Nebraska's Golden Spike

September 28, 2010

So, who knew there was a Golden Spike in North Platte?? It's at the world's largest rail sorting yard and one of the nicest museums we've visited. The observation tower is 96 feet high, with an open viewing platform and a glassed-in one at the top.  Notice the tower is in the shape of a railroad spike and is golden at the top.

This is a portion of the sorting yard, showing the engine cleaning and repair area. There are two humps in the yard, each sorting cars onto hundreds of tracks. Bob counted 76 locomotives that he could see at one time outside the repair facility.

The nearby North Platte Railroad Museum is closed (the sign said open until September) but when Bob walked into look at this Challenger, he was told it was closed and that he had to leave. This is one of only two left. The drive wheels are about 6 feet tall.  This baby was built for speed during the final years of steam.  This is the only Challanger still runable.

Nebraska Architecture

September 27, 2010

Nebraska has been a welcome relief from the hot, dry, sagebrush of Wyoming. The highway is also in better shape, so the bouncing has greatly diminished. We spent a bit of time in North Platte....only realizing after we left that we had taken no photos of the Platte River!

Buffalo Bill Cody built a ranch (Scout's Rest) here on 4000 acres. Sixteen acres are owned by the city as a historical site and park. His home is open to visitors and the large barn also contains some memorabilia. He staged his first big Wild West show and rodeo in North Platte, so it is now home to the Buffalo Bill Rodeo. This photo is of a portion of the bleachers, but it is MUCH larger in real than in 2-D photos.  The link is to the ranch and has some interesting facts.  I didn't know that he was credited with inventing rodeos.

We also stopped in Gothenburg to see the replica sod house, which is falling into disrepair. This life-sized buffalo is at the same museum as the sod house and was made of 4.5 miles of barbed wire.  The museum was locked up so we just wandered around the grounds.  The link is to sites in Gothenburg, and you have to scroll down to find the bit about the sod house.  There are also two Pony Express stations there, but we had stopped at those the last time we went through, so we didn't seek them out again. 

We were able to find a quick geocache in Gothenburg, too, and had a picnic lunch in a nice little park. 

Gothenburg is a charming little town (about 3500 people) with lots of nicely cared-for yards and homes, updated schools, and no grafitti or litter.  Not planning to move there, but it was a fun town to visit.

WYOMING!

September 26, 2010

After leaving Idaho, we crossed through a tiny corner of Utah and into Wyoming. We are travelling on I-80 which goes through the southern portion of Wyoming. We have gone this way before, though in reverse, and we have also crossed Wyoming on I-90. Our recollection of those past visits were that Wyoming was....ummm...somewhat boring. I'm sure that it's not really that way, but we seem to have hit these same-old, same-old routes. And it's hot...today was 88 on our thermometer and 91 on a couple of banks.

The western 2/3 of Wyoming is sage, rolling hills (though we did cross the Continental Divide another 2 times), lots of pronghorn, and once in awhile an oil rig or refinery. By the time we hit Laramie, we were ready for something different and Laramie brought us less sage and more farmed land, with cattle instead of pronghorn.

Wyoming's advertising in rest areas is that it "showcases the wilderness that is the true west" and that 2/3 of the world's antelope live in Wyoming. It seems that sage is highly nutritious.

We have spent the past couple of days in Cheyenne, wandering around a bit and doing some geocaching. The campground hosts pit barbecue everyday, so the smells are intoxicating.

Cheyenne is a hard town to learn. The streets aren't laid out in a grid and many of the main streets end abruptly, rather than intersecting with another. We found that we could almost use I-80 and I-25 as beltway-type thoroughfares and get around fairly well.

We made the Wal-Mart stop for some groceries, more lip balm, and eye drops---squinting into the sun plus allergies calls for some relief. Hopefully these drops will help. We also stopped at the Barnes & Noble for a couple of things and to look through a guidebook we don't want to own but thought might tell a few things we wanted to know....it did, but it lead us to another book, which we did buy.

Tomorrow we leave for Nebraska, and plan to be there for a couple of days and then into Iowa.  We have a date for a 7-course meal in Iowa City next Sunday, and don't plan to be late!

Montana Painted Bison

September 23, 2010

We're leaving the Yellowstone area today and have decided to go south-ish rather than back up through Montana and S. Dakota. We plan a couple of days without internet, so if you need to get in touch with us, phone will be best, or send an e-mail and we'll get back to you when we are on-line. This could actually be later today, but since we have NO PLANS, we can't say for sure.

We saw one or two of these painted bison in Great Falls and didn't take any photos...one was inside the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and the lighting was terrible. Now, in West Yellowstone we found quite a herd, scattered all over town.

I can't find anything on-line about these, but it looks similar to the thing that Chicago did a few years ago with cows. I did find a link to an article from the Bozeman (MT) newspaper from 2007 mentioning that West Yellowstone would be home to painted bison. My computer said that link was "unverified" so I didn't read it and am not linking to it.

In any case, we've enjoyed the area around Yellowstone and our time in the park. There are things we didn't see and places we didn't go, so it looks as if we'll be back!

Geocaching

September 22, 2010

Yesterday I mentioned geocaching and thought maybe you'd like a bit more information about it. It's based on the European letterboxing, but uses GPS coordinates to help you locate a "treasure". Letterboxing uses compass and orienteering skills and often a rubberstamped image is exchanged.

Geocaches  vary in size, from micro (about the size of a film canister or Altoid tin) up to large (surplus ammo box).  The small ones only contain a piece of paper for you to sign, sometimes a stub of a pencil. Larger ones contain items you can take as well as something to sign, and you are expected to leave something.

There are themed caches, where you leave items pertaining to a particular theme, and multi-stage caches where there might be four or five in an area and each one gives the coordinates of another one. In this case, most of the first ones are micros and the final one is large.

We started doing this when Sophie was 5 because she really didn't think she would ever have an "adventure" and this seemed as if it might fill the bill.  Luckily, the first one we took her to was a HUGE ammo box hidden in a hollow log at Alexander Park in Chehalis.  It was jam-packed with stickers, small toys, coins, rubber balls, and lots of trinkets.  She's been hooked ever since and we have done more geocaches with her than without.

The hardest one we've ever found took us five tries. It's in downtown Centralia, in a parking lot between Pearl and Tower. We searched and searched and searched, finally resorting to reading the logs other people had put online and found a clue...someone mentioned they had recently purchased that type of cache container and was pleased to see another one.

So, we started looking for an unusual container....it turned out to be a fake electrical connection outlet attached to a power pole.

We have found a few in Washington and a couple in Oregon and thought it might be fun to find at least one in each state we go through, but didn't really stop to do it until last night. We now have found geocaches in Montana and Idaho. Since we are going to go south and travel I-80, we have pulled the information for a couple in Utah and Wyoming, in case we don't have internet access before we get there.

Outside West Yellowstone, Montana.

M is for MOOSE!

September 21, 2010

Can you see what Bob found? Look carefully, it's there. Yep, a moose. Not just one moose, but three!

We had gone out this afternoon to do some geocaching and were getting frustrated at not finding what we were looking for and decided to just go down a road and all of a sudden, Bob pointed and said, "Moose!" and sure enough, there was a big 'un. Then I saw another and then more legs, so we knew we had three.

Bob handed me his little digital. We had only grabbed it as we left, thinking we might find a neat geocache site, but I don't use that camera well at all. It only has the window-viewer and between my bifocals and (Bob says) desire to not learn how to use it, I usually don't see on the viewer what I can see in real life. But, I did manage to get this one as Bob crept down the road and the moose finally emerged into a clearing.

We lost them in the woods, so we turned around to go back to our campsite and found that they were crossing the road in front of us. They went into a yard and around the back and finally came out onto a side road.

So, there you are....moose on the loose.

B is for Bison

September 21, 2010

The loops in Yellowstone are in a figure 8 so that you can drive as much or as little each day. We've gone in three days and finally did the last portion and found a huge herd of bison. We counted 250 in Hidden Valley along Yellowstone River. We have seen bison every day, but usually just one or two, or a small group of 8 or 9, so this is the biggest concentration we've seen.

This guy was just resting near the road and Bob got a close-up of his head. When Bob drove forward a bit to see if he could get more of his head and handed me the camera, the bison's eyes were closed.

 
We're seeing several young calves, out of their orange-ish colors, but still obviously this year's crop.

We've been caught in a few "bison jams" and even one "bear jam" but haven't seen any bear or moose.  We did see 2 coyotes, which caused a mini-jam, but you should see the crowds the trumpeter swan draws! 

We have a thing about moose...when we went to Alaska the first time we saw the classic moose-in-pond- dripping antlers pose.  We assumed they were easily spotted, but that was the only moose we've seen that was at all in a predictible place.  Since then we've combed willow riverbeds, likely moose ponds, and other probable spots and have only seen them walking on a road, or lurking so far back in the trees that you can barely identify them.  This trip is no different...no moose, no sign of moose, no tales of moose-jams at such-and-such place.  But we'll keep looking!

Faithfully Doing Its Duty

September 20, 2010

Old Faithful Lodge...a really neat building with lots of space for lounging. We stopped in for a hot pretzel to add to our lunch and after watching Old Faithful erupt. Our timing was great...we waited about 10 minutes and got a seat on the front row of bleachers. We could hear 6 different languages around us, including a woman from New Jersey conversing with a friend from Pennsylvania on her cell phone....in case you were wondering, Harold is doing much better and they did get to make their trip.

Then on to Old Faithful Inn...this is a fantastic building. Bob took photos of the interior up toward the ceiling, but there are so many criss-crossed timbers and so much embellishment that the photo looks just like so many TinkerToys scrambled together....but, he did take a great shot of the men's room!

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Ugh!  Not sure exactly how to use  all of the bells and whistles on Blogger, but I can't seem to put more than 4 photos on...so, the photo of the front of the Inn and one of Bob got lost in the transfer.  I'll add them to another post later.  The link to Old Faithful Inn has a group of nice photos.

With Six You Get....WiFi

September 19, 2010

We had thought we would stay here another couple of days but found that if we stayed a full week, one day would be free, so we will be here until Thursday (I think...need to find a calendar).   So for $150 we get 7 days of unlimited water, electric, WiFi, and sewer dump at our site, which is not too shabby.  We also will take advantage of the huge laundry facility, and have traded books at the book exchange.

Instant WiFi at the site is a relatively new innovation and we've been searching out places for that.  It's usually free, but often the campsite is a bit more expensive than ones that have either no internet, or internet only in the office area.  MUCH more convenient to be able to be online at midnight in your own rig.

The campground we are in is the Valley View RV Park and Laundry in Island Park, Idaho. It's about 13 miles from the park entrance and we cross the Continental Divide going to and from. We spent today just wandering around this area. We drove around Henry's Lake, going in and out of Montana (and over the Divide another 4 times) and then took a gravel road out toward the Red Rocks Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, but chickened out about 15 miles in since the road just kept getting more and more washboard-y (yes, it's a word, I checked...well, not really, but I'm sure it's a word.) That took us over the Divide another two times. (In case you've lost count, that's a total of 18 times we've crossed the Divide since we left home).

The country is high meadow with lots of quaking aspen, poplar, sagebrush, and lodgepole pine and it's very beautiful in places, but not really our cup of tea...we liked the high country around Great Falls, but this has much more sage and seems barren in places.  It's also kicking up some allergic reactions in both of us...our eyes are watery and itchy and we have heavy, clogged sinuses.  I've taken some Claritan which helps a bit, but doesn't really relieve the sinus pressure.
Below is a photo of our campsite and Bob on the radio....this has been the most frustrating thing about the trip.  Evidently, Fords are notorious for having static problems, and since we have an internal GPS as well as satellite radio, it may be that we have more of a problem than if not.  So, while travelling down the road, Bob hears little or nothing and can't broadcast out. 



Working Fremont Co, ID on the radio...11 contacts.



One of the books I picked up at the book exchange is a mystery by C. J. Box.  His main character is a Fish and Game Warden from Wyoming, and this particular book deals with a special op involving a homicide in Yellowstone Park.  Due to the geographical location of Yellowstone, as well as the governance of National Parks, this is a mystery that could only have happened at Yellowstone.  I've read one book by him before, and there tends to be a bit of scariness (I'm not that far into this book) but he has great information and descriptions and it's fun to read about a place while you are there.   I took some Tony Hillerman books when we went to southern Colorado.

Yellowstone Wildlife

September 17, 2010

We're staying just a bit outside the West entrance to the park, in Idaho. BUT, we have great WiFi here, so we should be able to put up a few posts before we move along in a couple of days.

We saw quite a few elk today....this group about 15 minutes into the park.

These bison were just out sunning themselves. This was the biggest herd we saw, though we saw quite a few singles and small groups.

This big guy was just walking down the road. We actually turned around to see him, while he was off in the meadow, only to find he had gone out into the road. By the time we were turned back around and had gotten into the line of cars to see him, he had come up to us...this is right outside Bob's door.

But mostly we saw a lot of these....if anyone is compiling a Christmas list, Bob says that big white Canon would do just fine for him!

Statistics

September 15, 2010

OK, we have WiFi today but it's very slow and keeps cutting out so no photos but some statistics...these are the real deal, Joe Friday, "Just the facts, Ma'am" statistics, not some skewed ones to prove a point...but probably pointless, at that.

Days on the road....8
Nights bookdocked....4
States travelled....3
Miles driven...1,136
Gallons of fuel....99.8
Average miles per gallon...8.7
Highest fuel cost per gallon...$3.14
Lowest fuel cost per gallon...$2.95
Lowest temperature...45
Highest temperature...80
Meals eaten out....1
Loads of laundrey...3
Museums visited....3
New birds on lifelist...4 (white-faced ibis, Am. white pelican, Franklins gull, sage grouse)
Mammals seen....5 (grizzly, pronghorn, prairie dog, white-tail deer, rabbit)
Prairie dog towns....2
Knitting finished...2 (well, technically 1 is finished and the other gifted with the finishing details to be done by the recipient's mother--close enough to finished!)
Knitting cast on...1

Charlie Russell

September 15

This is one of the reasons we chose to come to Great Falls! The sculpture above is at the entrance to the C.M. Russell Museum.

The museum has over 2000 Russell paintings, drawings, and illustrations as well as paintings by other Western artists, the Browning Firearms Exhibit, and the Bison Exhibit, which includes hundreds of Plains Indian artifacts.

The five galleries of Russell art is arranged so that you begin with his earliest drawings and sketches and progress throughout his career.

Illustrated letters make up one gallery and we loved these...not only were the letters interesting to read, but they each included several illustrations, many in color. How fun to have received a letter from him!

Charlie's home, built in 1903 is part of the museum complex and open for viewing. It is filled with period pieces, plus some Russell family items.

Charlie's studio, built in 1903 of western red cedar telephone poles, is adjacent to his home and also open for viewing. It's filled with cowboy gear and Indian artifacts Charlie collected and used as he painted and sculpted.

With Lewis and Clark at the Great Falls

September 14, 2010

When Lewis and Clark heard from the Mandans that there was a "great falls" ahead on the Missouri, it helped them to determine which of two forks in the river was the Missouri. However, the "great falls" turned out to be five "great falls" and it took nearly a month to portage around all of the falls, delaying their anticipated date of arrival at the Pacific Ocean.

Today dams along the Missouri around Great Falls, Montana have slowed and broadened the river, and one is even under water. The above falls is at Rainbow Dam, with Coltor Falls underwater in the reservoir behind it.

The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center came about as a way to highlight the importance of the portage to the overall journey and was completed in 1998.

The photograph above depicts the portaging of a pirogue and fills an atrium from the lower level to the upper.

This is a fantastic Lewis and Clark center. We've seen several and this is the best by far. As you enter the main upper level area, a huge compass rose is inlaid in the floor in colorful stonework. The display begins on the lower level and gives a bit of information about the beginning of the journey with much more in-depth information about the events that happened in and around Great Falls, takes you to the Pacific and the building of Fort Clatsop, and then an overview of the journey back.

A multilevel theater has half-hourly programs, some about the journey as a whole, and some about specific topics, such as the fate of the live specimens sent back to President Jefferson (a prairie dog and four magpies). Many of these are done with props and costumes.

There are a lot of interactive displays, but all of them are interesting and sophisticated enough to grab the attention of adults as well as being easy enough to be manipulated and understood by children.

Fall is coming! This is a view of the bank and some foliage along the Missouri just downstream and across the river from the Interpretive Center. We saw bald eagles, American white pelicans, Franklins gulls, Canada geese, Brants cormorants, mallards while we were sitting in a pull-out to take this photo.