Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming

We arrived at Devil’s Tower National Monument on June 22^nd.  What a beautiful drive!  Green grasslands backstopped by red rolling hills and ponderosa pines.  On the way here, I saw several groups of motorcycle riders, black leather, cool bikes, etc.  Many had pulled over to snap some photos of each other with the tower in the background and I was reminded of the 2007 movie Wild Hogs (you know, the one where John Travolta and his pals are feeling a little manopausal [yes, that’s how I meant to spell it] and decide to buy motorcycles and ride across country).  Seriously, I didn’t see one biker who was under 55.

In 1906, Devils Tower was designed as our nation's first national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt.  Indian legends hold that the Tower’s rough vertical grooves were caused by a giant bear clawing the sides as he attempted to climb the Tower to get the little indian girls at the top.  And, that is exactly what it looks like.  Because of the grooves, it is a popular mountain climbing site among the "crack climbers".  Another claim to fame, the Tower was featured in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Spielberg science fiction adventure movie about a group of people who attempt to contact alien intelligence.   

We no sooner got situated at our campsite when the skies opened up and it poured.  And what’s a ton of rain without a lightening show and really wicked winds that blow the branches off the trees and on to the roof of your motorhome?  By the way, when rain, branches, or anything hits the top of a motorhome, the sound is amplified quite a bit.  During this particular storm, the rain was so loud Mark and I had to yell at each other just to be heard.  But never fear, Winston takes these storms in stride.  He is unflappable.  At this very moment, he is lounging on the driver’s seat fast asleep while the rain pounds us.  

We stayed at the KOA right outside the gate to the Devil’s Tower National Monument.  It is a lovely park, lots of nice trees, level parking spots, full hookups, a million dollar view, and a nightly movie.  Tonight’s movie (and the movie probably every night)?  Close Encounters of the Third Kind, of course!

 

The Devil's Tower National Monument is spectacular.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves.  This is a definite must see if you are ever in north eastern Wyoming. 

 

Scenic drive

 

"Wild Hogs"

 

What a storm!

 

View from campground

 

Entering the park

 

 

 

 

 Check out the grooves

 

A favorite of crack climbers

 

Looking down on the valley

 As the sun rises over the tower

 

Gillette Wyoming

We attended our first motorhome rally, the 88^th Family Motor Coach Association Rally in Gillette, Wyoming this week.  What an experience.  I’ve never seen so many motorhomes in all my life.  Literally, there were thousands of motorhomes – conservatively I would estimate there were over 3,000 there based on the number of attendees.  Everything from little Class B (van type motorhomes) to million dollar rigs with marble floors and granite countertops.  It was hard to keep our mouths from hanging open when we toured some of the new models on display.  Plush!

The rally lasted five days.  Each day seminars were held on every topic imaginable.  Mark and I had to split up to get the maximum amount of information.  Armed with your new information, you then could trudge on over to the vendor hall where stuff was on sale – everything from things you thought you needed to things you didn’t know existed but now that you do about them, you need those too.  We had a ball shopping and YOLO is now tricked out to the max!

The Buckinghams (Kinda of a Drag) provided entertainment one night and there was another headline entertainer, but we left a day early because we were approaching maximum overload.  Winston was a big hit at the conference.  He now has 500 new fans and thinks he’s all that and more.  While at the conference we experienced more of the famous Wyoming weather – no consistency whatsoever from day to day.  The first day we were there it was blue sky and sunshine.  The second day, the wind blew like crazy all day and night.  The third day it stormed – complete with motorhome shaking thunder, tremendous lightening, hail and torrential rain.  The last day it was cloudy with intermittent showers. 

We went into town for a look see – but not too much in Gillette to see.  Apparently, Gillette’s claim to fame is being the energy capital of the U.S.  We did spy some huge coal mining operation along I-90 as we headed eastbound toward Devil’s Tower National Monument.  Kind of disturbing actually.  The train cars are lined up as far as the eye can see waiting to be filled with coal and then they are off to deliver their load to the 37 states Wyoming supplies.

 

 Yolo and the Silver Fox at the Rally

 

Motorhomes as far as the eye could see

 

 All different makes, models, sizes and types

 

 Vintage motorhome bus

 

 Seminars where we learned all kinds of interesting stuff

The Buckinghams entertain the crowd

 

Coal mining operation near Gillette

Wyoming supplies 35% of our nation's coal

 

 

 

 

Across Wyoming We Go, Stops at Cody and Greybull

Farewell to Yellowstone…hello to civilization once again.  We left Yellowstone, exiting the East Gate and travelled along a super scenic highway to Cody, Wyoming where we stopped for a few hours to take care of some business.  Cody is a cute little town – founded by Buffalo Bill Cody back in the 1890s.  People are friendly and tourism is big.  There is a Buffalo Bill Historical Center in town which supposedly houses all things western.  We didn’t have time to tour the center as we were on a schedule, but we did stop long enough to take some photos of the surrounding area.  The Buffalo Bill State Park just west of town is huge and has one of the largest lakes I’ve ever seen – good camping for those you might be interested in the area. 

Then it was off to Greybull which is a very small town where you catch the I-90 going east.  We stayed at the KOA .  The owners were super friendly, the sites were well manicured and the pool was 85 degrees!   At 9 p.m. each night the town sounds a town siren signaling curfew for kids 16 and younger which I thought was unique.  But even more unique is that Greybull has an all-volunteer fire department. Not so unique you say?  Well, the average age of the firefighters in town is 78 year old and the rule is that if you can hear the siren, then you can serve as a firefighter.  Hmmmm.

 

Along Highway 14

 

Buffalo Bill State Park

 

 

KOA Guard - We can't figure out how he got on the roof

 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Yellowstone is the granddaddy of all national parks.  Established in 1872, it is America's first national park and it is huge!  It spans almost 3,500 miles; mostly in Wyoming, but extending into parts of Montana and Idaho also, making it not only the first national park, but it is also the largest. 

Yellowstone is perched on top of a dormant volcano and is home to more geysers and hot springs than any other place on earth. Approximately 50 percent of the world’s hydrothermal features are at Yellowstone National Park. The most famous of all the geysers is Old Faithful which we checked out.

Yellowstone is really quite remote.  Cell and internet service is very limited.  We camped at the Fishing Bridge Campground which is the only full hookup RV campground in the park.  We had zero Verizon service.  No phone, no text, no internet.  Yikes!  For a day or two, you don’t really miss it but after that you start to feel incredibly isolated.  It was so bad, that we actually drove 3-10 miles down the road searching for cell coverage and ended up sitting in a turnout on the side of the road to use the phone/internet.  The view from the car of the lake across the road while talking on the phone was gorgeous!

No trip to Yellowstone would be complete without a little wildlife.  Yellowstone boasts the oldest and largest bison herd in the U.S.  The bison (which are the same as buffalo in case you’re wondering) seem to subscribe to the philosophy that if we can look at and study them, that turnabout is fair play.  So one day driving back to camp, a herd of these huge animals decided to cross the road and some decided to stand in the middle of the road and look at all the people in their cars.  Apparently, they can be dangerous if provoked, so no horn honking, etc. you just have to sit and wait until they get bored and move on.  That was the cause of the longest traffic jam we experienced (20 minutes or so) while in the park. 

There are signs everywhere warning of bears, although we were not lucky enough to see any.  I suspect that Yogi and Boo Boo snagged enough picnic baskets that they weren’t out foraging when we were there.  The waterfalls at Yellowstone are amazing.  The steamers (that’s the technical name I assigned them) are interesting – just openings in the ground all over the place around the park where steam escapes.  Some of them contain which a bit of sulfur and stink like crazy.   

We enjoyed our visit and think that everyone should visit at least once.  This park truly reflects the beauty of God’s creation.

 Cruising down the road

 

 Old Faithful Inn

 

 Old Faithful Inn - Interior

 

Old Faithful Geyser

 

Geothermal Pool

Yellowstone Lake

 

 Kepler Cascades

 

 

 Upper Falls

Yellowstone Grand Canyon

 

Lazy river near campground

 

 Elk kicking back

 

Bison along the road

 

Jackson, Wyoming

We made a short stop in Jackson, Wyoming – rather Teton Village—which is the ski village located 10 miles out of Jackson proper.  I thought it would be nice to spend Mark’s birthday (and no I am not divulging his age-suffice it to say he’s still “got it”) at a resort hotel for a change of pace.  So I booked a nice room with a huge jetted soak tub and a great view and we kicked back for two days and enjoyed a little “civilization”. 

The first day we explored the resort and went to a local brewery for dinner, The Roadhouse.  On his actual birthday, we had a nice breakfast out and then we went off to the spa where we had a couples’ massage and indulged in all the spa amenities including the rooftop hot tub which had magnificent views of the mountain and surrounding valley.  Sweet!  After the spa it was back to the room for a nap and then we headed into Jackson for dinner at the Million Dollar Bar and Restaurant.  The bar boasted western style design with saddles for seats at the bar, pool tables and other typical bar stuff.  For dinner, Mark tried the buffalo rib eye steak with lobster béarnaise sauce.  Oo la la!  He said it was very good.  After dinner we took a short walk around the downtown area.  Check out the entrance to the small park in the center of town with the “antler entrance”.  Antlers are a design staple in Jackson apparently.   Mark said his birthday was great and he deserved a little R&R and pampering after all the driving and set up and tear down of the campsites he’s been doing. 
 

All around Jackson there are signs warning of moose in the area, we saw nothing.  No elk, no bear, no moose.  Although I did manage to snap a picture or two at the visitor center which may be as close as we get.

 Hotel Terra

 Jackson Tram

 

Antler Entrance

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop, Yellowstone National Park, Fishing Bridge Campground.

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

I'm so behind in posting and I'm going to blame it on all the fact that I have had to live without technology for some time.  We spent the better part of a week at the Grand Teton National Park’s campground in Colter Bay.  The campground has full hookups, Verizon Wi-Fi is non-existent and cell coverage is sporadic, although texting seems to work.  There is no cable and satellite is impeded by the trees, so we’ve been “roughing it”.  There is a small general store, a laundry, visitor’s center and marina where you can rent kayaks.  This is the only full service campground.  If you are more adventurous than us and want to boondock or tent camp, you can book a stay at one of several other campgrounds located throughout the park.

The scenery here is breathtaking.  The water at Jackson Lake is so clear and blue and the snow covered mountain range appears to rise up right from the water.  The mountain range is home to several glaciers.  Magnificent is the word that comes to mind.  The summer flowers are all in bloom and are lovely.  The park is huge and there is abundant wildlife, but they have been shy and we haven’t seen anything other than a few squirrels and antelope.  Our neighbors saw a mother bear and her cubs and we hope to spy some bears and moose over the next few days before we move to Jackson Hole. 

Average temps here are in the high 60’s during the day and low 40’s at night.  We’re not sorry to be missing out on the 110 degree weather that Gilbert, AZ is enjoying at the moment.  We’ve been on the road now almost two months and we love it.  I do miss some things, my bathtub, lunch with friends, reliable communication technology, but all in all, traveling is terrific and a grand adventure which we are so blessed to be able to do at this time.  After a few weeks of traveling you settle in and it becomes more of a lifestyle than a vacation.  We still have to grocery shop, pay bills, do laundry, and cook dinner, but it’s a way of life that has been easy adjusting to. 

We visited Jackson Lake Lodge yesterday and if you ever make it this way, I’d recommend stopping in.  They have the most incredible 2^nd floor with a gigantic fireplace and picture window overlooking the lake and majestic mountains.  You can just sit and soak up the scenery or get a drink and enjoy the view.

Winston has been a trooper so far.  He is napping on the couch now – enjoying the music I’m listening to as I write and the sunshine streaming in through the windows.  He loves all the walks we take at the different places we stop, relishes the attention he garners from the other campers and loves meeting new canine acquaintances.  Taking your dog on the road with you requires a bit of planning, but is definitely the way to go.  There is nothing sadder than running into people who say they miss their dog while they are vacationing.

Mark will be celebrating a birthday next week and in honor of that we will be taking a break from the motorhome and staying at a resort hotel (Hotel Terra) in Jackson Hole for two nights.  I’m looking forward to a little pampering at the spa they have on site and since it’s Mark’s birthday, I’m taking him along with me (albeit not without protest, I’m sure) for a couples massage if I can book one.  Then, it’s off to Yellowstone. 

 

Loveland, Colorado

We camped here at the Boyd State Park over Memorial Day weekend.  This is a lovely park and we had a lake view from our site.  Sites are a little close together and as you can imagine the park was full due to the holiday.  Boyd has nice, clean facilities, restrooms, showers and laundry.  Electric only sites.    Loveland is a retirement community about 15 minutes south of Fort Collins.  Loveland and Fort Collins were both very nice cities.  If one is looking to retire in a community that offers all four seasons, it would be worth checking out.

Loveland is the gateway to Estes Park which other campers tell me is a must see.  We didn’t make it there this time around, but I’m sure we will on our next trip to Colorado.  We did try some of the local cuisine – Smashburger which I gather is a relatively new and up and coming hamburger chain in Colorado and expected to open new locations throughout the West.  It hopes to give In and Out Burger a run for its money.  It has an expanded menu offering chicken and salads and has higher prices than In and Out.  The verdict was that the food was good, but in my opinion can’t touch In and Out – sorry Smashburger.

 

We drove into Fort Collins to see the test gardens there at the University but because of the late snow fall and cold weather the gardens weren’t planted.  Instead we saw 1,000 large empty pots getting ready for planting.  Timing is everything I guess.  Downtown Fort Collins had a lot of charm and perhaps the most brewery establishments in the nation crowded into one small place.