Stones, Bones, Dinosaurs and Flowers

Sounds like an odd combination, doesn't it, but that's what Vernal's made of. We traveled from Rock Springs through Flaming Gorge to Vernal, Utah. The scenic highway through the gorge was full of awesome scenery. When we arrived at Vernal, though, I was struck by the amazing sight of unbelievable lush red, pink and white flowers everywhere. The entire town had baskets, bushels, barrels and boxes of flowers everywhere...and they were all real! We stayed at a RV park in town right next to the high school football field. We were able to let the dogs run and play on the field ...until they discovered gophers. Ulysses, being the hunter, first spotted a gopher and took off at top speed to stick his nose in the hole. The second day we took them to run off some energy, Ulysses remembered those holes and as soon as his leash was let loose, he speed like a black streak to the other side of the field. We never could get him to play with Autie and leave the holes alone.

The second day of our stay, we went to the Dinosaur National Monument and to the various musuems in the area. The Utah Field House State Park is the display arena for the various fossils coming out of the area. This was an especially nice museum with a good interactive component that our kids would have loved when they were young. The building's garden is full of life size models of the various dinosaurs interspersed with plants and more of the flowers.

Then we went to their Western Heritage musuem which was the type of museum I call "Grandmother's attic" which I love. There were all kinds of relics from the early pioneer days.

After lunch we drove the 18 miles out to the Dinosaur national monument. The quarry wall which I was looking forward to seeing is closed because the building is falling down. Seems as though it was built without a good bedrock foundation on dirt which is the equivalent of kitty litter . The temporary visitor's center is spartan but they had a shuttle that took us up to the Dinosaur Discovery trail which is 1 and 3/4 of a mile long so we took our trusty walking sticks to walk up and down the parched terrain. Along some of the cliffs we saw a fossilized vertabrate and a large bone sticking out of the rock as well as smaller bones and fossils. There were also some petroglyhs in a washed out rock area. It was brutally sunny for most of our hike, although some clouds did try to tease us. Then we took a ranger guided bus tour to several places in the park: Swelter Shelter, a petroglyph site that lived up to its name, Chew Ranch, an overlook of a campground and pioneer ranch, and Split Mountain where the river flows through a canyon. We were very glad the bus had air conditioning.

We enjoyed our sorjourn at Vernal very much. Now we head toward the cool! Ouray, here we come.

Meeting family at Rock Springs

On the way from Brigham City to Rock Springs, WY we stopped at Ft. Bridger State Park. This was a fur trader fort, a trading post and an 1880s military post. It has been very nicely restored. The officer's quarters are lovely examples of Victorian houses and are nicely furnished. The trading post is set up with all kinds of merchandise and costumed docents. The fur trading post is also staffed by living history people. We got to take the dogs over the acres of the park and they had a ball.

Over the years, I have heard fondly from my mother and Aunt Leota about their cousin, Lowell and other members of his family. I have been looking forward to meeting them on this trip. We traveled to Rock Springs WY which is in southern WY and is an oil and coal mining town. It was a fairly easy drive from Brigham City. We stayed at the Rock Springs KOA which was one large graveled expensive parking lot surrounded by barren foothills. We visited the Rock Springs heritage museum which is in an impressive old building. The weather was very much like Midland, dry and warm. The scenery was just a bumpy version of the desert surrounding Midland. We had a good time and will move on to Vernal, Utah where we may find some dinosaurs.

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Into Utah

From Boise, we drove to Brigham City, Utah. We found a very nice campground on the edge of the city. It is kept very clean and green and there is a large field where we can let the dogs run and chase each other. We were ahead of schedule so we decided to use the extra days to rest and take it slow.

A few miles from Brigham City is Promontory Summit and the Golden Spike National Park. This park had much more activities than most national parks. The day we were there was a fee free day and their book store was 20% off. Just outside of the visitors center were two replica locomotives, all shiny and gaudy with theirvictorian trim. They fired up the engines and did a narrated run-by for the visitors. Of course, Chuck was in train buff's heaven. After seeing the trains and visitors center we took an auto tour on the railroad grade and then walked about 1 1/2 miles to the "Big Fill", a place where they had filled a small gorge on one side and built a trestle on the other line. The two railroads worked on and graded two parallel lines for 250 miles trying to get more money because the Congress would not assign a spot for them to meet. It was finally decided to meet a Promontory Summit where the lines first meet. The engineering was amazing on parts of the railroads. This was a most enjoyable trip.

Not too far from the NHS was a company that built rockets for NASA. They had a large outdoor rocket display and we stopped there on our way back to Brigham City.

We drove to Ogden to see their Utah Railroad Museum in the old Union Station there. It was a very nice musuem with friendly "conductors" and a huge model train layout. As part of the admission, we also saw a large gun collection from the Browning Gun works and an antique car collection with some real beauties.

Chuck got the car serviced as we have traveled aroung 6500 miles so far. This part of Utah is a pleasant place , friendly, clean and sunny. The weather is warm but dry like Midland so we have enjoyed the stay. We have two more days and will probably look around the area some more and rest up to move on. We will be going to Rock Springs, Utah to meet a cousin of my mother's.

Along the Columbia to Pendleton, Oregon

We left Ft. Stephens and traveled along the Columbia River Gorge which is quite a scenic trip. The Columbia is a huge river threading its way through hills and mountains to the Pacific. As we left the coast, the temperature climbed and climbed until it was nearly as hot as home. We pulled into Pendleton, Oregon which was the home of the Pendleton Wool Mills. We took a tour of the mills which was disappointedly small but it was an interesting tour. The outlet store had hundreds of the Indian design blankets which cost hundreds of dollars. Their fabric was minimal although I bought 2 pieces for re-enacting. As we have traveled through Oregon, we found that the state has a law that a gas attendant must pump your gas. The law was passed to provide low level jobs. Most of the attendants were nice but I noticed throughout the stores and especially at the Pendleton outlet store that many of the young people have a very belligerent and irritated attitude toward their jobs. The twittery girl (talking across the store to a friend) who reluctantly cut my fabric was obviously not wanting to be there or to be inconvenience by customers. When she cut my fabric she did such a shoddy irregular job since she was obviously irritated and inconvenienced that the piece will not be useable. Wish I had caught the problem before I left and I would have let my feelings go since she wasn't the first or only infantile young person we'd dealt with in Oregon. No wonder the state government must make low end jobs. Oregon is also very ecologically conscious to an unsensible dregree. According to a radio program we heard, the state government does not consider the hydro electric dams on the Columbia as a renewable resource--huh?

We also took a tour of the Pendleton Underground, a basement level of businesses, speak-easys, brothels, opium dens and Chinese labor quarters. The tour was well done and we enjoyed it. We also went to their historical museum which was very expensive for a poor excuse for a musuem -- obviously just to fleece the tourists. As you can tell, Pendleton, OR, is on the bottom of my list for this trip.

From Pendleton, we drove to Boise, Idaho. We drove through farm country but I didn't see any plants I thought were the famed potatoes, mainly corn, wheat and hay. The scenery was lots of hilly farmland. Boise is a large city of about 250,000 and is much like Midland/Odessa area with shopping areas. We went through their historical museum and through a military museum but really spent more time resting and staying out of the heat. It was in the 90's + here and our air conditioner is really struggling to keep the trailer even marginally cool. Tomorrow we will travel to Brigham City, Utah to see Prometory Point and the Golden Spike. Bet it's going to get even hotter.

Ft. Stephens and Ft. Clatsop, Oregon

Along with seeing Yellowstone, one of my most looked -forward- to events of this trip was to see the Pacific Ocean. Michael took us to Aberdeen 0n the coast and we walked the dogs out to the water. The day was grey and we couldn't see much but it was awesome to think that the water stretched all the way to Asia. Mike said that 4th of July at the beach was very popular and the beach was littered with fireworks debris. Ulysses and Autie enjoyed the romp on the beach but Ulysses wasn't sure of the much water, particularly since it seemed to be chasing him and would then run away from him.

We drove to Astoria, Oregon and crossed the Columbia river just before it entered the ocean. The bridges around there were amazing, long bridges and drawbridges. The piles of logs that were stacked up beside the river were also immense.

After leaving Michael's we drove to the Northwestern area of Oregon where Lewis and Clark spent their winter by the Pacific Ocean. We stayed at Ft. Stephens State Park which was a huge wooded camping area in what was an army/artillery base from the Civil War to the 1950s turned into a museum and camping area. Supposedly it was the largest campground west of the Mississippi. Campers and tents were shoe-spooned into as small an area possible and there were lots of them. We went on a tour of the artillery bunkers that were established to guard the coastline. We took a tour that took us through the underground area which was a dark maze. It was quite interesting.

We also went to the NPS Ft. Clatsop, which is where Lewis and Clark spent the winter near the Pacific. The vegetation and scenery is very verdant and beautiful. However, with the constant moisture, it would have to be. Ferns grow huge and so do the trees. There were living history people manning the fort and demonstrating the life of the time. I took lots of pictures.

We went to the Pacific with Michael and here we saw the mouth of the Columbia at the ocean. It was very grey and dreary when were there. The Columbia is an impressive river. We followed it to Pendleton, Oregon.

Traveling on to Michael's

We left Yellowstone early to drive toward Olympia, WA where our son lives. We really enjoyed the drive to Missoula where we stopped the first night. The roads were good and the scenery was beautiful ...rolling hills and green plains with very little evidence of people.

We stopped at Missoula, MT for the first night of a very long drive. The campground we stayed at was beautiful. The people there had amazing green thumbs...there were lovely flowers all though the park and it was manicured beautifully. Jim and Mary's RV park was set up well and we thought how nice it would be to stay a few nights.

However, we left early to drive on to Olympia, WA. We made it about 3:00 and got set up in Olympia Campground. This is a large pine covered area and the dogs love the large area to walk in. We toured Olympia and Tacoma with Mike and his lovely girlfriend, Beth. We had plans to go to Seattle but I developed an awful allergy reaction to all the mold and pollen here and those plans have been scrapped until later. One thing I hope to see...and will, regardless...is the Pacific Ocean on Friday or Saturday. We are thinking about riding the Mt. Hood train on Sunday.

We've had a good time with Mike and Beth. This is a lovely area of the country but this Texan handles dust easier than humidity and mold.

Yellowstone: Day 5 Mammoth Springs and Roosevelt Tower Area

This was our last day of our stay in Yellowstone. We started early to go to the Tower area. We stopped at the Tower falls and used our new walking sticks to wind our way down to the river. We’ve found that all the walking up and down hills has been hard on the knees and feet so we bought some hiking poles. We’ve noticed lots of people using them and now we know why, they add stability and support to complaining knees. After the falls, we drove on to the Roosevelt Lodge area. This is a rustic lodge and cabin area with horse corrals for horseback riding and campfire cookouts. We ate lunch at the lodge and then went on a stagecoach ride. It took you out a ways and then to a turn around where the “shotgun” got out and took pictures for everyone and told about the early park days where stagecoaches were the only transportation. The kids on board enjoyed it and so did those of us in our second childhood.




Next, we headed to Mammoth Hot Springs near the north entrance of the park. This was the location of Ft. Yellowstone where the army protected the park before the park rangers. The Mammoth hot springs are on the side of the mountains. Rain threatened most of the day but waited until we tried to see the hot springs to let loose. The area was very congested and there was no place to park except about ½ mile from the springs. We grabbed our walking sticks and hiked over to the mountain side with all the white travertine dripping down the mountain side. About the time we got to top of the stairs, lightning
flashed all around us and thunder boomed. Everyone else hurried down the stairs and as much as I wanted to see it all, we followed just in time to get
soaked. I was disappointed by hot springs because there were really few
active springs. We were the only things dripping at the springs that day. We were headed back to the trailer when we were stopped at a turnout by park rangers holding guns. They were staring up the cliff but we couldn’t see anything up there. One of the rangers loaded his gun
and then shot up the cliff. Apparently, that took care of the problem and
they let us through. Our speculation was that a grizzly or mountain lion had gotten too close to the people and they were scaring it away. Wildlife have the right away here and much is said about not feeding the wildlife because they become aggressive. Bears are not allowed too close people now and vice versa. The days of stopping to feed the bears is over. However, some people still do not use good sense. They stop their cars in the middle of a heavily traveled road to take a picture and create a traffic jam. There are lots of pullouts if you want to pull over to look at things. Bison are everywhere and we saw people get out of cars within feet of these huge horned animals. I have enjoyed seeing Yellowstone…it’s been a lifelong dream but I will be glad to leave the hoards of people and traffic behind. There were just too many people…and this was supposed to be wilderness.

Yellowstone Day 4 Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole

We loaded up the dogs and headed for the Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole, WY which adjoins Yellowstone to the South. The peaks were awesome and the scenery was beautiful. We did not stop much since there were few turnouts or visitors centers. We drove into Jackson which was stuffed with people and cars because of the 4th of July holiday. Mainly, a tourist town we didn’t see much to stop and look out.. We grabbed a hamburger and fought our way back through the traffic and headed back to the campground. The dogs have been such good travelers. They either lay down and sleep or sit up and look out the window enjoying the scenery. Surprisingly, they don’t fight or wrestle in the back seat and seem to just adapt. Whoever is taking up his half out of the middle becomes the pillow for the other one. Now aren’t they cute?

Yellowstone Day 3

Old Faithful…who can come to Yellowstone and not see old Faithful. The entire geyser basin is amazing. We sat on the balcony of the Old Faithful Lodge and watched the geyser blow. Then we took a tour of the Old Faithful Inn to learn about its architecture and its history. The Inn itself is a treasure from the early days of the park. After the tour we ate lunch in the dining room. The meal was good and the ambiance was old fashioned. The Inn has such a 1900s feel, even the bathrooms are in an elegant art deco style. I’ve never before been tempted to take a picture of a bathroom but the ladies room was lovely. We had a young man for a waiter who was very friendly and congenial. The company, Xanterra, who is the contractor for the commercial areas in the park seems to do a very good job. There were plenty of service people in the shops and restaurants. Many are young people from different places including overseas who spend the summer working here and live in dorms. There are also retired couples who work in various capacities and live in their rigs in the Fishing Bridge campground. Doesn’t that sound like a fantastic way to spend a summer? After lunch we wandered around the geyser basin and looked at the various features. I took several movies of the bubbling, gurgling, spitting and roiling features that I plan to put into a movie and will post it. We drove through to Madison and then through the construction before Norris. Next, we headed to the Canyon area where there are lots of wildlife. However, people stop in the middle of the road and block traffic to take a picture of a buffalo. You can imagine what Chuck had to say about that! We have seen 2 elk, a moose, many buffalo, white pelicans, an eagle and the recently reintroduced grey wolf. No bears – although the rangers tell you to make noise on the trail so you don’t sneak up on one. One species that is abundantly represented is people. As lovely as the scenery is, I am tired of all the cars, traffic and people everywhere. You can’t pull over on one of the turnouts to see anything because they are jammed. We wanted to see the paint pots but could not find a parking place after circling twice. I know this is the busiest time for the park but I hope we can come back in autumn and avoid all the people…and mosquitoes. Mosquitoes were awful in most of the areas but the Old Faithful geyser basin. Guess mosquitoes are smart enough to stay away from all that hot water. At the campground, they swarm people and dogs alike and make the outdoors miserable.

Yellowstone Day 2

Chuck was not feeling well so I went on a 2 hour ranger hike at Indian Pond/Storm Point in the morning. It took us past a hot springs pond which had a Nez Pierce story of an old Indian women left behind there in the Indians flight from the cavalry. Then we raced after the ranger through forest, meadows and up to an overlook for Yellowstone Lake where the Ranger left us to either go back the way we came over steep climbs or to finish the loop trail that went to back to parking lot. I opted for the rest of the loop which wandered through old growth forest and meadows. I photographed some beautiful flowers and plain old robin sitting on a rotting tree. It was fun but after 3 miles, did my feet ever hurt.

We took some time off for lunch and Chuck decided to go with me to the Canyon area which was about 16 miles north. There was another village area with shops and lodges and a visitor’s center that had exhibits about the great volcano caldera that powers all the geothermal features. This is a very active area with many earth quakes happening, most of which aren’t felt. I hope we can skip the earthquake experience. After that, we stopped at the lower falls of Yellowstone river. They were beautiful so we took the trail down to the brink of the falls. It was a steep winding trail with about 5 or long switchbacks to get down to the falls and the overlook. I made it down but found that I am not all that athletic as I tried to get back up the trail. Each switchback had benches for the out-of-winders who couldn’t handle the 8,000 + altitude and the climb. “Benches are our friends” to refine and paraphrase our friend Lee’s favorite saying. We also looked at the Upper Falls but did not take the walk to the brink. Chuck wouldn’t admit it but I think he was glad I …no, my feet and knees…opted out of that walk. We went back to the trailer, fixed supper and after a good thunderstorm , we took the dogs for a long walk around the campground. My feet and legs complained all night long.

We saw meadows of the these huge bison. They just lumber along and act as though the crazy, gawking tourists are just a nusiance. The tourists think nothing of shutting it down in the middle of the road to take a picture of these animals.

Yellowstone Day 1

We traveled to Yellowstone through the East entrance which is west of Cody, WY. Of course, the scenery grew more breathtaking the closer we got to the park. We headed our camper to the Fishing Bridge Campground which is a campground that allows only hard sided rigs because of the proximity of bears. Pets are not allowed off a lease or on the trails because of the hazards of geo-thermal areas, and animals like wolves and bears. The camping area is stuffed full with lots of rigs shoe-spooned into sites. Not a whole lot of distance between rigs but there are trees between the rows of campers. All in all, it beats driving 60-100 miles just to get to the park. The campground is near an early park bridge called Fishing Bridge which was a popular spot for fisherman until the 1970s but now you can’t fish from the bridge. The Yellowstone River is gorgeous at this area. It is currently out of its banks and you can see trees in the middle of the river. We set up the trailer and walked through the visitor’s center and some of the shops in the area. It was mostly expensive tourist stuff and very expensive food items (bread $4.19 a loaf). Good thing we had stocked up for this stay. After talking to the rangers at the Visitors center we decided to catch a ranger talk at the “Mud Volcano” area. This was an area that had Dragon Mouth, a hot springs that bubbled and rumbled and sounded like faraway artillery fire. The Mud Volcano had blown its top and was just a burbling mud hole in the side of a mud hill. There were other geothermal features and we learned a lot about them. This ranger did a nice job and you could tell he liked his job.

Then we reserved a seat on the Lake cruise. That was the most fun! It took us out on Yellowstone lake where saw the Lake Lodge from the front. There was a ranger as a tour guide. The amount of water here and its beauty amazes me.

The dogs have traveled well but they ask in their own doggie way the question that is on everyone’s mind during a road trip, “Aren’t we there yet?”