Life is a Highway

As of yesterday, we had been gone for 30 days. It’s starting to get hard to remember what we did, when. But I do know that the last 2 days we have been in Wyoming.

Yesterday, traveled through Yellowstone National Park. We had been there a number of years ago so didn’t spend time doing the whole park but did stop to visit sites along our route. Saw a lot of wildlife yesterday – buffalo, elk, and deer, and a grouse that stopped directly in front of us and held up traffic. Usually, its the larger animals that stop traffic but not for us.

Stayed in Cody, WY. Cody is named after Buffalo Bill Cody and they have a huge museum (27,000 sq ft) there about him, Native Americans of the area, guns of the era, and the area in general. We went to the museum this morning and it was interesting to see what an outdoorsman and skilled scout and hunter he was and then to have his notoriety be his legendary shows. He traveled all over the US and Europe and performed for leaders and royalty all over the world. At the turn of the century he had made $800,000-$1,000,000 from these shows. Not sure what that is in today’s money.

We left Cody mid morning and traveled across Wyoming to the Wyoming/South Dakota border. I have to say, today was my most restless day traveling. Even though the landscape was beautiful and varied, I was more than ready to get out of the vehicle at the end of the day.

Tomorrow we are on to Mount Rushmore area so it will be a shorter travel day and more opportunity to be out of the vehicle. See our new pictures below and drop us a note.

Went across Eastern Oregon yesterday and it was like the Loneliest Road Part 2. For miles there was nothing but sage brush! Then we came into some beautiful green mountains and then eventually into Idaho. Stayed in a town just southwest of Boise called Nampa. In potato country but saw more of other vegetables and cows than we did potatoes.

Today we started the day by going to a Birds of Prey Conservatory. Saw rare birds that they were working to bring off the endangered species list. In particular they are working to bring back the California Condors of which there were only 22 at one point in time. They have them breed here and raise the young who are then assigned to a “mentor” Condor and then released into the wild in the Grand Canyon area. Other endangered birds are from all over the world. The place was funded by the Peregrine Falcon Fund and has an impressive international existence to save endangered birds. As a result of our stop here we were late leaving Boise. We had planned to go to Craters of the Moon National Monument but time just didn’t allow that. Instead we went to Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, ID.

Shoshone Falls is called the Niagara Falls of the West. We didn’t think it rivaled Niagara but there were pictures of more water coming over the rocks than we saw today so maybe at times, that is so. Fun fact, this is where Evel Knieval attempted to jump the canyon. For those of you too young to remember this (or those of you too old to remember) you will just have to google it.

We are in Pocatello, ID for the night, just south of Idaho, Falls. It has been VERY windy here today. Wind gusts up to 50 MPH and several dust storms stirred up as a result. Not sure how any of these fields have top soil.

Tomorrow we are headed for Cody, WY via Yellowstone National Park. Tomorrow is also Patrick’s 40th birthday. Not sure how that can possibly be since we are only 55 but somehow, that is indeed the case.

We have had a few good days here in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Which, by the way, does not have any falls. It used to until they build a dam for a hydroelectric plant, so no more falls but they have a very large lake as a result.

Monday, we traveled up to Crater Lake National Park which is about an hour and a half from here. Patrick laughed that our “down day” involved a 3 hour road trip. It was well worth it! We had been there before but this time was special with the snow that they had. They received 64 Feet (not a misprint) of snow this year. They don’t expect to get the full park open until late June or July. We were able to get up to the lake and get some gorgeous pictures and just take in the beauty of the place. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US (1,943 ft at it’s deepest) and has no streams coming into or out of it. All the water comes from precipitation. They have recorded being able to see down into depths of over 100 ft. (140 ft being the record). It is just breath-taking.

Tuesday was a true R and R day and today we went to Lake of the Woods about a half hour from here. We also went on a “stroll” today – Randy doesn’t do hikes. And of course, there was a short loop and a long loop which I thought we should take the long loop. 3.5 miles later, we were back to the Jeep but we did see an eagle and found a cool little geo cache.

Just finished packing up for an early start tomorrow as we have to drive across a good chunk of Eastern Oregon which is very desolate. Plan to get to Idaho tomorrow.

See new pics below.