(28) The Copper Country, Houghton & Hancock Michigan

The Copper Country
Hancock/Houghton Michigan

I’ve arrived in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) where the folks are known at Yoopers. My sister Ann still lives here, but has big plans for a move. She’s planning on moving to Minneapolis to be closer to one of her daughters and to find a better paying job. She has the education and experience in the field of elder care, working in an assisted living facility and I know she’ll be able to find a much better job in a bigger city.

I’m staying again at the Hancock Beach campground, $18 a night for elect. & cable T.V. The campsites aren’t as pretty as last year, as they’ve had virtually no rain all summer and all the grass has died out. Many of the leaves on the trees are wilted from lack of rain and a couple of the maple trees have already turned color from the lack of rain.

This is a time to relax and just hang out. Ann of course has to work so we don’t get a chance to see each other every day as her work schedule changes constantly.

There’s a short walk through the woods lining the Portage lake canal that leads to the swimming beach. I love walking along this old path, listening to the birds and the gentle lapping of the water against the rocky shore line. The trees forming a canopy overhead. Occasionally the wake of a boat will reach shore and I can hear the crashing of waves for a couple of minutes… then back to the quite lapping of water once again.

My home town of Houghton is getting some grant money and a number of downtown building are sprucing up, putting new siding on and renovating a number of the stores. This town has such potential being a University town. It’s nice to see improvements being made. I had lunch at a fairly new chain restaurant called Joey’s Seafood and Grill. It’s Canadian owned and is a pleasant touch of urban upscale in an historical town. The foods pretty good too.

Driving past the Swedish Lutheran Church where I was baptized and went to Sunday school as a young boy, the Lode Theatre where we used to get a summer season pass to see all the great serials like The Lone Ranger or Superman who always ended up in a cliff hanger, (to be solved the next week) cartoons and a movie, and the Carnegie Library where I learned to improve my reading skills and gained a love of books.

I’ve been to the Quincy Mine for tours of the mine and inside some of the buildings, but on Wed. I took a walking tour of the grounds led by a young ranger. A perfect day, sparkling sunny and the temperature hovering around 82 degrees. We walked around some of the abandoned machinery, learning how each piece had a specific purpose for mining copper, peaking into one of the old company homes with it’s layers of wallpaper peeling off. Wallpaper was a real hit back in the early 1900’s. Initials and dates carved on the old wood siding by youngsters just learning reading and writing. Talking about the local history in the shade of the birch trees, seeing the water towers used along the railroad lines for the steam engines and how they had wood or coal heaters to keep the water from freezing in winter. They used steam hoists in the mines and train cars would drive right through the steam hoist buildings to deliver the coal, an operation that ran 24 hours a day.

Watching the local news from Marquette or Escanaba, some of the news broadcasters being very young and inexperienced. Almost embarrassing to watch. The big story in Hancock is the new condo building that has gone up right next to the lift bridge. Although they had gotten approved to build the Condo’s, they didn’t have final plans for connecting water/sewer lines or access to the extra parking needed. Besides that, the builders apparently went over the height restrictions and construction has been halted. No one in the community likes this new building and are upset that it blocks some of the view of the bridge. Progress is difficult up here in the U.P.

Hancock is celebrating Grandmothers by displaying stories of local Grandma’s on old doors artistically painted. Cute but a bit overdone. There are a lot of decorated doors in town.
Ann and I had another outing, going to Ming’s Restaurant up on the hill in Houghton. Excellent Chinese food, perfectly prepared and piping hot. We then went to a Used book store and had fun finding some great books to read. An evening of playing domino’s and eating popcorn with Ann and Jim (Ann won) and we completed a fun day together.

Simple pleasures, small towns, Dollar Bay, Calumet, Laurium, Gay, Eagle Harbor, country drives surrounded by maple, birch and pine forests, views of Portage Lake and Lake Superior, squirrels and chipmunks playing around the campsites.

(27) St Cloud, Duluty Minnesota, Apostle Islands Wisconsin

St Cloud, Minn.

Duluth, Minn.

Apostle Islands, Wisconsin

Lake Superior

A new time zone and a new state. Temp in the mid to high 70’s. This evening it got down to 49 degrees.

When I travel, I try to observe the surroundings and notice small changes especially between states, which in many cases can be quite dramatic. South Dakota, except for the Black Hills and Bad Lands to the West is all prairie. But it changes very subtly from prairie grasses out west, to gradually more cultivated wheat and grain farms going east, to finally corn fields, sunflowers and other rich farm lands nourished by regular rains. Big sky where you can see thunder storms rolling in from miles away.

The changes into Minnesota, it’s western edge ending the prairie landscape, moves into some of the most lush farmlands I’ve seen all year. Finding a jazz station on the radio, far out from any large or even small towns, providing some good music that seems perfect with this pastoral scenery. Small rural communities along hwy 23, some with as few as 114 pop. And right on the final edge of the prairie, with it’s constant winds, I come across a huge Wind Farm. Those massive three bladed windmills producing tons of free electricity for their communities, spread out from the N.W. to the S.E along the tops of gentle rolling farm lands.
Each farm with it’s silos, barns, farmhouse and outbuildings all congregated together, usually all painted or accented in the same colors of straw yellow, powder blues or shades of green and the more typical barn red of course. Trimmed in crisp white or against the brushed weathered aluminum of the silos or the gray concrete. One in particular was done in an historic tan, white trim and the grayish metal of the aluminum and looked striking against the deep rich green trees and fields. These are some of the best maintained and healthy farm lands I’ve seen in three years of travels. I also noticed that virtually all of the homes are well maintained as well, very rarely seeing a mobile home anywhere. Actually there are, but they are manufactured homes with regular siding and all are on permanent foundations, many I’m sure with basements.

Ponds and lakes are dotted evenly throughout the state and I’ve seen many signs for “resorts” along the lake frontage. The entire state is cottage country, where so many folks have a camp next to a lake, many times just 20 miles from their home. But much of my travel through the state has been a bit on the edge, since my truck has been giving me problems again. A slight hesitation, feeling that one or more of the spark plugs are miss firing and a loss of over 1-2 miles per gallon. So I had Settled into St. Cloud MN, in the very center of the state, so that I could bring it in for a check up and repairs. A Chevy dealer in town, Gilleland’s, was able to get me in first thing in the morning. Good thing because stuff like this are the few things that give me sleepless nights. They ended up giving the truck a fuel injection and piston cleaning and I’m pretty sure that did the trick. Something I understand they recommend being done every 15,000 miles and my truck has 86,000 miles on it. Opps.

Heading north north east on the road to Duluth, the farms in this area have not had the good luck of the southern portion of the state, having little rain, most of their crops already lost. The farms are smaller as well, with more woods growing around them as the scenery changes to full northern forest. The type of country I grew up in. Rock outcroppings over much of the land, some rocks with moss growing on them in the shade of the maple trees that will turn those vibrant fall colors in only a little over a months time.

Hwy 23 ends at hwy 35 which will carry me north into Duluth and finally the roads smooth out. Gloriously smooth asphalt. I exit 4 miles before entering Duluth to get to the campground on Spirit Mountain. I’m camping on top of a ski resort. If it weren’t for the trees I’d have a splendid view of Duluth with it’s shipping harbor and Lake Superior. The largest of the great lakes. Containing 10% of the worlds fresh water and at it‘s deepest, 1,333 feet deep. Jump in, the water about 40 degrees on average.

Entering Duluth from the south end on hwy 35, I get an awesome view of the city below. Descending down the gentle curving highway, I’m able to see both Duluth and Superior Wisconsin on the other side. Deep forested hillsides, bridges spanning the busy waterway, with train depots and ship yards surrounding the bay and Lake superior with it’s deep blue waters reaching out to the northern horizon with Canada invisible on the other side.

My new friend, Paulie, who joined the Roving Reports through a mutual friend of mine from work, Nancy, has been forwarding my reports on up to Paulie in Duluth. Paulie and I went on a short tour of Duluth to get me acquainted with the area. I was also to meet Paulie’s daughter, Amanda and her friend Stephanie the next day for brunch at Amazing Grace. A cool diner in the basement of a hip downtown shopping area. Right on the water and their famous lift bridge. We timed it right, and we were able to see one of the massive ore boats coming in off the Lake Superior. They are huge massive ships transporting all the raw materials like coal, iron ore and grain in the fall, vie the inland seas of the Great lakes. Paulie has a relative who worked on the ore freighters and she has actually been on them out at sea. Isn’t that just too cool.

Now you have to watch those Duluth drivers…. Paulie, who actually lives across the river in Superior Wisconsin, went through a red light in the heart of downtown … Actually it was partially my fault, since we were both talking up a storm. Oh, and when I met up with Stephanie and Amanda the following day, did I mention they are both Classical Ballet Dancers! Can you imagine, I was escorted around town by two beautiful, and thin, (how to make someone feel fat), young professionals living an artistic life in this mix of both an industrial town, shipping center, and a cosmopolitan town all rolled into one. Amanda was super kind to treat us to brunch and then we all walked around their wonderful Lake side promenade. Passing more shops and restaurants (Fitger‘s renovated brewery), a rose garden that is very spectacular, a grassy park overlooking the lake where they set up an inflatable movie screen and have free movies at night, past the Leafe Erickson ship (currently shrink wrapped for protection) and a statue of Leafe as well. I even got to see the historic Grain Stock Exchange, where the Ballet Company currently resides.

There are just a ton of touristy things to see and do and I will not begin to be able to get to all of them. They have two Train rides one can take as well as a Train museum, a couple of boat tours, aquariums (don’t waste your time on this one… only lake fish are in the aquariums), a zoo and tons of museums to visit. A couple of historic mansions, including one that has a scandalous death involved with it. Who knew Duluth could have such interesting things to see and do.

I visited the William A Irvin freighter today. A huge 600 ft freighter (the new ones are 1,000 ft) that once hauled coal and ire ore. One of the tourists, a woman who had just had knee surgery a week earlier and was climbing up and down all those ladder steps, was there because her father worked on ships like this for 40 years, working up from cabin boy all the way to becoming the ships captain. Her father also was on the maiden voyage of the Edmond Fitzgerald. The freighter that sank during a violent storm on Lake Superior.

A Hidden Undiscovered place.

My last day in Duluth ended up being cut short, as the campground I was in had my campsite reserved for someone else and they had asked me to move. But when I packed up to move, there was someone on the other campsite as well. So I decided to head out a short distance over into Wisconsin and go to the Apostle Islands area. Most people don’t even realize that Wisconsin has lake shore on both Lake Michigan and Lake Superior and the northern Superior end is a true hidden gem.

The Apostle Islands (20 islands in all) is one of the newest National parks, as of 1970 and an additional island was added in 1986. I think it just popped up out of the lake.
To let you know how undiscovered this area is, Paulie, my guide in Duluth was not even aware that there were tour boats going out to the islands. She thought the only way to get to them was by kayak. And I’ve got to tell you, this is a true boaters paradise. One can kayak through the island chain, camp out on many of the islands and explore sea caves and 6 light houses. I took the scenic narrated cruise which went past the recently renovated Raspberry Island Lighthouse and a fish camp on one of the other islands. It was a two hour cruise, the one I really wanted to go on was a 4 hour sunset cruise that went by a couple more lighthouses and the sea caves. There are cruises that stop on Raspberry Island so you can tour the lighthouse as well as others that leave you on one of the island for a couple of hours of hiking and adventure or overnight for camping. Or you can take a ferry over to the only island that’s inhabited and visit their museum and see what it‘s like to live on an island out in Lake Superior. There are even private sail boats that will take you on a more individualized tour. What fun.

I will definitely come back and explore this area when I have more time. The small towns on the peninsula, Washburn, where I’m staying at one of two city campgrounds and Bayfield where the boats go out to the islands are charming. Bayfield has lots of B&B’s, houses for rent as well as quaint hotels and churches all nestled along the forested hills overlooking the Apostle Islands and the marina. Bayfield in particular looks like an undiscovered seaside village. Well, not exactly undiscovered, we tourist do fill up the town with our cars.

Now this is really something too. In between the two main towns, is The Big Top Chautauqua Tent on Mt. Ashwabay, where they have summer music performances from July through August. Almost every night of the week! Of course a couple of big performers like Willie Nelson and the Garrison Keillor show perform here. I have got to come back. A number of radio stations broadcast the shows and their on the internet as well.

Note to campers, the two city parks in Washburn charge $20 a night for elect. And cable T.V. $15 a night w/ no hookups. Cheaper rates are available for weekly and seasonal stays. Chequamegon Natl. Forest has numerous campgrounds as well. Bayfield also has a couple of campgrounds, one on a cliff overlooking the islands, but I didn’t check them out.

Final note, if you’re a lighthouse lover, you simply must take a circle tour of Lake Superior or all of the great lakes if you have the time.

Whew,,,, I almost burned up the keyboard on this report.

(26) Hot Springs, Mt Rushmore, Blackhills South Dakota

Hot Springs SD
Mt Rushmore SD
Blackhills Forest SD

Custer State Park SD

Howdy Partner from out west. After leaving the Devils Tower area in Wyoming, I crossed over the border into SW corner of South Dakota. I decided to make my camping area around Hot Springs South Dakota because the bike rally is going on up further north in Sturgis SD not far from Mt Rushmore. The rally begins around the 1st of Aug and goes through the 14th. So if you decide to travel out this way, you may wish to avoid that timeframe as there are literally thousands of bikers in the area. And one has to be cautious. I almost had a biker run into me when he swerved into my lane. Fortunately, I was able to swerve on the shoulder as he swerved back into his lane and we avoided what could have been a deadly accident for him.
But getting back to adventures. The Hot Springs SD area has one major attraction, which is the Mammoth Site, besides of course the natural healing springs in the area. If I soak in and drink anymore healings waters as I cross the country, I may become a superman.

The Mammoth site is where large Mammoth got trapped in a sinkhole depression with a natural spring feeding into it 26,000 years ago. The large mammoth would climb down into the sinkhole for water and couldn’t get out. This is the only site “in situ”, meaning the bones have been left in-place. A 20,000 sq ft visitor center covers the entire site for tours and continued digs. How exciting to see an actual dig that is ongoing and to see the discoveries still intact where they were found.

Other finds include camel, giant short-faced bear and antelope. The site was discovered when digging began for a new housing development back in 1974. So this is a very recent discovery.

After spending a couple of days in the area, I drove up early in the morning to get to Mt Rushmore before the bikers descended on the area. My timing was perfect and I had no problem getting to Mt Rushmore. What a spectacular area of the country. I drove through vast prairie land, with grasses so uniform, it looked like someone had come through and trimmed it. Then I traveled west into the Black hills and was met by these ancient hills covered in forest. A wonderful contrast as I descended and rose again through the mountain range and forest before arriving at the small town of Keystone, pop. 311, just outside of Mt Rushmore. I would have liked to have had lunch there after visiting Mt Rushmore, but the town was already completely covered with motorcycles. No place for a big ol truck to park.
I had a neat conversation with one of the history buffs in the Gutzon Borglum studio. We discussed Borglum’s desire to have a Hall of Records built. Mr. Borglum had already started to build the hall of records (behind Lincoln’s head) without telling the backers of the project. When they found out, they had him stop it and complete the statues first. Probably a good idea, because he died right after completing the last statue. His idea was that all great civilizations die out eventually and there should be a record to go with the monument to tell people what it represented. I think we should encourage Congress to fund the completion of the Hall of records and store all the knowledge possible in some form (CD’s, DVD’s or some readable format) of the great knowledge of the world.

Could we have a nuclear disaster, an asteroid that could wipe out most of the population or an epidemic that could kill most of the population (currently at 6 billion people) or a holy war that would destroy this country and much of the knowledge of the world. Who knows. Having the worlds knowledge stored in a safe place, could help a civilization rebuild. Ok, I’ve ready way to many history and sci-fi books. But it’s something to think about. Think about it, what do we know about the Druids, The Anasazi, the Pyramid builders, the Aztec (who had thousands of written books but the Jesuit Priests destroyed all of them) and Mayan cultures. Only what little evidence they left behind.

Oh, his relatives were able to collect enough funds and have installed a small Titanium vault and deposited information on the four Presidents and some history of this country and printed it on porcelain plates. Partially fulfilling his dream.

I decided to take the “scenic” route back to the campground and discovered why the bikers like to ride in this area. Besides all the neat attractions, the Black Hills area has some super great twisty roads to bike on. For a truck like mine, not so much fun, but what the heck, it’s an adventure. Leaving Keystone, I drove through the Black Hills via 16a. A road that is not only curvy twisty, but has corkscrew roads and a half dozen tunnels to go through. Now you’ll have to picture this cause theirs no way I could stop and take a picture. The corkscrew roads area actually tight, really tight, circular roads spiraling upwards, that come around and over themselves, via log bridges, suspended high above the corkscrew below. Then, with bikers now in front and behind me, we travel over one way bridges and into tunnels that can only fit one vehicle at a time. Honk before you enter, to let the vehicles coming from the other direction know your coming through. Occasionally the narrow two lane road splits into single lanes each way, around the Black Hill trees and gullies.

Then as if that wasn’t enough, I enter the Custer State Park and the Wind Cave National Park via the Wildlife Loop Rd. Now with all of the motorcycles making a dearth of noise, I didn’t think I’d see much wildlife. The views expanded back between forest and prairie landscape dotted with evergreens spaced to look like a very well designed and manicured park. Well, lo and behold, wildlife was everywhere. Needless to say, us bigger vehicles and the bikers were constantly stopping, literally right on the road to take pictures. South Dakota’s largest bison herd is here, burro’s, and American Pronghorn Antelope. Wow! It’s like they all came out to say hi. Oh, if anyone is still in contact with Beverly Heroy, let her know that I saw the neat burro’s and I understand why her and her husband have gone into raising them. They are the darndest cute things you’ve ever seen.

Would a tour of South Dakota be complete without visiting the SD Hall of Fame? Tom Brokaw, Vana White (couldn‘t find Vana‘s picture) … and other notable folks…. Well, I wouldn’t go out of my way, lets put it that way.

I did do some off the beaten path touring, looking for Ft Defiance. Couldn’t find it, but did go through a Sioux Tribe Reservation and along the road overlooking the Missouri River (really awesome views), I stopped to take a few pictures. Looking into a gully, I spotted a car! Not sure if an accident just occurred or not. Got closer and closer and it looked like it had been there maybe a couple of months, but still relatively new. Didn’t see any dead bodies so I took some pictures and reported it to the local police. Come to find out, it’s on reservation land, and has been there for at least 4-6 months. No one is in any hurry to recover it. Looked like a fairly decent car. Abandoned after the accident.

I’m crossing the state on hwy 90. Think about it. I’ve started in the southern states going across hwy 10 and now I’m up along the northern states going across the highest federal highway. Wow. In any case, I had to stop in Wall Drug Store. It’s world famous as one of the biggest drugstores and most unique. Actually it has a bunch of kitschy stuff and lots and lots of tourist junk for sale. It reminded me of a haphazard country store that kept expanding into the next strip mall store next to it. Knocking out walls or openings into the next section. Eventually taking up nearly a whole block. Interesting for a state that doesn’t have too much going between one end to the other. A great state to drive through and enjoy the prairie scenery. Farms and ranches that are described in the thousands of acres, not hundreds.

My final big stop was in Mitchell SD. The Corn Palace. This is a must see. Originally built back in 1892 to dispel the Lewis and Clarks assessment that the prairie lands were only suitable for buffalo and that nothing could grow here except grass. The Corn Palace was built to display all of the agricultural products that are grown in South Dakota. This is the third palace, built in 1921. The façade is redone each year at a cost of over $100,000. That’s a lot of corn and grains. It’s a nice town overall as well. I also stopped at a prehistoric Mandan Indian village (1,000 years old) that’s covered by an Archedome for archeological digs and study. Approx 70-80 lodges were built on this site and they are discovering new secrets about the Indian lifestyle with each successive dig.

PS, I’m staying in a small park that’s next to the site where the outlaw Jesse James leaped across Devil’s Gulch with his horse to avoid being captured after robbing a bank in Minn. With his brother Frank.

(25) Billings Montanta, Sheridan, Devils Tower Wyoming

Billings Montana
Sheridan Wyoming
Devils Tower Wyoming

Excerpt from a message to my friend Patrick R.

“Odd you should mention the moon. I almost wrote about the moon the other night, my last night in Yellowstone. I was sitting outside till about 9:30, not really wanting to go inside. The weather was just perfect and the evenings setting sun was … lighting up the mountain ranges opposite my campsite. The mountain ranges on the other side of the valley creating a soft overlapping V shape as the sky continued to turn darker and darker. Then, almost ET like, a light appeared over the top of one of the mountains. It was so bright, I at first thought, it must be some kind of electric light. Within minutes of course, I was able to see a full moon as it appeared over the ridge. The night was so clear and the moon was so bright, I could make out all of the craters and features on the surface of the moon.... I swear, if man were still on the moon, I'm sure I would have been able to see them.”

After leaving Yellowstone (elevation 7,500 ft) and descending down into Montana, I was surprised at how much warmer it is. Like it got up to 102 today! While in Yellowstone, it would get into the mid 80’s most days and as soon as the sun started going down, the temp was just awesome. Cool and refreshing. I’m at a city campground (Lauren) just outside of Billings, next to the Yellowstone River and a refinery on the other side of the road. Yes, an oil refinery that makes gas for folks in Minn. And Wisconsin. Can you imagine. In Montana. Who knew Montana could get so hot.

I was watching the boats come out of the river this evening. They’re called ski boats. Big aluminum hulls. They have the same type of jet propulsion as a jet ski. No propeller and can they move across this fast moving river. They tell me they’re great because when the river gets low, they can travel in about 4 inches of water and not have to worry about all the river rocks. Imagine. Wouldn’t it be great if we had that kind of boat in Florida to save the Manatees. No propellers to cut up the Manatees.

Did you know Montana has less than 1 million people in the whole state? Now that’s space to roam. Also noticed all the buildings have a vestibule. You know, an extra set of doors going into a place before you get into the store proper, to keep the cold out. It must really get cold up here. Like minus 32 in the winter. Yikees!

Odd to see The Yellowstone river next to a refinery, next to a small cattle ranch, next to cornfields, growing right up to the edge of the highway overpass. And you can find a casino on just about every corner, even in the local gas stations. Haven’t gone in one yet, but might before moving on. And what’s Kino?

Heading out from Billings MT, I’ve traveling hwy 90, which curves down into Wyoming and then east. Along the way, is the Little Bighorn Battlefield (formerly Custer’s Last Stand) National Monument. All the way driving there, I had in the back of my mind a little prayer that I would get something out of it, besides American soldiers killing Indians (Lakota and Cheyenne among others) and vice versa… and considering the Indians won in this instance.

As fortune would have it, I joined a historical discussion led by Francis Takes Enemy, a Native American. What was supposed to be a simple discussion on the gear that the Army had to carry, 150 lbs, as they went into battle, ended up being a slice of life at the time this all occurred back in 1876.

Many that had joined the army were immigrants who spoke no English and needed money. It was a way for them to learn English and earn enough to start a new life. However, Army rules were very strict and they had an over 8% suicide rate. It was a lonely existence out on the prairie.

The Lakota and Cheyenne were nomadic Indians that preferred to move from place to place, mostly following and hunting the Bison. A Treaty was signed in 1868 giving the Indians the right too continue their hunting and also setting aside a large portion of eastern Wyoming as a reservation. When gold was discovered in the area, the pioneers could not be kept out. Although the Army tried. In a secret pact, the President signed an order basically revoking the Indians rights to hunt and trap as per the treaty and told them to go to the reservations immediately.
The Lakota and Cheyenne were tired of the white man backing down all of his agreements and continued to hunt. Ignoring the new edict. The pioneers and Army had little knowledge of the Indians way of life, little regard for their hunting grounds nor knowledge of the treaties that had been signed.

Francis Takes Enemy became passionate about telling the story of her people, and near the end said, “Just like the men that made up of the Army’s under Custer and the two other columns, many of us are descendants of German, French, Irish, Dutch and Italian“. As tears came streaming down her round gentle face, she said, “The one thing I want you to get out of this, is that we need to respect each others cultures, learn from them and live in peace”. Silence. As streams of tears were coming down the faces in the audience. Everyone learning and understanding a bit more today than yesterday.

Healing did begin as early as the 1920’s, when a few of the survivors on both sides met to figuratively bury the hatchet. It took until 1991 for George H. W. Bush to sign an act to create an Indian Memorial at the Little Bighorn Battlefield. Finally commemorating the loss to both sides and hopefully the beginning to understanding.

Driving a little further into Wyoming, I land in Sheridan. A truly western town and proud of it. As I drove into town for lunch, I saw 4 young elk with their 3 and 4 point fuzzy antlers walking along the sidewalk in a residential area not more than 3 blocks from town. Trees helping to separate them from the cars slowing down, but continuing to move along the roadway. Now that’s when you know you live in the country!

It’s a very vibrant western town and even though they have a big Wal-Mart on the edge of town, the main street is very active with every store front filled with western clothing stores and just everyday downtown shops and restaurants. I even visited “The Trail End” home of John Benjamin Kendric, built in 1913 in a Flemish Revival style. It took over 5 years to construct and had all the latest electric appliances. Even a built in vacuum cleaner and an elevator. But like many big mansions I‘ve visited, the owners hardly had any time to use it. Actually only one year, since Kendric became Governor and moved his family to Cheyenne and then became a Senator after that. They ended up using it as a “summer home”. Image. His daughter and family eventually lived in it for about 30 years before closing it up.

I’m now traveling through large expanses of rolling prairie land, changing from sage to open grass lands going from horizon to horizon. Erosion wearing away some of the rounded rolling hills creating gullies and deeper valleys.

Wyoming has oil fields dotted among these prairies as well as rich open pit coal mines. The black coal looking shiny against the morning sun.

I was planning on staying in a state park not far from Devils Tower, but ended up missing it and driving with the camper, right to Devils Tower, off the beaten path in the NE corner of Wyoming. My friends Betty and Dave spent a summer hear a couple years ago as camp hosts. Devils Tower is the first National Monument every created. There’s a wonderful mile long trail around the base of the Tower. Perfect, early in the morning before the crowds descend on the place.
Note: I’ve left out a lot of things I toured and took pictures off as they didn’t seem to have a compelling story to be told. Well, maybe the Montana state park that had Indian pictographs in a couple of caves. Unfortunately one can not see 99% of them after they decided to clean them with a sand blaster. Gheeeez.

Ps, ps, I just got back from an evening Ranger talk on climbing the Devils Tower. Interesting, of course I don’t think I would ever climb something like that, but after the talk, and as we are leaving the amphitheatre, looking up at the black silhouette of the Devils Tower, we are able to see climbers lights flickering on the side of the mountain. Can you imagine. It usually takes between 4 and 6 hours on average to climb to the top (taking the easiest route), and a couple of hours coming back down. Many come down in the dark. We were able to see 4 lights flickering as the climbers descended, only their flashlights providing light to see by. Everything else, pitch black.

(24) Grand Teton Wyoming continued.. Yellowstone NP

Grand Teton, Continued….
Yellowstone, South End, Grand Loop, North End

Barely minutes go by, and my adventure continues. Back at the Teton Lodge, I send out my last report and then I find the table and chairs that were used in the signing of an accord between Reagan and Khrushchev. I sit in both chairs, butt to butt where Reagan and Khrushchev sat hoping to pick up a vibe. No vibe today, probably for the better.
I then go outside, and find the path to Lunch Top mountain, where John D Rockefeller the II used to go when he was first introduced to the Grand Tetons. It was his favorite spot to view the mountains and have lunch. The other trails outside of the lodge were all closed due to recent bear sightings. After hiking up the hill, it too had the rest of the trail blocked due to bears in the area. But the views from the top are very inspiring. And probably are what made him decide to buy up so much of the valley for future generations to enjoy.

I then drove over to the Cunningham cabin. One of the original ranch cabins in the Jackson Hole valley. Another one of those places where you walk around the pastures surrounding the cabin, with constant views of the Teton Mountains off in the distance. Prairie dogs peaking their heads out of there dens, or standing on their hind feet, with their front paws just hanging there, looking so darn cute. Solitude and peace fill the air as I silently walk along the dirt paths. Streams gurgling through the pastures. Others come and go, as I walk the paths one more time, not eager to leave this place. I sit on a wooden fence, worn from years of harsh weather and snows. The sun feels warm as I gaze out over those bewitching mountains. What is it about them that makes one constantly want to see them.

Later as I go back to the campsite, more moose are out and everyone has to stop and watch including me. While at the campsite, reading a book, just enjoying a quiet afternoon, a silver fox walks right through my campsite. His big fluffy tail straight out behind him, making him look twice as long as he really is. Wildlife, it’s everywhere. Thrilling. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this place.

And then it’s time to go. I’ve packed up once again, and I’m heading up the road into Yellowstone. You know, it backs right up to The Grand Teton National Park. All yesterday I was in a bit of a tizzy knowing I would be leaving the next day. The Mountains got me good.
But, the excitement of exploring a new destination awaits as I head out early in the morning. I had already driven into Yellowstone a couple days before just to get a feel for the place. Once there, I decided to go check out the main feature, Old Faithful. It is what it is and the hike around to the other steaming caldrons and geysers made for a full day. On my way back, I stopped at the grand Yellowstone Lodge and bumped into my camping neighbors from Teton who had already moved on. What a pleasant surprise. We chatted about old times… (two days ago). They have a cottage up on Lake Tahoe. Invited me to come on up and stay a while…. Now isn’t that nice.

But back to my trip into Yellowstone…. The road is narrow and crosses the Continental Divide a couple of times, so I wanted to get into Yellowstone before the road traffic got too heavy. And to my great surprise, I saw a black bear cross the road. What a great way to start a day. Do you know what the continental divide refers too??? I had a couple ask me and (smarty me) told them it refers to the land where the rivers to the east of the continental divide go east, many connecting to the Missouri and Mississippi and the rivers to the west of the divide flow west. It’s not a straight line by any means and I’ve crossed it numerous times while out west on this trip. The pioneers travels along the Oregon and Santa Fe trail were eager to get to the Continental Divide, hoping to be able to use the western rivers as a means of transportation. Most of the time, they had no idea they had crossed the divide and besides the rivers were too rugged to use for transportation and they had to walk or ride theirs horses the rest of the way.

So you see, a short drive into Yellowstone becomes an adventure and a part of history. I even stopped at one of the Continental Divide signs at 8,762 ft elevation in Yellowstone. A small lake covered with lily pads had the distinction of feeding rivers to the east and west of the divide. Ok, so I thought it was pretty cool anyway.

Today I drove the lower loop in the park. One really gets the feel of the park taking one of their loop tours. Mine took well over 6 hours. This is a big park. The first leg I traveled along the western edge of the Yellowstone Lake, all misty first thing in the morning. Traveling through the park, I was able to see the devastation of the 1988 fires and the rebirth of a forest. The new growth is anywhere from about 10 feet high to about 20 ft. Where ever the burn occurred, I’m able to see the topography so much easier. It’s rather inspiring to see all the new lodge pole pines growing back and so healthy. Fireweed, a lavender wildflower that easily blooms for a couple of years after a devastating fire are still blooming in the open fields. Maybe natures way of saying it’s going to be ok. Hmm maybe that’s why they have cherry blossoms in Washington D.C. each spring…. Hope for a better future.

Although I wasn’t that overly impressed at seeing the Old Faithful area, once you see the caldrons, mud pots, steaming vents, mud volcano’s and bubbling water coming out of the lakes and streams all around the lake and Caldara, it’s much easier to get inspired and awed by the size of this collapsed volcano. Of course it’s still active and knowing that and seeing the visible results really gives one an odd feeling, knowing your inside of an active volcano. I loved the sounds that were made by the dragons tongue. It sounded like a violent ocean crashing out of the cave, the water roaring and churning from the gasses pushing up against the cave opening. Other hissing and gurgling.

From a part of the old forest, with it’s huge lodge pole pines reaching for the skies, the road suddenly opened into a vast rolling prairie, right in the middle of the park. And as if on queue, bison came running across the plains, down into the valleys and back up over the rolling hills. What a site, hearing their hooves pounding and dust flying all around them. An awesome site that gave me a brief glimpse of what it would have been like a hundred years ago when our pioneers first set eyes on the bison. Of course back then, there were, I’ve been told, millions of buffalo and that it would sometimes take days before they would all thunder by.

I still hadn’t seen a male antelope with it’s big antlers and after almost giving up, now heading south back to the campground, I passed a sign that said “Antelope Meadow” and their was a lone antelope and a coyote. Easy to spot, with all the cars and campers pulled over to the side of the road. Both seemed oblivious to all us tourists watching from the edge of the road. The coyote sniffing out his prey, small squirrels and mice, then smelling their scent or movement, he’d leap up and pounce down on them. Catching his prey most times. The antelope and coyote passing each other in complete disregard for each other.

My last three days, I’ve arrived at the north entrance, Mammoth Springs. It’s where a small Army post was first established to protect this new National Park back in the late 1800‘s. Many of the original buildings are here. Since no funds had yet been assigned by congress to pay for staff and make roads and all those essentials in a new park, there were many poachers taking advantage of the big game in the area. The Army helped bring order to this new park while it grew and became what it is today.

My campsite is on the side of a valley, the old Army post, visitor center, museum above me along with Mammoth Springs on top of a plateau. I have an expansive view of the valley with the road leading north out of the park. Opposite me is a high sparsely treed mountain range. Big sky with rolling white clouds above.

Mammoth Springs was ok, except that many of the springs are currently inactive, making the once shimmering pools created by the lime stone mostly dried up. The hike along the extensive boardwalks certainly gives one plenty of exercise. The smell of the old wooden planks wet from a couple of days of rain. An earthy smell, rich and pure. Sulfur smells drifting from the few active pools along Mammon Springs. Fresh mountain air.

And I took a short ride to Boiling River which flows into the Gardner River. It’s the only place I know of in Yellowstone where you can enjoy the hot springs and a swim. The Boiling River is the super hot water from Mammoth Springs, flowing underground until it reaches an opening in a cave next to Gardner River. The hot water flows over the lime deposits along the river and people have made rock pools to separate the very cold Gardner river. Just enough to mix the hot and cold waters into these wonderfully warm pools all along the rivers edge. It was a blast walking along the very rugged river bottom to these pools. The water rushing past me on it’s way down river. Then dipping into the warm waters and feeling the rush of water like a huge water jet sooth all the muscles. What a great way to spend part of a day. Then a refreshing hike back to the parking lot, about a mile away. Gorgeous scenery along the river the entire way. Chatting with strangers along the path, everyone enjoying an adventure that Disney could never create.

Gosh, I guess I really should have made this into two reports…..

Ps, Can you believe along with all this touring and sight seeing I was able to finish reading the last Installment of Harry Potter. Every time I opened the book it seemed the clouds got darker and it would eventually start to rain…. Was it a part of my opening this enchanting book, or just a couple of rainy days? It sure seemed magical, setting the scene for reading a great book with a super ending. Hope you have a chance to read it.

(23) Jackson Hole, Teton, Wyoming

Jackson Hole Wyoming

Teton National Park, Jenny Lake, Colter Bay and Jackson Lake

Buffalo

What a day it’s been. I was going to drive in real early into Teton National Park, it’s almost across the street from where I’m staying, but I didn’t get up until about 8:00. Ok, call me lazy. It’s soooo wonderfully cool at night, I sleep very well. But I did get to the park, after a quick stop for a cup of coffee and a piece of banana bread on the way, as I headed towards Jenny Lake.

It’s tucked right up against those huge mountain peaks. I got on the little fairy boat to cross the lake, now isn’t that a great way to start a day. The water is so crystal clear, I could see the bottom of the lake, filled with round fist sized river rock. Crossing the lake, the mountains seem to shift as you see them get larger as we approach the other shore. Once on the other side, there are a couple options for hikes, and I took the most scenic trail, up to hidden falls. The hike wound along the roaring crashing stream leading us up to the falls. Mountain peaks and huge spruce and fir trees lined the granite rock canyon which was like a very deep sharp V. The tiniest wild flowers peaking out from between the rocks. Rock climbers were learning their craft on all the boulders, as the park has a professional rock climbing association in the park for teaching and for extensive climbs.

Of course I was one of the slowest hikers, but my gosh, how can you rush along a climbing path with such awesome sights along the way. Oh, they have tons of thimble berry bushes up here, but they are just in bloom and only about half of the bushes have the berries forming. Still green. It won’t be till late summer before they’ll be ready to eat. We had them in Northern Michigan and my sisters and I would pick them along the railroad tracks as young kids. The berries are in the shape of a thimble when you pick them and we used to put one on each finger before devouring them. And the birds were singing from one tree to the next sounding like a concert in quadraphonic sound. I got a couple pictures of a thrasher (I think that’s what it was called), very colorful, all black, bright yellow and red splashes of feathers. And the tiny striped ground squirrels were so cute eating some small red berries. Truly the picture of nature in it’s happiest form.

On my way back and forth to the campsite, was quite a herd of buffalo along our side road grazing in the sage fields. And tonight, as I took my bike for a ride through the campground, two huge, and I mean huge buffalo were right in the park! They ambled on eating shrubs and grasses, in between all the tent campers. Suddenly a dog barked and both of the bison went thundering through all the campsites. Most everyone frozen in disbelief at seeing them running so swiftly. Stopping again in an open grassy area to graze once again. Believe me, they look really dossal munching on grass, but when they want to move, you don’t want to be in their way! Well that was the excitement for the day so far.

I’ve been going into Jackson Hole regularly, it’s about 6 miles from the campground. Interesting town with the ski hill trails leading right to the edge of town. This must be one great place for people who love skiing. Oh and you know the property must be outrageous, since they have no less than 4 Sotheby’s International Realty locations. Two are in the Teton Village, which is mostly very expensive condo’s next to the ski lifts. I wasn’t impressed with Teton Village, and the gondola ride ($18) wasn’t worth the trip up the side of the mountain. There are tons of major art dealers in town, so one can see the best nature sculptors and painters in the whole U.S. Sorry, I wasn’t permitted to take any pictures, but you could check on one of the art studio’s web sites: http://www.mtntrails.net/ to view some of the local art work. Very expensive, starting in the mid teens on up to the $30 and $60 thousand dollar range. Of course they have some great bars like the Silver Dollar Bar and the Million Dollar Bar, lots of shops and some of the best eateries anywhere. It’s called Fine Dining you know. All the buildings are very well maintained, many with a log cabin feel, large pole construction and carved bears climbing them. Very western looking. The antler arches and huge spruce trees add to the look. Even the local K-Mart and Albertsons look like expensive lodges.

For campers there are plenty of campgrounds in the National parks, forests and Jackson even has two or three campground right in town. Pricey to be sure, but if you want to be close to the night life, it would be worth it.
So I could buy more T-shirts, I went through my collection and donated about 6-8 to the local charity, the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration . When you live in a camper, you absolutely have to get rid of something before you buy something new.

Remember how I’d read the book on the Oregon Trail. Well in their local western museum in town, they had a beaver skin, beaver skin hats and the trinkets that the trappers used to buy the skins from the Indians until they began trapping themselves. You know the west was really first explored by the trappers, who basically decimated the beaver population between 1810 and 1840. Of course that was because everyone in western Europe had to have those beaver skin hats. By then the trappers had explored about every inch of the north west and when the trapping dwindled down to nothing, they started guiding all the wagon trains across the west into California and Oregon. It’s really neat to have read about the western movement and then see articles that relate to it.

Oh and a bit of local history, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Miller purchased a homestead from a horse thief (there was a lot of that going on back then). Mr. Miller then became the first banker in Jackson and back in 1923 both Grace and her husband ran for Mayor. She won. The west especially Wyoming had strong women who were able to do things like that, including being able to vote way before the rest of the country caught on.

Back in Teton National Park, I’m staying in Colter Bay Campground. The campsites are old with an interesting format. Each campsite is a pull-thru, on one way loops. The pull-thru’s are right next to the road itself, but if you get a campsite on the outside loop, your patio side faces the woods. Which I might add are the healthiest and thickest forest I’m see in a long time. Lots of lodge pole pines (those are the ones the Indians used to make their TP’s), fir trees and the prettiest Christmas trees I’ve ever seen.

Took a boat tour on Lake Jackson, the largest lake hugging the Grand Tetons. It’s over 450 ft deep. We had a Park Ranger onboard who gave us lots of information on the link between the geology of the region, what plants and animals live in the area etc. Pretty cool. Lots better than just boating around the lake, between the islands and viewing bald eagles and ohhing and awhing over the mountains and glaciers.

I drove over to the Grand Teton Lodge to check e-mails and the sites. The lodge has the most awesome huge windows overlooking the Tetons, huge comfy lounge area with cushy chairs and couches. Funny to see all of us intently working on our lap-tops (it’s a wi-fi hot spot), occasionally feeling guilty and looking out though those huge windows at a scene one seldom sees in life. The grand lobby is where Reagan and Khrushchev signed the ending of the Cold War Treaty. Yup, right between the women’s and men’s bathrooms. An Indian guide shared that with me.

Later in the day, I visited the American Indian Art Museum here at Colter Bay. The Indian guide shared some stories about their art forms, keying in on the porcupine quill decorations and bead work, bring us into today’s Indian art work. A collection of peace pipes and highly decorated moccasins were really awesome. One of the things he’s hoping for if they every build a new museum is a retrospective of Indian art from the past into present day Indian arts. He says it’s disheartening to hear people look at the Indian artifacts and say things like that’s what it was like back when the Indians were around. Relating only to the past. Forgetting that they are here today and continuing to expand their culture and art forms.

There’s something completely magical about this place. I don’t know what it is. I wish I could put it in words for you. I know, I know, after writing over 1,500 words. I guess the pictures will have to do for now.