Headed East

Tuesday morning we had to pack up and say goodbye to Cody and the Red Pole Ranch.  We so enjoyed our time there.

 We had made the decision to go back into Yellowstone for the day, before heading East toward home.  We drove one of the "most scenic drives in America"(according to Charles Kuralt), on the Chief Joseph Highway from Cody to the North Entrance of the park.  It was definitely beautiful. 

Once we entered the park, we saw bison everywhere.  Much more wildlife on this side of the park than on the West. 

We drove to Mammoth Hot Springs and spent the afternoon there.  The kids finished their Junior Ranger programs(while Mark napped!) and received their badges and a round of applause from everyone in the visitor center.

We made the decision to skip Rapid City because we had already been to Mount Rushmore and it would allow us to stay in Yellowstone longer.  Therefore, Mark and I made the long overnight trek from Yellowstone to home.  Because of the aforementioned issues that I have with the van, he drove the entire way, but I stayed awake to make sure he stayed awake!

Once again, I cannot say enough what a fantastic crew we have for driving trips.  They are patient, helpful and they enjoy all aspects of the trips, even the long, long drives.  Mark did a fantastic job getting us safely from one end of the country to another without any complaints!  We drove 6050 miles!

We have already started planning for next year!  We will be heading southeast this time with a destination of a week in the Florida Keys.  Looking for a little more relaxation next time!

Thanks for following us!

Buffalo Bill Cody

Cody, WY was named for Buffalo Bill Cody and the town is very proud of the fact.  There is a Buffalo Bill museum that had come highly recommended by many people.  So, Monday we decided to go.  It was definitely interesting, but maybe for a bit older children than ours.  The girls were bored out of their minds once they got past the gift shop.  The boys liked the Firearms Museum, which is the largest collection of firearms in the country, and all of the "stuffed" animals, but after that they were about done, also.

That night brought the Cody Rodeo!  I think everyone would agree that it was one of the highlights of the trip!  The kids were amazed by 8 and 13 year old girl trick riders, hanging off of their horses by a thread.  The bull riders were crazy and of course the clowns were the favorite.

White Water Rafting????

Sunday we drove to Cody to get more information about a white water rafting trip.  Jane wanted no part of it whatsoever!  In fact, as the guide was telling us about the trip options, one of them being rapids with a five foot drop, I think she may have teared up a bit.  I went ahead and booked it for 1:00 p.m., knowing that it was just her anxiety getting the best of her.

We arrived at "base camp" at 12:45 ready to go, at least most of us, that is!  On the raft, were the six of us, a mother/daughter pair from Michigan and our guide, Morgan.   After a few minutes of frazzled nerves, everyone had a blast!  The rapids were tame enough that we didn't feel like we would lose Ted overboard, but exciting enough for everyone to have fun.  The trip was just under three hours and we saw some beautiful scenery that we couldn't have seen from any other perspective.

We spent the remainder of the day shopping for cap guns, cowgirl hats and boots.  Everyone was feeling the spirit of the west.

Rose was thrilled to find that the place we stayed had a mother quarter horse and her six week old baby and she spent many hours at the fence!

We had to document Rose washing dishes AND she volunteered to do it!

Yellowstone

Saturday morning Mark had the oil changed in the van.  We thought it might be a good idea since we had already traveled 4300+ miles already!

Then we headed out with Yellowstone National Park in our future.  It was a long drive, because most of it is on very curvy two lane mountain roads with 45 mile an hour speed limits.

We made it to the Western Entrance of the park around 3:30 p.m.  From there we headed to Old Faithful just in time to see it erupt, which was really cool!

 Every trip that we have been on, it always seems to be that the National Parks are everyone's favorite stop.  The kids joined the Junior Ranger Program, which they had also done at Alcatraz.  It is a great program that gets the kids interested in their surroundings and teaches them more about the park than we could EVER teach them.  On our way out, we saw a bison just feet from our car!  Of course, we had just read the flyer that is handed out to all visitors entering the park that says, "Each year many people are gored by bison in the park, STAY AWAY!"  But, we stopped and took pictures...I LOVE BUFFALO'S!

It was getting late and we still had two hours to drive to reach our cabin just outside the Eastern Entrance of the park.

The Red Pole Ranch is FANTASTIC!  A great couple, Patty Jo and Don Shmalz(no lie, Don is a real life Marlboro man from the 70's!  They even have the ads to prove it!)  The Ranch sits in a basin surrounded by mountains about 25 miles east of Yellowstone and 13 miles west of Cody, WY. 

More than just potatoes

We spent some time in Bend Friday morning with a friend of my parents, Jane Trout, who just happened to be visiting her son while we were there.  She gave us a great tour of the town, which made us want to come back even more.

We then kept heading east to Idaho.  The drive wasn't too exciting.  We did pass miles and miles of range fire.

The Snake River was the sight of one of many failed jump attempts by Evil Kneival, which most of the people in our car thought was pretty cool.

Our destination was Twin Falls, ID which in parts was quite picturesque, but overall was like visiting Maple Grove, (no offense, Maple Grove!)