Yellowstone at 55 mph

We had a lot of ground to cover today if we wanted to see Yellowstone and still make it to Ft. Smith by late afternoon. We left Cody, Wy at 6:30 am and headed for the east gate of Yellowstone. 

Following are a few shots of Cody I took the day before. It's a nice little town of about 10,000. It is tourist destination town with lots of "authentic" western souvenir and clothing shops. It's a little too touristy to suit me, but that is just me. A lot of people must like it. You can sit on the porch of Buffalo Bill Cody's irma Hotel eating an overpriced hamburger while watching a staged gunfight in the street at the same time. 

Cody's Irma Hotel

Cody's Main Street

Yellowstone was great!  This is the real thing. Nobody trying to take your tourist dollar, just nature at its best. 

The National Park Service does a great job of looking after these parks that we all own. When you reach the age of 60 (well past that now), you can purchase a pass for $10 that will get you into any National Park for free. I bought mine in the Bad Lands. 

Becky with Yellowstone Lake in the background. 

That's me standing on the Continental Divide

Here's a picture of Cecil and Maria standing at the same spot that was taken several years earlier. I just happened to remember this photo that was posted a couple of years ago on this blog. 

My plan was to take a drive through the park hitting all the major attractions before departing through the north gate. I wanted to visit Old Faithful, but was not going to wait an hour and a half to see it erupt. When we finally reached Old Faithful, we found a convenient parking spot, walked 200 yards through the trees and here is what we saw.  Just like the Griswolds, we looked at each other said "check" and walked back to the car. The whole experience didn't last over 15 minutes. 

Beauty everywhere.

Becky was hoping to see a buffalo. Well, we saw plenty. This big fellow came slowly walking up the road right beside the car. 

Our last stop in the Park was Mammoth Springs. 

We left the Park and made it to our final destination of Ft Smith, SD in plenty of time. Next time we go to Yellowstone we will stay several days and not try to see the whole Park at 55 mph. 

Here We Are in the Wild, Wild West

I guess everybody should travel out west before their final checkout. Since I have a friend who recently built a cabin on the Big Horn River in Montana and he invited us to visit, I decided to take him up on the offer. We also decided to do the tourist thing and visit the sites while we were there. 

This is the first of the Wild West blogs with more to follow. 

We flew to Rapid City, SD which is the nearest airport that our travel miles would take us. Rapid City is conveniently located to the Bad Lands, Black Hills, and Mount Rushmore, all in South Dakota. 

 

First was a stop at the Bad Lands. I really liked this place. Following are some of my IPhone photos. 

Pictures don't do this place justice. 

Just to prove we were there. A little bit windy where we were standing. 

Rugged terrain. 

Beautiful colors.

After leaving the Bad Lands, we drove to Wall Drugstore in the middle of nowhere. Supposed to be the largest in the world. 

It probably is.  Takes up an entire city block. What a tourist trap. 

That was the morning of the first day. The afternoon included the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. 

Yelp. We were there. Like the Griswolds, we went, we saw, we took pictures and we moved on. 

Tomorrow we move on to Cody, Wyoming. Bet a lot of you didn't know that one of our classmates ran the famous Cody Stampede Rodeo. 

Yellowstone is the next post. 

I Have Finally Reached the Big 70

It has been an interesting journey over the past 52 years after graduating from Angier High School in 1963. There have been ups and downs, but the ups far outnumber the downs. For that I am very thankful. I am blessed with two wonderful daughters, two great sons-in-law, three of the best grandsons in the world, lots of friends and 39 surviving classmates. It is only proper to have a small celebration to honor this occasion. 

At the suggestion of one of my daughters, this was to be a pig picking. Pig picking implies informal gathering, nothing fancy. Although it was held in our garage, I wouldn't exactly call it informal. Anyone that knows my wife can tell you that "informal" is not in her vocabulary. There have to be table clothes, flowers, fancy hors d'oeuvres, entertainment and the whole nine yards. 

My job was to cook the pig. With the help of a few friends we got the job done. Boy, was it good. 

I think about 72 people showed up. You might spot a few classmates in this photograph. 

The entertainment was by Larry Hutcherson.  He was in a group that played at my oldest daughter's wedding reception in 1998. 

Classmate and cousin Johnny helped with the the setup and the cooking. 

And here is the cake. What a nice day. Thanks to those who made it possible and to all that attended. It means a lot to me and I will always remember it.