Black Hills

We had a good but long day in the Black Hills.we drove through Wyoming which is all low prairie for hours and hours To finally get to South Dakota. 

Then we went to Cave of the Winds National Park. The drive through the park was awesome. We finally saw a herd of bison and  prairie dogs galore. The elevator was broken down into the Cave which was fine with me because our guide books said one had the crawl at places inside the cave. Crawling in the tiny spaces in caves is not for me. I am no caver. 

Next we went to the Crazy Horse Monument. It’s very expensive.. $30 per car. Once we watched the video on the Museum we were ok with the cost. Henry Standing Bear himself asked

Korczak Ziolkowski to design and build the monument. The federal government offered 10 million dollars, twice, to the project, but Korczak refused. Obviously the Lakota have not had a good or trusting history with the US government and with money comes strings. The project has outlived both men, but still continues with donations 

Then we did a beautiful trail ride in the Black Hills State Forest on the fattest and thickest  horses. 

We ended our day at Mount Rushmore. Unfortunately, all buildings were closed for renovations except the gift shop and restaurant. 

Sorry to take do long uploading pictures. We have been camping since Northern California with little electricity and even less good wi-fi. Now the Pictures are updated to the Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3dsnlo1clw9woli/AAAxWbXtNqPfcu2vDGk9scOxa?dl=0

Wildlife (in route through Wyoming)

6 herds + 85 separate Pronghorn 

8 mule deer

2 normal deer (inside fence with cattle)

1lizard

1bunny

Wind cave National Park & Custer State Park (So Dakota)

2 herds+ 2 Bison

100s Praise dogs

1 pronghorn (while trail riding)

9 Road kill 

331 motorcycles (Sturgis Motorcycle Rally starts next weekend so there are tons of Motorcycles around)

Gree’s senior park pass savings to date $485.50

Grand Teton National Park

The Grand Teton National Park was stunning. The snow-capped peaks go straight up from the plains below. We ate lunch over looking a lake and the mountains-so beautiful. Again we are so surprised that the landscape here is so different from Yellowstone just ~30 miles away. 

Because my mother had worked here she took us to all her old haunts and on a little known dirt road where we saw moose. 

We took the tram out of Jackson Hole Village to the top of a peak (can’t remember the name). I don’t know what I was thinking, I am already suffering from altitude sickness and it rose to ~10,000 feet in just 15 mins. The platform at the top was just metal grates and so scary, we walked around the platform and got on the tram to go straight back down. Then we went into Jackson to get groceries. Jackson was lovely. We have been buying groceries for breakfast and one other meal and eating in a restaurant for either lunch or dinner. The restaurants in the west have been spectacular. I have eaten trout 3x this week, once was trout tacos- Yum! Huckleberries are huge here. They have whole shops just dedicated to huckleberry products. I had huckleberry pie in Glacier, huckleberry ice cream in several spots, one chocolate huckleberry truffle and I bought huckleberry lemonade mix for home. 

Wildlife

1 Swan

2 moose (mom and baby)

2 squirrels 

Gree’s senior park pass savings to date $480.50

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone is a special place. Ethereal at times, but so much variety of landscape: thermal areas that look like another planet, but also forests , Rocky cliffs, grassy plains, serene lakes, narrow shallow rivers, waterfalls and canyons...spectacular!!!! I struggled to breathe here it actually started in Glacier. The altitude is so high. We learned a lot: about the volcano under our feet, benefits of forest fire, history of Yellowstone and bears. 

My expectations for Yellowstone were very low. I heard about the crowds and animal jams that tied people up for hours. Our trip was so enjoyable for two reasons 1) my mother has been here many times so she had a solid plan of where to go and what to see; 2) I had everyone up at 5:00 AM on Day 1. We literally had the park to ourselves. We finished the upper loop by 8:30 AM which we had planned all day for. We saw tons of animals (see below). So after NPS exhibits and films at a visitors center and the best ice cream in the Park (Canyon) at 10:30am we then headed to the southern loop. We did the whole loop but couldn’t find parking to do the Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook.

Day 2: We planned to hike up the overlook above Grand Prismatic Spring and then do a ranger-led boat cruise on Yellowstone Lake. We were able to do both with only two minor delays. In the first jam we never saw the animal but we suspected it was an animal jam because when traffic cleared there was nothing including vehicles-they just disappeared. The second jam was because of stupid people-way to close a mana black bear and two cubs along side the road. I wanted to yell at them, but my mother wouldn’t let me. That’s what people don’t understand about wild animals in a park: If they have a close encounter with humans they get put down. Those people who were way to close to that mama bear were actually threatening her life. 

Day three: We drove from the west Entrance to the south entrance on our way to the Grand Tetons stopping at fountain paint pots, Where we saw 4-6 geysers erupting and mud boiling out of the ground. 

Wildlife:

In Route:

1 deer 

2 eagles

flock of Swans

1 heron

Day 1 In Park

4 Grizzly bear( 1 single, a mom & 2 Cubs)

Herd of elk

Many bison (no herds of mom’s & babies)

2 Swans

Day 2 in park

3 black bear (mom & 2 cubs)

Herd of elk

Many bison (still no herds of mom’s & babies)

many Canada Geese and ducks

1 grouse

2 swans

Day 3 in park

2 pronghorns

1 elk

4 Roadkill en route

1 Roadkill in Park

Gree’s senior park pass savings to date $445.50 

Glacier National Park

Wow. You think these National Parks cannot be any more beautiful, but each one is. Glacier National Park is stunning even without Glaciers. There are still 18 Glaciers, but mostly farther  away than we wanted to hike. We saw only Two spots where glaciers met the road. Glaciers are moving masses of ice. The USGS predicts the glaciers will stop moving and thus cease to be glaciers in 2030. 

We took the shuttle up the  “Going to the Sun Road” and we were happy not to have to drive that scary road. They have had 4 head-on collisions on that road this year so far. We took a ranger-led scenic lake cruise, and learned how to fly fish. It was a good stop. Micah had a group that played soccer each night for 2hrs. 

Again, we feel really lucky to even see this park. Last year a forest fire broke out on August 12th and they evacuated the west side of the park for 2weeks then only opened the “Going to the sun road” for red buses and park shuttles then it snowed on ~ Sept 12th and the road closes when the snow starts to fly. It’s a short tourist season in Glacier. In May they start to clear the road of snow. Many people who we’ve talked to said they were here 20+ years ago and the Glaciers were ever present in the Park. It’s sad, but glad I got to see what little is left. It’s the same way I feel 

The world is so small. The night before we stayed in a KOA outside of Spokane, WA only to see a Pentucket Graduate, Jackie Kawicki (sp?)in the laundry room. They were also doing the National Parks but had started along the Northern route. 

We are so tired, Micah thinks I’ve had a stroke. I’m jumbling words, struggling to retrieve words, and uttering incomplete sentences. 

Time change has challenged us the whole trip, but is especially challenging now that we are losing an hour each time we cross a time zone. We just never know that we’ve entered a new time zone until one of  us realizes the car clock is different than our Fitbit clocks. 

Wildlife:

1 deer 

3 marmots 

2 squirrels 

0 mountain goats😕

1 Roadkill

Gree’s senior park pass savings to date $410.00

Oregon

I have been fantasizing about visiting Oregon for over a year. Search Oregon on Pinterest and you’ll see why. The whole state should be a National Park. The coast is gorgeous. It felt a lot like a Jurassic Park movie.  It’s like Maine in that the coast is primarily rocky. The old growth forest meets the Ocean. These pictures and my words can not convey its beauty.

When we left California into Oregon there was an agriculture check station on the other side of the road checking cars for fruits and vegetables going into California. The fruits we ate all the way from Tennessee across the country have been amazing!!! The raspberries, cherries, oranges, and strawberries don’t even taste like what we get in New England. We are spoiled now!

An interesting fact about Oregon, no self-serve gas. I pulled over to get cheap gas and jumped out to pump and a man met me at the pump. I said I wanted to pump my own, he said I couldn't; state law in Oregon, says it had to be pumped my an attendant. He also called me hun or darlin’ four times.

 We stayed two nights at the same KOA which was a treat not to have to pack up in the morning. Our second day we went inland to Silver Falls State Park for the waterfalls. we hiked 5 miles and saw 8 of the 10 waterfalls.

Then we drove the the Columbia River Gorge scenic area. It was amazing too. If I couldn’t live in Maine, I’d live in Oregon. 

Wildlife:
6 buzzards eating Roadkill
2 blue herons

1 Roadkill the buzzards were eating.

Gree’s senior park pass savings to date $ 375+ 

Redwood National Park and California Coast

We camped the first night at Caspar Beach California. The scenery along the RT 1 North CA was spectacular.

Although beautiful, RT1 is impractical for a cross country trip so we got on RT 101 north, which goes through Redwood State and National Park. I thought sequoias and redwoods were the same. They are not. Giant sequoias have wider trunks, grow to an older age, but are shorter and than Redwoods. Redwoods are thinner but taller; they are the tallest trees on the planet. Each grow in their own specific locations; Redwoods on the Northern California Coast and Sequoias in the Sierra Mountains of California. The best way to experience these trees is to walk a grove of them. Sadly that wasn’t possible in Sequoia National Park, but we were able to walk the Lady Bird Johnson Trail in Redwood National Park. Each type needs a similar climate: moist, wet winters, mild temperatures, dry summers.

Wildlife:
1 snake
Many white egrets
A herd of elk

6 Roadkill 

86 Tesla’s spotted (3-4 trucks of new Tesla’s)

Gree’s senior park pass savings to date $ 375+ (Redwood Nat’l Park was free)

Yosemite National Park

I was really looking forward to Yosemite, however, there were too many people to actually enjoy the Park. We actually enjoyed the ride into the Park on Rt 41 along the Merced River better than the Park itself. We were there before 9am, but that was not early enough. 

Wildlife 

1deer

3 Roadkill 

Gree’s senior park pass savings to date $ 375+

Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park

Does National Park also mean curviest roads imaginable. We came into Sequoia from the south entrance. 

The views were beautiful, but OMG the road was all switchbacks along a canyon wall. I got sick again in the backseat, finally had to switch with Micah after stopping twice to get out. It was not a great visit. The Park was super busy so all the spots to pull off and get pictures were full. When we got to the General Sherman Tree, the Park service was doing a prescribed burn so we couldn’t stop because my mother couldn’t breathe. Every time we went through a smoky area we had to shut if the air in the car so as not to pull the smoke in. 

The sequoias we did see were huge!

Wildlife:

1hawk

1deer

6 Roadkill 

Gree’s senior park pass savings to date holding at $ 340+ because I added Zion twice, but that Park allows 7days with fee. 

Manzanar Internment Camp

Manzanar was the location of a WWII Japanese internment camp. It was a powerful experience. It took 2 1/2 hours through the eastern California desert to get there, and temperatures were at 113 degrees with a strong wind. There is a museum in the old gymnasium and the park service had a great film that explained the history and life in the camp. There is also a driving tour around the grounds of the camp, where they had a few barracks set up. There were approximately 10,000 people housed in one square mile. Eight people housed in each 20 x 25 room. Things I learned that I didn’t know before: two people were killed by guards at Manzanar during a protest. A boy was shot while collecting fire wood outside the fence, he survived. People were give a stipend but had to but their own meals in the mess hall. After Executive Order 9022 was issued, no person of Japanese decent could live in any of the three pacific coast states. In 1943, people were allowed to leave the internment camps but had to move east, they could not return to their homes. They were given $25.00 and a one-way bus ticket. The US encouraged other pacific coast countries to also intern their Japanese populations. Canada had camps and Peru who had the largest population of Japanese actually sent them to the US for internment. After the war, Peru wouldn’t take them back, and the US would allow them citizenship. They were in limbo. What struck me most was there was no huge Park Service sign on Rt 395, which is the major road running past the Camp. There was a tiny sign on the frontage road that couldn’t be seen from the major road. If Saara (GPS) hadn’t been on we would have missed it. There were more people at the UFO Museum in Roswell than Manzanar. Then I came back to hotel to watch CNN showing detention centers on the boarder, and talking about a round-up on Sunday. Why can’t we learn from history?

Wildlife:
1 lizard
1 rabbit

0 Roadkill

Manzanar is free so
Gree’s senior park pass savings to date holding at $ 340+

Oatman

We have had a tough few days of sightseeing. We left Zion National Park headed for Page, AZ to visit the slot canyon in Antelope Canyon. First thing, we end up on a remote rough, dirt road that eventually had a sign that said “dangerous road...not maintained “ so we had to turn around. We finally make it to Page via a scenic highway. Antelope Canyon is on the Navajo Reservation and you have to have a Navajo guide to bring you into the slot canyon. They were booked solid for that day. We hadn’t planned to stay in Page, because it was so hot and not one tree in sight. Then I thought we could rent a Sea-Doo on Lake Powell, but my iPhone hasn’t been working-quickly-with our hotspot (Eli) so we gave up on Page and head for Flagstaff to camp for the night. I was very upset. Although we didn’t want to have firm plans for this trip, the reality of “going with the flow,” is sometimes you can’t do what you want.

We got into Flagstaff very early and temperature was in 70s during the day so we had a comfortable day to relax. The next day we headed for Oatman, AZ. This is a regional sightseeing destination. MJC and my mother visited ~10 years ago with my aunt Janis who winters in AZ. I was so jealous and demanded that we visit on this trip even though it was far out of our way. You have to drive old Route 66 which climbs switchbacks all the way up to Oatman. There were signs on our end that said no vehicles longer than 40 feet allowed. Right before we got into town there is  semi-truck wedged in the road. The people in town thought he might be trying to avoid a weigh station or produce check by authorities.
Lucky for us there was a narrow path behind the truck to pass.

Oatman is a mining town, there is still a modern mine there but the town has wild burros that we’re left by miners when mining was done by hand. The burros come into town during the day and go into the hills at night. It was so great! I loved the historic western architecture and there were so many burros who let you pet and feed them. You can buy a bag of small hay wedges for $1.00 to feed them.
It was mating season. Seven burros were pregnant and the males were fighting fiercely.

Since we were so close we planned to visit Joshua Tree National Park. However, Saara (GPS) would not take us the route we wanted, and when we got to the turn off she took us there was a sign that said the road was closed. We went further and tried again but there was another road closed sign. We could have gone two hours longer to get there, but we had already done four hours that day. So we gave up on Joshua Tree and headed north. Since it was 108 degrees at 5:00pm we are in a motel in Barstow, CA. We are a little concerned about the earthquakes they have been having in SoCal.

Wildlife (since Zion)
2 rabbits
1 squirrel
1 lizard

13 Road kill (since Zion)

Gree’s senior park pass savings to date holding at $ 340+

Zion National Park

Zion National Park is majestic! Some how I was driving again as we entered the park on the east side. The park road was only slightly less scary than Rt 12, but still a windy, curvy, high grade road with drop-offs,  but now with many cars. It was another tough ride, so rough that my mother planned the next leg of our journey so that we avoided that entrance and road. Then there were two tunnels through the mountain. The first was short, but the inside was just the mountain rock. It looks like they used a huge industrial mining drill to carve the tunnel. The other one, Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, was so scary long, 1.1 miles. The rangers were only letting one lane of cars at a time go through, my mother thinks it was because of the exhaust build-up in the tunnel. There were a few windows in the tunnel, and the inside was concrete.

We took a day off here in Zion. This is only our 2nd day off in 3 weeks. We took one in New Orleans and now one in Zion. Day off means no driving, not rest and relaxation. This was the best day of our whole trip so far. We took the shuttle to the end of the scenic drive - private cars are not allowed in this section of the park. MJC and I walked the Riverside Trail out to the Narrows. It was still early so it was cool and sooooo beautiful! So beautiful I actually teared-up at the beauty of this place (I maybe a little tired too). Then we went back to the lodge and ate lunch, played a game of chess (MJC handily won),  shopped the gift shop, and had some ice cream while rocking in the rocking chairs
It was a small slice of heaven. In the afternoon we went horseback riding inside the park along the Virgin River. It was really hot, but it felt so good and natural to be in the saddle again. We forged the river and actually got to trot a little even though we were with a group. We are going to do another trail ride when we get Jackson Hole.

We learned a few interesting things. The Mormon’s who settled here actually gave up on the valley because every time they planted their gardens a rock slide would cover the gardens up so they couldn't Survive here. The ancient Paiute survived here before the era of tools by herding wild animals off the sides of cliffs. We saw the cliff on our trail ride.

It was an amazing day. Zion is now my  mother’s and Micah’s favorite National Park. For me, Zion is tied with Monument Valley (technically MV is not a National Park  because it’s on the Navajo Reservation).

Wildlife:
5 deer
1 turkey
14 rock squirrels
3 lizards

0 Roadkill

Gree’s senior park pass savings to date $ 340+

Scenic Rt 12 and Bryce Canyon

We made our way to Bryce Canyon National Park today via Scenic Rt 12 between Torrey and Escalante, UT.  First we climbed in to the beautiful Dixie National Forest that had gorgeous views. It was 50 degrees at 7am -just lovely. There were solar powered traffic cameras on either end of the Forest. We got stuck in our first animal-jam. The black angus cattle are free range up on the mountain, and they are drawn to the sides of the road. We actually saw a huge one dead on the side of the road that has been hit by a vehicle. My mother said that animals killed by cars in the National Parks or Forests is a major issue and the rangers will investigate and hunt down the driver. We figured it wouldn’t be hard to find this vehicle because this cow was enormous and there must have been extensive damage to the front end of the vehicle, which will be visible from the traffic cams.  We figured that dead cow cost between 2-3 thousand dollars.

Then we came to the most frightening road in all of the United States and we really wish someone had warned us before we started. Rt 12 crosses along the top of the ridge of a mountain with shear drops on both sides and no guard rails, then winds down along the mountain side with only a 6 inch asphalt curb between the car and the shear drop. I was driving and white knuckled for miles as we wound our way down that mountain. I was literally driving 15 miles an hour and down the middle of the road to keep away from edge. We were at 9,000 ft, on a 2-lane road, shear drop-offs both sides, 14% down grade with hairpin turns. The only saving grace was that the road was paved. We are not sure if this is they called Hell’s Backbone, but it was Hell for us. We had a few ridge spots in the Blue Ridge Parkway but nothing as long as this. When we got through it we had to get out of the car and take a break to relieve the stress.

No pics we were all to scared to pick up a camera. 

We finally made it to Bryce Canyon National Park. You can drive private vehicles, but they have and encourage guests to use the free shuttle. I was more than happy to take the shuttle, after driving four Parks ourselves and that crazy Rt 12 in the morning, we and the Camry needed a break.

We are constantly surprised that five National Parks in Utah could all be so different. It was only 75 degrees in Bryce and so comfortable. Lots of spires and hoodoos in Bryce. Hoodoos are rock formation that have a hard top that is more resistant to erosion than the center so they look a little like people. In fact, The Paiute believed they were evil legend people who had been turned to stone by the coyote.

Wildlife:
9 deer
1 unidentifiable rodent
2 squirrel/chipmunks

Too many to count cattle (since they are free range MJC thinks they should be added to our wildlife count)

6 roadkill

Gree’s Senior pass savings to date $ 270+

Canyonlands National Park

We loved Canyonlands National Park. The scenery was amazing but we were there at 8 am so we didn’t have to fight the hordes of other tourists. It actually felt like we had the park to ourselves. The Grand Canyon gets all the hype but Canyonlands was as good if not better.

Then we drove 2 hrs south west to Capital Reef National Park. It was good but not great, probably our least favorite of all the Utah National Parks to date. The best part of this park was the orchards in the valley of the park. They maintain 3,000 fruit trees, you can even pick and eat the fruit in the park. I had an apricot. We ate out lunch in the shade along side the ——- River. We do a picnic lunch everyday, and have found some lovely spots but this may have been the best lunch spot to date.

This day did me in. By the time we found a campground I just had to lay down. I don’t know wether it was the heat, altitude, motion sickness, but I was down for the count.

The fan made a huge difference in Moab. It was still hot when we went to bed but, it was windy and the fan made it much more comfortable for my mother. As you all know, as soon as you buy something you no longer need it. We camped in Torrey, UT last night. We went to bed it was in the 70s, we woke up to 57 degrees. It feels like an oasis in the rock desert.

Wildlife:
3 marmot
3 lizards

1 Roadkill (dispute over species MJC says javelina, I say coyotes)