Everyone says it, but the last week has bought it on home to us: "America is vast and some of the places are exceptionally beautiful"
Here is a summary of our week's adventures:
Friday July 30
We stayed at Yellowstone KOA North Entrance for two nights, After the Glacier Park adventures we decided to have a quiet day and went canoeing on a small lake and took in some of the bird wildlife, and saw Seagulls!! What are seagulls doing in Yellowstone? Cycled into town for a Frog's Margarita and Montana Mexican appetizers.
Saturday July 31st
We drove to a Harvest Host Sheep Farm, Milk and Meat Ranch (KJ'n Ranch and Sheep). Kim and Jim were great hosts and Kim gave a great talk on their ranch and breeds of sheep. We got to taste some of Kim's delicious cheeses and milk. So yummy we bought some and some Lamb for Peter to BBQ - its our 28 year Anniversary, Bubbles & Lamb...delicious. Great sunset too!
Sunday August 1st - 3rd
We used HipCamp for two nights - Anna and Gordon's spot was a great open field with the best Porta-potty :). We checked out the river, so many people rafting the river which inspired us to watch The River Wild with Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon. Seriously, some of the rivers look like the movie. Drove into Yellowstone and Walked Roosevelt Lodge Loop, went the wrong way to some great falls and then found the correct route, via Lost Lake and Petrified Tree (see the terror in the photo :)). We saw some of the many hot springs at Yellowstone and walked around the Mammoth Springs group.
Amazing overnight rainstorm, we woke up to our neighbors being dug out of the mud. We asked Gordon for help just in case we ran into trouble, he said with those tires and 4WD you will be fine and we were, but now our shiny airstream has mud splatters :)
August 3rd - 5th
We drove to West Entrance Yellowstone KOA, to be able to see all the sights on this side, Hot springs, Saw some Buffalo (see next day for more) and a hike with Bear Bell jangling loudly, Amazing open countryside surrounded by mountains. Decided to drive around the main loop starting with the popular Prismatic Lake and Old Faithful.....
....and then a hike up to an overview of Yellowstone Lake - so huge! Even though the "entering grizzly area" signs are a bit disconcerting, it is interesting that the trail car park was full with over 100 cars but we only saw 2 other people doing the hike.
August 5th Yellowstone to Buffalo Bill State Park, Wyoming
We drove out across Yellowstone, via the east entrance, amazing views on this route. We heard a weird rattle, we pulled over and Peter spent 45 mins underneath the trailer re-attaching a part of the belly pan that had shaken loose. With all the tools we are carrying we could remodel another Airstream :). We had a few traffic jams due to so many Buffalo/Bison sightings.
Here is a sequence of photos of a Buffalo passing behind us.
The drive out of Yellowstone East entrance was very beautiful with loads of cowboy movie landscapes:
We arrived on the shores of Buffalo Bill Reservoir/Dam very close to the town of Cody which was billed as a little western cowboy, but at this time of year it has more Harley Davidsons, as the Sturgis Rally meet up in South Dakota is soon and everyone starts gathering around Cody. Irma Hotel had an outside gunfight comedy homage to western saloon antics, we watched for a little while and then decided to find some outside music. Then found a local brewery for an outside cold one and make our plans for the next four days which consisted of Rodeo, I get on a horse for a trail ride and hikes along the Shoshone River.
August 6th
We popped into the Buffalo Bill Dam Museum, amazing how they managed to erect the dam over 10 years, 3 contractors later, each contractor went bust, the hot & water logged spring/summers and the below freezing winters. It was the tallest dam for a few years.. Another rainstorm with thunder/lightning and high winds, Peter woke up, looked out of the window and saw our pop up picnic table flying up and down the road.
Popped into the Buffalo Bill Dam and how that was built and finished by 1910, its raining so we are doing nerdy things :). Also booked my trail horse ride for tomorrow, 2 hours, I probably won't be able to walk for a few days - can't wait to ride in my first american saddle :)