May 30th - Devils Tower and Mammoth Site

We left Hell's Creek SP early this morning and drove to Devils Tower in the northwest corner of Wyoming. On the way in we saw quite a few prarie dogs. The tower itself was huge and we were told it was probably 50 million years old. We stopped in the KOA Longhorn Cafe for burgers and then went on to the Mammoth site in South Dakota. The building is contructed over an actual archelogical dig where they've been unearthing the bones from mammals that were stuck in a sinkhole millions of years ago and died there. We thought it was very interesting.

May 29th - On our way to Hells Creek SP

The weather in Glacier was pretty nasty today. They had snow overnight on the east side of the park and it was pretty cloudy. The Going to the Sun Road is not completely open and the glacier is still covered with snow so we decided to keep moving and try to get back here another time. We drove from Glacier West to Hell's Creek SP just north of Jordan, MT. We took MT-200 and it was a beautiful trip. Miles and miles of beautiful farmland and ranches, some animals - cattle, horses, pronghorn antelopes, and deer - but very few other cars on the road or people. We know why they call it the big sky country - the most gorgeous blue skies for as far as you could see!

May 27th - Eureka & Glacier NP

We went to visit Jon Crandell in his own little corner of the world today. He lives in Eureka, just south of the Canadian border. It's probably one of the most serene, beautiful places we've seen so far. From Jon's we drove down to Glacier NP to camp for the night. It was drizzly and cloudy so the pictures don't do it justice but the mountains were beautiful. We stayed in the Sprague campground.

On our way to Whitefish MT

We drove from Yellowstone to Whitefish, MT today and it was a long but beautiful trip. As we went through the mountains we were driving through clouds. We took MT-1, the scenic Pinter Highway and it was so pretty! More nice pictures. Thank goodness for digital cameras! The water in Flathead Lake was a beautiful greenish-blue color. Amazing! Still having a great time. After this leg of our journey we're going to start heading back east again.

Yellowstone National Park

We drove from the Grand Tetons to Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful. It went off just after we got there and we went on a hike through the area and saw lots of other geysers and hot springs and when we got back to the main parking area Old Faithful was going off again so we got to see it twice. While we were walking we saw some buffalo and Gary got as close as he could (without getting gored!) to get some good pictures. When we left Old Faithful we started seeing buffalo all over the place! We had to stop the truck and wait for them to cross. They're amazing animals! After we got our campsite, we went to the Yellowstone Falls and they were amazing. The pictures don't do them justice!

Grand Tetons NP

We drove from Zion NP to the Grand Tetons NP and camped there overnight. It was cold but no bears! The mountains were beautiful when we woke up in the morning. You could see the reflection in the Jackson Lake.

Zion NP and north to Coalville UT

We went to see Zion early today and we were lucky to beat the crowds. On the way out of the park we took a wrog turn and had to take a different route back to I-15 but it turned out to be a great mistake. We passed through Duck Creek in the Dixie National Forest and saw some lava rock and cinder cones. It was a fascinating sight. We also saw the Cedar Canyon. We got a lot of driving in this afternoon and we're in the northeast corner of Utah above Salt Lake City. It should be an easy ride into Wyoming tomorrow.

On our way to Zion

We stayed at a Best Western just outside of Zion last night and we woke up to snow on the ground this morning. This is the southernmost point of our trip! What's going on???

Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon

We can't get over how huge all of these stone formations are. They're bigger than any skyscraper we've ever scene. Just gorgeous! The first picture is in Red Canyon and the rest are from Bryce Canyon. We're having a great tine and running ahead of schedule. We're doing more driving than we had planned so things are going well. Hope everyone at home is well.

Arches and Capitol Reef

Another beautiful day! We drove from Canyonlands to Arches and hiked to the top of the viewing area to see the Delicate Arch. I thought we were going to get blown off the mountain. I can't describe how beautiful all of this is! After leaving Arches we drove through Capitol Reef and we're staying at the Capitol Reef Best Western. We had a great meal in their restaurant.

Canyonlands

We stayed at a campsite named Needles Outpost just outside of the National Park and it was terrific. We even had great views from our campsite. It was very warm and windy though and the sand blew all over. It was worth it though.

Mesa Verde

We stayed two nights at the Morefield campgrounds in Mesa Verde and toured both the Balcony House and the Cliff Palace. Both were awesome! We also took a hike up to Point Lookout and you could see for miles from there. Having the time of our lives!

On our way to Mesa Verde

We stayed at the Best Western in Walsenberg last night and drove to Mesa Verde. The weather was beautiful!

Day 9 - Pike's Peak

Tuesday, May 18, 2010
We got up early today and drove to Manitou Springs to take the cog railway up Pike's Peak. It looked a little hazy at the bottom of the mountain but the railway took us way above the clouds. It was amazing! The first picture give a view looking back from our rail car and the second is of Windy Point at elevation 12,129 feet. The temperature at the top was 23 degrees and wqe don't know what the wind speed was because it was frozen. Trust us - it was windy! On the way back down Gary saw a rabbit - or maybe it was a marmot. Obviously he doesn't know the difference!

Day 8 - RMNP

Day 8, Monday, May 17, 2010

We saw lots more wildlife on the way out of the park and on the road going south – more elk, stellar jays, a bluebird, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelopes. It’s amazing! We’re headed for Pikes Peak tomorrow so we drove down to Mueller SP to camp. Beautiful place with hot showers!

Day 8 - RMNP

Day 8, Monday, May 17, 2010

We saw lots more wildlife on the way out of the park and on the road going south – more elk, stellar jays, a bluebird, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelopes. It’s amazing! We’re headed for Pikes Peak tomorrow so we drove down to Mueller SP to camp. Beautiful place with hot showers!

Day 7, Sunday, May 16, 2010

We drove from Fort Morgan to Estes Park, CO, through thr Roosevelt National Forest, and entered the Rocky Mountain National Park at Estes Park – the Beaver Meadow entrance. Parts of the park are still closed because of snow. The scenery getting there and the park itself were absolutely breathtaking. We camped at Morraine Park in RMNP and had a great campsite. A whole herd of elk wandered through that evening and we got lots of pictures. We also saw a black squirrel and some other animals that looked like minature prarie dogs. The temperature went down to about 33 degrees in the camper –whoa! No showers in this park but everything else was great.

On the road

Here's a picture of the arch in St. Louis, Missouri. We've been traveling for 6 days now and we've had at least some rain all six days!

Day 5

Day 5, Friday, May 14, 2010

We had breakfast at the campsite and got off to an early start. We saw the Cahokia Mounds in Illinois and then drove through Missouri and into Kansas. We missed the Clinton SP so ended up staying at the Motel 6 in Topeka.

Day 4

Day 4, Thursday, May 13, 2010
Boy, was I wrong! The room at Super 8 looked nice but we weren’t able to get much sleep. A man moved into the room over ours at about 11:30 PM and the floors must have been paper thin. I think he walked about 20 miles between 11:30 and 2:00 AM without ever leaving the room! We heard every step. When he used the bathroom, it sounded like a waterfall. We even heard him pass gas! Yikes! A little too close for comfort! Today we drove through Kentucky, Indiana, and most of Illinois and we camped at Eldon Hazlet SP. Off to Cahokia mounds tomorrow!