Woke up to 25 degrees this morning and decided perhaps it was a good time to head back home. Today's pic is waking up on the last day of the trip. We compiled our trip stats and "best ofs" for the trip. See below. Looking forward to seeing our friends, getting together with the folks and not worrying about how cold it's gonna be when I have to pee in the middle of the night!
When we woke up this morning it was to snow flurries and surrounded by fog. It was a good thing we had seen the Tetons the night before as they were invisible this morning! Knowing we had two mountain passes to get over with the uncertain weather condition, I was a little concerned and anxious to get started. When we reached Jackson Hole, it was rainy and I had visions of us being stranded at the top of the pass in the snow, so when I spotted a public restroom we stopped. I made a mad dash for what I thought would be a quick “visit”, but the latch in the bathroom stall was stuck and I couldn’t get out! I made a few feeble attempts at shouting and trying to get help, but considering it is the off season and no one was around, I wasn’t get any response. I was totally cracking up, not believing that I was stuck in a public bathroom in downtown Jackson, Wyoming!! Meanwhile, since I hadn’t returned quickly Ned decided he might as well make a pit stop too. Ned was already walking out of the building when he heard someone yelling ,“hello, I’m stuck”. At first he thought it was the cleaning lady, but then recognized it was his wife and came into the women’s restroom to rescue me. For the record, it took him a few minutes using his key to get the lock unstuck. Ned, my hero! After that little drama we drove into the rain and fog over the Teton Pass, elevation over 9,000 ft. with a 10% grade much of the way. Fortunately, it was rain and not snow and the fog wasn’t too bad. As we climbed the second pass, at a little over 6000 ft., the weather began to clear up and we had some beautiful light and cloud effects shining on the mountains. We were so surprised when we reached Swan Valley, Idaho on the other side of the mountain range. The skies were blue with big puffy clouds and before us lay a huge alpine meadow. We drove for miles by gorgeous log homes situated on bluffs overlooking the Snake river and fields of yellow harvested wheat. Stunning. Many of the towns we drove thru were uneventful, but we were looking forward to Pocatello. For the last several weeks we had promised ourselves we would partake of a pancake breakfast, but had not yet indulged. (Hard to believe since we’ve eaten just about everything else in every state!). Having read about this great pancake house, Elmer’s, it was well worth the mid afternoon time when we finally arrived. The blueberry pancakes for me, and the cinnamon bun french toast for Ned did not disappoint. We were going to stay at Massacre State Park at American Falls for the night, but after one quick drive around the desolate tundra campground located next to the freeway, we decided to venture on. Along the way, we drove over the Snake River on this amazing bridge in Twin Falls. (See today’s pic). Knowing we had a 10-12 hour drive the next day we decided to just keep pushing on. Thus, here we are in Wells, Nevada camped by the side of a freeway. The good news is that we are having too much fun laughing and entertaining ourselves with all our pictures we have taken (about 1500 so far!) that we hardly mind we are in Nevada. Hard to believe that this is our last night on the road. As usual, I’m a little sad because I don’t want the trip to end – it’s been so much fun and the gypsy spirit in me could do this for a little while longer. After six weeks on the road I think Mr. Ned, the Homebody, doesn’t have quite the same sentiment. Tomorrow homeward bound.
Was that gobble-gobble I heard waking up this morning? Yeah, our campsite neighbor (shirtless and in his skivvies) was throwing dry dog food to turkeys. Just about everyone at our RV camp was either coming in or going out hunting. In fact, all day just about every person we saw was wearing camouflage outfits with orange hats or had antlers sticking up from the back of their pick-up. We even drove by one campground where there was an animal hung upside down and the guy was skinning him. These people take their hunting seriously! When we left Buffalo it was overcast, but not too cold. We drove over Powder River Pass in the Big Horn Mountain Range and through the Ten Sleep Canyon. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous!! As you drive along these incredible rock formations, with every imaginable color, there are road signs identifying the name and approximate age of the geology. Some were 3 – 5 billion years old while the youngsters were 300 million. Unbelievable. The canyon reminded Ned of Bryce National Park. It was also beautiful to see the white snow on some parts of the pass. We reached Thermopolis at about noon. Our destination was the Hot Springs State Park. (See today’s pic). In the foreground across the river are the Rainbow Terraces formed of mineral deposits called Travertine. The Big Spring produces 127 deg. mineral water and as it makes its way down the terraces the water temperature changes and different colors of algae and micro-organisms give the terraces its multi-colored look. In 1896 a treaty was signed with the Shoshone and Arapahoe that gave the public use of one of the largest mineral hot springs in the world. Yes, it’s totally free to the public. We entered the Bath House, changed into our suits and spent 20 min. soaking in the 104 deg. outside pool. There’s also an indoor pool if one so chooses. At the most there were 7 people total in the pool. My favorite part was when one of the guys turned to me and said, “If everyone did this everyday there wouldn’t be any more wars.” So true! When we finally emerged, and were somewhat cleaned off from our showers (the sulphur smell is still lingering a bit in my hair tonight – is that romantic?) I noticed that the 3 guys getting into the car next to ours, all wearing hunter attire and holding their guns, were also in the hot springs with us. It was a warm 65 degrees and after the hot soak we felt like wet noodles. So appreciated after the bout of cold weather we’ve had. We drove through several Indian reservations, and again another gorgeous canyon, Wind River. We were going to stay at an RV park in Dubois, but turns out it was closed for the season. In fact, almost all the state campgrounds and RV parks are closed –including all the campgrounds in the Teton National Park. We stopped at a soda fountain in Dubois and had a great conversation with the woman soda jerk. She called some of the local resorts and also gave us some tips on what to visit if we ever want to see Kansas. We decided to brave one more pass and shoot for a RV park in Moran, outside of the Tetons. The Togwotee Pass is 9658 feet and covered in snow from the storm last week and undergoing construction. The roads were dry, but at least 10 miles was slimy mud due to the construction. Poor Winnie is looking a bit road worn. Looks like I’m not the only one needing to be freshened up. Driving over the pass and seeing the completely snow laden Tetons was amazing. Hard to believe these are the same mountains as six weeks ago.
(Ned again.) We woke up to another sunny day in Custer State Park. Much to our amusement, everyone else in the campground seemed to be bundled up in their big down coats, along with wool caps and gloves. Meanwhile we were walking around in shirtsleeves, remarking about how nice the weather was. Even though our thermometer registered 49 degrees, apparently our experience of waking up to a frosty 23 degrees the morning before made us really appreciate today’s temperature. We also really liked the number of big horn sheep grazing inside the campground, along with lots of bison grazing just outside the gates. Our first destination was a campground further south, called Blue Belle. As we circled this handsome campground we met a nice woman with 2 friendly golden retrievers, camping in a Eurovan almost identical to ours. We spent at least 30 minutes comparing notes about our vans, and swapping stories about our favorite destinations. She’s from Colorado, and gave us a list of several “locals only” camping spots. From there we left to investigate the Needle Highway. After climbing multiple switchback turns and negotiating a short sweet tunnel, we got to the summit, which is called Needles Eye. Here we saw remarkable spiked formations of granite, and an impressive hundred foot long tunnel. (See today’s pick of Winnie emerging from the end.) At every turn along this road the view of the surrounding Black Hills was spectacular. Our next stop was a drive-by of the Crazy Horse Monument. This is a Native American version of Mount Rushmore, portraying the famous Indian Chief, although still a long way from completion. After having just witnessed the splendor of Needles Eye, and enduring all the hype the day before regarding Rushmore, I decided that I prefer stone mountain tops in their naturally occurring form, rather than dynamite-blasted to resemble humans. Heading north we made our way to Deadwood, which we assumed would be a historic mining town with lots of charm. Although this could probably be true, we were amazed to discover that, in its current form, it appears to be a small Reno, Nevada, disguising itself as a historic mining town. We were ready for lunch, and despite repeated efforts to find a place to eat, we were continually confronted instead with establishments filled with blinking and clinking slot machines. We finally found a place to eat, once we had waded past their phalanx of one-armed bandits. We decided that Deadwood must be one of the strangest towns that we had ever visited. Heading west, we entered Wyoming, where we enjoyed the huge, rolling landscape, with its magnificent cloud-filled big sky. As we approached the town of Buffalo, we marveled at the beauty of the snow-covered peaks of the Big Horn Mountains in the distance. We plan to cross the summit of those mountains tomorrow morning, and we’re hopeful that our good weather will continue.
We had an amazing day! Woke up to 23 degrees, but it warmed up to mid 70’s today. This was the first warm and dry day we’ve had in awhile, so it was especially appreciated. We drove into the Badlands and practically had the entire park to ourselves. After spending some time at the Visitor’s Center, we decided to take the Badlands Loop Road and the gravel 35 mile Sage Creek Rim Road. The light on the pinnacles, mounds, grasslands and rock formations was fantastic from every height and angle. (See today’s pic. It was really hard to pick just one picture today, we had so many great photo opps). We stopped several times to take the short fossil walk or just take in the scenery. Fortunately for us we picked up another hour today, which gave us that little extra time to explore Rapid City, Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. There’s a skyline drive that overlooks Rapid City, but the real attraction here is the Dinosaur Park, built by the WPA in 1936. These concrete dinosaurs are pretty cheesy, but Ned and I had a blast crawling all over them and taking silly pictures of each other in compromising positions. Ah the beauty of visiting attractions in the off season! Next, we drove into the Black Hills heading for Mount Rushmore. At first we were a little discouraged (or should I say appalled?) at all the tourista shops, billboards and kitch as we drove into Keystone, the gateway to Mount Rushmore. However, the minute we actually entered the park calmness reigned and you were actually able to take in the beauty of the natural area. Mount Rushmore was fun to see, but what we particularly enjoyed was the “Presidential Trail” that allowed us to walk below the Rushmore Monument and view the sculptures from different angles. We were also able to get some great views of the Black Hills from this walk. Early evening came upon us as we took the Peter Norbeck Iron Mountain Highway. For me, this was the true highlight as we drove through “PigTail Bridges” and one lane tunnels as we spiraled up the mountain. Peter Norbeck built the highway so that you can view Mt. Rushmore from all different angles. A particular stunner was coming out of a tunnel with a straight on view of Mt. Rushmore in the distance framed by the Black Hills – breathtaking! As we drove further into the wildlife preserver to camp at Custer State Park we were surprised by all the Bison grazing by the side of the road. I appreciated Ned’s calmness as we waited on more than one occasion for a wandering Bison to clear the roadway. Over our home-cooked meal in the winniemobile tonight, we took a tally of all the animals we had seen in the Badlands and Black Hills: Big Horn Sheep, Bison, Antelope, Prairie Dogs, a Badger, Mule Deer, Wild Turkeys and a bunny. Pretty amazing day!
If you’ve ever camped or been to a picnic area of a State Park chances are the fire rings and picnic tables were made by Pilot Rock. Ned and I have been camping together for about 7 years and the first thing we do when pulling into a campsite is check out the fire-rings. Yep, over 90% of the time they are manufactured by the RJ Thomas Company – aka Ned’s cousins. (Well, actually they are his double-cousins: two brothers married two sisters the lineage continues and thus some convoluted connection). This morning we got a personal tour of the Pilot Rock plant and saw raw steel being turned into fire rings, grills and such. For such a small Midwest town, it’s quite impressive what these two brothers have accomplished. Their dad started this company in 1959 and today they employ about 60 people. Their products are shipped worldwide, including Disneyland in France! One statistic that I learned and was very impressed with was that in the company’s 50 year history, they have had continuous employment, never having a layoff. After all the small towns Ned and I have traveled thru in the last month, with many of them struggling, I found this inspiring. Today’s pic is Steve (left) and Craig (right) standing amongst their trade-mark fire rings. After the early morning plant tour, Craig and Julie treated us to that wonderful mid-west hospitality with a scrumptious brunch.
Knowing we had a long haul, Ned and I soon “skedaddled” out of Cherokee, Iowa and headed for the Nebraska border. As usual, we decided to take an obscure route, called the Outlaw Trail, along the Northern edge of the State. We were on highway 12 most of the day and only saw a handful of other vehicles, including tractors hauling hay. (It just amazes me some of the remote places people live.) The route was quite pretty with the continuously rolling sand hills and grazing cattle. We finally arrived in the town of Valentine, Nebraska (aw – how cute is that?), and decided to have a corn-fed Nebraska steak at the local “fine dining” establishment. It was quite the local haunt, by the time we left it was hoppin’. Ned and I are currently staying on a wind-chilled grass prairie RV park –brrr. As I write this the van is a rockin’ to the gusts outside. I’m so glad we have a furnace!!! I hear it’s roasting in California so sure hope to pick up some of those heat rays as we head into South Dakota tomorrow.
The state park we stayed at last night was absolutely beautiful, unfortunately it was too wet and cold to do much exploring. Unlike the other states when we meander the back roads, Iowa’s roads are straight. We drove due west most of the day. Our first stop was in Ames, Iowa. We drove around the university, where Ned’s parents both went to college, took advantage of their free internet and stopped to have lunch. The afternoon is when things really got interesting. We drove to Bagley, a VERY small town, about 50 houses and not much else. Ned’s dad was raised here and it was fun to drive by the abandoned high school and take a tour of the town. Ned really wanted to send his sisters a post card from here, but you can imagine the likelihood of that with no stores. We stopped by the one room/one employee post office and chatted with the very sweet postmaster, Linda. When she heard about Ned’s connections to the town, she sold us two of her own Iowa postcards and proudly put the Bagley, Iowa cancellation mark on them so that Ned’s sisters could have a memento from their father’s home town. Very touching! From there we drove down a dirt road, up a small ridge to visit the Dodge Center Cemetery where Ned’s great grandparents and other relatives are buried. It was something to see the headstones with dates from the 1800s, hear their stories, and know they were related to Ned. Quite moving. The next stop was due North for about 2 hours to Cherokee where Ned’s mother was born and raised. We visited the house where she lived from age 4 til she left for college. We think we also found the Methodist Church where his parents were married. It was so much fun to experience and share in Ned’s family’s history. Tonight we are staying at the home of his second cousin Craig and his wife Julie (the same ones we stayed with in Minnesota). We had an absolute blast going out to dinner with Craig, Julie, Steve and Laurie (more cousins). These Iowa guys sure can drink! We enjoyed a German Oktoberfest meal at the Gashaust, complete with lots of German beer and stories. Too much fun. I’m looking forward to tomorrow where we take a tour of the family owned Pilot Rock plant.
Walker Ranch Recreation Area & Benton Hot Springs, We spent the last 4 days going off grid and exploring some unique areas around the hi...
