6-27-13 Update

Hello from Cody Wyoming

We have been here over a week and we still are not ready to leave.

We are staying in a state park next to the Shoshone River.  The views are magnificent, the average temperatures are in the lower 80's, and with the population of the entire state of Wyoming slightly more than the city of Fresno, it is quite peaceful.

  This is the view from our patio

Cody was named for William F. Cody AKA Buffalo Bill.

He was instrumental in the development of this area.  If you know anything of William Cody it is probably that he was a showman and that he traveled the world with his wild west show.

William Cody started his career in the "Wild West" at the age of 14, as a pony express rider.   He then wanted to join the army but he was too young, so he worked as a freighter bringing supplies into Ft. Laramie Kansas, until he was old enough to join. Later still, he became a civilian scout for the army, was awarded the medal of honor, and started to make a name for himself.  

In 1872 when William Cody was just 27 years old, he started his wild west show.  The show was extremely successful.  His persona of Buffalo Bill was born and that is how is is still remembered today.

He loved the area of Wyoming that is now Cody.  He bought a large ranch near the Shoshone River.  He tried, unsuccessfully to divert the river to provide water for irrigation.  He knew that he didn't have the resources or the know how to do it correctly so he gave the state of Wyoming 2000 acres with the condition that they use the water and the resources to promote agriculture in the area.

The state of Wyoming contracted with private contractors to build a dam in the narrows of the Shoshone.  The project was started in 1905 and when it was completed in 1910 the dam was the highest in the world.  The Shoshone dam was later renamed the Buffalo Bill Dam.

There is a ton of history and a lot of firsts in this region.  The town of Cody is a living legacy to him as well as a fantastic museum named in his honor.  

Jon and I went into the Buffalo Bill Museum with two hours until closing time, thinking that was plenty of time to see everything.  We were very wrong.  This museum has been called the "Smithsonian of the West" and it has the largest collection of firearms in the world.  The first day that Jon and I went - the only thing we saw was the collection of guns.  Fortunately for us,  the tickets are for two days.  We went back the next day to see the rest of the exhibits.

The museum also features western art, a section on the plain indians and Yellowstone, not to mention the section on Buffalo Bill.  The museum is worth the price of admission.

On the original town site of Cody is now a memorial to the Old West and the cast of characters (outlaws).  We had to visit this as soon as Jon found out that John "Jeremiah"  Johnson was buried there.  It was great - several log structures from around the area were disassembled and reassembled here as well as some graves were relocated.  There is an admission fee, but we liked it and were glad we came.  

The building that I liked the most was the Saloon.  Ha!  I know what you all are thinking....  But you are wrong.  This was the saloon that was frequented by Butch Cassidy and his gang as well as other famous outlaws and it was cool for me to belly up to the bar where these men and countless others stood.  The door to the saloon have the bullet holes from gun battles.  You can't put a price on that kind of history.

That is all I have time for now.  I will post again in a week or so.

6-21-13 Update

YELLOWSTONE

I am having a hard time deciding what to say this week.  If you haven't been to Yellowstone, this is a must see.  We camped inside the park for five days.  We were both sad to leave yesterday.  We love the area so much we only moved about 50 miles east to Cody Wyoming.

Until the Yellowstone campground we have been staying in RV parks with full hookups.  I don't think we will be staying in RV parks very often anymore.

As with all new things there is a learning curve and we were worried that we might run out of water.  We went five days and still had some fresh water, but our grey tank was full.  We are camping in a state park without hooks up again for five days and I am hoping to get better on the water conservation.

Yellowstone National Park was the first American National Park.  The park was established in 1872,  mostly to preserve the world's largest collection of geysers.

This is "Old Faithful"  Probably the most famous site in the park.  I was disappointed,  not with the Geyser, that is still so predictable that the times it will blow are posted (within +/-  10 minutes), but with the hoards of people.  The majority of the park is all natural, as much as possible with the millions of tourists.  But the area around Old Faithful is huge parking lots, huge hotels, restaurants, shops.  That was the disappointing part, that and all the dumb asses that congregated all in one area.

The best view (and there are tons of them) was from Artist Point overlooking the Canyon.

The absolute coolest thing that I saw was the Mammoth Hot Springs

I can't even begin to describe these incredible things.  You will have to see them in person to get it.

Yellowstone National Park is 3,486 square miles.  It is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

It would be impossible to describe everything that we saw.  But here are some pictures.

  Until next time........

6/12/13 Update

It has been another exciting week.  The more I see, the more I want to see.

Jon got the bike out and we have been riding......  The past few days we have done rides in and through Eastern Idaho, Western Wyoming and the Southeastern tip of Montana.

Jackson Wyoming is south of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.  Millions of tourists stop, shop, eat and stay in Jackson.

Jackson looks like a "modern" Old West Frontier Town.  According to the Census of 1900 - Jackson boasted a population of 59.  Current approximation is 9,500.  

I have been very fortunate to travel to some of the most spectacular places in the world, Paris, Rome, Venice, Vatican City to name a few.  In each and every location, there was a moment that took my breath away.   If you can image walking in the small tunnels that connect the Venetian shops and then you emerge into St. Marks Square - Your heart nearly stops.  Or taking the Vatican Museum tour and seeing the Sistine Chapel for the first time.  I do not possess the vocabulary required to share the feeling that overtook me.

The United States landmass is roughly 2 1/2 times the size of the European Union.  Some examples of European Countries and how they compare to states:  France is slightly smaller than Texas, Italy is slightly larger than Arizona and Spain is roughly twice the size of Oregon.  The vastness of the US to me is almost incomprehensible.  There are wonders that take my breath away in every state that I have been lucky enough to see.

Wyoming may not sound as glamorous as Paris, and maybe it isn't, but when you drive North from Jackson and you see the Snake River meandering around the base of the Grand Tetons and the awesome beauty that surrounds you, to me, it more, so much more................

I would never want to take away Jon's skill at photography, but these pictures do not do them justice. 

We are moving on Friday and we want to stay in Yellowstone.  Yesterday we we were on a mission to check out the roads and campgrounds to see if it is possible for us to bring our 5th Wheel into the Park. 

I was supposed to be the navigator and keep Jon on our pre planned route.  Needless to say I failed miserably.  I couldn't concentrate on the signs or were we were or where we were going.  I was way too busy looking at hundreds of buffalo and the Elk and the Mountain Goat and an actual Bald Eagle.  

I was literally feet away from this bufalo.  Jon didn't get pictures of the Elk, Mountain Goat or the Bald Eagle, but I am sure he will.

We were successful in finding the perfect campground.   I hope we can get into it.  

Yellowstone - Our next great adventure.  Until next time.............

Update 6/08/13

Well it has been a week of "on the go".

We left Bridgeport CA last Sunday and now we are in Idaho.  We traveled through Nevada and Utah this past week.  Our plan was to spend some time in Southern Utah and then move into the Salt Lake area for another couple of weeks.   That didn't happen....  We arrived in St. George Utah on Monday afternoon - it was 102.   I had checked the weather a few days before and it had been in the 80's.   Unfortunately it got hot before we could get there.

We braved the heat and went into Zion National Park on Tuesday.  I have not been to Utah before and I really didn't know what to expect.  The mountains in Southern Utah are different than any I have ever seen before.

We enjoyed what we saw, but we decided that we will come back to Utah in the Fall and enjoy this area when the weather is better.

Jon and I ate dinner at the Cracker Barrel in St. George.  I would like to say thank you to our server Beki who kept my ice tea glass full and brought me gravy on the side.

I used to eat at Cracker Barrel in Alma Arkansas when I lived there years ago when my kids were young.  Both of my kids are grown and both are closer to 30 than 20.... (wow you two are getting old)  But having a meal at Cracker Barrel made me think of a time in my life that is gone but will always be special.  It was like going home after being gone for years.  I miss my kids, but I am so glad that they are happy and living their  lives and following their dreams. 

The RV Park where we stayed was close to an old settlement from the 1850's - Jon took some shots of the remains.

Utah is clean and the people are friendly.  We enjoyed our brief time in the state, and are looking forward to coming back and spending more time.


Our plan now is to stay in the Idaho Falls area for a week and then move into Yellowstone.  We are going to do some motorcycle rides, check out the Grand Tetons and see if we can take our big 5th Wheel into Yellowstone.  Looking forward to spending some time in Idaho and Wyoming.