Day 11 - (8-31-12) Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

MaryAnn Here

Please Note:  We have been without WiFi, phone and TV for the last three days so I will be posting two more blogs on Yellowstone NP in the next couple of days. 

Today (Aug. 31) we said farewell to the Grand Tetons by watching several skydivers jump off the mountain top only to land within 25 feet of us. Not something I would want to do at all.

Double Riders - Not for Me

The drive to Yellowstone took just a few hours so naturally we arrived to early to check in.  But not to early to see yet another moose.

One lazy Moose

I bet he was thinking how dumb all those people were, hustling around their cars, so they can snap pictures.

 Once we parked our cars we decided to walk around the boardwalks (4 miles) to see all the geysers near the Old Faithful Inn. The pictures I’ve attached are of that walk which as you can see are just beyond anything imaginable.

This is not Old Faithful

Run off into a river

Looks like a snow angel to me

This geyser had what looked like a log edge to it....but of course it was not logs

Notice how deep the hole is

A small geyser spewing water

This particular geyser did not have any water that we could see but was a beautiful color blue.

All of these pictures were taking right close to the Old Faithful Inn and everything was within walking distance.  The colors were gorgeous.

When we did check in we were assigned a room and wouldn’t you know it, that Old Faithful geyser was right outside our window. Darn thing shoots all that white smoke and water almost every hour and a half. It’s speculator to watch but the sky had such a angry darkness to it that the pictures did not turn out well. Maybe tomorrow as it looked like rain most of today.

The Inn is just a beautiful place to stay as it has such a rustic cozy appearance and is so inviting you automatically feel at home. Our room is small but very nice with wood walls with carpet on the floor. I asked at the front desk where we could get coffee for tomorrow and this wonderful man named Dan gave us a Keurig coffee maker and coffee for the morning. Will be a great start to the day.

The Old Faithfull Inn

Jim and Mary's Room

Tonight we walked down our corridor because there was a huge sitting area at the end. Music was provided and we just sat listening to the music, watching the fire in the fireplace and chatting with a couple from Texas. What a nice way to end a really nice day.

                                                               

Day 10 - (8-30-12) The Grand Tetons - Day 3

The Grand Tetons - Day 3

Mike Here

After a healhty breakfast of Cheerios, we headed north along the Teton Park Rd. We actually tried yesterday but the road was closed.  As Jim said, "We were touched by the fickle finger of faith."  So today he drove slowly because the first 3 miles was not paved.  The park leaves it gravel so wild animals can safely cross in this heavily wooded area. Also keeps car speeds down.

Entered park and had a good exchange with the Park Ranger as we showed our passcard. He remarked: " Nice of you gentlemen to bring your daughters along on this trip". Took 5 min. to stop laughing.

What a drive! Some of America's best mountains scenery and wildlife. Saw a moose and several mule deer.

Awwh a baby deer

Mule Deer

Mule deer have giant ears!

Bull Moose

Did you know that moose can dive down 15 feet to feed on underwater vegetation? Also,

Ate lunch at a picnic table overlooking Jackson Lake. Another couple joined us and in talking I discovered the gal was from Ferndale, Michigan and lived on Drayton Street. I lived on Drayton in Ferndale until I went to Michigan State! Go figure.
From here I'm going to let the pictures do the talking.
(It took us over six hours to drive eighteen miles)

The Grand Tetons

The camera people - M and M

Fantastic view

Mary and Jim standing in front of the Grand Tetons

Mike and Judy standing in front of the Grand Tetons

Jim looking out over the magnificent view

Just so you know we are still all together

This is especially for all you kayaking people

Mary's pic of the day

A salute to all our Canadian Friends

(Come on you know it looks just like a maple leaf)

We ended our stay in the Grand Tetons by having dinner at our favorite restaurant - Wendy's.
Tomorrow we will bid farewell to the Grand of the Grandest Tetons and work our way north toward Yellowstone National Park.

Day 9 (8-29-12) The Grand Tetons (day 2)

Second Day of the Grand Tetons

MaryAnn Here

Today during the morning hours we just sort of vegged and took a half day off, which I think we all needed.  Mike and Judy worked on their blog from yesterday and Jim and I just did nothing, well that is until they sent their blog to us.

Today was the long awaited day of the "Snake River White Water Raft Float trip." 

Getting ready to ride to the start of the Snake River

That is nothing more than a rubber raft!

This in my opinion was not my idea of a float trip because the water in many places was moving fast and rapid. 

White Caps and I don't mean the base ball team either
(We have a White Cap Team in MI)

Picture if you can 11 people sitting on the edge of a rubber raft with life jackets on.  Sitting on that edge was such a comforting feeling as we went bumping and banging down the snake (I was going to say the snake infested) river but lucky for me I did not see any snakes.

But I did see an Eagle

Judy and Video Mike

Pretty nice window dressing don't you think?

The Totally "Grand" Tetons

Gorgeous Views

That's not a cloud!  That's smoke from the forest burning.  At times we could even see the flames.

Kayaking?  This would be a no! 

Did I ever mention I can not swim.

 It really turned out to be a pretty nice ten mile trip down that fast moving river.  Once we were back on land Judy had still not gotten a glimps of her Moose so we did the only thing we could to quiet her down. 

Mangy Moose Antlers just for Judy. 

Tonight we threw caution to the wind and ate at a rather high priced restaurant right here in Teton Village.  This is the area where all the skiers come each winter to ski the Tetons and during this time of the year there are a lot of bikers riding the many trails located around here.  Tomorrow is our last day here in the Tetons so we will be doing a bit of driving seeing the sights.  Weather has been perfect.

Information on the Grand Tetons

Click on the following link to read more about the Tetons     The Grand Tetons

. "Grand Teton," was given to the tallest peak in the Teton Range.  It is believed to have been named either by the French upon noticing its likeness to the female anatomy or in honor of the Teton Sioux Native Americans who inhabited the region. Grand Teton towers above Northwest Wyoming and, regardless the naming dispute, its astounding beauty.

Grand Teton was originally named Mount Hayden by the explorers in the Washburn/Hayden/Doane Expedition in 1870. However, the name "Grand Teton" was so commonly used that it became the official name in 1930.

Grand Teton may come from early French Canadian explorers of the Northwest Company, who, upon seeing the three peaks of the range, called them "Les Trois Tetons," or "The Three Breasts.

Many historians believe, however, that the name Teton comes from the Teton Sioux Native Americans who inhabited the plains west of Missouri.

At an elevation of 13,770 feet, Grand Teton is the tallest of the three-peaked Teton range. It sits within the borders of Grand Teton National Park, which spans 484 square miles and boasts more than 200 miles of hiking trails in the northwest corner of Wyoming

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Day 8 - (8-28-12) - The Grand Tetons

The Grand Tetons

Judy Here
pics by Mike

Yesterday was another fun one. Left Riverton Wy. and wound our way toward the Grand Teton Village. Stopped at a quaint little town of Dubois.

The town of Debois

First sight of the Tetons was awesome. Still some snow on Rendezvous Mountain. Fun to look at when our car temp. said 84.

The first view of the Grand Tetons

Our first sight of Teton Village were parachuters leaving the mountain and landing 100 yd. away.

Checking in at the Hostel

Mary, Mike and I rode the aerial tram to the top and spent about an hour just gazing.

Aerial Tram approaching the summit

View from the tram down to Teton Village

Judy and Mike at the TOP (10,451 feet)

View to the north toward the Grand Teton from the top

There was a fire on our horizon and we watched it grow and send out lots of smoke. Really dry around here as well. Had happy hour under the trees while we did our laundry{now we are squeaky clean}

 Last night we went to a chuck wagon barbecue at The Bar J Ranch.  We were almost late because we had to wait until MaryAnn finished washing the bugs off the front of her car.

We  had dinner and had the best entertainment. Fran, we want you to hire the Wranglers from Jackson Hole. I  can still hear the bass as he sang. WOW they were good. Climbed into bed, woke for a good breakfast and soon we are off to do white water rafting down the Snake River. If we are still alive we will tune in tomorrow. 

Day 8 - (8-27-12) - Devil's Tower, WY

Devil's Tower - Monday

MaryAnn Here
Well here it is, another day gone by.  Today's trip was of course to see Devil's Tower and then to drive a heck of a long way toward the Grand Tetons.  It really did not take all that long to get from Custer, SD to the Devil's Tower maybe an hour and a half.  Yup when we got there sure enough it was a big rock that had moved up to a height of approximately 865 feet tall.  If you read the legend at the bottom of this blog you will understand when I say the mountain has huge ridges running up the sides of it.

Jim, Mike and myself walked around the perimeter of the tower.  Total time was around 45 minutes (1.3 miles) so we were able to see the tower from every angle.....and yes most angles looked the same.  It was very cool walking thru all the pine trees.   The first picture I posted was as we were driving up to the tower.

Devil's Tower

Up Close view of Devil's Tower

These columns look small but they are huge and very long.  Some of them as you can see broke off and fell to the ground.

Another View of Tower

Mike getting ready to film some mountain climbers

It was difficult getting Mike out of Devil's Tower because he loves to take videos and especially of mountain climbers......and there were many of them.  While walking along Jim said, "MaryAnn look on the bright side, Mike only has two hours of battery left."   But he really did not even come close to using up that much battery and really Mike was not all that far behind us.  We have learned that Mike loves mountains and is really very knowledgeable about them.  Sort of like a mountain tour guide.

Judy chose to not walk the tower, so she sat and read and of course got acquainted with anyone who walked by.  Such a little social bug.  Once again on the way out of the park we saw our little friends, the Prairie Dogs, climbing in and out of their little homes.  They are so fun to watch.

Scenic views on our drive from Devil's Tower to Riverton, WY

The drive to Riverton, WY was just drop dead gorgeous, and the best part was I had clouds.  All the fields were so neat looking and those fences that are made out of small round timbers ran all over the place. 

My pic of the day.

As you can see I loved this picture for lots of reasons.  The white puffy clouds, the blue blue sky, the green green pine trees, the champagne colored grasses, the fence of course and finally those cattle wandering all over the place just set the total scene.  All I could say was, "Oh my gosh."

Beyond words how beautiful the scenery was

Powder River Canyon (I think)

The drive to Riverton, WY was a drive that left us spellbound it was so beautiful.  The only down side to the entire day was all the road construction that was taking place.  Many times we had to wait for oncoming traffic to go by before we were allowed to go.  They used a lot of stone and tar in constructing their roads so we are pretty certain we have a huge task ahead of us clearing all that off.

Power River Canyon

We did notice that one of our car tires kept losing air and we thought of course that a seal might be leaking as it only went down at night.  So on Tuesday morning Jim took the car to the Tire center across from our motel to have it checked.  Somehow we had collected a screw along the way.  All is well now and the tire is fine.  If you are ever in Riverton, WY stop at the Plains Tire Center right across from the Super 8 and tell them Jim and Mary said they were wonderful.  Absolutely no charge for fixing the tire, now how is that for being a good neighbor.

This car would be Mike and Judy's

Powder River Canyon

Don't ya just want to make this drive along Hwy 16?

Incredible, amazing, fantastic, astonishing and gorgeous don't even come close to describing just how beautiful this whole drive was. At every turn something more beautiful than before would come into view and all I could think was oh my gosh this is incredible.

We drove for a long while yesterday so we stopped at Wendy's for dinner and you will all be pleased to know we had a Chocolate Frosty.   Tomorrow it's the Grand Tetons.

Information on Devil's Tower National Monument
In 1906 President Teddy Roosevelt designated Devils Tower as the nation's first national monument.  Devils tower could be called the nation's first national and it could be called the first natural monument.  It is actually the core of the volcano exposed after millions of years of erosion brought on by the Belle Fourche River and the weather. 
The rocks and boulders around the base of the tower are actually broken pieces of columns having fallen from the sides.  The tower stands 865 feet high and offers some of the best rocking climbing around.  The tower offers 7.4 miles of walking paths.  But it is best remembered from the award-winning 1978 movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
To read more about Devil's Tower click on the following link. Devil's Tower

The Legend of Devil's Tower National Monument
Many Native American legends have been passed down thru time, but this legend seems to be the most popular.......

One day, an Indian tribe was camped beside the river and seven small girls were playing at a distance. The region had a large bear population and a bear began to chase the girls. They ran back toward their village, but the bear was about to catch them. The girls jumped upon a rock about three feet high and began to pray to the rock, "Rock, take pity on us; Rock, save us." The rock heard the pleas of the young girls and began to elongate itself upwards, pushing them higher and higher out of reach of the bear. The bear clawed and jumped at the sides of the rock, and broke its claws and fell to the ground. The bear continued to jump at the rock until the girls were pushed up into the sky, where they are to this day in a group of seven little stars (the Pleiades). The marks of the bear claws are there yet. As one looks upon the tower and contemplates its uniqueness, it isn't hard to imagine this legend as fact.