An Epilogue

Well, I am writing you from Iowa. We will be visiting Lee's sister Rosanne and husband Jim for a few days. We will also see their new grandson Felix and his proud parents, of course, Nathan and Suzie. Then we will be off to Red Bay, Alabama for motorcoach servicing and then off to Florida which will be our winter home base after the holidays.
What an amazing experience!! For those who know me, you know how reticent I was about doing this trip. But I have to say, it was a life changer in so many ways.
We have such a beautiful country!!! We need to continue to preserve it for generations to come. I thank those who have been faithfully following our blog and feel that the only way to end this adventure is to say:

"Oh beautiful for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountains majesties
Above the fruited plains
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!"

Until next time... I wish you good health and the love of family and dear friends!!!

Custer State Park - South Dakota

The next day Lee, Sammy, and I took a drive through Custer State Park. Did you know that George A. Custer led a scientific army expedition into the Black Hills in 1874???? Though the expedition discovered gold, Custer seemed more interested in the area's uncommon natural beauty. Years after fortune seekers took a toll on the area's wildlife, in 1913 The South Dakota legislature created a state game reserve in the southern Black Hills. In 1919, the reserve became Custer State Park.
We decided to visit this park since we were told by our friend Dan that there was a wildlife road where we could see more animals. Well, we certainly were not disappointed as the pictures show. We saw bison, deer, mountain sheep, burros, and more.
We then drove through Iron Mountain Road where there are granite tunnels, some so small, that we didn't think our Jeep would fit through. What a weird feeling to drive through these mountains; thank goodness we were not in the motorcoach!!!
One destination that caught our eye was the Black Hills Playhouse. I just love their sign using buffalo as the symbols of masks of tragedy and comedy. I had to take a picture of this. Even though the theater was closed for the season, it was nice to know that they had professional theater in the Black Hills!!
The next road we took was the Needles Highway. The name "Needles" comes from the slender granite peaks that characterize this area. The Cathedral Spires is a series of pinnacles that resemble church spires and the Needles "Eye" is a granite formation which looks like the eye of a needle. Isn't that just amazing!!!
Lee and I enjoyed traveling around and looking at the differences in the mountains and its surrounding landscape.
We are so delighted to have had this experience.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial - South Dakota

What a breathtaking sight. Ever since I had seen the Alfred Hitchcock movie,North by Northwest, I've always wanted to see Mount Rushmore and, boy oh boy, I was not disappointed.
Here is a little history. Gutzon Borglum, the artist and sculptor, had a vision for Mount Rushmore to be "the formal rendering of the philosophy of our government into granite on a mountain peak". Borglum chose to give human form to the abstract. His monument to America grouped four leaders who brought the nation from colonial times into the 1900's. The four Presidents were chosen to commemorate the founding, growth, preservation, and development of the United States. They symbolize the principles of liberty and freedom on which the nation was founded. George Washington signifies the struggle for independence and the birth of the Republic; Thomas Jefferson the territorial expansion of the country; Abraham Lincoln the permanent union of the States and the equality for all citizens; and Theodore Roosevelt, the 20th century role of the United States in world affairs and the rights of the common man.
It took fourteen years of work but only six years were spent on the actual carving.
Gutzon Borglum said, "A monument's dimensions should be determined by the importance to civilization of the events commemorated....Let us place there, carved high, as close to heaven as we can, the words of our leaders, their faces, to show posterity what matter of men they were. Then breathe a prayer that these records will endure until the wind and the rain alone shall wear them away."
Pretty powerful stuff!!!!
We were very fortunate to have seen the lighting ceremony of the monument which included a movie on Freedom and a salute to our men and women in the military who were in attendance. It was a very moving evening for us.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

I don't know about you but I never really understood the real significance of Little Bighorn and Custer's Last Stand until now.
Lee, Sammy, and I visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument yesterday.
This monument memorializes one of the last armed efforts of the Northern Plains Indians to preserve their ancestral way of life. Here in the valley of the Little Bighorn River on two hot June days in 1876, more than 260 soldiers and attached personnel of the US Army met defeat and death at the hands of several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. Among the dead were Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and every member of his immediate command. Although the Indians won the battle, they subsequently lost the war against the military's efforts to end their independent, nomadic way of life.
At least 100 American Indian men, women, and children died in defense of their families, land, and traditional way of life.
In 1881, the War Department erected a monument to the 7th Calvary, attached civil personnel, and Indian Scouts killed in the battle. The US Army also took custody of the site, controlling access and historic interpretation for decades. In 1940, the jurisdiction of this battlefield was transferred to the National Park Service.
It wasn't until 1991 that the US Congress signed legislation to change the name of the battlefield from Custer Battlefield National Monument to what it is now and ordered construction of a privately funded memorial for the American Indian. The theme of the memorial is "Peace Through Unity".
"If this memorial is to serve its total purpose, it must not only be a tribute to the dead; it must contain a message for the living......power through unity...." Enos Poor Bear, Sr., Ogala Lakota Elder
The battle of the Little Bighorn was another instance of American settlers resuming their vigorous westward movement, possessing little or no understanding of the Indian way of life, showing slight regard for the sanctity of hunting grounds or the terms of former treaties. The Indian's resistance to those encroachments on their domain only served to intensify hostilities. Once again, Lee and I felt incredible sadness about the treatment of the American Indian and for the loss of life on both sides.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough......In Wyoming and Montana.

Yesterday, Lee, Sammy and I took a drive on the Beartooth Highway which has been described by the late Charles Kuralt as "the most beautiful drive in America". The Road passes through the Beartooth Corridor and is one of the highest and most rugged areas in the lower 48 states with 20 peaks reaching over 12,000 feet in elevation. The Road itself is the highest elevation highway in Wyoming (10,947 feet) and Montana (10,350 feet) and is the highest elevation highway in the Northern Rockies. I just had to take a picture of Lee and Sammy at the elevation marker.
The driving route featured breathtaking views of the Adsaroka and Beartooth Mountains, open high alpine plateaus dotted with glacial lakes and forested valleys, golden meadows, and wildlife. We did, in fact, see mountain goats at the higher elevations. When we reached the highest point, we were actually at the same level as some of the snow capped mountaintops (see second picture). It felt incredible to be that high up. Lee and I were soooo glad that we were in the Jeep and not the motorcoach. The twists, turns and switch backs were too numerous to mention. I don't think we would have been very relaxed!!
Once again, the weather was just beautiful and we had another fabulous day!!!!

Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming

Just got back from visiting the Buffalo Bill Museum. Sorry that there are not many pictures, but my camera was not working and am still trying to figure out the problem.
I took this picture from my phone. The museum was a beautiful facility which celebrates the spirit of the American West.
The first section we visited was the Plains Indian Peoples Exhibit. Just incredible!!! What a learning experience about how these native Americans lived and the respect they had for the land they lived on. Their visionary insights of one's respect of the land, its resources, and the wildlife (in particular the Buffalo) overwhelmed Lee and me; especially seeing the beauty of the National Parks and knowing that if they were not protected, they would be destroyed. It is almost unconscionable to think that the white man imposed their way of life on the Indian and removed them from their homes. When we finished walking through this exhibit, we were profoundly moved and saddened at the same time. However, the end of the exhibit was hopeful in that there is ongoing Indian education in the school systems (especially here in the West) which discusses their history and rituals. The displacement of the Indian should be taught so future generations will hopefully learn from it.
Afterwards we went to the Buffalo Bill Cody exhibit which was amazing; vintage films of his show and tons of artifacts. Buffalo Bill is one of our renowned heroes of the West. He was a pony express rider, fought in the Civil War, was a Buffalo Hunter (hence his name), a scout, an actor, and founder of the Wild West Shows (he even toured Europe!!). He was a strong advocate for the Indian but unfortunately his Wild West Shows did more to negatively stereotype the images we have today of the Indian. Buffalo Bill was also an advocate of women's rights in the early 1900's.
Buffalo Bill's story reads like a tall tale but the only difference is that most of it is true.
Today was quite the learning experience for both of us!!

Fishing in Yellowstone

I had my wish! Twice! And the first is not writing this blog, because Linda has been doing a super job of that, don't you think? Nope, I got my chance to go fly fishing on Tuesday, and today I got to fish with casting reel and lure. Regarding Tuesday, I contacted a local fly shop here in West Yellowstone, Arrick's Fly Shop, and hooked up (pun intended) with a great guide named Matt Morrill. He picked me up at the coach at about 8 a.m. and we headed first to the shop to get fitted for my waders and boots. He had everything else for the trip, artificial flies, rods, even what turned out to be great sandwiches for lunch. Off we went in his SUV to Lamar Valley, to one of his favorite spots to fish. After about 45 minutes, we were presented with a sign in the road that said because of the danger of a new forest fire in the valley, the rangers had just decided to close the road until further notice. No cutthroat trout today (but not forever, but I'll get to that in a moment). We turned to Plan B, which entailed going to another of his favorite spots to fish for brookies. We got to the Gibbon River about 30 minutes later, and I thus donned my waders and boots, my dapper looking hat from Bean's, and slung my Foxwoods Casino backpack up on my back. I'm a real outdoorsman, huh? Anyhoo, we hiked about a mile in alongside the stream and as we went, Matt kept yelling out nonsense type things like: "hey, Dave" and "time to leave, Hank". This, he explained, was necessary to make sure the bears knew about our presence. So, I thought, what the hell, and I started yelling out nonsensical things, too. At the same time, of course, I'm looking behind me to make sure one of the black bears (like in the blog photo you saw earlier this week), or worse yet, one of the very angry grizzlies Linda and I had seen in a documentary on bears at the local IMAX on Monday, were not following me. More on bears later. Matt and I descended down a fairly steep decline and proceeded to wade and walk through both stream and bank side, until we arrived at our destination. Matt proceeded to provide me with fly casting 101, and within about 10 minutes, I was fishing. I learned to use more arm than wrist and I must say, I started to catch on (again, pun intended), until guess what(?), I had a brookie on. Matt showed me how to humanely handle the fish and extract the hook from his mouth, and we both admired his (the fish, not Matt's) incredible colorings. There were spots of green, yellow, brown, fins of brown and orange, tipped with white: just an incredible creature of nature. We were practicing catch release, so the little guy swam away, I'm sure, wondering not about Matt, but who the heck the guy was with the funny hat, with the big shit eating grin on this face. More brookies followed and for the next two hours, we had some fairly good action. Then, Matt suggested it was time for lunch and indicated that he would go back to the SUV to procure the goods. Leaving me alone, of course. With the bears. And anything else that was sure to turn up with Matt being a mile away. Brave me, I said "okay, but you didn't show me how the bear spray you gave me this morning works." He obliged, showing me how to unlock the nozzle, proceeding to spray a pepper cloud about 30 feet in front of him. He explained that I had spray content for about 5 seconds (great, as if that's going to work!) and that it was usually considered a last resort. He said that if I hopped up and down like an idiot, waved my arms and screamed like a loonie, it would be far more effective. So, off he went, leaving me rod in hand, a beautiful scene, the brookies...and the bears. Suddenly, almost with every cast, I was either getting rises or catching fish. Unbelievable! The hell with the bears, this was too much fun! (And this blog is getting far too long, so let me make an effort to economize). When Matt arrived back with food in hand, I told him about my fishing success, prompting the fish to essentially stop biting altogether. No hits, no rises. I'm sure Matt thought I had just made the whole thing up. Anyhoo (for a second time), we munched on his great sandwiches, and spent the rest of the day enjoying the whole experience. By early evening, Matt suggested it was time to go, but not before a masterful demonstration of fly casting, the likes of which one could only imagine. He was casting a distance of 40 to 50 feet, on target with each cast. He was good...real good. We hiked back to the vehicle and on the way back to the coach, we saw numerous bison and elk, and enjoyed a colorful sunset. Great day!

Today (and I promise I'll make this far shorter), Linda and I took a drive along Yellowstone Lake. I took along my fishing gear, having also picked up some promising lures from Arrick's. During the second stop, I hooked a 2-2.5 lb, 14" cutthroat trout, which is the native species in the lake. Linda was up in the Jeep with Sammy, and as I was constrained to practice catch and release, I had to ease this fine specimen of a fish back into the water, without anyone but he and I having experienced the catch. Another great day!

Thanks for reading all this or perhaps you've had a birthday or two if you've gotten to this point. But, as you might guess, we're having a wonderful time on this trip! And with that, I'll hand you back over to Linda for future blogs and I can almost hear your sighs of relief.

More Beautiful Areas of Yellowstone

Yesterday we traveled through Canyon Village where we drove along the Northern Rim to see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The Canyon varies from 800-1200 feet in depth and from 1500-4000 feet in width. It's length is about 24 miles. What a beautiful sight to behold especially seeing the Yellowstone River run through it.
Afterwards we drove around the Yellowstone Lake which began at Lake Village and curved around the West Thumb area of the park. It is this lake that feeds the Yellowstone River.
Another side trip which we took was the Firehole Lake Drive where we saw the Firehole Springs which were approximately 4 feet deep. They were amazing and the colors were incredible - blues and greens - and the steam!!!!
As we wound our way back to the coach, we were able to capture a picture of a mother elk suckling her young. It doesn't get any better than this!!! What a fabulous day we had!!!

Mother Nature and Yellowstone

In 1988, there was a very big fire in Yellowstone Park. One third of Yellowstone's trees were destroyed. The tree's pine cones (which have a fire resistant exterior) exploded during the intense heat thereby spreading their seeds on the ground. As the pictures show you, new growth can be found all over the park. Apparently, mother nature has a wonderful way of regenerating itself. The fires which occur in forests are actually good for the soil. While we were traveling in the car, we saw a forest fire in the distance which was caused by lightning. I guess this is Mother Nature's recycling system!!!!!

Finally Some Wildlife!!! - Yellowstone's Finest

As we traveled through Canada and the United States, we have been wanting to see as much wildlife as possible. Except for some deer and and one elk, we had not been very successful. But here in Yellowstone, we hit the mother load. We have seen bison, elk, deer, coyote, black bears, osprey, and swans. The two animals which were very prevalent were the elk and bison. Herds of female elk could be found at various bodies of water with the male elk overseeing them. Bison could be found grazing at the edge of the road. We actually saw bison walk across the road and pass right by us. The picture of the bison's head was taken by Lee as the bison walked past Lee's window. Just amazing. We can't wait to see what other wild life we will find as we continue our Yellowstone Adventure.

Baby, it's hot in here - Yellowstone's Geysers, Hot Springs, and More!!!

Did you know that Yellowstone National Park is a hotbed of volcanic activity???? It is called HYDROTHERMAL, baby!! The central portion of the park is an immense depression or caldera (remember Crater Lake?) that resulted from a volcanic eruption that occurred 640,000 years ago. Fractures in the earth's crust underlie areas within and around the caldera making it easier for superheated underground water to rise to the surface.
Lee and I visited Old Faithful, the world's most famous geyser (bottom picture). Then we hiked the Lone Star Trail (5 miles round trip) to visit the Lone Star Geyser (looks like a big rock erupting) which is the second largest geyser next to Old Faithful. We were very fortunate to see both of these geysers erupt since their eruptions occur at specific intervals. It was amazing to see all the bubbling water and steam. (And the smell - not too pretty since it smelled of sulfur and there were numerous warnings about the dangers of getting too close both because of water temperature and gases) However, we really enjoyed seeing the Lone Star Geyser since there were only 4 other couples watching with us. It was a special moment away from the crowds.
The other pictures are of Emerald Spring, Terrace Spring, and the Norris Geyser Basin.
Traveling around in the car, you could see steam rising from all around - some being steam vents, hot springs, mud pots, and geysers. Just fascinating!!! Sometimes I felt as if I entered a whole different world. It was like traveling back in time when the earth was still new. Wow!!!

Jeeps and Rentals and Mormons, Oh My!!!!

We had a little challenge present itself. We began hearing a noise when driving the Jeep right after we arrived at our campground in Salt Lake yesterday (don't you hate when that happens!!!!!). Luckily, there was a Jeep dealership about 15 minutes away and they were able to help us when Lee arrived. They needed to keep it overnight to complete the work, so we rented a car so we could do some sightseeing the following day. We did salvage the rest of our day by having our motorcoach washed (I just had to take a picture of it) and then enjoyed a fabulous meal at the Mandarin, the best Chinese restaurant in Utah.
(By the way, it turned out that the Jeep front differential bearings were damaged due to water in the housing and the front driveline CV boot was torn. I guess when you are driving an older car - it's a 2000, that is what happens. Gee, I just had a horrible thought - what happens when my differential needs repair- ha ha ha!) With an oil change and some other repairs, our wallets were lightened by about $2300. Ouch!!!!! Thank goodness it all worked out fine...better the car than me!!!!!!
Enough of that...on to the sightseeing. Lee and I drove to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. Temple Square covers 35 acres and some of its buildings include the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, the Tabernacle, and the famous Salt Lake Temple. The Temple was built by Mormon pioneers between 1853 and 1893. The Tabernacle is the home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and its orchestra. We were very fortunate to attend one of their organ recitals at the Tabernacle which was wonderful. The organ, itself, was just incredible and is considered by many as a quintessential example of the classic style of organ building. Would you believe it has 11,623 pipes?? The Joseph Smith Memorial Building commemorates Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration. It houses a theatre, offices, conference space, and public restaurants. Lee and I enjoyed lunch at their Garden Cafe where we ate deep fried dill pickles for the first time. We really loved it. Two, of the many Mormon sisters who volunteer at the Square, gave us a little tour and explained how the Mormon religion in Utah came to be as well as encouraging us to learn more about the religion. It felt a little uncomfortable as we walked around since they were on a mission for future conversion. We weren't really surprised about that..that was to be expected. We ended our visit by walking around on our own which worked better for us. If you are ever in Salt Lake City, this is a must see on your trip!!!