golddog goes for a ride

Well, just about.

Up to the PO to drop off tax payments and stop mail. Home -> laundry, mowed. Packed and threw suitcase in car. Pretty much down to cooler, toiletries, and laptop tomorrow, and I'm down the road.

If I get a halfway decent sleep tonight. If not, leave Wednesday. Or later.

When goldie starts freezing breakfast burritos, we know things are getting serious...

Gypsies in the Palace!

I used to think that just jumping in the car with no idea of where I was going would be a great trip. I never got around to doing it, but recently every time I get in the car it's pretty damn close!

Looking forward to seeing where the wind blows you and seeing pics of what you find there!

safe travails toward the unyonder

Vague notion might be a better term. Thanks, guys.

Oddly enough, I did hotel today because of the wind. Really blowing up in Wyoming (surprising no one who's ever been here), and I knew that I wouldn't want to deal with putting up the tent.

Decided to blast along I 70 instead of the Wyoming route. It was nice, and really hit me how little snowpack we have. Over by Glenwood Canyon, there's a series of rest stops kind of squished between the Colorado River and I 70.

Had lunch along there, it was nice.

Then headed west to Rifle, turned north toward Craig, where I stopped for some meh wings and fries. Then into Wyoming. By now, the wind is really blowing, could feel it buffeting the Subie around. Fortunately nobody around for miles at a time.

When I got to I80 in Wyoming, it was coming straight out of the west and really howling. Stopped in some place called Wamsutter, nearly blew my hat off. Decided to call it a night in Green River. Got a room, going to see about some beer down the street.

but you were soooo close to little america, how could you stop?
if you ever have reason to wonder, just remember every state address ends in wy

Pics are great, but I don't see any pics of the WY wind.

That's ok though. I remember it. Nice start!

Little America actually one or two exits west. May roll through in the morning.

Up semi-early-ish, got washed and packed up. Looked at the breakfast offerings; cereal, bread, muffins. Not a very good effort, so I got a couple of breakfast burritos out of the cooler & tossed them in the microwave.

Got out of town about 7:30 I think. Green River has some rock formations.

Took the back road, which took me to Little America. I don't know what to make of it--it's just a gas station/convenience store/RV Park/restaurant. After seeing the signs, I was thinking something more like Wall Drug.

Having stopped, I did get a $1 soft-serve cone. Rather large, and tasty, and totally unnecessary..

Plied along through Kemmerer (home of JC Penney). Got some beer and ice for the cooler, and headed over to Fossil Butte National Monument. I have to admit, it's kind of a letdown. I thought it might be like Dinosaur National Monument, where they have a hillside partially excavated, showing the fossils in situ.

The first thing is a trail up to the original quarry. It turns out that some guy back in the 1910-20 time came here and quarried fossils by hand. He had a gas station out by the highway, and sold fossils as well.

Anyway, here's his work area.

Displays said there were darker spots which were the fossils, but I didn't see any.

And a view from up there. Most of Wyoming is like this.

They also had his old cabin. The outside A frame is to protect the historic A frame somewhat.

The trail was about 2.5 miles in total, so a good hike. Nice temp, wind still blowing. It's mostly juniper scrubland, but there was some color.

Coming down, a train went by. They are long in Wyoming.

The sign. The parking lot is at the bottom of the butte, the trail loops around up there. Not quite to the top of course.

Went up to the Visitor Center, they has some pretty good displays. One interesting one was signs as you're driving up, saying when various events occurred (something something 1.5 billion years ago). This continued on to the center, where the outdoor rail became the timeline. I was surprised to learn that spiders preceded cockroaches, and dogs and cats had a split a long time ago.

Of course, humans were pretty much at the end of the timeline.

Had lunch at the Visitor Center. Wind still blowing hard, so I took advantage of their wifi to look for a hotel room for tonight.

I took a slight detour to get a picture for mark.

Spoiler

Show

Actually, I have no evidence that bears any enmity towards Utah.

While on the detour, I saw this.

I think I'm going to be ok.

Got up to the border and crossed into Idaho. Actual marker, some public art, and the welcome sign.

Of course, being the Wyoming border, they had this right on the state line.

Kinda like driving into Nevada with liquor stores and casinos right there.

Potatoland is a lot like this.

I did stop in a pub and had a burger and fries. Good, but the fries shoulda been special somehow.

Wandered around SE Idaho some, then headed to Rexburg to get in the hotel. A long traffic jam leaving Blackfoot. I assume there had been an accident. By the time I got up there, they police had the left lane still blocked for a small place, but didn't see an actual wreck. Quite a slowdown, but we got through.

My room (Super 8, as usual) has a hot tub, and quite a large living area. Pretty nice for a Super 8.

Of course, by the time I arrived, the wind had calmed and it's quite nice. Woulda been a good night to camp. Sigh.

I think go for a walk and see if there's a place for a beer nearby.

I love Utah. And Idaho. And Wyoming!

The price of ammo must have jumped again.

NRA needs to re-start their Junior Marksmanship program.

I have seen several places advertising ammo.

Started out in Rexburg, ID. As is my wont, got on the back roads. First view of the Tetons.

Kept wandering that direction.

Came upon the Warm River

Was thinking I hadn't seen any wildlife, and this appeared.

Then Lower Mesa Falls

And Upper Mesa Falls

Kept going north, finally got here

The line to get in was pretty frustrating, but got there. Senior Pass worked! Getting money's worth.

Drove around quite a bit, but the crowds were everywhere.

Saw some of these

Tower Falls

more elk

Upper Yellowstone Falls

And, of course, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone from Artist's Point

Down the road, this guy was laying about.

Had a grilled chicken sandwich at the diner thing by Yellowstone Lake which was remarkable in how blah it was.4

The lake itself

No camping available in the park. Drove down to Cody ,stopped at the local Super 8. $244 for a night. I'll look around some more. Pulled of the lot, and practically across the street was a little in-town campground. Nobody around, but a number posted, so called to check into things.

Greg said to just put up my tent in this little grassy area, and see Larry in the morning to settle up. Should be about $40.

Sun just about down, having a couple beers then will turn in. Seems as if it's going to be cool tonight.

Nice pics. Good job keeping people out of them!

i’m about three hours away from you, but a moving target. woke up today in Bozeman, will sleep tonight at home.
just a one day spin through the park? i remember spouse-to-be and I on a road trip through the Tetons/Yellowstone/Glacier back in late summer 1998, mostly because we were broke and supposed to tent camp most of the trip, but McGwire and Sosa were in the heat of their home run chase and we got a room more than we should have so we could watch the action

Went through Yellowstone again today, more later. Currently in Grand Teton, hoping to find a campsite by Jackson(ish)

👍

Did you drive the NE Entrance road and look for wolves?

When we were there several years ago my wife was absolutely obsessed with seeing a moose. On the road between Jackson & Grand Tetons (I think) there were a few warning signs about how many people had been killed so far that year by hitting a moose on the road.

I was absolutely terrified that if I hit a moose that I would bleed to death while her RN ass was taking pictures of the moose.

I didn't know I was supposed to go up NE for wolves. Also did not see a moose, but I saw one when I got my pass last month in RMNP, so I'm calling that good enough.

When last we left off, I was in Cody. Had a decent-ish sleep. In tent early, up around 5:30. It was a nice campground. Being in-town, there was some traffic noise. Being Cody, it died off fairly early in the evening.

In the morning, after packing up, Larry had arrived. Paid him. Bill was $44.40. Unfortunately forgot I'd gotten a 50 last time I dealt; could've gotten rid of that.

Went back up to the park. East entrance, then turned south. Drove around Yellowstone Lake.

Around West Thumb, I saw a sign for "geyser basin" or some such. Didn't know they were over here, too, so took a walk around.

This one only about a foot across. I suppose it was newer.

Then headed toward Old Faithful. Along the way, pretty wimpy Continental Divide.

Saw a sign for Kepler Cascades. I like Kepler. Showed that planetary orbits aren't perfect circles, and figured out the rules that govern them.

Just after 11, got to the Old Faithful parking lot. Got oriented, saw the display that the next eruption was expected at 11:55. Perfect. Back to car, made lunch, walked back to the geyser area and had that.

It was within a few minutes of on-time. Surprisingly quiet. There was a whoosh of the water coming out, but not loud.

I'd guess it went on ~5 minutes, but didn't think to time it.

Went inside and asked a ranger how often they have to help people who ignore the rules, despite warnings to stay on the path in thermal areas, or not approach the wildlife. I was surprised to hear the answer was, pervasive, multiple times per day.

I mean, I am a firm believer that people will be as stupid as they are allowed. But I figured it'd be a few times per week.

Anyway I asked where Grand Prismatic Spring was. She pointed it out on the map, and also pointed out that parking would be problematic there and at the Falls nearby (which has an overlook), so be ready for that.

Sure enough, had to park by the road near the Falls lot, which probably added .5 miles each way to a 1.6 mile round trip. So, a long walk, but not undoable.

Anyway, there's a few things at the start.

But eventually we got to the star of the show.

Next, drove down to the spring's parking lot. Sure enough, there was a huge backup. Didn't want to deal, so just went past, turned around, and drove through the jam to get out. As I was taking off, noticed a bison standing there, but didn't get a picture.

A way later on, did see this by the road.

Bailed out of Yellowstone, and headed through Grand Teton.

Took the road that kinda goes along the base. Reminded me of highway 93 from Golden to Boulder, except these guys are further back (but much higher).

Wandered along to Jackson. Drove around the town square looking for parking. Was taking one last time around, and found a spot. To me, Jackson is known for two things: The antler arch at each corner of the town square.

And

Those are what (I think) are old Morgan silver dollars embedded in the bar. The few I saw were in rough condition. I don't know about million dollar, but there were a lot in the two long bars.

Also, the people seemed to embrace the cowboy theme. Most of the young folks had hats and boots, but appeared to be for show only.

Anyway I had one of these to say I did, and boogied.

Jackson reminded me of Aspen. Packed, over priced. Something to experience once, and not go back.

headed east into Potatoland. Couldn't find a campsite. Got to the first small town, saw two hotels. First one had a sign posted that this is a non-staffed desk, call this number to check in, they'll send something to your phone.

Naturally got voice mail. The other said to use the phone on the desk, which rang and rang but went unanswered.

Headed down the road, found a forest service campground. Good cuz it's cheap (half price--$7--with my NPS pass), but they're usually pretty terrible. Rocky soil, pit toilets, etc. In fact, couldn't drive staked in the ground.

On the plus side, it was pretty quiet. Just off a state highway which was quiet at night. At a few beers and got in the tent.

So OK overall, but just that.

Up around 6 this morning. Made breakfast while packing up.

That's my setup. Put the gas on low, the burrito gets toasted while I'm packing up. Works for me.

Trundled down the road through Idaho Falls. Stopped for beer and ice. Since I didn't know if there would be beer available on Sunday, got some extra.

Plowed across the middle of Idaho. Had a little shower along the way, which was the only thing out there. Just scrubland and nothing for miles.

But, got to EBR-1 (Experimental Breeder Reactor) museum. This was the first place we were able to maintain nuclear reactions for electricity.

It was a nice display, but out in BFE. They've shut it down, but have a bunch of displays they don't mind you fiddling with.

Neither Jane Fonda nor Michael Douglas made an appearance.

I expect the mutations to start any time.

As I was leaving, I told the young woman tour guide they should add a display for the future of nuclear.

Next up was Craters of the Moon National Monument. It's a lava field with interesting formations, from an eruption ~2300 years ago.

The wind was starting to pick up. Had lunch, and went on this hike, Inferno Cone or some such.

Short, but steep hike.

By the time I got up there, wind was blowing like a mother****er. Not quite knock me off my feet, but getting there. Some quick snaps from the top.

Decided I was done, but stopped in the Visitor Center on the way out. Saw this.

And you thought Elon's creations couldn't get worse.

Bye!

I'd say both of these things are kinda interesting, but so remote they're not worth going to, even together.

Plowed along. At some point, made hotel reservations due to the wind in Boise. Drove through SW Idaho, it's quite empty and more deserty.

Got up to Boise, checked in and got my key. Went up to the room, and I see clothes laying about and the TV on. Back to the desk, explain I need a room that someone's not it.

Apparently their "system was down", so the guy was having trouble managing things. To his credit, he was trying to find an empty room. After an hour, he somehow connected with the people who were in the room I am now in. Not sure if it was a cross-up, or they had yet another room, but they hadn't used the room yet, so they got the one bag they dropped and I was able to get in.

Stressful for him. While he was working, I attempted to call Wyndham to see what they could do. Twice, after giving my reservation #, and pushing the selection for "speak to a CSR," I got hung up on. You know, the one thing that should never happen.

I think it's straightened out. I've been in here probably close to an hour, and nobody's walked in.

There's an Applebee's across the street. Since I don't even go to the one a 10 minute walk from my house, maybe I'll see if they'll sell me a beer.

And all this time I thought it was supposed to be green cheese!

Somehow we missed all the electronic gizmos when we were there several years ago. Then again, I'm not that surprised by that. Enjoying the pics still!

Oh yeah, of course the wind died down, and it would be a great night for camping.

And Applebee's didn't have anything I can't get in Denver whenever I want, so I raided the cooler.

I forgot the coolest thing at EBR-1. Of course, it didn't occur to me to get a picture until an hour down the road.

On one gizmo, the tour guide held her phone's light up to the glass. The workers looked through this glass to manipulate the radioactive material.

it made a series of reflections, all perfectly aligned. She said is was actually 34 panes of leaded glass, so each one reflected the light. Kind of a string of stars.

It would be easier for you to go back to get a picture of that than it would be for me to drive to Idaho. Just saying ...

LOL!

Sorry about the beer at Applebee's. It's always a disappointment to me when traveling not to be able to get some local beer that I've never had.