FOUNTAIN, COLORADO, NEAR COLORADO SPRINGS
We are here since last Friday, after a lot of problems finding a campground to fit us. We are at the Koa and it is not so bad, big long space, a little gravel and a tree. Sometimes we have some afternoon showers and everything turns to mud. We will be here till Aug. 4th, after which time we will go to Creede, Co to a dude ranch which has rv sites. So far, we haven't done anything here except eat out and go food and rv accessory shopping. Finally got the other outdoor chair I was looking for. Sunday it rained most of the day and I had a chance to go through all our cabinets and get rid of a lot of stuff. We have an rv tech fixing our electric steps which are working erratically due to a bad motor and our electric door awning needs a new motor too, all covered under our extended warranty. Also our back camera which looks at the hitch stopped operating so the tech will try to fix that also. He wont get the parts till Friday so we are free till then. I would like to go to the zoo and other attractions. Also there is a car show on sat. nite. It is peaceful here this morning, sunshine, about 80 degrees and the cat and birds are sleeping, aah.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO
Left Casper, Wyoming, intending to go to Cheyenne, Wyoming. The month of July is their "Frontier Days". However, no campgrounds available near there. We travel another hour and get to a small college town called Fort Collins, and stay at the Koa. There is a pretty downtown very historical area and I call and make a date for a guided tour in the "Magic Bus". We come in on a Monday and I can't get the tour till Thurs. so we hang around and take in some of the sights ourselves. We go to the area downtown known as town square. It is a pretty area and all the buildings are the originals, some from the 1800's and have been turned into really pretty shops and restaurants. We have thai food and then walk around the area. There are beautiful pianos painted in all different designs all around the area out in the open for people to play, also parks for the kids, really nice place. There is a supermarket called King Soopers and we shop there. Diesel is going down in price and we have paid as little as $3.64 for it. It is a college town and the campus areas are really nice. Not far from town is the suburban area and all the houses have lots of land, acreage with horses and such. Well, we finally get to go on our tour. It is a rainy day but the weather clears by the time we go out for the 3pm tour. The guide takes us on a 90 minute tour and explained the history of the city and took up all through the town, then to the state park area, the college, and then to a lovely recreation area, the Horsetooth Reservoir. We end up back in the downtown area and we go out for some bbq. Then we walk off our meal and find a candy store, a real candy store. It has all the old candies I remember when I was a kid. I buy Turkish taffy, licorice wheels, small chocolate truffles called ice cubes, and then some sesame seed candy dipped in honey. Oh my, eating this brings back so many memories. A great end to a nice day. We never did get to go to the Frontier Days in Wyoming, the traffic and parking are horrendous and the crowds too exhausting. This Koa is nice and about 6 miles from the highway, so nice and quiet, away from the noise. A nice place to spend the week.
Left Casper, Wyoming, intending to go to Cheyenne, Wyoming. The month of July is their "Frontier Days". However, no campgrounds available near there. We travel another hour and get to a small college town called Fort Collins, and stay at the Koa. There is a pretty downtown very historical area and I call and make a date for a guided tour in the "Magic Bus". We come in on a Monday and I can't get the tour till Thurs. so we hang around and take in some of the sights ourselves. We go to the area downtown known as town square. It is a pretty area and all the buildings are the originals, some from the 1800's and have been turned into really pretty shops and restaurants. We have thai food and then walk around the area. There are beautiful pianos painted in all different designs all around the area out in the open for people to play, also parks for the kids, really nice place. There is a supermarket called King Soopers and we shop there. Diesel is going down in price and we have paid as little as $3.64 for it. It is a college town and the campus areas are really nice. Not far from town is the suburban area and all the houses have lots of land, acreage with horses and such. Well, we finally get to go on our tour. It is a rainy day but the weather clears by the time we go out for the 3pm tour. The guide takes us on a 90 minute tour and explained the history of the city and took up all through the town, then to the state park area, the college, and then to a lovely recreation area, the Horsetooth Reservoir. We end up back in the downtown area and we go out for some bbq. Then we walk off our meal and find a candy store, a real candy store. It has all the old candies I remember when I was a kid. I buy Turkish taffy, licorice wheels, small chocolate truffles called ice cubes, and then some sesame seed candy dipped in honey. Oh my, eating this brings back so many memories. A great end to a nice day. We never did get to go to the Frontier Days in Wyoming, the traffic and parking are horrendous and the crowds too exhausting. This Koa is nice and about 6 miles from the highway, so nice and quiet, away from the noise. A nice place to spend the week.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
CASPER, WYOMING
7/19/13 Well, here we are in Bar Nunn Wyoming, close to Casper. We wanted to see the National Parks in Utah, Zion and Bryce. However, from South Dakota, where we now are, we have to go through Wyoming again. This is the 4th time in 3 weeks. As I said, we love Wyoming. We started out at 9am and had to get to Gilette, Wyoming, back from where we came to find a small road (59) to take us down to Wright, then to Midwest, and finally culminating in I25 where we have a reservation for 3 nights. Joel saw a billboard for the Wright Hotel having a lunch buffet(there goes my diet again), so we get there at about 1pm. The town is so small, you blink and its gone. However, the hotel is new and gorgeous, lots of room to park and the buffet is in the Open Range Steakhouse which is attached to the hotel. The buffet is fantastic, carved roast beef, sweet and sour chicken, beef stroganoff, duchess potatoes, vegetables and to top it off, chocolate and strawberry cheesecake and I had both. On the walls were mounted heads and full bodies of all the beautiful wildlife of Wyoming. We left really full. We drive out of parking lot and see 4 pronghorn deer munching grass by the side of the road. A daddy with antlers and 3 babies. We get back on the highway and see another deer, what a great day. We manage to get to the Koa and settle into our site. Oh dear, a tree is blocking our satellite signal, oh well, we have books and a computer. We can live without tv for a couple of nights. We are now going to Walmart for vittles, rottiserie chicken and mashed potatoes. Now we can relax, we can sightsee tomorrow.
7/20/13 Went to the National Historic Trail Interpretive Center. When we got there a car show was in progress, got to see lots of old Studebakers as well as classic cars. The museum was free today, it tells the whole story of the Oregon trail and we saw a short movie. Then went to the rv center for some supplies and ate lunch at Olive Garden, and then of course to Home Depot. We always need something.
7/21/13 Got up early so we could got to see Independence Rock(about 50 miles) from Casper. At this monument (pic), we almost missed it. It is in a rest area. This rock shows the trail taken by the pioneers on their way to Oregon. They carved their names in the rock for all generations to see. However, weather and erosion have taken their toll and reduced those names so that you can hardly see them (pic). Then we went further up the road and ended up at the Mormon Handicart Historic Site. This was an area where Mormon travelers came from Britain in the 1850's, went by ship to Boston, then by train to Iowa city and begain a 1300 mile trek to Wyoming. They used these carts called Handicarts which held most of their belongings and had a canvas top to sleep in at night. The family walked beside the cart and one member pulled the cart on this arduous journey. Many did not survive. They started the trip in late July and encountered many snowstorms and rivers to cross, and starvation. It is because of these pioneers that we have our beautiful country. These emmigrants were the bravest of all people. The picture of the split mountain is called "Devils Gate" and the sweetwater river runs through it. We head back to Casper at about 1:15pm and stop at a Mexican place for lunch and have fajitas. It is good and too much. We are now back at the rig and relaxing. Tomorrow we start for Fort Collins, Colorado.
7/19/13 Well, here we are in Bar Nunn Wyoming, close to Casper. We wanted to see the National Parks in Utah, Zion and Bryce. However, from South Dakota, where we now are, we have to go through Wyoming again. This is the 4th time in 3 weeks. As I said, we love Wyoming. We started out at 9am and had to get to Gilette, Wyoming, back from where we came to find a small road (59) to take us down to Wright, then to Midwest, and finally culminating in I25 where we have a reservation for 3 nights. Joel saw a billboard for the Wright Hotel having a lunch buffet(there goes my diet again), so we get there at about 1pm. The town is so small, you blink and its gone. However, the hotel is new and gorgeous, lots of room to park and the buffet is in the Open Range Steakhouse which is attached to the hotel. The buffet is fantastic, carved roast beef, sweet and sour chicken, beef stroganoff, duchess potatoes, vegetables and to top it off, chocolate and strawberry cheesecake and I had both. On the walls were mounted heads and full bodies of all the beautiful wildlife of Wyoming. We left really full. We drive out of parking lot and see 4 pronghorn deer munching grass by the side of the road. A daddy with antlers and 3 babies. We get back on the highway and see another deer, what a great day. We manage to get to the Koa and settle into our site. Oh dear, a tree is blocking our satellite signal, oh well, we have books and a computer. We can live without tv for a couple of nights. We are now going to Walmart for vittles, rottiserie chicken and mashed potatoes. Now we can relax, we can sightsee tomorrow.
7/20/13 Went to the National Historic Trail Interpretive Center. When we got there a car show was in progress, got to see lots of old Studebakers as well as classic cars. The museum was free today, it tells the whole story of the Oregon trail and we saw a short movie. Then went to the rv center for some supplies and ate lunch at Olive Garden, and then of course to Home Depot. We always need something.
7/21/13 Got up early so we could got to see Independence Rock(about 50 miles) from Casper. At this monument (pic), we almost missed it. It is in a rest area. This rock shows the trail taken by the pioneers on their way to Oregon. They carved their names in the rock for all generations to see. However, weather and erosion have taken their toll and reduced those names so that you can hardly see them (pic). Then we went further up the road and ended up at the Mormon Handicart Historic Site. This was an area where Mormon travelers came from Britain in the 1850's, went by ship to Boston, then by train to Iowa city and begain a 1300 mile trek to Wyoming. They used these carts called Handicarts which held most of their belongings and had a canvas top to sleep in at night. The family walked beside the cart and one member pulled the cart on this arduous journey. Many did not survive. They started the trip in late July and encountered many snowstorms and rivers to cross, and starvation. It is because of these pioneers that we have our beautiful country. These emmigrants were the bravest of all people. The picture of the split mountain is called "Devils Gate" and the sweetwater river runs through it. We head back to Casper at about 1:15pm and stop at a Mexican place for lunch and have fajitas. It is good and too much. We are now back at the rig and relaxing. Tomorrow we start for Fort Collins, Colorado.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA
So many attractions are here so we start out by visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial, this is a huge carving of Crazy Horse, which was started in 1948. A famous sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski and his family of wife and 10 children have been on this mountain and have supervised the sculpture since early 1950. They will not take any taxpayers funds to do this wonder, and so depend on the public to finance it. They have numerous museums and gift shops to go through and the sculptors studio to see. It is amazing how they do blasting of the granite of the mountain to do this fantastic sculpture. The sculptor died years ago and the wife and kids continue to work on this. There is so much work to do that it may not be completely done in my lifetime, or even my kids lifetime, but it will be there for the generations to come. The head is almost 2 times the height of the presidents faces on Mount Rushmore. It is amazing to see and enjoy. We continued our sightseeing the next day to Mount Rushmore. It is so huge, you can see it from the road going up to this amazing monument. The attraction is free to the public, but you have to pay to park, and the gift shop and other donations keep the maintenance on the sculpture. Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, will be up on the top of the mountain for generations to come. It is so amazing and awe-inspiring. We took a lot of pictures and I hope you enjoy them. Both days we went to Custer State Park, which was so beautiful, we had to do it twice. We saw burros(pic) and so many buffalo(bison), the park has a herd of 13,00 of them. They were all over the road and stopped traffic, we also saw some deer. It was wonderful. We stopped for lunch one day in the town of Keystone, a cute little old fashioned town, and we had some great food, I had Buffalo Stew served in a breadbowl and it was quite good. Buffalo (which is really called Bison) is a very lean meat and does not have a gamey taste at all, I really liked it. Enjoy the photos, we will be leaving tomorrow, for yet another town in Wyoming, Casper, I told you we really like Wyoming.
So many attractions are here so we start out by visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial, this is a huge carving of Crazy Horse, which was started in 1948. A famous sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski and his family of wife and 10 children have been on this mountain and have supervised the sculpture since early 1950. They will not take any taxpayers funds to do this wonder, and so depend on the public to finance it. They have numerous museums and gift shops to go through and the sculptors studio to see. It is amazing how they do blasting of the granite of the mountain to do this fantastic sculpture. The sculptor died years ago and the wife and kids continue to work on this. There is so much work to do that it may not be completely done in my lifetime, or even my kids lifetime, but it will be there for the generations to come. The head is almost 2 times the height of the presidents faces on Mount Rushmore. It is amazing to see and enjoy. We continued our sightseeing the next day to Mount Rushmore. It is so huge, you can see it from the road going up to this amazing monument. The attraction is free to the public, but you have to pay to park, and the gift shop and other donations keep the maintenance on the sculpture. Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, will be up on the top of the mountain for generations to come. It is so amazing and awe-inspiring. We took a lot of pictures and I hope you enjoy them. Both days we went to Custer State Park, which was so beautiful, we had to do it twice. We saw burros(pic) and so many buffalo(bison), the park has a herd of 13,00 of them. They were all over the road and stopped traffic, we also saw some deer. It was wonderful. We stopped for lunch one day in the town of Keystone, a cute little old fashioned town, and we had some great food, I had Buffalo Stew served in a breadbowl and it was quite good. Buffalo (which is really called Bison) is a very lean meat and does not have a gamey taste at all, I really liked it. Enjoy the photos, we will be leaving tomorrow, for yet another town in Wyoming, Casper, I told you we really like Wyoming.
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA
Well, we pulled into Rapid City Koa with a reservation and they did not have a spot to accommodate us, this is the first time we have had a problem with a KOA. They did however refer me to another campground which was nicer, on a hill and had a beautiful view of the city. On Sunday, July 14, we went to a car show on main street in a nice little town square. It had covered parking, clean restrooms, a bandstand (elvis impersonator) and a water feature for the kids to play in. All the stores and restaurants were all around it and we had a wonderful time. In July we had cloudy nasty weather and had to wear a jacket. Had fun watching elvis and a K9 dog demonstration, had lunch at the Firehouse Microbrewery, very nice. Joel won an award, the Bald Tire Award for having driven the furthest to get to the car show. We had fun.
Well, we pulled into Rapid City Koa with a reservation and they did not have a spot to accommodate us, this is the first time we have had a problem with a KOA. They did however refer me to another campground which was nicer, on a hill and had a beautiful view of the city. On Sunday, July 14, we went to a car show on main street in a nice little town square. It had covered parking, clean restrooms, a bandstand (elvis impersonator) and a water feature for the kids to play in. All the stores and restaurants were all around it and we had a wonderful time. In July we had cloudy nasty weather and had to wear a jacket. Had fun watching elvis and a K9 dog demonstration, had lunch at the Firehouse Microbrewery, very nice. Joel won an award, the Bald Tire Award for having driven the furthest to get to the car show. We had fun.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
BUFFALO, WYOMING
Well, we made it to Buffalo, Wyoming one day ahead of the tour we will be taking. We pull into the Deer Park Campground and acclimate ourselves. Lots of wildlife (see photo of wild turkeys). Lots of deer too, but too far away for a photo. We all meet each other, 46 other folks, at a group meeting and go to a western buffet dinner. Roast beef, turkey and all the trimmings. We will leave tomorrow morning for Garyowen, Montana. We have thousands of moths (called millers), they are inside all our bays, and engine and they swarm, in our coach too, we try killing them, but too many, Peanut gets a few. We are now using the vacuum cleaner to get them. Everyone has them. It seems that in the month of June they swarm in Montana and get into everything. We will have to deal with it.
Thurs. June 27, we go to the Jim Gatchell Museum at 8:30 this morning. No pictures allowed inside so I just took one outside. Then we walk over 1 block to the Occidental Hotel, over 100 years old and still operating. We then go back to campground and leave to our new location. Our friends Bob and Denise who we met at a rally last year go with us, we all need air in our tires. We then go to Walmart together and to Arby's for lunch. We arrive at the new campground location before 3pm.
Thursday afternoon
GARRYOWEN, MONTANA
Beautiful campground, terraced sites on a real working cattle ranch. 7th ranch campground is right on the Little Big Horn battle site. We have a talk given to us by a real Crow indian named Gilbert. He tells us all about the Crow indian tribe. We have a great BBQ with ribs, chicken, beans, coleslaw, lemonade or wine and brownies for dessert. We all eat till full and go back to the coach to start killing more moths. Everyone here has them, we brought them in from Wyoming.
Fri. June 28
Today we tour the Custer Battlefield private museum (see pic of sitting bull and outdoor unknown cavalry soldier. We then have lunch at a lovely restaurant trading post (pic). Food is good, we sit outside, sun hot but breeze is wonderful. We then go back on the bus to see the site of the Little Bighorn Custer massacre. The owner of the campground is an expert on the subject and he gives the tour. I buy a beautiful Montana tee shirt with a wolf on it. Tomorrow we leave for Cody, Wyoming.
Sat. June 29
CODY, WYOMING (Absoraka Campground)
We arrive in Cody, Wyoming, (home of Buffalo Bill). It is a beautiful little town. We set up and then go to Gunfight Show in front of the Irma Hotel (pics). It starts to rain and we get drizzled on. Then we go into Irma's for a prime rib buffet, pretty good. We then go to D. Millers variety show, singing and guitar and fiddle playing. It was very good (pic).
Sun. June 30
We get up early to catch the 9am trolley tour. We all get a great history lesson and ride through private neighborhoods and see deer and rabbits all over the place. I love Wyoming, we then go to the Buffalo Bill Museum (5 museums in one). Then out for lunch at an Italian place and then some shopping and back to campground. Well tonight at 6pm we are going to a hobo dinner at the campground. Our wagonmasters(people who are running the tour) have cooked up 20 lbs of chopped meat and we all have to bring a can of vegetables and throw it in. It was delicious, we have grill bread and butter and fresh corn on the cob with it and lots of different kinds of drinks. Afterwards we had a yankee swap (sort of a grabbag, we all brought a gift and you pick one and if you don't want it you take someone elses. I ended up with a wonderful berry hand soap and two bags of fresh walnuts. We had so much stew left over we all took home some for an extra meal.
Mon. July 1st
We are sill in Cody, Wyoming. Joels back is giving him some trouble so he goes to the chiropractor. We spent the afternoon at home. At 5pm a bus picked us up to go to the Cattle Company buffet and show. We had chicken and pot roast and all the fixings. Then a western show with guitars, fiddles, big bass fiddle and singers, loud but enjoyable. Then the bus took us to the Cody Rodeo, we were there for 2 and a half hours and had a great time. (we took pillows to sit on). Fell into bed.
Tues. July 2nd Up real early, left about 7:30 am, had to get gas along the way. I took a wrong direction, but we still made it to Lions Head Mtn Resort in Yellowstone, at about 12:30 pm.
YELLOWSTONE PARK
We make some lunch, and walk around a little, a bus comes at 3pm to take us on a tour and a buffet dinner. We see lots of bison and elk, a grizzly bear and a coyote. I took some pics but they were a little too far away. We go to dinner and have salad, prime rib dinner and great cheesecake for dessert. We then have an hour and a half ride back to the campground. It is 10 pm and I am writing this so that I won't forget. I feel like a dead person, we are all so tired, bus is picking up us at 8am tomorrow morning. Here we go again.
Wed. July 3rd
Bus on time at 8am, went to park again, different section, lots of elk (pic), bison(pic), limestone falls (pics) hot springs. Had lunch at mammoth springs dining room. Back to campground by 4:30 pm- Joel goes out for a pizza, long day.
Thurs. July 4th
We decide to take a rest from yet another bus tour and stay in for the day and relax. At 6pm we are having a 4th of july bbq and Joel and I set up our music equipment and put on a small show, stories, songs and jokes. The folks love it. Then we all sat around our neighbors campfire and yakked the night away. Weather turned pretty cool.
Fri. July 5th
Up at 8:30, slight downpour but the sun comes up and all the guys washed their motorhomes. Then we went out to lunch with Bob and Denise to Ernie's. Sandwiches and drinks and then we went to tour the "Grizzly and Wolf" rescue center. We walk around (great pics) and then go to the Imax theater for the movie "Alaska". Then to gift shop, I get a nice white and green fuzzy jacket with the grizzly insignia. We finish up the afternoon at the small town supermarket. It is now raining and hailing, oh boy, I hope it stops later. Pouring rain, Joel has a bad headache, I make dinner, got to be up early for next part of tour.
Sat. July 6th
JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING, (Jackson Hole Rv Resort).
We get up late because of Joels headache, but we are on the road at 9am. We travel through the south end of Yellowstone park to get to Jackson, Wyoming. There are 5 different entrances into the park, from Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. We see a new part of the park this morning. We see an elk in the steam and have to wait for a bison to cross the road. We get into Jackson Hole, about 12:30 pm and get a nice campsite. It only has 30 amp power, we always have 50 which is needed to run 2 air conditioners, no worry about that today. It is pouring rain and about 62 degrees. We have the heat on. Our float trip down the river is cancelled due to the bad weather but will be rescheduled. We all go to dinner at an outdoor bbq place but we sit in a covered area and have strip steaks, potato salad, coleslaw and lemonade. It is wonderful. Back to the rig by 7:30pm. Have to get up early tomorrow morning for an 8:30 am tour of the Tetons. Looking forward to that.
Sun. July 7th
Bus picks us up for Grand Teton Tour (great pics). Saw so much. Then lunch at the Jackson Lake Lodge in the mural room. Very ritzy with tablecloths and linen napkins. We both have burgers, salad and great crème brulee for dessert with blackberries and strawberries and of course coffee. Late in day it starts raining again. We get back early and go out with two other couples to the "Gun Barrel Restaurant, atmosphere great, food nothing to write home about.
Mon. July 8th, Well, we sleep late and bus picks us up at 10:30 am for the float trip down the river. We all put on life jackets (pic) and binoculars and sit down in an 8 person raft (pic) which takes us down a slow moving river. There is a tiny bit of white water so we all get to say "ooh" a couple of times. Weather is cool and sunny. We pass at least 30 bald eagles and young ones too, Canada geese and ducks. Cattle in river cooling off (pics). It is a load of fun. Then we have lunch on the raft, turkey sandwiches, sun chips, water and cookies. We are having a ball, takes a little over 2 hours. We all run for the porta potti when we land. We go back to campground, get our car and go shopping at Albertsons. It is now 3pm Bus will come at 4pm to load us into covered wagons to go up the mountain for a bbq dinner and wild west show. Whew, what a fun day. Well, we are at the BT5 covered wagon and bbq wild west show (pics). We go up into the mountains in covered wagons (pic) and then sit down to bbq dinner, chicken, roast beef, corn on cob, beans, rolls, lemonade and blonde brownies for dessert. The show was great (pic). Then down the mountain for the ride home and get on the bus again. Almost there but a huge traffic jam ahead of us. By the side of the road, two huge moose (pic), grazing, we are all so excited, we have been waiting to see a moose. Wonderful ending to a wonderful day. whew, while I am writing this this is a young moose outside by the fence, out I go with the camera again.
Tues. July 9th
This is our last morning together and we have a farewell breakfast at the wagonmasters site. Hard boiled eggs, donuts, muffins, yogurt, coffee and tea. It is 9:30 am and we say our goodbyes and take everybodys emails. We are here for one more night, in the afternoon we take a ride through the Teton National Forest (pic by the creek) and then go to town for ice cream. Then back to rv park to relax. We go to dinner at a cute little bistro in Teton Village, up the road a piece, called the "Mangy Moose". We share a baked brie with fruit and Joel has bison meat loaf, very good and I have a flank steak, also good. We walk around the little shops there and I get a black teeshirt with a moose on it made out of silver studs. Back to park we sit around the campfire with some of the folks who also stayed an extra night. Wonderful tour. Really enjoyed it.
Wed. July 10
We get good start but roadwork screws up signs, and we take wrong road and go out of our way almost 2 hours. We manage to get back and get on right road and make it through Idaho to Butte, Montana (at the Koa), get in about 6:30 pm, they have an onsite restaurant and we get great fried chicken dinner with potatoes and fall into bed.
Thurs. July 11 HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY
We don't have to check out till noon so we take the trolley tour around Butte. It is a copper mining town, lots of history, but very dreary looking, looks worse because skies are cloudy. Weather is cool and 1 and a half hour tours turns into over 2 hour tour, so by the time we have lunch we don't leave till 1:30. We are on our way to Sheridan Wyoming to a Koa for another overnight stop. Our 5 and a half hour trip (miscalculation again) turns out to be more than 7 hours. We pull in at 7:30 exhausted. Sun is shining and weather is beautiful. I make quick dinner of hot dogs and salad and bing cherries for dessert. We will get an early start tomorrow.
Well, we made it to Buffalo, Wyoming one day ahead of the tour we will be taking. We pull into the Deer Park Campground and acclimate ourselves. Lots of wildlife (see photo of wild turkeys). Lots of deer too, but too far away for a photo. We all meet each other, 46 other folks, at a group meeting and go to a western buffet dinner. Roast beef, turkey and all the trimmings. We will leave tomorrow morning for Garyowen, Montana. We have thousands of moths (called millers), they are inside all our bays, and engine and they swarm, in our coach too, we try killing them, but too many, Peanut gets a few. We are now using the vacuum cleaner to get them. Everyone has them. It seems that in the month of June they swarm in Montana and get into everything. We will have to deal with it.
Thurs. June 27, we go to the Jim Gatchell Museum at 8:30 this morning. No pictures allowed inside so I just took one outside. Then we walk over 1 block to the Occidental Hotel, over 100 years old and still operating. We then go back to campground and leave to our new location. Our friends Bob and Denise who we met at a rally last year go with us, we all need air in our tires. We then go to Walmart together and to Arby's for lunch. We arrive at the new campground location before 3pm.
Thursday afternoon
GARRYOWEN, MONTANA
Beautiful campground, terraced sites on a real working cattle ranch. 7th ranch campground is right on the Little Big Horn battle site. We have a talk given to us by a real Crow indian named Gilbert. He tells us all about the Crow indian tribe. We have a great BBQ with ribs, chicken, beans, coleslaw, lemonade or wine and brownies for dessert. We all eat till full and go back to the coach to start killing more moths. Everyone here has them, we brought them in from Wyoming.
Fri. June 28
Today we tour the Custer Battlefield private museum (see pic of sitting bull and outdoor unknown cavalry soldier. We then have lunch at a lovely restaurant trading post (pic). Food is good, we sit outside, sun hot but breeze is wonderful. We then go back on the bus to see the site of the Little Bighorn Custer massacre. The owner of the campground is an expert on the subject and he gives the tour. I buy a beautiful Montana tee shirt with a wolf on it. Tomorrow we leave for Cody, Wyoming.
Sat. June 29
CODY, WYOMING (Absoraka Campground)
We arrive in Cody, Wyoming, (home of Buffalo Bill). It is a beautiful little town. We set up and then go to Gunfight Show in front of the Irma Hotel (pics). It starts to rain and we get drizzled on. Then we go into Irma's for a prime rib buffet, pretty good. We then go to D. Millers variety show, singing and guitar and fiddle playing. It was very good (pic).
Sun. June 30
We get up early to catch the 9am trolley tour. We all get a great history lesson and ride through private neighborhoods and see deer and rabbits all over the place. I love Wyoming, we then go to the Buffalo Bill Museum (5 museums in one). Then out for lunch at an Italian place and then some shopping and back to campground. Well tonight at 6pm we are going to a hobo dinner at the campground. Our wagonmasters(people who are running the tour) have cooked up 20 lbs of chopped meat and we all have to bring a can of vegetables and throw it in. It was delicious, we have grill bread and butter and fresh corn on the cob with it and lots of different kinds of drinks. Afterwards we had a yankee swap (sort of a grabbag, we all brought a gift and you pick one and if you don't want it you take someone elses. I ended up with a wonderful berry hand soap and two bags of fresh walnuts. We had so much stew left over we all took home some for an extra meal.
Mon. July 1st
We are sill in Cody, Wyoming. Joels back is giving him some trouble so he goes to the chiropractor. We spent the afternoon at home. At 5pm a bus picked us up to go to the Cattle Company buffet and show. We had chicken and pot roast and all the fixings. Then a western show with guitars, fiddles, big bass fiddle and singers, loud but enjoyable. Then the bus took us to the Cody Rodeo, we were there for 2 and a half hours and had a great time. (we took pillows to sit on). Fell into bed.
Tues. July 2nd Up real early, left about 7:30 am, had to get gas along the way. I took a wrong direction, but we still made it to Lions Head Mtn Resort in Yellowstone, at about 12:30 pm.
YELLOWSTONE PARK
We make some lunch, and walk around a little, a bus comes at 3pm to take us on a tour and a buffet dinner. We see lots of bison and elk, a grizzly bear and a coyote. I took some pics but they were a little too far away. We go to dinner and have salad, prime rib dinner and great cheesecake for dessert. We then have an hour and a half ride back to the campground. It is 10 pm and I am writing this so that I won't forget. I feel like a dead person, we are all so tired, bus is picking up us at 8am tomorrow morning. Here we go again.
Wed. July 3rd
Bus on time at 8am, went to park again, different section, lots of elk (pic), bison(pic), limestone falls (pics) hot springs. Had lunch at mammoth springs dining room. Back to campground by 4:30 pm- Joel goes out for a pizza, long day.
Thurs. July 4th
We decide to take a rest from yet another bus tour and stay in for the day and relax. At 6pm we are having a 4th of july bbq and Joel and I set up our music equipment and put on a small show, stories, songs and jokes. The folks love it. Then we all sat around our neighbors campfire and yakked the night away. Weather turned pretty cool.
Fri. July 5th
Up at 8:30, slight downpour but the sun comes up and all the guys washed their motorhomes. Then we went out to lunch with Bob and Denise to Ernie's. Sandwiches and drinks and then we went to tour the "Grizzly and Wolf" rescue center. We walk around (great pics) and then go to the Imax theater for the movie "Alaska". Then to gift shop, I get a nice white and green fuzzy jacket with the grizzly insignia. We finish up the afternoon at the small town supermarket. It is now raining and hailing, oh boy, I hope it stops later. Pouring rain, Joel has a bad headache, I make dinner, got to be up early for next part of tour.
Sat. July 6th
JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING, (Jackson Hole Rv Resort).
We get up late because of Joels headache, but we are on the road at 9am. We travel through the south end of Yellowstone park to get to Jackson, Wyoming. There are 5 different entrances into the park, from Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. We see a new part of the park this morning. We see an elk in the steam and have to wait for a bison to cross the road. We get into Jackson Hole, about 12:30 pm and get a nice campsite. It only has 30 amp power, we always have 50 which is needed to run 2 air conditioners, no worry about that today. It is pouring rain and about 62 degrees. We have the heat on. Our float trip down the river is cancelled due to the bad weather but will be rescheduled. We all go to dinner at an outdoor bbq place but we sit in a covered area and have strip steaks, potato salad, coleslaw and lemonade. It is wonderful. Back to the rig by 7:30pm. Have to get up early tomorrow morning for an 8:30 am tour of the Tetons. Looking forward to that.
Sun. July 7th
Bus picks us up for Grand Teton Tour (great pics). Saw so much. Then lunch at the Jackson Lake Lodge in the mural room. Very ritzy with tablecloths and linen napkins. We both have burgers, salad and great crème brulee for dessert with blackberries and strawberries and of course coffee. Late in day it starts raining again. We get back early and go out with two other couples to the "Gun Barrel Restaurant, atmosphere great, food nothing to write home about.
Mon. July 8th, Well, we sleep late and bus picks us up at 10:30 am for the float trip down the river. We all put on life jackets (pic) and binoculars and sit down in an 8 person raft (pic) which takes us down a slow moving river. There is a tiny bit of white water so we all get to say "ooh" a couple of times. Weather is cool and sunny. We pass at least 30 bald eagles and young ones too, Canada geese and ducks. Cattle in river cooling off (pics). It is a load of fun. Then we have lunch on the raft, turkey sandwiches, sun chips, water and cookies. We are having a ball, takes a little over 2 hours. We all run for the porta potti when we land. We go back to campground, get our car and go shopping at Albertsons. It is now 3pm Bus will come at 4pm to load us into covered wagons to go up the mountain for a bbq dinner and wild west show. Whew, what a fun day. Well, we are at the BT5 covered wagon and bbq wild west show (pics). We go up into the mountains in covered wagons (pic) and then sit down to bbq dinner, chicken, roast beef, corn on cob, beans, rolls, lemonade and blonde brownies for dessert. The show was great (pic). Then down the mountain for the ride home and get on the bus again. Almost there but a huge traffic jam ahead of us. By the side of the road, two huge moose (pic), grazing, we are all so excited, we have been waiting to see a moose. Wonderful ending to a wonderful day. whew, while I am writing this this is a young moose outside by the fence, out I go with the camera again.
Tues. July 9th
This is our last morning together and we have a farewell breakfast at the wagonmasters site. Hard boiled eggs, donuts, muffins, yogurt, coffee and tea. It is 9:30 am and we say our goodbyes and take everybodys emails. We are here for one more night, in the afternoon we take a ride through the Teton National Forest (pic by the creek) and then go to town for ice cream. Then back to rv park to relax. We go to dinner at a cute little bistro in Teton Village, up the road a piece, called the "Mangy Moose". We share a baked brie with fruit and Joel has bison meat loaf, very good and I have a flank steak, also good. We walk around the little shops there and I get a black teeshirt with a moose on it made out of silver studs. Back to park we sit around the campfire with some of the folks who also stayed an extra night. Wonderful tour. Really enjoyed it.
Wed. July 10
We get good start but roadwork screws up signs, and we take wrong road and go out of our way almost 2 hours. We manage to get back and get on right road and make it through Idaho to Butte, Montana (at the Koa), get in about 6:30 pm, they have an onsite restaurant and we get great fried chicken dinner with potatoes and fall into bed.
Thurs. July 11 HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY
We don't have to check out till noon so we take the trolley tour around Butte. It is a copper mining town, lots of history, but very dreary looking, looks worse because skies are cloudy. Weather is cool and 1 and a half hour tours turns into over 2 hour tour, so by the time we have lunch we don't leave till 1:30. We are on our way to Sheridan Wyoming to a Koa for another overnight stop. Our 5 and a half hour trip (miscalculation again) turns out to be more than 7 hours. We pull in at 7:30 exhausted. Sun is shining and weather is beautiful. I make quick dinner of hot dogs and salad and bing cherries for dessert. We will get an early start tomorrow.
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