Devil’s Tower and the Black Hills (and Cody)

Hello! It’s Saturday, July 26, but we’re going to start our blog for 2 days ago, Thursday the 24th. We drove from Yellowstone to Cody, WY where we were going to go to the rodeo. We decided not to go because we thought we would feel out of place. So instead we played a round of Putt-Putt, which was just the kind of activity we needed. After Mom showed off her putting “skills”, we went to a local ice cream parlor. The next morning, we left our hotel to make our way to Devil’s Tower.

Devil's Tower

We hiked 1.3 miles around the base of the tower and Mom was scared because she thought she was going to see a snake. It didn’t help things much when we saw a ranger with a bio-hazard bag. Mom was sure he had just collected a rattlesnake! Once we were done there we drove on to Belle Fourche, SD. We ate at a local restaurant called The Stadium. Then we stayed the night in our hotel and today we went to The Big Thunder gold mine and we took a tour, then Jared and I panned for gold.

Colin panning for gold!

We found a few flakes of gold that we were able to put in small vials. I think all together they might be worth a dollar. After that we went up to Mount Rushmore. We took a couple of pictures, visited the gift shop and then drove to Ogallala, NB.

Clockwise from Upper Left: George, Tom, Teddy, Abe, Jared, Colin!

When we arrived, we ate at Valentino’s, a pizza buffet and now we are at our last hotel for this vacation. Tomorrow, we will drive to Aunt Cathy’s in Kansas and will fly home on Tuesday. Goodbye!!

-Colin (and Dad)

Scenery, scenery, BEARS, BISON, scenery….

What a day in Yellowstone! We had been a little disappointed in the lack of wildlife this visit. We had seen a few elk, and some bison off in the distance, but not much else. Then came today! We decided to travel along the eastern side of the park and saw some beautiful alpine scenery as we went to Tower Falls and the “Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.”

Alpine beauty

On the road between those two areas, we saw a lot of cars stopped, a sure sign that someone has spotted something. It was a young grizzly bear playing on the hillside. Of course, we stopped and Jared and I took a couple dozen pictures. We watched the bear for fifteen minutes or so until he crossed the road and went up over the hill to our right.

Grizzly!

We started off again, very excited about our encounter. Not even five minutes down the road we saw a young black bear fattening himself up. We were the second people to stop, so we got some good shots of him too. This little guy was young enough that we kept an eye out for mama, but evidently no one was close enough to cause her to get upset.

Black bear cub

Eventually we moved on and soon came across a large herd of bison, including some little ones, grazing right by the road. I guess they didn’t take all the animals out of the park after all!

Mom and calf

We continued to Lake Yellowstone, enjoying the scenery all the way. We had sandwiches and ice cream at a diner inside the Lake Yellowstone General Store. We have discovered a new flavor of ice cream out here in the West made by a Montana company called Wilcoxson’s. It is called Graham Slam and it is very good. It sounds a little weird, but trust me here! Graham cracker flavored ice cream, with graham cracker stuff swirled through it and chocolate covered brickle bits! If you find yourself in the Yellowstone area, look for it!

We move on to Cody, WY tonight for a rodeo! (7/25 – We elected to play mini-golf instead!)

-David

Whitewater Rafting and Mammoth Springs – 7/22/08

 

Howdy hey all! Today was possibly one of the funnest things we’ve done as a family. We all went white water rafting for the first time ever! It was a fantastic experience, we got to the place after an almost 2 hour drive, and told them we were here. After a quick trip to a gas station (we had almost an hour to kill), we went back and got geared up in splash jackets, life jackets, and in mom’s case, a wetsuit. We got on the “cool bus”, a school bus with the s and h scratched out. We carried our raft, the Montana Banana, down the hill to the side of the river. After the safety talk, meeting our guide, learning paddle commands, and getting in the boat, we were off. We almost immediately ran in our first patch of white water, and went directly into a hole, where they snapped the photos of us and our fellow rafters.

 

 

The first wave!

 

 

We got quite lucky, and the people in our raft were both experienced and great people to talk to. We continued downriver, and hit several swim spots along the way where whoever wanted to could jump in, grab on to the rope at the side, and swim along with the boat. The trip was a total of 8 miles, that took roughly an hour and a half. It was an incredible experience, and I think we all want to do it again.

After our water adventure, we went to a Subway, got ice cream, and went to the Mammoth Hot Springs. We knew we had a walk, but we weren’t at all prepared for the walk that was basically 2 miles up nothing but stairs, while getting the heat from the springs blown to us the whole time, and this all happened while smelling the reek of sulfur. However, it was all worth it when we reached the “end of the rainbow” and had one of the most incredible views I’ve ever seen.

                                              

We piled back in the car, and continued back to our hotel. After a 1 or 2 hour nap, we went to the store to get our first dinner that was actually cooked by us, not a restaurant. Our hotel had grills for guests to use, so I got to grill some buffalo burgers; we had those, plus kettle cooked potato chips, some Mountain Dew, and cherry cheesecake. It was wonderful, and it was great to have something not fried and greasy, not that that’s a bad thing.

Later!  - Jared

Jackson Hole to Yellowstone – July 20-21

It was 17 years ago (1991) that David and I journeyed to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone area. We wondered if things would look the same and if we’d recognize certain shops, etc. Indeed, little change has occurred in this western town. Instead of staying in the town of Jackson, we had reservations in Teton Village which is 12 miles from the main town.

Our hotel at the foot of the Tetons.

Teton Village was a wonderful location snuggled right up against the Tetons, but the location was such that you had to drive to just about everything. Next time we go out west (many years from now!), we’ll opt to stay in Jackson Hole.

On Sunday and Monday, we spent much of our time walking around Jackson Hole. It is certainly a tourist hangout but it is done with much style and excellent shopping for all!

The antler arches in downtown Jackson, WY.

We were walking around on Monday evening and David saw a family from Upper Sandusky! We wondered if we’d come across anyone that we knew! We enjoyed great BBQ at suggested diner – Bubba’s. The boys both got ribs and were head to toe in sauce!

I must say I really love my guys…especially after I drug them to a current “chick flick” – Mamma Mia. They really resisted, but I couldn’t see of myself sitting alone in the theatre …. they felt sorry for me and really were not pleased with my movie choice! To be honest, I was not impressed with the movie (shhh! don’t let the guys know!). I loved the Broadway musical when I saw it several years ago!

Monday we began our drive north to Yellowstone National Park. The beauty of the Tetons and Yellowstone’s nature is so breathtaking – I know that’s a redundant cliche, but there’s just no other way to describe it.
Here’s a yee-haw to all! Susan

Dinosaurs and Driving

Hello all! It is Saturday, July 19th. We started our day in Fruita, CO and we were on our way to the Dinosaur National Monument.

The boys by a large leg bone!

At the monument we took about a 1 mile hike and they told you what the fossils in the rocks looked like and you had to try to find them.

Backbone in a fossil wall.

After the hike we were on our way to Wyoming. It was about a 2 and 1/2 hour drive to the state line. When we crossed the border we had to go 98 miles northwest to Teton Village. Once we got there we took all of our luggage in to the room. After we stayed in our room for a little bit, we went to a restaurant called the “Mangy Moose.” There were many different collections of odd antiques such as an ice tong, a bathtub, an old dentist’s chair, fencing masks, a coffin, golf clubs, and a prosthetic leg? Yes a prosthetic leg. After that we watched TV in our room and eventually fell asleep. Bye!

-Colin

The road, more road, and Arches National Park-7/18/08

Greetings all! Today, we had a very enjoyable day. We got up at around 8, which was actually quite late for this trip (we’ve been getting up around 6 or 7 each day, I guess because we aren’t used to the time being back a few hours yet). We left our awesome hotel @ Cameron, and were yet again on the road for about 7 hours.

Our view from the hotel in Cameron.

Going from Arizona to Utah brought a lot of different landscapes, we started with a desert-ish drive that eventually turned into the beautiful Utah countryside, with huge natural rock formations everywhere. Eventually, we made it to Arches National Park, a large area chock full of massive, well, arches. We enjoyed a 1-mile round trip hike in 101 degree, dry heat (absolutely no sarcasm) to the top of a vantage point to see the Delicate Arch.

Delicate Arch

Colin, Dad, and Myself enjoyed a hike to the Windows, a series of 3 beautiful arches.

North and South Windows, Turret Arch wasn't pictured.

Colin and I decided to climb up the North Arch to see a great view of the park.

Us on the North Arch...there was a huge dropoff maybe three feet from us.

We got to our hotel at 9 pm or so and didn’t have dinner until 10. However, it wasn’t all bad – we ordered from Pablo’s Pizza which was very good. Tomorrow, we’ll have a day packed full of driving as we head to Wyoming. Until later, take care!

- Jared

The Grand Canyon, or Jared Meets his Match!

Today was one of the most enjoyable on our trip so far! We got into our rented van this morning and left our little Wig Wam for Northern Arizona and a little natural wonder called the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon, Mathers Point

Wow! What an amazing sight! I know it sounds trite, but neither words nor pictures can really express the grandeur of this place. We began our adventure with a very good Imax movie that explained much of the history of the canyon, then spent most of the day on the South Rim of the canyon driving and walking to various vantage points, taking pictures, and moving on.

Family portrait!

We ended up at Desert View Point where we were able to climb an historic watchtower for some spectacular views of the canyon and the Colorado River.

The boys at Lookout Studio

Grand Canyon, Desert View

Once we were finished at the canyon, we drove about 30 miles to Cameron, AZ to our lodging for the evening at the Cameron Trading Post. The original trading post was established in 1916 and is currently a center for Southwest Art. We had dinner this evening in the Trading Post dining room, and what a dinner it was! We all enjoyed our meals very much, but the real story was Jared. Our growing 15-year-old has spent much of the last few days wondering where his next meal was to come from. At dinner this evening, both he and Susan ordered something called the “Navajo Taco.” It was an oblong piece of Navajo fry bread about 12 inches long covered with beef, beans, cheese, lettuce and tomato. It was very, very good, but if you ever visit the Cameron Trading Post and get one, get the “mini” one or share! Susan and Jared both agreed that it was a never-ending taco. Susan couldn’t finish hers and even Jared left a third of his on his plate, something that rarely, if ever, happens! To be fair, Colin and I left part of our meals, too; Colin had an open-faced chili-cheese burger and I had a version of the above taco called “Navajo Hot Beef.” It was the same fry bread with sliced beef, brown gravy, green chiles, and onions. Yum! Highly recommended, but make sure you are hungry! The portions were huge!

That’s it for today! Tomorrow we are visiting Canyon Lands and the Arches National Monument, then a hop across the border into Fruita, CO for the night! Adios for now!

-David

…If you ever plan to travel west

Yep! You guessed it! Today we spent the day heading north from Socorro, NM to Holbrook, AZ (Route 66). Tonight we’d spend the night in a wigwam and we were looking forward to it! Sadly, David has developed a full-blown cold and was quite miserable so I volunteered to drive the distance today!

We stopped up the road at The Very Large Array – a series of radio telescopes who search the galaxy for continued research in the field of astronomy. Now, I must admit that I had no interest in this, but I imagine my Uncle Fred and Jim would both appreciate the wealth of knowledge that they could gain from the research facility.

After traveling several hours through beautiful diverse countryside – rolling, green hills to dusty, dry desert – we arrived at a small town named Pietown. Well, it was lunch time so we thought we’d try a local diner “The Daily Pie Cafe”. It was a quaint, very authentic look at the diners out west – old wooden floors, no paper menu – just one on the wall and old-fashioned cookin’ (Colin commented that it looked like Mary the Amish’s store!). And, can you even guess what was in store for dessert? Of course, PIE! Now, they wouldn’t win awards for presentation – juice had oozed out from the overly browned crust, but hey, it was good. We approved of the peanut butter, creamy pecan and mayberry (blueberry, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry) pies.

Soon we arrived at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ. Now, just imagine Norman Bates in “Psycho” and you’ve got the image of the wigwam owner. Yea, a LITTLE freaky! We got our key (#5 of 16 wigwams – no #13!) and emerged into the wigwam! Guess what greeted us? One very large spider and three crickets! Not exactly a good first impression, but needless to say, our new friends did not survive for long. The room featured all of the necessary motel requirements and we had a nice evening in our new “home”, plus nice picture sessions with all of the other tourists in this very unusual motel.

Tomorrow we travel to the Grand Canyon – one event we’re really looking forward to! Until then, take care and continue to enjoy reading our daily blogs! Love and hugs to all – Susan

July 15, 2008 – New Mexico Pt. 2, Roswell

Today is Tuesday July 15th, and Tucumcari is over with. After breakfast, we were on our way to Roswell( if you don’t know, the UFOs?) Anyway, we got to Roswell after a short power nap for the three people that weren’t driving. Once we got to the top of the big hill about 3/4 of the way there, there was an amazing view of the 5 mile straight shot ahead. Then we got to the end and before we knew it we were in Roswell. I thought it would be a tiny little town. Heh heh I WAS WRONG. Roswell is a big town with alot of restaurants and we ate at one called Farley’s. It was a very good place to eat at and the atmosphere was cool. After we ate we visited the The International UFO Museum and Research Center.

Jared and Colin with friends

It talked about the Roswell Incident with the UFO crash in New Mexico. Then we were on our way to Socorro. When we got to Socorro we enjoyed a relaxing evening with pizza and the hotel pool. Chow!

-Colin Landscape on the way to Socorro

July 14, 2008 – New Mexico

Greetings from Tucumcari! Our day started at 6:30 AM, getting ready to take Ron and Jill to the airport. We soon went to the local IHOP for some food, then departed on the journey to New Mexico. Before we knew it, we were in desert, which was strange for someone who has never been west of the Mississippi River. After being on the road for 8-ish hours, we finally arrived at the Super 8. Not that the ride down was uneventful…well really, it was. We visited the Cadilliac Ranch, which is basically a landmark to one man’s anger towards the aforementioned corporation. Cadillac wouldn’t repay him for his 10 cars, so he planted them in the ground.

It was pretty cool, people can climb all over them, and spraypaint them at will.

So we got to the hotel in time for dinner, and went to eat at a local restaurant called Del’s. A great restaurant it was, the food and service were all great. We got back to the hotel in time to see Josh Hamilton beat the record for the most home runs hit in the first round of the Home Run Derby (28…wow!).

Random chance seems to have operated in our favor, as tomorrow is Roswell, corny alien tourist attraction of the world! Should be quite fun, and until later, we go in peace.

- Jared