July 23, 1998
We left around 11 this morning after taking care of a few
last minute things in Camden. It was
hot as usual.
We hit a traffic jam in Columbia and a couple more in
Georgia. It was a welcome sight to see
the foothills in Alabama. We had to
find a Walmart and get a new battery for the video camera. We did only a little videoing and the old
battery went dead!
We had lunch at a roadside rest area in Georgia & had dinner in Jasper Alabama. We spent our first night in Winfield,
Alabama. The room stinks like smoke!
YUK! Called Home at 8:40 and J. had not
heard from JT yet.
I was planning to write everyday, but it has been hard to do. I had the biggest biscuits I’ve ever had in Alabama they were big as saucers!
It was so hot in some areas. We stopped and visited Elvis Presley’s birthplace. It was nice (Tupelo, MS) anyway thru
Oklahoma and Texas it was very hot, like 105. It was a dry hot of course, and a
strong wind was blowing we had our second night in Yukon, Oklahoma the
birthplace of Garth Brooks.
We stopped at a great Indian trading Post and got some
gifts.
Yesterday we arrived in Colorado and it was very
stormy. We had planned to stop in Pueblo,
but there were no rooms so we tried Canon City, no rooms finally at 1:30 am we
gave up and went to the KOA camp at Royal Gorge and we slept in the back of the
car it was a good thing I brought the sleep pad and sleeping bags. We didn’t sleep much thought.
I had to get up to Pee 4 times and that kept me from
sleeping!! We would like to have gotten a cabin, but when you come in after 10
pm you cant get a cabin key.
We went and saw the Royal Gorge this morning and we got ½
way across and it sta6ted to move and we got dizzy so we headed back! We went in a great shop there and I got a
wonderful Bear Necklace. It has a great
bell sound inside! We saw a deer and 3
fawns there.
We drove over a great road from Canon City to Cripple
creek. It was a canyon road called Gold
Belt By-way and it was great!
We watched two hawks (unknown ID) soar and squawk as we
lunched by a canyon. We drove about 2
hours over it. It was bone rattling
rough, but great. After that we drover
to Victor and Cripple Creek and road the narrow gauge RR there it was FUN.
A lot of gold has been taken from there.
We stopped at Crystal Fossil Nat’l Monument they the
charged an entry fee so we passed and the fossil trail was too far to walk.
We have stopped here in Johnson Village near Buena Vista
and Tomorrow we head to Sis’s house.
July 31, Friday 1998
We had a great visit with Sis. We all stayed in Carters house.
It’s a great house it’s like staying in a museum. All the beautiful Masks and paintings and
things they have collected a great place!!
We ate at Wendys Res. On Monday night
On Tuesday we went to Glenwood Springs, sis had to visit
her foot Dr. and get struts put on her car so we picked her up there and she
and I climbed up the mountain (1/2 mi) to the Pioneer Cemetery where Doc
Holliday is buried. It’s a really old
cemetery going back to the 1870’s.
We went to see Zorro it was great. I enjoyed it. Back at home we ate at Carters house and watched some of the
videos we are making along our trip. We
had a lot of fun laughing at our terrible videos, but its not all bad!
On Wednesday we went and visited a friend of sis and she
has bought a new house and she is remodeling it. It’s in a beautiful setting.
At 2 pm sis and I left to go to Glenwood to get 2 new
screen doors for her place, and to go on our Whitewater Rafting shop alongside
the Colorado River. They took us on a
bus and we put in at Shoshone Falls and did some class II and III rapids 2 of
which were called the Wall and Man Eater respectively. The Photo I have was made at Man Eater. W got out about ½ mile below that and we
loaded up the boats and went back to Shoshone and did it again! It was the best fun! We shared our ride with 2 young Zeglers from
Missouri (age 11 and 14) and 3 more Zeglers from some place else not RELATED
there were on their High School graduation trip, ages 19, 19, and 18. All nice boys!
We had to leave out around 9:30 and we had a beautiful
drive down Hwy 133 and 92 to Black Canyon of the Gunnison Nat’l Forest and to
Montrose where we stopped.
Today we left and headed to Hwy 50 & 55o to Ouray and
over the Red Mt Pass thru the San Juan Mt.
The most beautiful country I’ve ever seen! The Red Mtn its self so red and gold in color, and the wild
flowers were beautiful. We arrived near
the Mesa Verde at about 2:30. Just
before that we stopped at a Trading Post and got some gifts. There were some swallows nesting there. We got up on top of the Mesa just in time
before the rain. The Dwellings were
great! Oh yeas we saw a wanted poster
for the 3 men who killed a deputy back in the spring right here in Cortez,
which is, were we are staying. One of
them was found dead they think he was shot by the others cause he broke his
ankle. As we came down off the Mesa a
huge storm broke RAIN LIGHTENING and after wards a huge double Rainbow nice! We just missed a Black Bear on the road up
the mesa, but maybe we’ll see one yet! It’s
off to Arizona tomorrow.
Sat. Aug 1, 1998 (day 10)
We drove from Cortex stopping at Indian Trading Posts
along the way, Ute and Navajo. The
Navajo Res. is very barren and hot, windy, and dry. There is sagebrush and stunted Cedar trees. The Indians live in small shacks and they
are junky looking. Most have sweat
lodges, some big, some small. We
stopped at the 4 corners monument and bought some Indian Jewelry there. The prices are very cheap.
We only made one other stop, at a Burger King for lunch
in Kenyeta. There was no place shady
for a roadside picnic, like we’ve been having.
We stopped at 4:50 EST we’re not sure if we are in MTN or
Pacific Time so we are just staying on Eastern Time to make it easy for us!
We stopped cause we were afraid to get close to the Grand
Canyon that we’d be out of luck and miss out on getting a room. We are staying at Cameron Trading Post 54
miles north of Flagstaff. There’s a
great gift shop here we’re gonna go visit now!
I really enjoyed staying at Cameron. It was really beautiful. We left about 9:30 and headed for the Grand
Canyon. I was about an hour drive. We stopped at the Little Colorado Canyon
where the Navajo Indians had booths as well.
We got into the park free with Moms Golden Age Pass. Saved $20 on admission fees, and her seniors
discount saved our room here in Williams AZ.
The Canyon was unbelievable, beautiful and hot, though
crowded. We shot lots of video
footage. There were mostly foreigners
Europeans and Japanese. Not many
Americans. I wish they would stay home
and visit their own parks. There’d be
more room for US LOL. We didn’t see any
animals a squirrel, and a lizard, but nothing else. No wonder with all the People there was no room for animals!
I wish we had planned a raft trip for the Canyon, maybe
next time?
Monday Aug 3, 1998
We drove from Williams AZ to Mohave CA today about 388
miles. It was desert all the way. Hot as HELL, 128 degrees. There was not much to see just sage, some
cactus, and sandy mountains. Tomorrow
we continue on to Sequoia & Kings Canyon.
Tuesday 8/4 1998
We drove to Sequoia & Kings Canyon parks today. The drive thru the San Juakeen Valley was
pretty. They grow everything from nuts
to nectarines. It was very green thanks
to irrigation from the Colorado River.
We saw some people picking grapes.
The Giant trees were like nothing I’ve ever seen. They are so large and silent. They say nothing. We took videos and pictures.
It was very hot in the lower parts, but up top where the big guys were
it was cool about 14, 000 ft. up. We
saw 2 deer, one female we filmed the other a 4 point Buck jumped right out in
front of use we nearly hit him. I
literally slammed on brakes to avoid him!
He was beautiful; his antlers were still in velvet. I also saw a black-headed sparrow, and a
California quail, brown-headed creeper, and some others I didn’t identify YET!
We were lucky to get a suite for $69 at the Quality Inn
in Fresno, CA. On to Yosemite tomorrow!
Wed. 8/5/1998
We left Fresno sort of early we had the continental
Breakfast in our room, coffee and Muffins.
It was about 50 miles to Yosemite.
The Valley of Yosemite was very crowded, but we managed to see most of
it. It’s the most beautiful place i ever
seen in my life. Just so huge and
bright, the trees, the water, and the rocks!
We drover thru the Yosemite Valley and did a lot of videoing. It was very crowded, but we managed to get
around. After the valley we took the
Tioga Road and it was fantastic, high and white rock and lakes big and
small. Trees twisted and gnarled also
sequoias. I loved it!
We stayed in Monolake, Ca just outside the Inyo Nat’l
Forest. There is a beautiful lake, it
looks like moon scape there. It was
very expensive but we stopped anyway so we wouldn’t be out late that night.
Sat 8/8
I don’t know what date it is I’ve lost track. On Thursday morn we headed up to I-80 and
across Nevada, there was a very little to say about Nevada, except it has lots
of sage Brush. We stopped at Virginia
City I enjoyed that. Idaho was very
beautiful. At first it was lots of
farming, potatoes, wheat, hay, corn, and such.
Then we headed up into the Saw tooth Wilderness and it was so
great. We followed the Salmon River for
the entire time we drove till it tuned into Bitterroot in Montana. The scenery there was the most beautiful
thing ever. The Valleys really pretty
and the river was great! We stayed at a
place called the Village Inn in Challis Idaho.
There was a great view.
We entered Montana about 2 pm. today. It’s just beautiful. The towns are cute and rustic, except for
the big ones of course. We saw Rocky
Mt. Sheep, and picnicked near a river.
Maybe the Bitterroot River?
After entering the Flathead Indian Res. We came upon the Flathead
Reservoir. The largest Lake I’ve ever
seen! It just goes on for miles, we
passed the turn off for the National Bison Range, but had no time to stop and
our camera batteries were dead.
We arrived in Kalispell and tried to get a room. It looked like we may miss out but finally
got a room here on Hey 2 at a dump called the Blue and White Motel. We head for Glacier tomorrow.
Tuesday 8/11
We had a great look at Glacier Park. The road, Going to the Sun, was very steep
& narrow. We got a look at Mt.
Goats a female and kid, she still had a big unshed was of hair on her. The views were spectacular and we enjoyed
seeing the Glaciers, it was crowded as all the other parks have been, but not
so many foreigners!
The St. Mary’s lake was the most beautiful color I’ve
ever seen. A wonderful blue green
color, which we were told, was from the deep water. We took a boat ride in the
lake and really enjoyed that. We missed
seeing a bear cow and 2 cubs grrrr. We
took one short hike along the upper edge near the lake that was fun.
After leaving the higher elevations we came down into a
valley where wheat was king. There were
so many fields of wheat. The farmers
were busy getting it harvested. We
stayed the night in Livingston, a really cute town. We went into a couple of shops and got few things.
Today we drove on into Yellowstone and saw deer right off
the bat, then later moose, and elk. No
bear thought or Buffalo. The falls are
beautiful and the Geysers and steam pots too!
A big fire, which started back a few years ago, and hundreds of trees
were killed. New ones two feet tall are
up. So it wont be long till there grown
again. The wild flowers are prolific
here, especially the fireweed.
We were lucky to get a room in the frontier cabins at
Canyon village we had a small bungalow with a bath, and twin beds. NO TV but that was ok, we like it, were
planning to try and get a room in Cody and hang around here most of the day if
we get one.
Thursday, 8/13
We stayed at Rainbow Inn in Cody after another day at
Yellowstone. We sat and waited for the
Great Fountain Geyser and it was great.
We had a really good diver over to Cody thru a Canyon and this Morning
we went to Trail Town, an old Western set up with Cabins and a graveyard where
Jeremiah Johnston is buried. We then
drove thru the Big Horn Mountains, and Big Horn Nat’l Forest. Powder Pass was 9666 Ft. and it was very
cool there.
We are staying in Moorcroft Wyo. Tonight and we found
that Devils Tower is only 33 miles away so I want to go there tomorrow before
heading on.
We had a nice chat with an elderly gentleman while we
waited for roadwork. He told us about
the ranchers have built their own dams so they call the shots on there own
irrigation. He pointed out where the
Bikerman trail which connected to the Oregon Trail up in Montana. He said they get 4-7 inches of rain a year. He and his wife want to come east for a fall
leaf tour.
Monday 8/17
We did see the Devils Tower and we also saw at least 9
climbers frozen in place on the side of it.
We carried on to South Dakota and not far over the line
we entered into the Black Hills Nat’l Forest.
It was very nice there, very old geologically speaking.
We stopped at Jewel cave and I decided to take the
tour. This is the not so public
tour. We used candles put into old
paint cans as lanterns. WE crawled &
squeezed in and it was very tight & we had to duck walk!! My legs got sore,
we went through the “Trap Door” down into the "dungeon” It was a dry cave,
made of crystals. There was once water
in the cave but they don’t know where it went.
The cave has been open to tours for 100 yrs! There is also a tourist entrance with an elevator and lights and
all that but I was happy I chose the rustic tour.
After that we visited Mt. Rushmore. There is a bookstore there. Rushmore is OK, and all but it was my least
favorite of all the places we visited so far.
After that we stopped in Wasta SD.
The next morning we headed for the Badlands and that was really
great. The colors and formations were
awesome. It was hot and dry. That night we stayed in Kodaka. We did our laundry in a dead little
town. We drove to Iowa and we stopped
and saw the Corn palace, unusual. Now we’re
in a dump called Buffalo, Missouri!
Wed. 8/19
We are in Columbus Mississippi, and 1-½ days away from
home. We ate at Shoneys were once again
I’m able to get Sweet Tea YUMMY. It’s a
real different feel here in the South, there’s a sad separateness’, an
oppression that’s very real.
Thursday8/20
We stopped in Georgia.
It’s a really cute old southern antebellum town. We ate that the Corner restaurant which used
to be a bank, back in 1800’s.
Friday 8/21
Back home again its hot and humid here … Trip over.
WHAT A BLAST WE HAD!!