Category: Venturing Out and About

This is small town America!   It started out with the proverbial 4th of July parade down Main Street.   Lots of cowboys and cowgirls, old cars and trucks,  marching bands, a few floats, and the inevitable Shriner’s in their small go carts, these all having tortoise shells for bodies.   The little kids loved it.

The marching bands really had to watch their step due to all the horses that preceded them in the parade.   The fire trucks were showering the kids on the side of the road.   And it turned out the Grand Marshal of the parade this year was the Sheriff of Absaroka County,  and he even had his sidekick Ferg.   Only Starbuck was missing,  that was a bummer!

We also got to see that last mounted Marine Color Guard in existence.  I’ve  seen lots of Marine Color guards living in San Diego, but never one mounted on horseback.

I still think the Coronado 4th Parade is the best.   Maybe it’s the cool weather…   But had Starbuck been there… you never know.

We decided to skip the Rodeo due to the heat.  Moving it up to 5 from 8 pm was putting it in the hottest part of the day here.    It doesn’t get dark here till close to 10 pm, so that is when the fireworks begin tonight.

We drove over to the hospital parking lot where we could see the fireworks going off,  amazingly there was only a small crowd.   Nothing like trying to get to a fireworks display in San Diego.   We brought the dogs and chairs and it was great.  Dusty was bored with it till someone walked behind him and he perked up to growl.   Baxter was a bit scared and pushed his head into Kathy’s shoulder toward the end.

They were shooting them off in a big field with lots of dried grass, so we also got to be entertained by the fires the falling embers started.   One of the flareups got fairly big where the flames looked to be 10 feet tall or so, but before long that one seemed to burn itself out.   We couldn’t see anyone fighting the fires prior to us leaving after the show.  I was hoping all the firemen in the parade weren’t at the bars!

Kathy mentioned it was odd as almost no one there spoke, no oohs or ahhs at all.  And there were some very sophisticated (expensive) fireworks,  a few I have not seen before.  And no music.  Not like the Lake Murray fireworks at all.  I hope you all that went there had a great time!!!

There was a bit of traffic on the way out, though, because they don’t have many intersections with traffic lights, so that reminded me of home.

Tomorrow we are off to Buffalo, Wy.

 

 

 

Sunday morning we headed over to the Museum.   What an excellent museum it is.   It’s 5 different museums under one big roof.  It took us a few hours and we just toured the Buffalo Bill, Plains Indians, and the Gun sections.   Bill was quite a character!   And I guess he must have been one of the first “hoarders” as there is so much stuff packed into that section, it’s truly an amazing exhibit.

I was intrigued by the gun section.  I had never, ever thought there were that many different types of guns.   The oldest was from around  1609,  a Blunderbuss, all the way to an AR16.  Along the way are so many six shooters, rifles, shotguns and machine guns your head will spin.   There were even a couple of Gatling guns from the civil war. The most amazing thing was that most of those guns were in pristine condition.  There were several thousand guns.  They even had some of the tiniest Derringers that you could put in your vest pocket!

There was also a collection of President Roosevelt’s rifles and shotguns from his years living in the west.

 

After a couple of days hunkering down while a few big thunderstorms passed thru Yellowstone,  we decided to head down toward Jackson Hole and the Grand Teton National Park.   Come to think of it, I’m not sure why I didn’t write in the blog during that downtime.    Anyway,  we headed toward the Yellowstone park entrance and traveled toward the south entrance which also takes you to Grand Teton NP.    It’s about a two-hour drive, you go past Ole Faithful and lots of other geysers along the way.   Its amazing how many geysers there are,  you can really see all of them in the cold mornings due to the steam.  In there afternoon you can’t see as many from the road.  l guess its similar to seeing your breath when its really cold, but after it gets a bit warmer you cannot see it anymore.

The Grand Teton did not disappoint.  It was truly grand.   I was so glad we drove there.  The views were magnificent!

Both Yellowstone and the Grand Teton were not very pet friendly.  We finally had to buy sandwiches at a deli and eat outside, practically on the parking lot a Dornans, as the pups were not allowed on any of the restaurants’ patios, not a single one, and we stopped at a lot.

We got off to a late start this morning and there was quite a line to get thru the entrance station.   It was backed up all the way into the town.   If you are going to hit Yellowstone in the summer, it appears you want to get there before 9 am.  The ride from the entrance station follows the Madison river for most of the 16 or so miles to Madison.   There are lots of fly fishermen in their waders out there, but I haven’t seen any two that would be able to see the other.   Idyllic for a fisherman!   I wonder if my brother does any fly fishing?   This place looks like a fisherman’s paradise.

About 14 miles into the park you come to a tee intersection,  to the right is Ole Faithful and to the left was yet unexplored.  We were heading to Mammoth Hot Springs and beyond for the afternoon.   The road to Norris was blocked off, so we passed that and turned for the hot springs.   About halfway there there was a flagman and a very long wait for the cars heading southbound.   Lots of road construction going on this route.   Once the southbound cars were past us, we got to go and probably drove 10 miles of dirt and broken-up one-lane road,  passing lots of earth movers of all description along the way.  Quite a jostling ride from Kathy’s POV.

We finally got into Mammoth and found a parking spot at a huge green lawn area with a few picnic tables under some trees.   The pups were in heaven and it was pretty nice for us too.   Across the busy road was a restaurant with ice cream.   We munched on our picnic lunch and then Kathy made her way over to the ice cream shop and since  it was lunch time, there was about 50 people in line to get a table.   After a bit she noticed that ice cream wasn’t on the menu and saw a sign in the corner of the room listing it.  No line at all!   It was heaven to have ice cream under those trees.

Once we were ready to go, we headed out toward Tower-Roosevelt.   I had no idea what that was, but it looked like we could loop back toward our campground, so we were off!   Quite a scenic road and not a bit of construction to spoil it.   I have never been to a place with so many fast moving rivers.  Yellowstone should be called waterworld or something like that.   Maybe I have just lived in the desert of San Diego so long, running fresh water seems odd to me.   It seems like all roads have a river or a huge creek running beside them.  

Lots of waterfalls and rapids.  But we never saw a raft or kayak on any of them.   Even the huge Yellowstone Lake,  we only saw one boat.   If this was San Diego,  there would be thousands of boats on that lake.

This was the waterfall near Roosevelt,  It turned out to be a Lodge.   After that we started climbing and when we were above the treeline the views were spectacular.  You could see forever.. or maybe even further. 

 

Once thru the pass, we stopped at Canyon Village.  There are lots of these islands of civilization in the park:  stores, shops, visitor centers, gas, and even medical clinics.

After that we headed back toward West Yellowstone.  It was a long day.

 

It was a gorgeous morning, probably in the high 50’s when we started out for the park around 9 am.   The park’s west entrance station was about 4 blocks east of our campsite, so we were there in less than a minute, showed our pass, and without further adieu we were off.   We determined that getting to Ole Faithful early was the smartest move, hopefully prior to the hoards of buses I was anticipating.   That was a good call as when we left there close to noon, the parking lot was full and there were hundreds of cars cruising the lots looking for a spot.

When we arrived, we parked close to the lodge and hiked over quickly to see the geyser as we had no idea when it was going off, only that currently it was going off every 90 minutes or so.   As we were walking over, it blew; so the first pic is from the parking lot and I am running over there.  It was probably halfway done by the time I cleared the trees.   Once it was over, we started walking around, checked out the lodge where I picked up a nice Yosemite pint glass.  Now I have to figure out where to get my growler filled… oh, the problems we create!

The lodge was nice.   I took a picture of the fireplace in the main hall.  It was very big,  not the size of the ones in the Ahwahnee at Yosemite, but still very nice.

We headed over to the visitor center which was full of exhibits.   One of them was showing how the caldera changed during each of the last few eruptions, 2.1 million years ago,  1.3 million years ago and 640 thousand years ago.   Hmm, that’s a disturbing pattern.   Hopefully it doesn’t go off before you get to visit!

I had stalled long enough to where the geyser was supposed to go off in about 10 minutes.   We headed back there.  The crowd was enormous.   Of course it was late, and I think it blew about 10 minutes later than the signs had indicated.

 

But it was a great eruption and had a pleasing effect on the crowd.

Then we were off to West Thumb.  I had no idea what that was when I saw it on the map, but it was a long way away and we wanted to get far away from the crowds.   Turns out it was a small bay on Lake Yellowstone.   I hadn’t even realized there was a lake in Yellowstone,  and it’s huge.  I mean really huge.   What makes it more amazing is it’s close to 8,000 feet in elevation and a beautiful blue.   And right in the parking lot there was a small mud pot with a small wooden fence around it.

We headed just a bit further to Grant Village.  Lots of things to do there, mainly real bathrooms for Kathy.  [Very important!]

Our plan was to hit all the sites we bypassed on the way to O’F on the way back.   There were some spectacular sights to see.   Some amazing colored pools and smaller geysers that were terrific as you could get very close to them.  There were lots of small holes in the ground with bubbling water that would go unnoticed except for the sounds they were making.

Years ago I had been to a Mauri village on New Zealand that was smack dab in the middle of a similar volcanic area,  but there, the sulfur smell was 100 times worse than here.   That struck me as odd.   There was very little rotten egg smell at any of the sites we visited today.

On the way to and from the Thumb, we crossed the Continental Divide twice in each direction.  I  never realized Yellowstone was in the Rockies.

We stopped at a turnoff to have a picnic lunch and Kathy asked if there were bears.   I expect there are,  although we didn’t see any this day.   I was wondering if the rangers had to move these spots to keep the bears away,  although they looked fairly permanent to me.   One thing I noticed in this park, there are a dearth of signs.   Easy to miss turnoffs as it seems if there is a sign, you only see it as you pass the turnoff.   And the park map leaves off just enough info so reference points you do occasionally see a sign for are not listed on the map.  At least according to my navigator…

Enjoy the pictures.  The scenery in the park is just beautiful and changing around every corner!!

 

 

 

We used Salt Lake to refit and resupply.   On the way from Moab, heading up US 6 around Soldier Summit, we heard an earsplitting “THWACK”.    We looked around and didn’t see any rock chips, so I assumed it must have hit the front side of a mirror or it poked a hole thru the front fiberglass.  Those thoughts were incorrect as about 10 minutes later Kathy said she saw a crack.   When I looked over to my left, I could just see a little crack.  Stone hit the windshield. Bummer.

Coming down the other side of Soldier Summit toward Provo, I started calling windshield shop, found one that said they could drill the crack to stop it from getting longer.   In a bit we found the shop and circled it a couple of times to figure how to get into there.   On the second circuit, I saw a way to pull all 65′ into that small space.

The shop owner had a look and that 1″ crack was now 6″ long and growing.   He tried to drill it, but the crack immediately bypassed where he was starting to drill and he gave up,  told me I needed to replace it.   Oh, well, we reattached the car and headed toward the campground.

I was not aware how smoggy Salt Lake City (SLC) is.  It rivals the old days of LA.

The KOA in SLC was very nice,  much better than expected.   Lots of shade,  which is important where its painfully hot.

On Friday I took the coach over to a chain truck lube shop outside of SLC,  had them replace the 8 gallons of oil & filter, and I also had them replace both the fuel filters.   I figured the old diesel fuel must be completely gone now that I have run about 700 gallons of new fuel thru the tank.  I wanted the filters replaced prior to them fully clogging and leaving me for dead somewhere in the middle of nowhere.   I also wanted them to replace the air filter, but they didn’t have one to fit.  The manager mentioned it was an odd size and I would probably need to buy one online.  Getting online purchases delivered are not easy when your house moves often.

He mentioned there was a Cummin’s dealer and a Freightliner shop across the street from it on the way back toward Salt Lake.  As our coach is built on a Freightliner XCR chassis, I stopped there and asked service about getting one installed.  They said it would be about an 8-hour wait.   I walked over to the parts department.   $110 later I had a very heavy box with an air filter in it,  which felt more like it was filled with rocks,  weighed orders of magnitude more than any air filter I have ever purchased.

I opened it to see what the heck was inside that box.  Turns out it’s the whole thing, metal housing with the air filter mounted inside.  No wonder it was so heavy!   That’s when I realized it would be a bear for me to install it back at the campground.  I scoured the coach for the campground pamphlet as it had lots of ads on it.    I started calling the mobile RV mechanics listed.  Turns out, none of them work on the chassis,  just the house stuff:  appliances,  plumbing, electrical, etc.  One of them gave me the name of the diesel truck shop, where I called and talked to the foreman Ricky.  By then it was around noon and he didn’t want to get involved on some lengthy issue on a Friday afternoon.  I assured him it would be a simple job.   So he said his minimum was a half hour labor,  $45.  I said I would be right over.   I was currently in the queue at Blue Beacon for a wash of the coach.

Once that waste of money was done, I headed over and they had me pull it inside immediately.   Ricky had one of his mechanics crawl under it, and I pointed out it was easier to see what was needed from above thru back engine doors.   He looked and agreed.  Within about 20 minutes, he had the old one off and the new one installed.    I went back to the office to pay the bill.  Ricky said, “No charge.   The mechanic wasn’t doing anything anyway.”  Then he said to have a safe trip to Yellowstone.   I was shocked.   Can’t say that has happened to me before, unless they just looked at something and said they couldn’t do the work or it was a two-second thing.

After that I drove over and filled the tank, squeezing another 100 gallons in the tank for the trip to Yellowstone.  I asked Ricky if he knew anyone who would fix my windshield.   He gave me the name of the guy they sent glass work to.   Called him around 2 pm and he said he would meet me at the RV park when he finished his other jobs.   Around 6 pm I called to see if I should still expect him.  He said yes, that he was stuck at Guardsman Summit for a bit longer.    At 9:45 pm  he called and said what about 8:30 the next morning.   I agreed.  At 8:45 he texted to say he couldn’t make it as he was taking his dad to the emergency room.   What can I say to that?   So we battened down the hatches and left SLC.

We are in West Yellowstone now, and I am glad to see the crack hasn’t gotten any longer.   The insurance company is looking for someone capable of replacing that huge piece of glass.

Footnote:   Blue Beacon Truck washes…  a true waste of money.   The coach was still filthy after I got it back to the campground.  They just walk around the coach with spray wands like you see in those coin-operated wash bays.    No sponge or brush ever touches the vehicle.

I guess if you offroad in your RV, then it would probably get that mud off.

 

 

 

Canyonlands was the last park in Utah I wanted to see.  I still think, if there is only one you have time for, then Zion should be it.

This park is like a smaller version of the Grand Canyon, lots of jeep trails thru it.  One of them is 100 miles long.  The most interesting part to me was seeing what appeared to be Yosemite ‘s half dome lookalike, the other half of half dome,  except it’s a yellowish rock instead of the grey of Yosemite Valley.

The valley is very cool with all the winding canyons carved by the rivers. I think this is the last of the red rock parks we will hit this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow we start heading northward toward Yellowstone.

We arrived in Moab Sunday afternoon with enough time to hit the Moab Brewery for a late Father’s Day lunch with a bunch of tasters and subsequent growler fill.   When I asked about getting some tasters, the waitress mentioned that Utah law only allows two drinks in front of a patron at any time.   I was able to conjure three as Kathy only had a margarita, so one could be in front of her.   Utah is an odd place.   Maybe if I was wearing some secret underwear they would cut me a break.   Who knows.

On Monday early morning we headed out to Arches National Park.   We arrived too early to pay to get in.  Kind of nice…   But that also meant the visitor center was closed, so we proceeded into the park sans map.

We stopped and took a few photos at Park Avenue and then at the Court House Towers.      As of yet I had not seen an arch and was wondering if I had been sold a bill of goods.  Thankfully we  ran into a ranger who could give us a map of the park.   Google maps is useless inside a national park.  It shows the roads and that’s about it, so getting a map from that ranger was priceless.

Not far from the Court House was Balanced Rock.  That was and still is amazing to me.   You better come see that one quick.. I was thinking I should turn on the video recording as it looked like it should have fallen while I was there.

After we left there, we arrived at Sand Dune Arch and that was an awesome short hike to a narrow slot canyon between some huge rocks.  Lots of red sand  we hiked thru as the name implies and a small arch hidden inside there.   It was maybe low 90’s getting there, but once in the rocks it felt like mid -70’s and cool.  Could have stayed there all day!

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately Fiery Furnace was closed the day we were there,  That sounded like something to see.   I was not disappointed as I got to see lots of arches while there.

We arrived yesterday afternoon and this morning I drove over to the scenic drive entrance, paid my $20 to enter.   First thing I noticed was a lack of signs pointing me where the drive starts.  There was a large visitor center and larger parking lots full of buses, RV’s and cars.  I saw quite a few (many) tour vehicles.   They were pickup trucks with a bunch of bench seats replacing the usual truck bed.  There was a roof over the benches but no sides.  It was 95 degrees there at 11 am, so the lack of AC would make that 2.5 hour drive a bit uncomfortable.  So I drove the Equinox instead of taking a tour, and I was glad I did!   As I drove the circuit, I realized that the worst thing would be the dust, as I could see almost everyone on those benches had handkerchiefs over their faces.  The tour vehicles tended to drive in small packs of three or four, and the folks behind the first truck were in a dust storm.  I am not sure the passengers in the last vehicle could even see anything.

Enough of that,  let me explain the road.  I’ve been on some pretty rough roads in the past, but I had never traversed anything even close to this and there were 17 miles of it.   For $20 you would think they would occasionally grade it.  That was not part of the plan.  Some places I felt like I was rock crawling in a jeep.   Two miles an hour seemed like it might be too quick for the terrain, and this was supposedly a road.   There were many places to stop and take pictures and just gawk at the magnificence of it all.   After about an hour into the drive, I was ready to be done with the jarring and bouncing around, but it was a one-way road so I had to keep going.   

Kathy was the smart one today as she had begged off going.   I’m glad I did it though as you cannot see anything from the main roads.   This valley is hidden away.

 

In a few hours I will be able to say I have been to 4 corners.