(Posting for Saturday, June 7th)
It’s shaping up to be dark and cold night here at the Lake Hotel. Shortly after we checked in yesterday, the power flickered on and off a couple of times. When we made it back to the hotel this afternoon, it became apparent that the power outages were back and were a bit more widespread. Luckily, we have power in our room, but most of the common areas in the hotel and the restaurant lack full power. It also appears that the heating system lacks power, since the radiator in our room has been cold as ice since this afternoon. Not a very reassuring thought on a dark and cold night…
Anyway, today was a good day. We awoke this morning to a beautiful sunny day. The storm late yesterday ended up dropping about 8 inches of snow on and around our hotel. Luckily, the roads were cleared and the sun was out when we ventured out late this morning. Everything was covered in a magnificent layer of white snow – a really spectacular sight. Everyone in the hotel has been joking about enjoying their “winter” summer vacation.
We left Lake Hotel and headed over to Fishing Bridge late morning. We checked in at the ranger station, picked up our junior ranger materials, and took a stroll on a snow covered Fishing Bridge. While out of the bridge we saw several pelicans, geese and a solitary wolf sniffing along the banks of the frigid river. The snow started again while we were out of the bridge, so we made our way back to the card and headed on towards West Thumb.
Our original plan was to cruise on up to Old Faithful and grab some lunch. However, a couple of miles past Grant Village, the snow became pretty fierce, so we decided to stick closer to home. We found our way to the restaurant at Grant Village, grabbed a late lunch and took in the snow storm. We all got soaked in heavy, wet snowflakes during the short walk back to our car after lunch.
As we worked our way back to Lake Hotel, the weather improved, so we decided to take a ride towards the Canyon area and through Hayden Valley. Along the way we stopped at the Mud Volcano area, and battled snow and ice along the trail. The kids got a kick out of all of the really smelly pools and thermal features. As we pulled in, the parking lot was overrun with bison, casually working their way across the road. After hitting Mud Volcano, we worked our way through Hayden Valley, and had out first bear sighting – a grizzly with 2 cubs not that far off the road. We continued on towards Canyon and saw lots of bison, but no more bears. We made a quick stop in Canyon to check out the lower falls of the Yellowstone before heading back to our hotel around 4pm or so.
We all lounged around the room for a while, snacked heavily for dinner, and headed down to the lobby to enjoy the piano music and play cards.
The weather wasn’t that bad today when it wasn’t snowing heavily. Temps were around 35 degrees or so with little wind. Tomorrow it’s supposed to warm into the 40’s, with temps climbing into the upper 50’s next week.
Tomorrow we leave Lake Hotel and move (across the parking lot) to the Cabins at Lake Hotel. We’ve enjoyed our time here, but the hotel really is a little spooky. Makes me want to watch the movie The Shining again.
Internet (and cell service) are scarce here, so no pics for now. We’ve snapped tons of good stuff that we’ll get up as soon as possible.
(Finally found some so-so internet at Old Faithful Snow Lodge to get these posts up on Sunday PM).
Sunday, June 8, 2008
We Made It!
(Posting for Friday, June 6th)
Today started out like any other day. We had a restful night in Cody after the rodeo. Everyone slept until around 8am, and we headed down to breakfast shortly thereafter. After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, I let the kids soak in the pool while Steph sorted and organized our newly clean clothes in anticipation of heading into Yellowstone later today.
We got the car repacked round 11am, and took a few minutes to get pics of the kids with some of the stuffed animals in the lobby of our hotel. After a quick stop at Wal-Mart, we headed to Old West Town just West of downtown Cody. Old West Town is a collection of old settler buildings that were relocated to Cody starting in the 1960’s. When you walk through these buildings – some homes, a school and some stores – you get a feeing of how hard it must have been on those settlers who gave up a life in some major city, packed everything they could in a covered wagon, and headed West in hopes of a better life for their family. I can’t imagine packing the Gray Family in a covered wagon and heading West to start a new life. It gives you a new appreciation for those who explored and settled the West.
After Old West Town, we headed back into Cody for some lunch at Bob’s BBQ. Lunch was great – the kids liked the ribs, but they didn’t think they were as good as Nolan’s… After lunch, we headed towards Yellowstone and made a quick stop at the Buffalo Bill Dam on the Shoshone River. The wind was whipping, and cold, but we found our way inside for a quick stop. We headed on towards Yellowstone early afternoon.
We finally reached Yellowstone shortly after 3pm today. We stopped at the park entrance for the obligatory pictures, and enjoyed some snow flurries as we entered the park. When we left Cody earlier today, it was sunny and about 60 degrees. When we hit Yellowstone, it was a bit overcast and mid 40 degrees.
We worked our way into Yellowstone and were amazed at the lack of cars – we felt like we had the place to ourselves. We saw plenty of snow covered mountain tops – and the occasional pile of snow next to the road. As we worked our way through the mountains and closer to Sylvan Pass, the snow picked up, and we began to see more and more snow on the side of the road. We kept meeting cars that were covered with snow. We were excited, but didn’t think much of it.
When we passed through Sylvan Pass, the snow became omnipresent. It began snowing harder, and the lakes we passed were frozen over. As we worked our way from Sylvan Pass down to Lake Yellowstone and Fishing Bridge, the snow picked up considerably and began to accumulate on the road. Just East of Fishing Bridge, we met a snow plow. When we passed Fishing Bridge, park rangers were starting to shut down the roads in the park. We were allowed to continue on the Lake Hotel, but the road North to Canyon was closed because of the snowfall.
We finally reached Lake Hotel around 5pm. It was a little difficult to navigate, since all of the signs were covered with snow. As we checked in, we learned that most of the roads in the park were closed this evening because of the heavy snowfall. As we worked our way to our room, the power went off in the hotel. It quickly came back, but probably went off another 3 or 4 times in the early evening. The snow has tapered off as I write this around 10pm local time, but we’ve probably gotten 5 or 6 inches of snow here today.
After we checked in, we bundled up the kids and headed out to the front of the hotel facing the lake. The kids had a blast playing in the snow – making snowmen, snowballs and snow angels. We chatted with an older couple from Birmingham who were visiting the park with their grandchildren.
After our romp in the snow, we changed into dry clothes and headed downstairs to the lobby of the hotel. The hotel is 100+ years old, so the lobby is a grand thing, with large windows overlooking the lake. Steph thought it was quite similar to the hotel in the movie the Shining. We hung out in the lobby for several hours. The kids enjoyed hot chocolate, while Steph and I enjoyed some great micobrew beers. We broke the bag of games and played cards while we watched the snow.
Later this evening we had dinner in the main dining room. Dinner was great – the food was good, but the experience was perhaps better. Lake Hotel throws you back to a simpler time – no phones, no TV – just great scenery, conversation, drink and food. We had a great dinner watching the snow and snow covered landscape out huge picture windows.
The roads should be cleared at some point tomorrow, but I couldn’t imagine a better place to be snowed in. This is truly a little piece of heaven.
We've taken tons of pics, but will get them posted when we find some internet...
Today started out like any other day. We had a restful night in Cody after the rodeo. Everyone slept until around 8am, and we headed down to breakfast shortly thereafter. After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, I let the kids soak in the pool while Steph sorted and organized our newly clean clothes in anticipation of heading into Yellowstone later today.
We got the car repacked round 11am, and took a few minutes to get pics of the kids with some of the stuffed animals in the lobby of our hotel. After a quick stop at Wal-Mart, we headed to Old West Town just West of downtown Cody. Old West Town is a collection of old settler buildings that were relocated to Cody starting in the 1960’s. When you walk through these buildings – some homes, a school and some stores – you get a feeing of how hard it must have been on those settlers who gave up a life in some major city, packed everything they could in a covered wagon, and headed West in hopes of a better life for their family. I can’t imagine packing the Gray Family in a covered wagon and heading West to start a new life. It gives you a new appreciation for those who explored and settled the West.
After Old West Town, we headed back into Cody for some lunch at Bob’s BBQ. Lunch was great – the kids liked the ribs, but they didn’t think they were as good as Nolan’s… After lunch, we headed towards Yellowstone and made a quick stop at the Buffalo Bill Dam on the Shoshone River. The wind was whipping, and cold, but we found our way inside for a quick stop. We headed on towards Yellowstone early afternoon.
We finally reached Yellowstone shortly after 3pm today. We stopped at the park entrance for the obligatory pictures, and enjoyed some snow flurries as we entered the park. When we left Cody earlier today, it was sunny and about 60 degrees. When we hit Yellowstone, it was a bit overcast and mid 40 degrees.
We worked our way into Yellowstone and were amazed at the lack of cars – we felt like we had the place to ourselves. We saw plenty of snow covered mountain tops – and the occasional pile of snow next to the road. As we worked our way through the mountains and closer to Sylvan Pass, the snow picked up, and we began to see more and more snow on the side of the road. We kept meeting cars that were covered with snow. We were excited, but didn’t think much of it.
When we passed through Sylvan Pass, the snow became omnipresent. It began snowing harder, and the lakes we passed were frozen over. As we worked our way from Sylvan Pass down to Lake Yellowstone and Fishing Bridge, the snow picked up considerably and began to accumulate on the road. Just East of Fishing Bridge, we met a snow plow. When we passed Fishing Bridge, park rangers were starting to shut down the roads in the park. We were allowed to continue on the Lake Hotel, but the road North to Canyon was closed because of the snowfall.
We finally reached Lake Hotel around 5pm. It was a little difficult to navigate, since all of the signs were covered with snow. As we checked in, we learned that most of the roads in the park were closed this evening because of the heavy snowfall. As we worked our way to our room, the power went off in the hotel. It quickly came back, but probably went off another 3 or 4 times in the early evening. The snow has tapered off as I write this around 10pm local time, but we’ve probably gotten 5 or 6 inches of snow here today.
After we checked in, we bundled up the kids and headed out to the front of the hotel facing the lake. The kids had a blast playing in the snow – making snowmen, snowballs and snow angels. We chatted with an older couple from Birmingham who were visiting the park with their grandchildren.
After our romp in the snow, we changed into dry clothes and headed downstairs to the lobby of the hotel. The hotel is 100+ years old, so the lobby is a grand thing, with large windows overlooking the lake. Steph thought it was quite similar to the hotel in the movie the Shining. We hung out in the lobby for several hours. The kids enjoyed hot chocolate, while Steph and I enjoyed some great micobrew beers. We broke the bag of games and played cards while we watched the snow.
Later this evening we had dinner in the main dining room. Dinner was great – the food was good, but the experience was perhaps better. Lake Hotel throws you back to a simpler time – no phones, no TV – just great scenery, conversation, drink and food. We had a great dinner watching the snow and snow covered landscape out huge picture windows.
The roads should be cleared at some point tomorrow, but I couldn’t imagine a better place to be snowed in. This is truly a little piece of heaven.
We've taken tons of pics, but will get them posted when we find some internet...
Thursday, June 5, 2008
The Rodeo Rocks!
Today was a very light travel day (yippee!). I think everyone was pretty wiped out after the drive across Wyoming yesterday.
We grabbed some breakfast at the hotel in Cody and made our way to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center late morning. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center essentially has 5 museums under one roof – one dedicated to Buffalo Bill, one to Indians, a western art gallery, a massive firearms collection, and a natural history museum. You could literally spend days there and not see everything. We took a swing through all of the museums and saved the natural history museum for last. The kids (and adults) really loved the natural history museum. It had lots of great exhibits about the different ecosystems, animals and plants found in the Yellowstone area. We made a quick stop in the gift shop and headed to lunch in downtown Cody early afternoon.
After lunch at Maxwell’s on main street in Cody, we headed back to the hotel so the kids could enjoy some pool time at the indoor pool. I hung with the kids at the pool while Steph tackled a week’s worth of dirty laundry. Laundry for this crew is no easy task, especially when you’re feeding quarters in a way too small machine that can’t seem to get anything dry in a decent amount of time. After the pool, I made a quick run to Wal-Mart to restock drinks and other items.
Around 7:30, we headed out to the Cody Nite Rodeo. The rodeo was a blast. Lots of barrel racing, bull riding, and calf roping. We saw some young girls doing barrel racing – I bet the youngest wasn’t much older than 5. It was really amazing to watch. Bull riding was the last event (they saved the best for last…). Only 2 of the 10 or so riders managed to stay on a bull the required 8 seconds. Several of the bulls were really ornery – a couple of the riders and clowns came close to getting smashed into the fence. Luckily, everyone was fine – but it was great to watch.
We’re back at the hotel now, winding down and getting ready to head into Yellowstone tomorrow. We’re working through our nightly rituals, one of which is making sure all of our portable electronics are charged and ready for another day of action. We’ve got more cords, adapters and charges than I’ve been able to count. We’re probably carrying around more electronics than it took to get the astronauts to the moon. We’ve got 2 laptops, 2 Nintendo DS’s, 3 digital cameras, a camcorder, 4 ipods, and a GPS. I’m sure there’s something else I’ve forgotten. I guess I’ll remember the next time the battery goes dead…
Today’s pics can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/MarionGrayCPA/YellowstoneDay8
Tomorrow night we’ll be staying at Lake Hotel in Yellowstone. We’ll keep the posts coming so long as we can get a little internet.
We grabbed some breakfast at the hotel in Cody and made our way to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center late morning. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center essentially has 5 museums under one roof – one dedicated to Buffalo Bill, one to Indians, a western art gallery, a massive firearms collection, and a natural history museum. You could literally spend days there and not see everything. We took a swing through all of the museums and saved the natural history museum for last. The kids (and adults) really loved the natural history museum. It had lots of great exhibits about the different ecosystems, animals and plants found in the Yellowstone area. We made a quick stop in the gift shop and headed to lunch in downtown Cody early afternoon.
After lunch at Maxwell’s on main street in Cody, we headed back to the hotel so the kids could enjoy some pool time at the indoor pool. I hung with the kids at the pool while Steph tackled a week’s worth of dirty laundry. Laundry for this crew is no easy task, especially when you’re feeding quarters in a way too small machine that can’t seem to get anything dry in a decent amount of time. After the pool, I made a quick run to Wal-Mart to restock drinks and other items.
Around 7:30, we headed out to the Cody Nite Rodeo. The rodeo was a blast. Lots of barrel racing, bull riding, and calf roping. We saw some young girls doing barrel racing – I bet the youngest wasn’t much older than 5. It was really amazing to watch. Bull riding was the last event (they saved the best for last…). Only 2 of the 10 or so riders managed to stay on a bull the required 8 seconds. Several of the bulls were really ornery – a couple of the riders and clowns came close to getting smashed into the fence. Luckily, everyone was fine – but it was great to watch.
We’re back at the hotel now, winding down and getting ready to head into Yellowstone tomorrow. We’re working through our nightly rituals, one of which is making sure all of our portable electronics are charged and ready for another day of action. We’ve got more cords, adapters and charges than I’ve been able to count. We’re probably carrying around more electronics than it took to get the astronauts to the moon. We’ve got 2 laptops, 2 Nintendo DS’s, 3 digital cameras, a camcorder, 4 ipods, and a GPS. I’m sure there’s something else I’ve forgotten. I guess I’ll remember the next time the battery goes dead…
Today’s pics can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/MarionGrayCPA/YellowstoneDay8
Tomorrow night we’ll be staying at Lake Hotel in Yellowstone. We’ll keep the posts coming so long as we can get a little internet.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
SNOW!
This has been an incredibly long and exciting day. If I had any sense, I would probably head on to bed and get some rest, but I can’t let the day come to a close without sharing some of our wild adventures.
We had a great night at Sylvan Lake outside of Hill City, SD. We had everyone and everything loaded around 8:30am and started our trek to Cody, WY. As we left Sylvan Lake, it started to sprinkle, and we had light rain with us most of the way today. From Sylvan lake, we drove about an hour to Deadwood, SD. Deadwood is a lot like Gatlinburg – with a casino on every corner… In Deadwood, we made a stop at the Mt. Moriah Cemetery to see the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. If you watched the Deadwood series on HBO (Steph and I were big fans), you’ll remember that the cemetery was up on a hillside overlooking Deadwood. You literally have to drive several blocks up the side of a small mountain to get to the cemetery – you feel almost like you’re driving straight up a wall. The cemetery was nice and provided a great view of downtown Deadwood.
From Deadwood, we decided to skip our side trip to Sturgis. The weather wasn’t cooperating and the kids were a bit crabby, so we headed on the Spearfish instead. We took a detour down main street in Spearfish, originally thinking we would stop for an early lunch. We drove by the local chamber of commerce, so Steph ran in to get a recommendation for lunch. In addition to recommendations for lunch, the lady working the counter gave Steph a free tote bag with a logo for the SD state program to quit smoking, as well as a free sample of Degree deodorant for men. Stephanie swears she didn’t tell the lady she had a smelly, chain smoking spouse in the car, but we’ll never know the truth… I ended up being the only one who really wanted lunch, so I grabbed a quick sandwich and we were back on the road.
Early afternoon we made it into Wyoming and arrived at Devil’s Tower National Monument. Devil’s Tower is truly in the middle of nowhere. Kind of like Rushmore, it’s truly awe inspiring the first time you turn a corner and catch a glimpse of it. We spent an hour or so at Devil’s Tower. We enjoyed a ranger program and the kids completed their requirements for another Junior Ranger badge. We stopped by the Devil’s Tower Post Office to mail a few post cards. We hung out for a while waiting for the mother ship to come down and beam us up, but it never happened, so on with the journey...
From Devil’s Tower we continued our trek across Wyoming to Cody. We headed through Gillette and Sheridan, before leaving the comfort of the interstate to cross the Big Horn Mountains. In Sheridan we stopped for gas and made a run through McDonalds for some grub. We’re been trying to avoid fast food on the trip, and have done pretty well so far. But oh, those McDonald’s fries are just so good and really hit the spot late in the afternoon. Nothing like a little grease and salt to get you going late in the day…
About 20 miles into our journey through the Big Horn Mountains, we started seeing snow near the road – everyone got excited. We reached the Burgess Junction Visitor Center (about 8,000 ft) late afternoon, and there was snow EVERYWHERE. We stopped to poke around in the snow and have a little fun, then were on our way. Little did we know how much snow we would see along the way. As we continued up and through the mountains, we passed a frozen lake, then a snowplow, and soon had snow piled on either side of the road in drifts higher than the van. Then the temp began to drop, and the rain that had followed us all day turned to blinding snow. We had about 15 minutes of driving in as near to a total whiteout as I have ever experienced. In the back of my mind, I began to wonder just how long we would sit buried in a snow bank before someone found us the in the following days or weeks if we were to run off the road. Truly hard to believe for the 4th of June… Once we reached the peak, the snow began to subside and the temp gradually rose from 32 degrees up to 60 degrees as we worked out way down the mountain.
We continued to work our way towards Cody, and finally pulled into our hotel around 9pm local time. Everyone is enjoying a little personal space (as much as you can get in a hotel room) before showers and bed.
Tomorrow we’re off to explore Cody.
Today’s pictures are on the web - http://picasaweb.google.com/MarionGrayCPA/YellowstoneDay7
I’ve also added some more pics to the album for Day 6.
That’s all for now. Thanks for following a long on our little adventure.
The Grays.
We had a great night at Sylvan Lake outside of Hill City, SD. We had everyone and everything loaded around 8:30am and started our trek to Cody, WY. As we left Sylvan Lake, it started to sprinkle, and we had light rain with us most of the way today. From Sylvan lake, we drove about an hour to Deadwood, SD. Deadwood is a lot like Gatlinburg – with a casino on every corner… In Deadwood, we made a stop at the Mt. Moriah Cemetery to see the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. If you watched the Deadwood series on HBO (Steph and I were big fans), you’ll remember that the cemetery was up on a hillside overlooking Deadwood. You literally have to drive several blocks up the side of a small mountain to get to the cemetery – you feel almost like you’re driving straight up a wall. The cemetery was nice and provided a great view of downtown Deadwood.
From Deadwood, we decided to skip our side trip to Sturgis. The weather wasn’t cooperating and the kids were a bit crabby, so we headed on the Spearfish instead. We took a detour down main street in Spearfish, originally thinking we would stop for an early lunch. We drove by the local chamber of commerce, so Steph ran in to get a recommendation for lunch. In addition to recommendations for lunch, the lady working the counter gave Steph a free tote bag with a logo for the SD state program to quit smoking, as well as a free sample of Degree deodorant for men. Stephanie swears she didn’t tell the lady she had a smelly, chain smoking spouse in the car, but we’ll never know the truth… I ended up being the only one who really wanted lunch, so I grabbed a quick sandwich and we were back on the road.
Early afternoon we made it into Wyoming and arrived at Devil’s Tower National Monument. Devil’s Tower is truly in the middle of nowhere. Kind of like Rushmore, it’s truly awe inspiring the first time you turn a corner and catch a glimpse of it. We spent an hour or so at Devil’s Tower. We enjoyed a ranger program and the kids completed their requirements for another Junior Ranger badge. We stopped by the Devil’s Tower Post Office to mail a few post cards. We hung out for a while waiting for the mother ship to come down and beam us up, but it never happened, so on with the journey...
From Devil’s Tower we continued our trek across Wyoming to Cody. We headed through Gillette and Sheridan, before leaving the comfort of the interstate to cross the Big Horn Mountains. In Sheridan we stopped for gas and made a run through McDonalds for some grub. We’re been trying to avoid fast food on the trip, and have done pretty well so far. But oh, those McDonald’s fries are just so good and really hit the spot late in the afternoon. Nothing like a little grease and salt to get you going late in the day…
About 20 miles into our journey through the Big Horn Mountains, we started seeing snow near the road – everyone got excited. We reached the Burgess Junction Visitor Center (about 8,000 ft) late afternoon, and there was snow EVERYWHERE. We stopped to poke around in the snow and have a little fun, then were on our way. Little did we know how much snow we would see along the way. As we continued up and through the mountains, we passed a frozen lake, then a snowplow, and soon had snow piled on either side of the road in drifts higher than the van. Then the temp began to drop, and the rain that had followed us all day turned to blinding snow. We had about 15 minutes of driving in as near to a total whiteout as I have ever experienced. In the back of my mind, I began to wonder just how long we would sit buried in a snow bank before someone found us the in the following days or weeks if we were to run off the road. Truly hard to believe for the 4th of June… Once we reached the peak, the snow began to subside and the temp gradually rose from 32 degrees up to 60 degrees as we worked out way down the mountain.
We continued to work our way towards Cody, and finally pulled into our hotel around 9pm local time. Everyone is enjoying a little personal space (as much as you can get in a hotel room) before showers and bed.
Tomorrow we’re off to explore Cody.
Today’s pictures are on the web - http://picasaweb.google.com/MarionGrayCPA/YellowstoneDay7
I’ve also added some more pics to the album for Day 6.
That’s all for now. Thanks for following a long on our little adventure.
The Grays.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Happy Birthday Taylor!!!
Greetings to all from the Grays.
Last night another round of thunderstorms moved through as we rested in our cozy cabin at Sylvan Lake. We awoke around 2am or so to move thunder, lightning, rain and hail. The rain moved on through at we awoke around 6am to yet another beautiful day in the Black Hills.
We made our way to the dining room at Sylvan Lake Lodge shortly after 8am and enjoyed a great breakfast to start the day – Taylor’s 10th birthday! Hard to believe the baby girl is already 10. I still vividly remember the day she was born. Steph started having contractions in the middle of the night, so we walked the streets of Belhaven around 2am. We finally called the doctor around 6am and headed to the hospital shortly thereafter. Taylor was born around 5:45pm that day. It seems like only yesterday…
After breakfast, we headed down the mountain to Hill City to catch the 1880’s train – a steam locomotive that runs from Hill City to Keystone. We got caught by a road crew doing some paving on the mountain, and made it on the train with only minutes to spare. The train ride was neat – lots of good scenery, more wildlife – a good way to spend the morning. We got some light rain while on the train, but the skies were clear by the time we returned to Hill City around noon.
In Hill City we walked over to the Alpine Lodge for lunch. The Alpine Lodge is a restaurant and B&B that serves lots of great German specialties. We enjoyed lunch, plus some great desserts and loaded up to check out Mt. Rushmore.
As we drove to Mt. Rushmore, the skies were dark and ominous – lots of black clouds that threatened rain at any minute. Once we arrived at Mt. Rushmore, the skies cleared and we had a beautiful afternoon to enjoy the monument. Mt. Rushmore is another one of those places that pictures simply don’t do justice. When you walk down the plaza and catch your first glimpse of the monument, it’s almost a religious experience. It’s amazing to see what a magnificent piece of work was carved from a bare, rocky mountain top. I couldn’t imagine how the sculptor brought his vision to reality. If you ever get the chance, don’t pass it up.
While at Mt. Rushmore, we caught sight of a couple of mountain goats. One even had a newborn trailing behind her. It was a quite a sight… Taylor and Trey completed a workbook and met all of the requirements to earn their junior ranger badges while at Mt. Rushmore. Both received badges and were sworn in as junior ranges by a park ranger on duty.
After Mt. Rushmore, we made a quick pit stop in Hill City for groceries, gas and internet. We parked at the new Holiday Inn Express and “borrowed” some of their wireless internet. We were able to get pictures for the last 3 days (including most of today) uploaded. There are a few duds among the pics I uploaded, so ignore those. We felt so fortunate to have decent internet access that we didn’t take the time to cull out the really bad pics.
We wound our way back to our cabin at Sylvan Lake around 6pm and took some time to clean out and repack the van. Since it was out last night here (and Taylor’s birthday!), we built a campfire and enjoyed birthday smores. The campfire was a hit – looks like we’ve got yet another generation of Gray pyromaniacs on our hands…
Sara and Larry Cornwell, the artists in residence this month at Sylvan Lake joined us for smores as well. Check out their work at www.rockcreekcarvings.com. It’s so nice to make new friends along the way when you travel.
Pics for the last 3 days can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MarionGrayCPA/YellowstoneDay4
http://picasaweb.google.com/MarionGrayCPA/YellowstoneDay5
http://picasaweb.google.com/MarionGrayCPA/YellowstoneDay6
We’re making our way to Cody in the AM. It’s going to be a long day of driving with lots of stops, so we’re off to bed.
Last night another round of thunderstorms moved through as we rested in our cozy cabin at Sylvan Lake. We awoke around 2am or so to move thunder, lightning, rain and hail. The rain moved on through at we awoke around 6am to yet another beautiful day in the Black Hills.
We made our way to the dining room at Sylvan Lake Lodge shortly after 8am and enjoyed a great breakfast to start the day – Taylor’s 10th birthday! Hard to believe the baby girl is already 10. I still vividly remember the day she was born. Steph started having contractions in the middle of the night, so we walked the streets of Belhaven around 2am. We finally called the doctor around 6am and headed to the hospital shortly thereafter. Taylor was born around 5:45pm that day. It seems like only yesterday…
After breakfast, we headed down the mountain to Hill City to catch the 1880’s train – a steam locomotive that runs from Hill City to Keystone. We got caught by a road crew doing some paving on the mountain, and made it on the train with only minutes to spare. The train ride was neat – lots of good scenery, more wildlife – a good way to spend the morning. We got some light rain while on the train, but the skies were clear by the time we returned to Hill City around noon.
In Hill City we walked over to the Alpine Lodge for lunch. The Alpine Lodge is a restaurant and B&B that serves lots of great German specialties. We enjoyed lunch, plus some great desserts and loaded up to check out Mt. Rushmore.
As we drove to Mt. Rushmore, the skies were dark and ominous – lots of black clouds that threatened rain at any minute. Once we arrived at Mt. Rushmore, the skies cleared and we had a beautiful afternoon to enjoy the monument. Mt. Rushmore is another one of those places that pictures simply don’t do justice. When you walk down the plaza and catch your first glimpse of the monument, it’s almost a religious experience. It’s amazing to see what a magnificent piece of work was carved from a bare, rocky mountain top. I couldn’t imagine how the sculptor brought his vision to reality. If you ever get the chance, don’t pass it up.
While at Mt. Rushmore, we caught sight of a couple of mountain goats. One even had a newborn trailing behind her. It was a quite a sight… Taylor and Trey completed a workbook and met all of the requirements to earn their junior ranger badges while at Mt. Rushmore. Both received badges and were sworn in as junior ranges by a park ranger on duty.
After Mt. Rushmore, we made a quick pit stop in Hill City for groceries, gas and internet. We parked at the new Holiday Inn Express and “borrowed” some of their wireless internet. We were able to get pictures for the last 3 days (including most of today) uploaded. There are a few duds among the pics I uploaded, so ignore those. We felt so fortunate to have decent internet access that we didn’t take the time to cull out the really bad pics.
We wound our way back to our cabin at Sylvan Lake around 6pm and took some time to clean out and repack the van. Since it was out last night here (and Taylor’s birthday!), we built a campfire and enjoyed birthday smores. The campfire was a hit – looks like we’ve got yet another generation of Gray pyromaniacs on our hands…
Sara and Larry Cornwell, the artists in residence this month at Sylvan Lake joined us for smores as well. Check out their work at www.rockcreekcarvings.com. It’s so nice to make new friends along the way when you travel.
Pics for the last 3 days can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MarionGrayCPA/YellowstoneDay4
http://picasaweb.google.com/MarionGrayCPA/YellowstoneDay5
http://picasaweb.google.com/MarionGrayCPA/YellowstoneDay6
We’re making our way to Cody in the AM. It’s going to be a long day of driving with lots of stops, so we’re off to bed.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Bison, bison everywhere...
Last night we spent our first night in our cozy cabin at Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park. As we got ready for bed, there was lots of thunder and lightning as a storms began to move into the area. We awoke around 4am with lots of rain and what we suspected was hail. Fortunately, we were all snug and cozy in the cabin. Steph was up early and made some wonderfully strong coffee that we enjoyed on the front porch this morning. After coffee and breakfast for all, we headed over to Sylvan Lake to hike the trail around the lake.
The weather was brisk, and Sylvan Lake was great. The water was cold, crystal clear, and perfectly framed by the large granite outcroppings at one end of the lake. Several people were already out fishing. We worked our war around the lake and enjoyed exploring the trails and rock formations along the way. We found a couple of pockets of ice, confirming our suspicions of hail last night. After the hike, we headed back to the cabin for an early lunch.
After lunch, we headed south to Wind Cave National Park. We worked our way South through Custer State Park and arrived in Wind Cave early afternoon. We had our first bison sighting along the way – 2 bulls enjoying the lush grass along the side of the road. Little did we know that these 2 bison would be the first of probably 250+ bison that we would see today. Along the way to Wind Cave we also came across more prairie dogs than we could count. The kids are ready to adopt a family and move them into our backyard in Madison.
At Wind Cave National Park, we took a 1 hour tour of a portion of the cave. Everyone seemed to enjoy the tour. At one point in the tour, the ranger turned out all of the lights so everyone could experience total darkness – quite a treat.
After finishing at Wind Cave, we worked our way south to the town of Hot Springs, SD and the Mammoth Dig. The Mammoth Dig is an old sinkhole that was discovered in 1974. To date, remains of 56 mammoths have been recovered. We had a great tour of the site, which remains an active fossil dig.
We worked our way North back to Custer State Park and took the wildlife loop through the park on the way back to our cabin. We saw literally more bison than we could count, hundreds of prairie dogs, deer, antelope and lots of turkeys. It’s fast becoming a tradition that when someone in our car sees wildlife, they shout BISON or TURKEY at the top of their lungs. Part of the fun seems to be seeing if your can shout loud enough to scare the driver off the road… We also drove through the herd of wild burrows that call Custer State Park home. Some of these guys were a little too friendly – sniffing the windows of the van and looking for a treat.
We had a long but productive day, so we treated ourselves to dinner at Sylvan Lake Lodge. We dined upon elk, bison, and grilled cheese. (And some red wine…). Everyone enjoyed dinner and the view from the dining room - a great view of the granite formations in the park. Our waiter overhead that tomorrow if Taylor’s birthday, so he made her a rose out of a paper dinner napkin.
After dinner, Steph and Taylor chatted with the artist in residence at Sylvan Lake this month. We had spoken with her earlier this morning. She and her husband make art out of gourds. They live in Illinois, but get all of their gourds from West Point, MS of all places. She told us once a year they make a trek to West Point to pick up a load of gourds. Tonight, Steph and Taylor struck up a conversation with another girl who was checking our the gourd crafts. The girl (Gabby) is from Atlanta, visiting SD with her family, is the same age as Taylor, and will be attending the same summer camp that Taylor is attending – at the same time. Talk about a small world…
Tomorrow we’re off to Hill City, Mt. Rushmore, and hope to try a little trout fishing before the day is out.
Internet is still slow, so no pictures today. Maybe tomorrow if I can poach a fast connection somewhere in Hill City…
The weather was brisk, and Sylvan Lake was great. The water was cold, crystal clear, and perfectly framed by the large granite outcroppings at one end of the lake. Several people were already out fishing. We worked our war around the lake and enjoyed exploring the trails and rock formations along the way. We found a couple of pockets of ice, confirming our suspicions of hail last night. After the hike, we headed back to the cabin for an early lunch.
After lunch, we headed south to Wind Cave National Park. We worked our way South through Custer State Park and arrived in Wind Cave early afternoon. We had our first bison sighting along the way – 2 bulls enjoying the lush grass along the side of the road. Little did we know that these 2 bison would be the first of probably 250+ bison that we would see today. Along the way to Wind Cave we also came across more prairie dogs than we could count. The kids are ready to adopt a family and move them into our backyard in Madison.
At Wind Cave National Park, we took a 1 hour tour of a portion of the cave. Everyone seemed to enjoy the tour. At one point in the tour, the ranger turned out all of the lights so everyone could experience total darkness – quite a treat.
After finishing at Wind Cave, we worked our way south to the town of Hot Springs, SD and the Mammoth Dig. The Mammoth Dig is an old sinkhole that was discovered in 1974. To date, remains of 56 mammoths have been recovered. We had a great tour of the site, which remains an active fossil dig.
We worked our way North back to Custer State Park and took the wildlife loop through the park on the way back to our cabin. We saw literally more bison than we could count, hundreds of prairie dogs, deer, antelope and lots of turkeys. It’s fast becoming a tradition that when someone in our car sees wildlife, they shout BISON or TURKEY at the top of their lungs. Part of the fun seems to be seeing if your can shout loud enough to scare the driver off the road… We also drove through the herd of wild burrows that call Custer State Park home. Some of these guys were a little too friendly – sniffing the windows of the van and looking for a treat.
We had a long but productive day, so we treated ourselves to dinner at Sylvan Lake Lodge. We dined upon elk, bison, and grilled cheese. (And some red wine…). Everyone enjoyed dinner and the view from the dining room - a great view of the granite formations in the park. Our waiter overhead that tomorrow if Taylor’s birthday, so he made her a rose out of a paper dinner napkin.
After dinner, Steph and Taylor chatted with the artist in residence at Sylvan Lake this month. We had spoken with her earlier this morning. She and her husband make art out of gourds. They live in Illinois, but get all of their gourds from West Point, MS of all places. She told us once a year they make a trek to West Point to pick up a load of gourds. Tonight, Steph and Taylor struck up a conversation with another girl who was checking our the gourd crafts. The girl (Gabby) is from Atlanta, visiting SD with her family, is the same age as Taylor, and will be attending the same summer camp that Taylor is attending – at the same time. Talk about a small world…
Tomorrow we’re off to Hill City, Mt. Rushmore, and hope to try a little trout fishing before the day is out.
Internet is still slow, so no pictures today. Maybe tomorrow if I can poach a fast connection somewhere in Hill City…
Sunday, June 1, 2008
We're Rollin' Now Baby...
If I had the time (and a decent internet connection), I could probably write a 100 pages about our travels today. Today was simply amazing, start to finish. We got lost once, but even that turned out to be a wonderful side trip.
Everyone slept well last night at the Hampton. After our "hot" night at the Holiday Inn in St. Louis, we went to bed with the air set a little too low, perhaps. I rolled over at one point and thought I saw it snowing in our room, but perhaps it was a dream... We've been rotating who sleeps with whom every night. One night I get Trey, one night Taylor, and last night I actually got to sleep with Steph. Steph and I assumed we would sleep well without the kids rolling over and punching us in the night. Didn't really work out that way - the kids ended up bumping into each other all night, and Steph was up several times to referee them. We slept a little later than planned, but managed to get it all packed up and back on the road by 8:30am or so.
We headed West on I-90 from Sioux Falls, and shortly outside of town we passed some fellow Mississippians from Madison County driving a large RV and towing a Jeep. We waved as we passed to spread some hometown hospitality. As we drove by, I swear I saw someone feeding $20 bills into the dash to keep that monster moving... Perhaps we'll run into them somewhere in our travels.
Mid-morning we hit Mitchell, SD home of the world famous Corn Palace. The Corn Palace is well, the Corn Palace. It's a neat stop, but I wouldn't plan a trip to SD just to visit the Corn Palace. There was a bit more excitement than usual - Omaba was to speak at a rally there around 3pm today, since the SD primary is on Tuesday. Steph and I hope we can find time to register to vote in SD so we can get our votes cast for Hillary on Tuesday...
After the Corn Palace, we kept pressing through SD at a rapid pace thanks to the 75 MPH speed limit. We stopped for a picnic lunch along the banks of the Missouri River, and then crossed the Missouri again (seems like the 20th time) as we made our way to the Badlands. We stopped about 20 miles east of the Badlands and gassed up ($4.07 gal - UGH). We crossed into the Mountain time zone and cruised on into the Badlands early afternoon.
We took a ton of pictures in the Badlands, but none of them do the place justice. I hope the videos we shot will, but I doubt it. We did some short hikes, and continued our way to the visitor center. After leaving the visitor center, there was a thunderstorm moving through the park. Mostly at a distance, but we did get a little wet. The Badlands are a pretty ominous place, but when you add lots of wind, dark storm clouds and lightning, you get the whole effect. It was a truly amazing experience.
We had some of our first wildlife sightings in the Badlands - several mountain goats (I think) and more prairie dogs than we could count.
We left the Badlands and made the obligatory stop in Wall at Wall Drug around 5:30pm or so. Everyone enjoyed ice cream and ice water and a stretch of the legs.
We moved on across Western South Dakota on our way to Custer State Park. The GPS went nuts, and out map skills weren't quite what they though we were, so we ended up taking the long way to Custer State Park (the REALLY long way). We would our way to and through Keystone, near Mount Rushmore, and caught our first glimpse of the Mt. Rushmore Monument. It was truly striking. After creeping through lots of twisty roads, switchbacks and narrow one lane tunnels, we finally found our way into Custer State Park. The deer were out in full force - we had seen about 20 when I stopped counted. We also came upon a large turkey taking his time to cross the road. We snapped pics of him as he took his time meandering up the hill next to the road. He could have cared less that we were there...
The landscape around Custer State Park is beautiful. Lots of granite outcroppings that we can't wait to go back and explore. The elevation is about 5,000 feet here, so most of the deciduous trees (hope that's the right word...) have just started to flower and send out new leaves. We arrived at Sylvan Lake Lodge at Custer State Park around 8pm MST tonight. We found our way to our cabin, which is truly picture perfect - log walls on the exterior, lots of granite stonework, a large stone porch, and a real stone fireplace to boot. I'm sitting on the front porch now enjoying a cold beer as I type. It's amazing how cheap beer always tastes so much better with great scenery. This is what it's all about. It's also much colder here - about 50 degrees now - crisp but really pleasant with a jacket.
My internet connection is slow at best, so I doubt the 100+ pics we took today will make it into cyberspace tonight. I'll get those up when we wander back into civilization.
Goodnight from the Grays.
Everyone slept well last night at the Hampton. After our "hot" night at the Holiday Inn in St. Louis, we went to bed with the air set a little too low, perhaps. I rolled over at one point and thought I saw it snowing in our room, but perhaps it was a dream... We've been rotating who sleeps with whom every night. One night I get Trey, one night Taylor, and last night I actually got to sleep with Steph. Steph and I assumed we would sleep well without the kids rolling over and punching us in the night. Didn't really work out that way - the kids ended up bumping into each other all night, and Steph was up several times to referee them. We slept a little later than planned, but managed to get it all packed up and back on the road by 8:30am or so.
We headed West on I-90 from Sioux Falls, and shortly outside of town we passed some fellow Mississippians from Madison County driving a large RV and towing a Jeep. We waved as we passed to spread some hometown hospitality. As we drove by, I swear I saw someone feeding $20 bills into the dash to keep that monster moving... Perhaps we'll run into them somewhere in our travels.
Mid-morning we hit Mitchell, SD home of the world famous Corn Palace. The Corn Palace is well, the Corn Palace. It's a neat stop, but I wouldn't plan a trip to SD just to visit the Corn Palace. There was a bit more excitement than usual - Omaba was to speak at a rally there around 3pm today, since the SD primary is on Tuesday. Steph and I hope we can find time to register to vote in SD so we can get our votes cast for Hillary on Tuesday...
After the Corn Palace, we kept pressing through SD at a rapid pace thanks to the 75 MPH speed limit. We stopped for a picnic lunch along the banks of the Missouri River, and then crossed the Missouri again (seems like the 20th time) as we made our way to the Badlands. We stopped about 20 miles east of the Badlands and gassed up ($4.07 gal - UGH). We crossed into the Mountain time zone and cruised on into the Badlands early afternoon.
We took a ton of pictures in the Badlands, but none of them do the place justice. I hope the videos we shot will, but I doubt it. We did some short hikes, and continued our way to the visitor center. After leaving the visitor center, there was a thunderstorm moving through the park. Mostly at a distance, but we did get a little wet. The Badlands are a pretty ominous place, but when you add lots of wind, dark storm clouds and lightning, you get the whole effect. It was a truly amazing experience.
We had some of our first wildlife sightings in the Badlands - several mountain goats (I think) and more prairie dogs than we could count.
We left the Badlands and made the obligatory stop in Wall at Wall Drug around 5:30pm or so. Everyone enjoyed ice cream and ice water and a stretch of the legs.
We moved on across Western South Dakota on our way to Custer State Park. The GPS went nuts, and out map skills weren't quite what they though we were, so we ended up taking the long way to Custer State Park (the REALLY long way). We would our way to and through Keystone, near Mount Rushmore, and caught our first glimpse of the Mt. Rushmore Monument. It was truly striking. After creeping through lots of twisty roads, switchbacks and narrow one lane tunnels, we finally found our way into Custer State Park. The deer were out in full force - we had seen about 20 when I stopped counted. We also came upon a large turkey taking his time to cross the road. We snapped pics of him as he took his time meandering up the hill next to the road. He could have cared less that we were there...
The landscape around Custer State Park is beautiful. Lots of granite outcroppings that we can't wait to go back and explore. The elevation is about 5,000 feet here, so most of the deciduous trees (hope that's the right word...) have just started to flower and send out new leaves. We arrived at Sylvan Lake Lodge at Custer State Park around 8pm MST tonight. We found our way to our cabin, which is truly picture perfect - log walls on the exterior, lots of granite stonework, a large stone porch, and a real stone fireplace to boot. I'm sitting on the front porch now enjoying a cold beer as I type. It's amazing how cheap beer always tastes so much better with great scenery. This is what it's all about. It's also much colder here - about 50 degrees now - crisp but really pleasant with a jacket.
My internet connection is slow at best, so I doubt the 100+ pics we took today will make it into cyberspace tonight. I'll get those up when we wander back into civilization.
Goodnight from the Grays.
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