Category Archives: Vacation

Trips and flights of fancy.

Vacation

GAR: Day Twenty – Council Bluffs IA to Home (430mi)

This morning, we arose knowing that this was our last day on the road — the 20th day of our twice half-cross-country Great American Roadtrip — and that we when we slept next, it’d be in our own beds. We headed out early this morning, figuring that an early start would get us home mid-afternoon.

Truthfully, the drive was uneventful. We pushed as fast as we legally could, and made good time back to The Lou. I’d had no idea that Omaha was less than seven hours away, and I expect I’ll go back to visit again in the near future, spending a little time in my old haunts.

It was a great trip, crossing twelve states and covering 6275 miles in all, with most of that driving coming in the fourteen days of the first and third weeks. It’s funny that the driving was never exhausting, never boring, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I thoroughly enjoyed learning the idiosyncrasies of my new Jeep, and starting to figure out what functional additions I need to make to it.

However, the big thing that happened on the trip was that the three of us figured out a way of all living in the same hotel room every day for twenty days, and living in the same Jeep for twenty days, all without killing each other. That’s pretty cool.

For years, I’ve been talking about how I’d love to move to Idaho or Montana. For me, this trip was an opportunity to check out some of that territory — spending a week there between Glacier NP and Yellowstone NP — and see if Montana lived up to the images in my head. In a couple of words, it did, and probably has turned up the temperature on my desire to get up there just a little bit.

Another great realization is that Yellowstone NP is only three (kinda long) days or so away from here by driving. That accessibility means I will likely be making plans to revisit Yellowstone over the upcoming years.

Yep, it was a great trip…. sleeping in my bed tonight will be great too!

Vacation

GAR: Day Nineteen – Rapid City SD to Council Bluffs IA (530mi)

Once again, thunderstorms struck overnight. Nothing as big as the storms in Gillette, but still enough to wake me up.

Today was a driving day, along with two stops planned. Our first was Wall Drug in Wall SD. I lived in Nebraska for over seven years, and after seeing the many signs for Wall Drug, I never made it up there. I intended to change that on this trip.

How do you describe Wall Drug? Well, it’s the size of a full city block in a town with a population of just under 1000, and houses just about anything the weary traveler could possibly want. You can get film, coffee mugs, postcards, jewelry, free ice water, coffee for a nickel…. well, you get the idea. This place is a smörgÃ¥sbord of kitschy stuff, and well worth the stop. We spent almost two hours between breakfast, browsing and panning for gems. Yep, you can do just about anything at Wall Drug.

Pointing the Jeep eastward, we headed to our next corny destination — the Corn Palace in Mitchell SD. Another place I’d heard about when I lived in the upper midwest, it was another classic destination I’d never visited. Basically, the exterior of this concert hall/basketball stadium is reworked every year using thousands of bushels of corn and grains. Impressive work! Inside was a cornucopia of Corn Palace related items for sale on the basketball floor. After picking up a few souvenirs and taking some photos, we got the Jeep pointed toward Sioux Falls SD.

We’d planned to only go as far as Sioux Falls, but I still had some steam in the engine, so we pushed on to Sioux City IA. And once we got there, I figured out that we could make an easier push to St. Louis tomorrow if we pushed on to Council Bluffs IA or Omaha NE. What we forgot about was that the College World Series was just wrapping up tonight, and that there were Olympic trials in Omaha. The nearest hotel we could find easily was well over 25 miles west of downtown Omaha, which wasn’t what we wanted to find! Somehow, Becky found a place in Council Bluffs, and was the only room they had — that seems to be a theme with us! We pulled in, checked in, and slept a sound sleep.

Vacation

GAR: Day Eighteen – Gillette WY to Rapid City SD (256mi)

Last night’s rains broke, and revealed a wonderful blue sky this morning. That was good news, as we had three stops on the docket for today.

This morning, we left Gillette, heading for Devils Tower National Monument. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid to see this monument… and way before Close Encounters of the Third Kind featured it as a landing strip! I can remember seeing a US stamp from the 1930’s with the Tower on it, and I was smitten.

We drove off the interstate, headed toward the Tower, topped a hill, and there it was! Out of this rolling farmland was this towering form, reaching skyward. It was a really cool moment for me. We drove on to the monument grounds, flashed our park pass, and headed to the welcome center.

As we learned, there are many Native American legends about the Tower, and the mythology associated with it. I also learned that this is a very sacred place to the tribes in the area, who see this as a holy site. I have a lot of respect for that. In fact, when we drove around to the other side of the Tower to get a better view, there was a sign warning us not to disturb prayer bundles left by the local tribes. Very cool, and very serene.

We also tried to fly a kite while we were on the backside of the monument — wide open spaces and some wind — but there just wasn’t enough wind to keep the big kite aloft. Sio had a tiny little fairy kite, and it flew like crazy. Go figure. 🙂

We left Devils Tower, and eventually crossed into South Dakota, heading toward our second stop of the day, Mt. Rushmore National Memorial. I don’t think I’ve been to a national park or monument that was so built up. I guess I figured it was like many others — you just drive up, take a walk, see the monument, and then leave. Not here. Rushmore has a vendor-run parking complex, an enormous front arch, and a sidewalk shaded with flags from the 50 states plus US possessions. Once you pass all that, there are several rows of bench seating for pondering the monument… and an entire open-air auditorium below for watching the nightly lighting ceremony. It looks like hundreds of folks could experience that from the valley floor. Unfortunately, our schedule wouldn’t accommodate hanging around for the lighting very well. Maybe next time.

The thing that struck me most was the size of the monument. It’s big, but I really expected it to be bigger. Don’t get me wrong — the heads are massive in size — but I was expecting heads on a gargantuan scale. Not a disappointment, but like most of the rest of Mt. Rushmore, it was part of learning about what must certainly be one of the most visited national monuments.

A short distance away from Mt. Rushmore is the Crazy Horse Memorial. Aside from being a cool work-in-progress, it’s a great example of one man’s dream being borne out, one chip or blast at a time. I wasn’t aware of the scale and scope of this monument. This thing will be huge when it’s finished, somewhere near six times the size of Mt. Rushmore. That’s amazing. What’s more amazing is that this family operation has been carrying on for over fifty years. Just about ten years ago, the head of Crazy Horse was finished and unveiled, and it is amazing to see it across a huge valley and realize the enormity the sculpture will have.

The plans for this site don’t end with the monument either. There are big plans for a Native American university with a huge campus full of buildings. This is one impressive dream. I don’t know if I’ll live to see it completed, but it will be a very cool site/facility when they’re done.

Vacation

GAR: Day Seventeen – West Yellowstone MT to Gillette WY (462mi)

With Sio feeling better, we headed for eastern Wyoming today, leaving Yellowstone behind us. This was a glorious place, and I will definitely be coming back.

Once again, we were treated to a change in landscape today. The high peaks around Yellowstone gave way to the rolling hills of eastern Wyoming as we made our way east. I really hated to see the mountains dwindle in my rear view mirror — I really love being in and around them! — but I know I’ll be back in the mountains again.

When we got to Gillette, we realized we got in just ahead of a huge thunderstorm complex. That means lightning, and that means I’m out shooting. The hotel had a concrete canopy (an old drive through) that I used as a shelter, and shot some amazing lightning images. This is the first chance I’ve had to use the Lightning Trigger since the trip began, and it was great to be out there in the lightning again!

Vacation

GAR: Day Fifteen – West Yellowstone MT

This was a planned goof-off day. We started the day with some breakfast — blueberry pancakes! — and wandered about West Yellowstone, looking for souvenirs and gifts.

Today was the hottest day of our stay, and with no wind, the apparent state bird of Montana — mosquitoes — came out in droves. I have never seen so many, so large skeeters in my life. I truly believe that an unaccompanied child could be carried away by these swarms!

Becky and Sio decided to take in some local entertainment tonight, and saw a production of Hello Dolly at The Playmill. The Playmill is a tiny theatre in West Yellowstone, probably seating a couple hundred patrons, named after the windmill on the front of the building. Beck and Sio both seemed to enjoy the show. Me? I stayed “home” and packed, getting us ready for tomorrow!

Vacation

GAR: Day Fourteen – Yellowstone NP

After yesterday’s wonderful day in the park, I figured there couldn’t be much that could be improved upon. I believe I was wrong!

We started the day doing laundry. Hooray! 🙂 Not exciting, but an essential part of a trip like this. We each packed enough clothes to keep the laundry work to a minimum, shooting for two laundry days.

Since we’re in West Yellowstone MT, there’s only one way to conveniently get into the park, and once you’ve entered, it’s the same 14 miles every time. And after a full day in the park yesterday, we felt like old pros, not necessarily needing to stop for every bison on the side of the road. 🙂 Our goal today was to get to the northeast part of the park, eventually getting to the Lamar Valley.

We made our way to the Canyon Lodge for a little lunch. It was pretty late in the afternoon by the time we’d gotten to the lodge, so the lines were non-existent, but I really get the sense that this part of the park isn’t quite as well-traveled as some of the other parts we visited yesterday. It was nice to see fewer crowds and quieter roads in parts of the park.

While at Canyon Lodge, Darla signed us up with the Yellowstone Association. This group devotes most of the money they bring in to the preservation of Yellowstone, and education of folks about Yellowstone and its beauty. I can’t help but support folks with these goals in mind — were it not for organizations like this, I wouldn’t have places like Yellowstone, Yosemite and others to inspire me and take my breath away.

Another feature of Yellowstone that I’d heard a ton about was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This is a mammoth gorge carved out by the Yellowstone River, visually not unlike the Grand Canyon in Arizona. At one end of the gorge is the Lower Falls, and from Artist Point, you can stare right down the gorge into the falls, probably half-a-mile away. This place was crowded, with every photographic tour stopping to get this classic view of Yellowstone in their cameras. A little patience though, and I was able to get my tripod set up and focus on the beauty of this waterfall. This is definitely a place I will visit again, hiking around as much as I can so I can really take it all in.

We’d heard about the Lamar Valley since we arrived at Yellowstone, and it’s being dubbed the Serengeti of Yellowstone. It is a beautiful area — a long way from West Yellowstone, maybe three hours northeast — full of lush vegetation, streams and rivers, and all the wildlife you could possibly want to see. We saw loads of pronghorns, but more importantly, herds and herds of bison.

Any text talking about the Old West will talk about how the plains were black with bison before man nearly eradicated them. While I’m sure our sightings were nowhere close to those described long ago, but it was exciting to us to see these large herds, thriving on the plains. Sio was trying to count them all, and there were easily hundreds of bison visible in the valley. It was a sight to see.

We drove through a lot of the northeastern part of the upper loop of the park through the afternoon, heading toward Mammoth Hot Springs. As we’d heard a ton, just look for the traffic jam, and that’s where the animals are. As we continued around the loop, we came to a dead stop to see…. a black bear! The bear was coming up the hill toward the passenger side of the Jeep, and looked like he was on an intersect course for our vehicle. Becky and Sio got a great view of him before the park rangers started breaking up the traffic jam, and encouraged us to move along. Dunno if the bear would’ve come up to the Jeep or not, but it was one of the more exciting moments of the trip.

We finally got to the Fort Yellowstone/Mammoth Hot Springs area, but we didn’t really stop. This is a living quarters area for folks who run the park, and although there is a visitor center here, we arrived too late to visit it. The Mammoth Hot Springs is a giant, oozing hot spring, towering over any other volcanic-related feature we’ve seen. You can climb it (via boardwalks and stairs), but it was a lot of stairs, and it was too late in the day for us. We did do a “drive-through” on a path that went around the big springs, but it was just gawking for us — no hiking by this point of the day!

With darkness encroaching, we continued our drive toward West Yellowstone… only to see another black bear! This little guy was ambling through the forest, moving away from us, but that didn’t stop a dozen or more cars from pulling over, getting out, and gawking.

After our second bear encounter, we pointed toward West Yellowstone, and despite the late hour we got back to West Yellowstone, the crazy sun was still up… I just can’t get used to how late the sun is up out here!

Vacation

GAR: Day Twelve – East Glacier MT to West Yellowstone MT (375mi)

This morning, we started with breakfast at the Whistle Stop. We’d had two very nice dinners there, and the menu advertised the best french toast in the world. French toast is one of Beck’s favorites, so we had to try it. I’d say they lived up to their billing. I won’t spill any secrets about it, but it was the biggest and best french toast I’ve ever seen. Add to that the atmosphere. We were waited on by a self-proclaimed “crazy Polish guy” who was in East Glacier because he had a flat tire, and never left. He was an amazing waiter and knew his stuff!

We let the GPS lead us toward West Yellowstone through all kinds of Montana highways. As we got an hour or so away from West Yellowstone, we began to see ominous storm clouds roiling over the mountains with massive rain shafts. We could see the rain pouring around us, but were fortunate enough to only get a few sprinkles. The image of the clouds against the mountains was really amazing, and I’m sure the photos we grabbed of the event won’t do it justice.

West Yellowstone is a lot busier than East Glacier was. There’s a couple of big main streets of shopping and Yellowstone-related stuff (tours, etc.), and loads of folks running around. Beck lined us up four nights at Al’s Westward Ho, and as we’ve discovered, we could walk right into the park entrance from here. I’m very surprised and pleased with how close we are to the park.

Tomorrow, we head into the park, and begin our exploration of Yellowstone…

Vacation

GAR: Day Eleven – Glacier NP

Today was a down day for us, tying up loose ends, and doing some journeying on our own. After sleeping in a bit, followed by a big breakfast, we set out for West Glacier MT, and the other side of the park. Obviously, we woulda preferred to do this over the Going-to-the-Sun Road, but with it close, the only path was Highway 2 around the southern rim of Glacier NP — about 55mi.

On the west side, we stopped in Apgar Village, got some directions, and looked around. Generally, everyone we talked to said that Lake McDonald was the place to visit, so we drove up to the lodge there, and arranged for a boat tour around the lake. It’s the biggest lake in the park, about 10mi long and 1.5mi wide, and was gorgeous. Our boat, the DeSmet, chugged about 80 of us around the lake for an hour. We had one of the park guides tell us loads about the lake, and stories about the people who live there. It was a fantastic tour, and a great way to spend the early afternoon.

Once arriving back on dry land, we souvenir shopped, ate some lunch, and made the big drive back to our lodge. We had packing to do, and basically wanted to wind down and relax, given tomorrow’s drive to Yellowstone.

So Beck asked if we’d come back again. I’d be back in a second! She asked what we’d do. For me, it was hiking and photographing, and probably doing all that in winter. 🙂 For her, it was fishing and painting. And for Sio, it was sitting on a porch someplace, reading a book.

Glacier has been so good and so relaxing. I’ve slept like I haven’t slept in a very long time, and I’ve been inspired like never before. This was a great place to visit, and I’ve got to figure out how to get back up here.

Tomorrow: Yellowstone!

Vacation

GAR: Day Ten – Glacier NP

We spent most of the day on the Red Bus, touring around the eastern part of Glacier National Park. With the Going-to-the-Sun Road still closed, that left the typically cross-park tours only servicing one half of the park or the other. Come 9am, we were on the bus and cruising with our “jammer”, Stan.

As I understand it, the drivers are called jammers because in the old days, the vehicles shifted badly, and the drivers were jamming the gears. Now, the red busses are automatics, with 5.4L V8s, running on propane. Big difference from the old days, I suppose.

With the big snow here last week, the streams are like rivers. Everywhere you looked, there was water running off from on high. Even at the lodge, you can hear the rushing waters non-stop.

We dropped the top on the bus mid-morning, and enjoyed the see through roof. It was like being in my Jeep, only in a longer format! We traveled to Two Falls, and enjoyed watching the pair of falls. Stan told us that the upper fall would be dried up by July — I guess it’s mostly from run off.

One of our stops was Many Glacier Lodge. This place had a beautiful view of Two Medicine Lake, which was surrounded on one end my mountains. The lodge was built like a Swiss chalet, and really had a European feel to it. We ate lunch there, and moved on.

We did get to look at a glacier — Jackson Glacier. We were told that there are less than 20 glaciers left in the park. In the 1800s there were over a hundred. Most of the drivers and folks we’ve talked to seem to think this is just part of a cyclical pattern. Myself, well, I think I believe something else!

After eight hours on the road, we returned to our lodge, exhausted, and ready for dinner and sleep…