August 23, 2017
Interesting day for us! I had read that hwy 191 was filled with switchbacks and 10% grades, so decided to take hwy 430 out of Rock Springs to Jensen, WY. Well, it was a great road until we got to Colorado border, where it turned to gravel. For the next 26 miles, we traveled on gravel. At least it was graded so not a bad ride.
When we got to pavement, Bobby noticed that the truck had a problem, apparently we lost some bolts and nuts (probably from the bouncing) on the hitch, so I had to drive the truck, while he drove the coach. Drove to the town of Jensen, where we parked the coach and then drove to Vernal, WY to get parts.
While in Vernal had lunch at the brewery, great lunch. Got back to the coach and continued to Dinosaur National Monument. Here we learned about the huge collections of the dinosaur bones discovered in 1924. Many of the dino's have been removed and are not on display at various museums through out the world.
Greatest thing about this place, you get to touch the actual dino bones that are still in the "wall". It was very exciting for me!
August 22, 2017
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| Turtle fossil |
Left Thayne around 9 after saying our goodbyes! Will miss the gang!
First stop was Fossil National Monument. Here we learned about all the fossils that are located in this part of the USA, of which we saw a scientist working on one. It will take him about 30 hours to uncover the rock, sediment, etc. to expose the fossil. Most of the fossils in this area are of fish, turtles, plants, etc.
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| JC Penny Home |
Our next stop was the J. C. Penny 1st store and his home in Kemmerer, WY. The history behind this store was very interesting. It started as the Golden Rule Store but later he bought out his partners and changed it to J. C. Penny's. To bad the store is failing and more than likely the house and original store will be lost to history.
We stopped for the night in Rock Springs, WY. Since only here for one night, just parked in Walmart.
August 21, 2017
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| Jill, Wendy & Me showing off our eclipse outfits |
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| Bobby, Branden, Wendy, Eric, Paul, Jill and me |
Eclipse Day!!! We saw about 99.5% of the totality. Only thing we missed was the total darkness and the ring around the sun....obviously we need to go 66 miles north, but we didn't want to fight the traffic, which was a nightmare.
Our nephew Eric and his girlfriend Eileen are in Idaho Falls, so we agreed to meet for dinner in Swan Valley at the Snake River Restaurant, about 45 minutes from us. It was so good to see them. Eric took some amazing shots of the eclipse, yes, they were in totality.
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| Eric, Eileen, Branden, Bobby & Me |
Traffic heading the opposite direction was horrible. It went on for at least 25 miles!!!!! Glad we weren't in it and after dinner, it was gone!
August 20,2017
Fixed poached eggs for the gang then Bobby and I played golf at Cedar Creek Golf Course, very challenging course for us. Lost many balls!!!
Went next door to Nancy & Dan place (live next to Wendy & Eric), had a wonderful hamburger feast!!! We have eaten way to much while stay here!!!!
August 19, 2017
We decided to take Branden to the intermittent springs in Afton, WY. Because of the amount of rain they got this spring, the spring did not shut off. However it was a beautiful hike plus Branden got to video it with his drone.
Had lunch in Afton, home of the world's largest Elk Antler Arch and then walked around the shops
August 18, 2017
Played Aspen Hills golf course. We've played it before but still found it challenging. Branden joined us at the turn, he just drove in from San Fran. He'll spend next five days with us.
Had a lovely evening with gang, love their backyard and views of the Idaho mountains.
August 17, 2017
Drove to the Tetons In hopes of getting a spot in the campground. However, no luck!!! So we drove back to Thayne and have parked on our friends daughters driveway. Wendy & Eric are very generous in allowing us to stay with them.
The only good thing about the drive up to the Tetons, while waiting to find out if we could get a spot, saw a cow moose. Very cool!!!
August 16, 2017
Played golf with Shirl and Dino at Star Valley Ranch. Had a wonderful time with them.
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| Bobby, Me, Shirl & Dino |
Afterwards, we drove around the Star Valley neighborhood, think about purchasing a lot.
Later we went to Wendy & Eric's for dinner. Hopefully this is our last night in Star Valley so we are saying goodbye.
August 15, 2017
Very quiet day, did a little grocery shopping and went to the farmers market.
August 14, 2017
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| Bobby & Dino |
Bobby played golf with Dino while took a long walk and caught up with house work.
Went into town, looked around, bought some delicious ice cream at the local ice cream store. I had licorice and Bobby had orange cream.
August 13, 2017
Thought about playing golf but skies don't look promising. I need some Italian seasoning so we drove to Alpine (local store closed as it's owned by Mormon Family). They didn't have any put did find some spaghetti sauce mix that will have to do for this time (we are making spaghetti sauce to freeze).
Did laundry while Bobby washed truck. Around 4 decided to go for a walk, got caught in a downpour, no sopping wet! Oh well, I'll dry! But at least got the door and windows closed before to much rain came in.
August 12, 2017
Drove from Grand Teton (Gros Ventre Campground) to Star
Valley RV Park. We've stayed here a
couple of time before, very nice park.
Best thing, it's located next to 27 hole golf course, yes, we are going
to play!!!
Also we have 3 couples we know that live or are staying in
this area, so we're catching up with Paul and Jill Ostrom tonight for dinner
and cocktails. They are staying at their
daughters, which is about a mile from us.
Later we'll see Dino and Sherrill Price and Jim and Nancy
Hoover.
August 11, 2017
Went into Jackson and spent the day looking around the
shops. Bought a few groceries and then
drove back to campground which is about 7 miles. Spent afternoon resting and talking a walk
around the campground.
August 10, 2017
We've decided that the Grand Tetons are the most stunning
mountains that we have seen in all of our travels. Yes, that includes the Canadian Rockies! Which are beautiful but are not as gorgeous
as the Tetons!
It rained last night so most of the smoke was gone, giving
us a picturesque view of the Tetons.
When we left the park, we turned right towards the very small town of
Kelly, heading to Mormon Row. Here you
view the old homesteads, dating back before the park became a National Park.
Visitor center at Moose was our next stop, here we watched a
movie on the 100 yrs of the park. Great
show! Looked around the visitors center
and then drove home for lunch, while driving home, we saw cars stopped and went
to investigate what they were looking at.
It was a cow moose, eating across the river. Too far for the camera to capture, but at
least we saw a MOOSE.
After lunch, Bobby rested, while I took a walk down to F
loop (there are 300 sites here) in hopes of seeing another moose, no such luck!!
Came back and then went to Jenny Lake to see if we could
launch the paddleboard. Found out we
have to have a WY sticker (says that we have not critters on our boat) and then
we can launch. Might do this
tomorrow. Jenny Lake area was packed
with people, they are everywhere....we were lucking enough to find a parking
spot in main lot, otherwise it would have been a 1/4 - 1/2 mile walk.
On the way home saw a small herd of Antelope, they are
beautiful.
August 9, 2017
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| Fossils from Dinosaur Muesum |
Left Cody around 9 and headed to Thermopolis, I was hoping
to see the petroglyphs on the Arapaho but they were about 30 miles behind
us. We never saw any signs, must not be
well marked so we'll catch next time.
The drive between Thermopolis and Dubois, Wy is
beautiful. We pasted Boyson State Park,
a massive reservoir that's 25 miles.
Once we reached Dubois, it was raining.
Saw the world's largest Jackalope and the Big Horn Sheep museum. Then I called Gros Ventre Campground in Grand
Teton NP and we decided to continue on as they have several spots still
open.
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| Big Horn Sheep Museum |
We arrived around 3:30 and got one of the 2 spots left for a
motorhome our size. Whew!!!! Got settled in and then went for a
walk. Thought about going for a drive
but the smoke from Montana is hiding the Tetons plus we are expecting rain and
lighting. Not something I care for!
August 8, 2017
Road trip today on the Beartooth Hwy and Chief Joseph Hwy, which is a 200 mile loop.
First stop was Red Lodge, MT. It's a small tourist town with a few shops/restaurants. We have friends that live there, but they were in Billings, MT for the day...we'll see them in Havasu.
Took the Beartooth Hwy to Cooke City, MT. This hwy was described by Charles Karualt as the most scenic hwy in America!!!! It's filled with switch backs, incredible views, stunning lakes and a summit at 10,947'. Thought we'd need oxygen...lol.
Once we reached Cooke City, we had lunch at the Beartooth Café. Bobby had the best club sandwich ever!!! Brought 1/2 back, it was huge and delicious! While eating it started pouring, felt sorry for the bikers that are riding, miserable ride. They are either on their way to or from Sturgis, SD.
We then back tracked to hwy 212 (Chief Joseph Hwy) and took it home. Another very scenic drive!!!
August 7, 2017
Finished tou
ring the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Today we toured the Gun Museum. What an amazing display of weapons! You would not believe the amount of rifles, pistols, etc. that we saw today (we were told it's over 3.500, plus they have many more in storage). It's unbelievable how many manufactures they have on display. To name a few: Remington, Glock, Smith & Wesson, Browning, plus many that I've never heard of. They date from the 1700's thru today. Just impressive!!!
There is two floors, of which the main floor has the most impressive displays but the basement is impressive in it's own way. They have these huge drawers that you pull out to view the rifles and pistols. Great way to utilize space.
Next we walked around downtown, had lunch at the Irma Hotel, this was built by Buffalo Bill to provide his guest a place to stay. The bar is made of cherry wood and is beautiful. After lunch we walked around town, looking at the stores.
The Dug out Museum is just down the street, so we walked to it. It amazing how many old guns that have never been restored this guy has.
Our last stop for
the day was the Cody Mural, which is located in the LDS church. Here you get an overview about the first 120 years of the LDS and how they came to settle in the Big Horn Basin. The mural was painted by Edward Grigware, who was Catholic and knew nothing about the LDS. He took a year to learn of their history and then created this masterpiece for them. It truly is a masterpiece.
August 6, 2017
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| Famous Gunfighters |
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| Wild Bill with Arapaho's |
Today we visited the Buffalo Bill Center of the West (
www.centerofthewest.org). I must say that I did not believe that we couldn't walk through this museum in one day (thanks goodness our ticket is good for two days) as we were there 6 hours and only saw 4 of the 5 buildings. Plus I'm sure we missed stuff in those 4 buildings!! We'll return tomorrow to view the 5th building (gun collection) and see what we missed.
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| Wild Bill |
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| Color is made with text |
Obviously they tell the history of Wild Bill Cody, which is very interesting. You also learn about many animals, the Indians (this part was very interesting to me, especially since I'm part Arapaho). One of the buildings is dedicated to Art, here I created a western pic on the computer and had it
emailed to me, that was cool.
This museum is a
MUST see for anyone that's interested in Western History!!! It certainly is very interesting to us!
August 5, 2017
Got up late, had breakfast and then head to Cody, WY. Took us about 2 hrs and we arrived around noon. We are staying at the Cody Trout Ranch Camp (
www.wyomingtroutranch.com), about 5 miles north of town.
Just relaxed as we have been going, going. Tomorrow we'll head into town.
ok Brandon to Arches National Park today. It was his first trip and our second, but 1st was 8-9 years ago.
ontrose around 7:30 and headed to Monticello, UT. We arrived around noon, had to stop at the summit to let the engine cool, steep long climb up hwy 141. However the views are breathtaking. 
