up. I had chicken, beef in bbq sauce, cowboy beans, baked potato, apple sauce, biscuit (savoury scone), spice cake & lemonade. Seconds were available on a first come first served basis but I had more than enough food.

Believe it or not well over 600 people were served in 25 minutes! The organisation was so good. After the meal the Bar J Wrangles, a 5 piece group came on to entertain us. They started off by telling us the history of the ranch & family who run it, it is a real ranch raising cattle, then they were telling jokes & stories & then playing instruments & singing. I have to say they were brilliant & got everyone in a good mood.

At $25 dollars each, all in, it was well worth the money & a good time was had by all. It ended at about 9.30pm & we drove back to the hotel hoping desperately to see a moose but no luck.

Day 75 Jackson to Casper 28.06.12

Moving on to Casper this morning &, after the usual preparations, we set off. Not far into the journey we came upon road works like we’d never seen before. There is obviously a major road being build & they have no way to make a detour for the traffic so you just have to be escorted through the works. They are at the stage where it’s just a very wide dirt track with lorries & all sorts of other machinery around & we had to wait for ages for the other side to come through then we had to follow a van. It looks like it’s going to be 6 lanes wide altogether & I can’t ever imagine this happening in the UK. We drove at least 5 miles over very rough, dusty tracks before we came to the end. Can’t help feeling sorry for them trying to make a road in these conditions as they’d have to escort vehicles day & night otherwise they’d be going over the edge as it’s really out in the wilds!

After that we needed a milkshake & then carried on, firstly through hills with pockets of snow, then through very flat, farm land with lots of cattle & horses, finally through scrubland, which is ideal for the pronghorn antelope & we saw loads of them.

Finally arrived at the best hotel room so far as regards having everything we need, the Quality Inn in Casper. Bought some food & relaxed in the room for the rest of the evening.

Day 76 Casper to Keystone, South Dakota 29.06.12

Got ready & had a lovely breakfast of yogurt then scrambled eggs on toast before setting off on our journey to Keystone. The horizon is very dusty, cloudy, it’s muggy & we can’t see very far. Hopefully this will change soon. We drove through very dry scrubland but did see lots of antelope until we reached Newcastle, which took us into South Dakota & the grass got greener & there were lots of pine trees again.

On the way to the Travelodge in Keystone we decided to stop off at Mount Rushmore to see the Presidents carved in the mountain. On the way we saw the carving that is being done of Chief Crazy Horse but didn’t stop as it’s nowhere near finished yet. We arrived at Mount Rushmore at 2.00pm & paid our $11 to park the car then went in.

As usual the memorial is very well done, everywhere is spacious & clean with lots of information around. We could have had an audio handset but decided to go on the Ranger walk. We were really glad we did as he was so knowledgeable & made it really interesting to us. We’ve realised that we don’t know very much about American history & wished we’d found out more before we came over. It’s made us determined to find out more in the future, so that should keep the old brain cells working!

Next we went to buy tee shirts & a hat for then went for an ice cream. I kid you not, we’ve had some big ice creams while travelling, but these were in a class of their own, I think the girl who did mine was trying for a world record – how much ice cream can you cram into & onto a cone!!!

It’s been extremely hot today, 97 degrees, so the hat & the ice cream were essentials!

After a few hours we checked into the Travelodge in keystone & found we’d got a view of 3 of the Presidents so can look for them to be lit up later tonight. As it’s been so hot we went into a bar & taught a Romanian lad how to make shandy & had a lovely long chat to him about where we’ve been, where he wants to go & many other things. Then we went for some chicken at Peggy’s home cooking cafe then back to the hotel.

Day 77 Keystone to Oacoma, SD 30.06.12

Got ready & went for breakfast. They’d only got a 2 slice toaster for everyone to use & that was slow! After checking out we went for a walk down the main street & it’s lovely, very touristy in a cowboy town sort of way. It was too hot to do this last night.

Not really much to say about today, we drove 320 miles & got to the Oasis Inn in Oacoma, then had tea at Al’s Oasis next door. 

What is it about SOME  Americans? As soon as they hear an English accent they stop listening. It’s as if you’re speaking another language! WE SPEAK ENGLISH THE SAME AS YOU!

I ended up with red wine instead of rose & a glass of ice instead of iced water! Truthfully the red was summer red which I love & the ice melted so I did have water in the end, but still.

The other night in McD’s we ordered coffee & ended up with 8 creams in each, we thought they’d give us the little pots of cream but they put it in the coffee, it was yucky!!

Rant over, I love them really. I did an hours ironing after our meal & ruined a pair of Roy’s shorts, they stuck to the iron, oh dear!!!

Hope you enjoy this instalment, photos coming separately.

TTFN xxx

Days 70 to 73 photos Yellowstone Park

Yellowstone falls & river

 Glacial boulder

 Hot water & steam coming up out of the ground via a cave

 Hot springs & bacteria with Yellowstone lake in the background

Above - me on the boardwalk at the artists paint pots 
Below - Speaks for its self!

 The real McCoy!

 A herd of deer

 A herd of buffalo (bison)

 The lovely Elk & his huge horns still covered in velvet

 More hot springs - you wouldn't want to bathe in them

 This was a waterfall of boiling water

 Look how high the rock face is

Hope you liked sharing some of our photos

TTFN xxx

Days 70 - 73 west Yellowstone to Jackson, Wyoming 23 - 26.06.12

Day 70 West Yellowstone 23.06.12

So excited this morning, we’re spending the day going around the lower loop of YELLOWSTONE PARK! The sun is shining & the sky is blue & I’m back in shorts & vest top so am very happy.

We drove in at the West entrance & almost straight away there was a traffic jam. This either means road works or wildlife. By the time we got to the cause of it the Park Rangers were waving everyone on & we had to make do with watching the herd of Buffalo at the river’s edge – magic. However fairly soon after we saw another herd & had the chance to pull in & film them. There were lots of young ones too.

Our first stop was Gibbon Falls which were very dramatic & the Hot Springs which smelled very strongly of sulphur. Next the Artists paint pots & we had to walk along a boardwalk so as not to damage the fragile environment & also so as not to get scalded by all of the hot water & steam.

They are called the Artists paint pots because of the colours that are formed by bacteria growing because of the salts & the heat, very pretty.

As we drove along we saw 2 Elks & hope I got them on video. We went to the Norris geyser basin next & they were absolutely amazing. Even knowing almost nothing about geology I can see how interesting these features are. We stopped in Canyon Village for a hot dog & drink then drove along the Yellowstone River to Canyon Falls. Now we’ve seen many Falls on this trip but these were really eye popping!

Yellowstone Lake was the next place & I have never seen such a big lake, it was like a sea. It’s so big that it makes its own weather! That is a fact. We had to sit by it with an enormous double ice cream.

Next was the West Thumb geyser basin which actually goes into the lake. Some of the hot springs were very deep,  bubbling & boiling away, it was just like having a sauna as you walked past them.

Finally the time had come to go to see ‘Old Faithful!’ We got there at 6.30pm & it was due to perform at 6.50pm so that was a stroke of luck. We even managed to get good seats on the benches even though there were loads of others there. It started off with spurts of steam & a bit of water & then up it went but so quietly. I was surprised as I expected it to make a loud noise. Afterwards we carried on around the boardwalk looking at several other geysers, hot springs, boiling water, steam coming out of the ground, very dangerous & there was a little girl of about 4 running on her own! One trip or slip & she could have been badly hurt. Some people have no idea how dangerous things can be!

On the last part of today’s drive we stopped by a massive glacial boulder to take photos & also filmed some deer & buffalo. What a long but brilliant day, roll on tomorrow!

Day 71 West Yellowstone 24.06.12

Sunday again so called home then got ready for our 2^nd day in Yellowstone Park doing the upper loop this time. This is shorter than the lower loop but we do take lots of detours to see things.

First stop was Canary Spring, named because of the colour of the bacteria in the 1800s. It’s a boiling hot waterfall & is now blue & orange, an amazing sight. Then we drove to another spring & there was a herd of buffalo by the pond so we went to film them. I could never get fed up with this & would happily watch wildlife all day. Driving away we spotted a man by some trees with his camera so stopped & there was a huge elk with really big antlers just grazing on his own.

A little while later there was a big crowd & some rangers & again we stopped but apparently it was a bear asleep by a tree & you couldn’t see anything. We’ve seen bears close up so we moved on. Our next call was to Mammoth, a nice little place & we had lunch outside & there were deer grazing on people’s front lawns. A lady walked by with a big dog & a large deer was clearly unhappy about this & followed them until they moved off. It was quite intimidating.

We had a little walk by the river then to the Roosevelt lodge where we had a lovely meal before driving home via Mount Washburn, which was very high with snow still in places. Another fab day.

Day 72 West Yellowstone to Jackson, Wyoming 25.06.12

Sad to be leaving West Yellowstone as it’s a lovely town. Before we left we went to the museum & saw lots about the history of the railroad & how the park became popular & accessible to the public because of it. We’ve got to drive down through the park to get to Teton NP & Jackson so will be stopping off at a couple of places on the way. The Midway geyser basin was one of these & certainly didn’t disappoint. It was basically large, deep ponds of boiling water with different colours around them & rivulets running into the river. Very colourful & hot.

We couldn’t leave without popping to see ‘Old Faithful’ again & had an hour to spare so went for some lunch then took our places again. No 2 eruptions are the same so this one seemed a bit longer & a bit lower than the last. We drove past the continental divide where the water in the area goes 2 ways to different oceans. We’ve both loved Yellowstone Park so much, it is so diverse with the landscape, wildlife & all of the different features in it that every minute is an adventure as you don’t know what’s coming next.

We’d entered Teton NP & stopped at the Snake River Overlook. There were signs all around about bears & bison but we didn’t see either worse luck. Finally checked into the Motel 6 in Jackson, the town seems great, very busy. Reading the reviews on this hotel we knew it was a budget one, Jackson is a very expensive place to stay. Our room is spacious, clean, fridge & microwave & nice bathroom. A sign in the room said you could get iron & ironing board from the lobby & also a coffee maker so I asked & got one! The fridge is so noisy we put it in the bathroom for the night otherwise there was no way we would sleep!

Day 73 Jackson 26.06.12

Well, it worked, we didn’t hear the fridge! Moved it back before we went out though. Also left a note requesting an extra pillow, will let you know if we get one when we come in.

Got ready & left about 11 for Teton Village in the park. Part of it was closed off as there was a bad gas leak, the bit we did see was lovely & we’ll pop back tomorrow. It’s a bit like Whistler & seems geared up to skiing & horse riding.

We drove on to Jenny Lake where we had some lunch & a walk around part of the lake. This park is very different to any other, with the Teton mountains towering over everything it’s all about the scenery here & not the wildlife or features, but still lovely in its own right.

Jackson was our destination after driving around, we even managed to be there in time for the ‘shoot out’ in the street! Done by the local actors & using blanks it was still very impressive & entertaining.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this part of the journey. Photos coming separately. By the way we got the pillow!

TTFN xxx

Days 64 to 69 Photos

Me & my friend in Canmore with the raspberry ale!

Entering the Blackfeet reservation

 A herd of buffalo just over the border in Montana

Glacier national park

Up the mountain in the park, road only opened that day!

 The 'car wash' made by the snow melting!

 Above - little log cabin in the woods.
Below - a cafe on the Blackfeet reservation

 On the bank of the Missouri river

 Above - On a seat in West Yellowstone
Below - One of the bears hunting for food at the Grizzly & Wolf discovery centre

 You can just see the young wolf's tail while the others ask him what he's up to!

 Me coming out of a teepee

 Can't resist a comfy seat!

Hope you liked the photos. Hopefully will have some good ones to show you in a couple of days.
TTFN xxx

Days 64 to 69 Canmore to West Yellowstone 17-22.06.12

Day 64 Canmore, Nr Banff 17.06.12

Father’s day, have a great day all you Dads out there.

Had a disturbed night due to a) Midge bites itching like mad in the night

                                                    b) The noise from people going home in the early hours.

Not complaining as we’ve all done it!

Got ready to drive into Banff for a look around. On the way we had to stop for a train to cross the road. I kid you not, it had 3 engines at intervals along it & at least 150 large container wagons. It must have been half a mile long & I didn’t get the video camera out in time!

We arrived in Banff & found a parking space. It’s a lovely place, touristy, alpine, lots of shops, cafes, restaurants etc. Bought some gifts & went into a pub called ‘ Tommy’s neighbourhood pub’ with lunch specials for $8 so we went  for the steak sandwich with fries & onion rings. It was delicious!

By this time our 2 hours of parking was up so we went back to Canmore. On the way back a black bear was trying to cross the road! We spent an hour in our hotel then went for a walk up the street for an ice cream & a look around. Found the best used book shop ever, thousands of books, I could have spent a few days in there. Back to the hotel for the evening with a bottle of raspberry ale!

Day 65 Canmore to Cardston 18.06.12

Slept better last night, shower, breakfast & packed then walked to the post office to get some stamps for postcards before setting off on the 220 mile drive to Cardston & our last night in Canada for a while.

After a short time on the road the clouds came over & the mountains changed to very flat land as far as the eye could see. Then the rain started & did it come down hard? We didn’t stop & arrived at the South Country Inn in Cardston at 3.30pm & checked in. Nice hotel but no coffee / tea maker & no breakfast again.

At last the rain stopped so we went for a walk up the street then to the Greek restaurant next door. We had the best meal so far, souvlaki with rice, lemon potatoes, Greek salad & pitta. The waitress told us that the chef is from Greece, no surprise as the food was as good as any I’ve had on a Greek Island!  Read my book until it was time for bed.

Day 66 Cardston, Canada to East Glacier, Montana, USA 19.06.12

Going back to America for the next couple of weeks & so looking forward to more rest rooms & better road signs!

Set off in the rain as you might guess by now & crossed the border with no problems, the 2 men on duty were very pleasant, unlike the one on the way to Canada.

Just after the border there was a statue of 2 Indians, flags & a sign about the Blackfeet tribe.

Then we saw a herd of buffalo lying down in a field. Pity they weren’t up & about but at least we saw some.
We went to St. Mary & stopped for a coffee, the lad who served us said he wasn’t sure if the road through Glacier National Park was open as it is shut all winter because of the 30 – 40 feet of snow they get every year! Last year it didn’t open until mid July! While we were there another employee came in to say the road had just been opened. How lucky is that? If we’d been a day earlier we wouldn’t have been able to cross it.

He also said that 2 WEEKS AGO they had 32 inches of snow! Hard for us to take in, that’s more than we’ve had in the last 10 years.

We entered the park & paid $25 for a pass then started driving through wonderful scenery again. Past Saint Mary Lake with trees & mountains stopping several times to take pictures then we started going up over the mountain. This is when it got a bit hairy as the clouds dropped, the rain was coming down in sheets & the road rose up & up getting quite narrow in places. Oh, I forgot, the snow was piled up at each side & looked as if it was going to come down on us!

When we got higher up some of the road had suffered from the winter weather & there were a lot of workmen & women up there working on the road & clearing drains. The melted snow was coming down onto the road in waterfalls, just like going through a car wash at times. It was scarey but also exhilarating.

The road started coming down again & we were out of the clouds & could see again. Lake MacDonald was another stretch of water we drove past & we stopped at the Apgar visitor centre for an ice cream which we ate by the lake. (It had stopped raining.)

That was a lovely national park to drive through, different again from the others. We carried on to East Glacier, about 40 odd miles away to the Mountain Pine Lodge. The little old lady who checked us in was the owner with her husband, Terry. She told us of lots of walks to do & then forgot our room number 3 times, a real character.

I have to tell you that this place is a throw back from the 1950’s! The cabins are lovely & clean but the furnishings are pure retro. The tv is ancient (Poor Roy was hoping to catch the England match but no chance!) No drawers to put anything away, no fridge, no tea / coffee maker, wi fi so weak we might as well not have any. The whole atmosphere of the place screams 1950’s but it’s all part of the adventure we’re on.

After sorting our stuff we went for a walk up the road & then to the village half a mile away. On the way past the golf course we saw a big brown bear run across the road & off into the trees by the rail track. Didn’t expect that!!! Went into a nice gift shop & treated myself to some hoop (not massive) earrings then walked back looking out for bears all the way. Certainly won’t be walking around here in the dark!

We decided to go to a diner called Luna’s for tea & had a pud called huckleberry pie with whipped cream which was delicious. Then waddled back to the room to see if the match was on but sadly we can only get 6 channels & none of them have the match on only baseball!

Day 67 East Glacier to Great Falls 20.06.12

Didn’t sleep well at all, kept thinking I could hear bears but it was a dog tied up near our room! Set off for Great Falls through the Blackfeet reservation. Their village looks so depressing & in need of a good revamp. Do feel sorry for how the tribes have all been treated over the years.

The landscape has been very flat, plains with a few deer & lots of horses & cattle. Arrived at the O’Haire Motor Inn & checked in. This is a little different as they advertise a bar with mermaids swimming in the pool visible by a glass wall in the bar. Interestingly this is also the hotel pool so I won’t be going in it!

We unpacked, made a hot drink & pottered about then the noise started, the woman on reception had told us we would have a lovely quiet room. We waited for a while & it went off but then started again so Roy went to reception to see what it was. It’s the generator on the roof above us. So we packed up & moved to another room. Thankfully no noise here.

We had a look around & found the bar for later, although a few appeared to have been in there for a while! Then we went for a walk by the Missouri river, that was the plan but there were so many Canada geese with goslings that we only went a short distance. Back to the room & got ready for tea in the hotel restaurant then up to the bar to see the ‘mermaids’.

The food was nice but as for the ‘mermaids’ I could have done better! 2 young girls in goggles & bikini tops with home-made tails in black fabric with wispy bits of net at the bottom. Nothing like on the web page. Oh well, at least we went. We left before the lady on the piano started but Roy went through later on his way to the chocolate machine & said she was worse than he had imagined!

Day 68 Great Falls to Bozeman 21.06.12

Got ready & went to look at the falls before setting off for Bozeman. Stopped on the way for a picnic at Safeway & had a frappachino. Prefer milk shake myself. Carried on & checked into the Super 8 at Bozeman, seems like a lovely area. Pottered around & wrote some postcards then went to McDonalds next door for tea. We’re both getting sick to death of fast food & the way everything is cooked, can’t wait for beans on toast, bacon sarnies & a Sunday roast! Not really much to report from here as we just had a quiet time.

Day 69 Bozeman to West Yellowstone 22.06.12

Didn’t sleep well, too much on my mind as I had 2 viewings on the house yesterday & should hear back after the weekend. Got ready & went for our first free breakfast for 6 days, bliss.

Set off for West Yellowstone where we’ll be staying for 3 days & the weather is much warmer so the shorts will be out again. We arrived at the One Horse Motel really early at 12.30 but Holly, one of the owners, said we could move in. If you can imagine motels from films where you pull up in front of your room then this is it. The room is lovely with everything but a coffee maker so we’ll have to make do with beer instead!

Roy did a load of washing (Poor henpecked man you’re thinking!) while I settled in then we went for a walk into town while it was drying for a look around.

It’s a very nice town for people going to Yellowstone Park with lots of shops, cafes, restaurants &, best of all, a Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Centre. They have all either been rescued as cubs or put there instead of being destroyed because they were being nuisances to towns & unable to relocate because they’d got used to going through bins etc as a source of food.

We had a great time watching the bears, they are put in the compound in 2’s or 3’s after the ranger has hidden lots of food for them to find. The wolves were mostly lying around until a young one went into a deep hole & was digging & 2 others went over to see what he was up to so we got some great photos & video. They are doing a great job educating people about bears & wolves & the bears also have a job testing bear proof bins for designers. It’s a non-profit making enterprise.

On the way back we stopped for a pizza & a beer as we were very thirsty.

I’ll put the photos on separately again.

TTFN xxx