Roses 1.0 Van Life

July 1. Peggy, Anne Kash and I drove east from Yellowstone, through Cody, Wy. then the Bighorn mountains with impressive views, including a siting of an antlered moose, to Eatons’ Ranch, with a stop at McGraws Paws in Sheridan. Eatons’ is the oldest continually operating dude ranch and the only one that allows you to ride without a wrangler (we didn’t). At 7,000 acres it sits on the east slope of the Bighorn mountains. After nearly two weeks of camping – setting up, taking down, cooking, cleaning, etc. we could use a few days of everything done for us. There were 3 good meals in the dining hall each day. Lots of kids, lots to do, lots of fun. Rides were every morning, every evening and occasional days offered an all day ride or a breakfast ride. Anne Kash’s horse was Weasley, Noel’s was Call, Colleen’s Oreo, Will’s Bob and mine Jeff. The views on the rides were spectacular, wild flowers abounding. The weather was a little cold and wet, but it hardly mattered. They have a “heated” pool (not that warm), a hot tub, a stream with trout (small), a stocked pond (we caught two bass) and you can do trap shooting if you can find the time. Peggy enjoyed Sheridan while we rode.

We spent 4 carefree days there, while Peggy planned our route home and got new front brakes put on the Volvo, in Billings, Mt. I should mention a few people we met: AK made fast friends with Lizzie from Tennessee almost immediately, and we had a wonderful, Eaton experienced couple at our table who patiently answered our many questions, Sam and Faith….

Finally, so we can remember it some day in the distant future we stayed in Pike 9, Will’s family in Stoner, and here are some pictures of the grounds….

We left Wednesday July 5, and took 4 more days to get home. That’s 5 total, it was 6 days to get to Yellowstone. First night a Rapid City Holiday Inn, second night Sioux City Holiday Inn (after the obligatory stop at Wall Drugs, and a stop by W, C and AK at the corn palace), third night Davenport, Iowa Holiday Inn where we met a 76 yo former marine who was out walking two English setters, a French spaniel and a bischon friese. He told us a story about shooting a pit bull which was attacking his four dogs (he’s always armed) and another about walking the north-south length of Yellowstone, last year! From Davenport we made it to Bloomington by late afternoon on Saturday, July 8.

June 30, 2023. We realized the night before we had seen just about everything we wanted to, so this would be a free day. Will, Colleen and Noel wanted to ride bikes, they hadn’t yet, and do some hikes. Anne Kash wanted to go out on the lake, I wanted to do some bird watching, Yellowstone’s only disappointment was the lack of birds (get up a dawn at home and there are 15 different species singing, dawn in Yellowstone is nearly silent!). Peggy, AK and I went to the museum across from Fishing Bridge, small but very cool, went for a short hike, then Peggy took AK on a cruise on the lake: nice views, some history and interesting stories, AK fell asleep. I walked to natural bridge, met W, C and N who were biking there. On the way home I found the whole crew sitting in a patch of woods between our campground and the marina watching a black bear that had climbed 50 ft up a skinny pine tree. We sat there until it came down and wandered away from the crowd toward the marina. It was sited a few more times later in the evening around the campground. Everyone got to check off a black bear. P, AK and I left early the next morning for Eatons’ Ranch, W, C and N left later and stopped in Cody where there is internet access. It was a wonderful trip. Yellowstone is unique, everyone should see it sometime in their life. Some campground pictures to look at as we say goodbye to Yellowstone…..

Noel and Anne Kash eating woofams.

This was the day I picked for us to move to a different campground, just to see a different place, and to have electricity. We looked forward to the latter so that the space heater could be run in Rosie, it was in the low 40’s to the low ’30’s at night, pretty tough sleeping when you don’t have heat. But there was a glitch. I didn’t catch that Fishing Bridge RV campsite didn’t allow canvas RV’s, because of bears, only hard sided RV’s. After the breakfast buffet at Grant Village, we arrived at Fishing Bridge and were turned down. The park staff helped us to find two campsites together at Bridge Bay, just by the lake’s marina. These sites were even more primitive than Grant, but each had a bear box and there were more children. Noel and AK played soccer and some other games with kids nearby. The move and cooking occupied most of the day (Peggy made salmon patties with potato salad and heated up canned corn).

Thursday 6/29 we got up early and went to Lamar valley. I made fried egg sandwiches the night before and we all ate in the car as we drove. The 5:30 AM start paid off as we came upon a group with binocs and spotting scopes watching wolves eat a recently downed elk while they simultaneously fended off several bison who occasionally charged them. Yes, wolves prey on bison but the two species are mortal enemies and the nearby bison herd just couldn’t tolerate the presence of wolves, even at risk of their own lives. The wolf watchers were very generous with the spotting scopes and we all got to look through them although our binoculars gave adequate views. I saw three grays and two black wolves but others saw seven. Will saw one wolf run up the hill out of sight carrying a chunck of elk meat. The Lamar valley is wider than Hayden and has many more bison. We also saw antelope and another mother grizzly with two cubs, again at quite a distance. A slow moving sort of disheveled, skinny coyote meandered across the road at one point. After lunch we went to the falls of Yellowstone river and Tower falls. Here are some pictures …..

At this point we had seen all the major sites and checked off most of the wildlife we wanted to see. Peggy nor I had seen a black bear and Colleen hadn’t seen a moose.

*When several foreign countries had created reliable covid test kits and a lab at U of Washington in Seattle had created a reliable in house kit for their own use, CDC insisted we should only use a kit they would soon issue, and FDA agreed. After a week or so it was obvious the CDC kits they had distributed didn’t work, every result was negative. Fauci explained it away by saying “there was a glitch”. The usually rabid wolfpack-like media just accepted that explanation and moved on, so I thought why not use it to explain how I messed up the campsite reservation.

It’s difficult to over state the magnificence of this park: snow patched mountains, beautiful views, waterfalls, wild life, a picturesque mountain lake, historic lodges one of which had a daily string quartet playing in the lobby, and of course the thermal features….hot springs, geysers, mud pots and fumaroles. We spent 6/25, 26 and 27 seeing the unique features of the park….

6/25 Buiscut basin, excelsior geyser, grand prismatic springs, fountain paint pot, Fairy falls vs grand prismatic overlook, Peggy and I went to the the former, Will and co. to the latter (miscommunication).

6/26 We went to Mammoth hot springs, a long drive. Yellowstone is bigger than Rhode Island and Delaware put together. Grant Village CG is slightly south of Yellowstone’s center and Mammoth Hot Springs is at the north edge, the drive is 2 hrs. – when you don’t stop along the way. Will, Colleen and Noel went through Hayden Valley, we went with Anne Kash along the Gibbon river, the western route. We met up at Mammoth HS which is just 4 miles from the Gardiner, Montana. After walking around Mammoth we gave AK to W and C and they set out for the chuck wagon cookout at Roosevelt Corral, we headed for restaurants in Gardiner, had a good meal at Wonderland Cafe, then loaded up some groceries and headed back. The chuck wagon ride was about a mile in a wagon pulled by horses while the “shotgun” told stories about the old west. They ate steaks outside and listened to a fiddler play, then returned to the corral and started the long drive back, arrived at camp about 9:30. We had just gotten back from Gardiner minutes ahead of them.

6/27 Went to Thumb, a spot right beside Yellowstone with more thermal features. Next we all drove through Hayden valley, which perhaps should be called Yellowstone river valley, saw a grizzly bear mother with two cubs, at a safe distance, and lots of bison, it’s a beautiful drive. Here are some of the things we saw on those days….

The only hard driving day so far. It was a beautiful drive especially through the Big Horn mountains. There was quite a bit of difficulty navigating w/o internet. Arrived at Yellowstone around 3 PM, set up, Will left to get Colleen at the Jackson Hole airport. We took the kids to see Old Faithful, had PBJ sandwiches for our supper, next morning 6/25 we ate at a breakfast buffet in Grant Village. It felt like cheating but worth it after cooking over a campfire, but felt no guilt. Will and Colleen arrived in the early afternoon, gave Will his b’day present, a Fong’s Restaurant T-shirt. Went to Old Faithful again so W and C could see it. Anne Kash eventually would go there 4 times (writing this over a week later).

About a 4 hr drive from Mt. Rushmore, we picked this site in the Big Horn mountains simply because it was on the way to Yellowstone. There’s a beautiful stream behind the van and Rosie in this picture….

You can see the Volvo in the next campsite and our dog run on the left. The problem here was the weather, cold and rain. We spent two nights here. Will and the girls scrambled up rocks above to get a view of snow capped mountains late in the afternoon we arrived. We spent the next day hiking up Cloud Peak wilderness. But not before we helped a family of tourist from Japan navigate their way out of the national forest dirt road. They were in a rented RV and had ventured up this road and eventually found themselves unable to turn around. Finally they got stuck in a low, muddy spot. After some campers with a pickup pulled them out they sat there unsure what to do next. We offered to help direct them out using a small pull out. The husband was driving and obviously had never driven an RV before, maybe not a car before from his performance. He also spoke only broken English. His wife in the seat beside him had a look of utter terror on her face.

The hike, once we eventually got going, was our first encounter with snow, and tons of mosquitoes….

Will spotted a moose about 60 or 70 yards from the trail. Our stopping to look made her nervous, as she stood to walk away we saw she had a calf laying with her. Walked out in a hail/sleet/rain storm.

Saw two Barrow’s Goldeneyes on a high mountain lake, and earlier in the day I heard two other life birds which I didn’t record because I didn’t see them, Dusky and Hammond’s Flycatchers. Packed up on 6/23 and headed for Yellowstone.

After 3 nights at Horsethief lake we drove a mere 2 hours to Belle Fourche campground at the base of Devil’s Tower on June 21. A first come first serve campground we were worried about getting a spot but there were two or three open. Devil’s Tower is hard to believe. A massive column of igneous rock that juts up vertically from the surrounding countryside, it looks other worldly. Indeed it has been featured in movies such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I’m told the KOA down the road shows it every night. It was another cold, wet day but the rain held off until we were done hiking around it. The prairie dog town next to the campground was almost as fun. Here are some pictures…

This campground had a yellow warbler singing from almost every tree. Western Kingbirds and meadowlarks were frequent here as well. I saw a Bullock’s Oriole, a bird I had seen before but never recorded in eBird, so a life bird. On to Middle fork in the Bighorn mountains in the AM.

We were very pleased with the campsite at Horse Thief Lake, just a few miles from Mt. Rushmore. Here are some pics…

The long walkway to the Mt Rushmore viewing site is lined with flags from each state in order of their admittance to the union. Territory flags are there too.

We walked the loop that goes beneath the presidents, and stopped to listen to a park ranger give a 15 minute talk on it’s history. Borglun the sculptor was a bit of an eccentric. He had grandiose plans which included a “hall of records” behind the busts which would hold the original founding documents, the constitution, the declaration of independence, etc. His plan was rejected but he had a 50 foot tunnel entrance to the hall blasted anyway before he was forced to give up on the idea. Mt. Rushmore is not finished, but will never be taken any farther. Borglun died in 1941, 14 years after starting the project. WWII came along and that was that.

A sculptor who assisted Borglun during the last 2 or 3 years was hired by a confederation of Indian tribes led by Black Elk to create a giant work that would exceed the scope of Mt. Rushmore. The idea for the Crazy Horse monument came out of that.

Started in the late 1940’s it was thought it might take a 100 years to finish. After 75 years it’s not even close. You can see Crazy Horse face, the top of his pointing arm and his finger. When I was there 14 years ago it looked the same except the finger wasn’t there. Here is a model of what it will look like when finished…

The model is just above Anne Kash, the real thing is in the distance. It’s to be the center piece of a complex that will honor the American Indian. There is a museum, a gift shop, cafe, etc. More to come with the sculpture to be the centerpiece.

We stayed at this campground

The tent beside our van is ours. Just a room to lounge in, new for this trip. Tuesday, the 20th, we hiked into the Black Elk wilderness, went fishing in Horse Thief Lake, the kids rode bikes and played cards with Nana. On to Devil’s Tower tomorrow.

Three life birds while in the Rushmore area, Plumbeous Vireo at Horse Thief, Rock Wren in the rubble beneath Mt Rushmore and a Black Headed Grosbeak on the hike in Black Elk.

Stalled in Mitchel, S.D., the girls wanted to swim in the hotel pool and dad just couldn’t say no. We didn’t leave until a little after 11 AM. Noel and I counted the Wall Drug billboards, 93! Having the dogs complicates the trip. It was hot out and Wall, S.D. has no trees, well almost none. We had lunch, perused the western memorabilia, saw the amazing collection of photos of the old west, looked over the $299 jackalopes for sale mounted on the walls, and finally hit the road for Horse Thief lake CG around 3:00 PM. The few pictures we took are jackalope themed…..

We made it to Horse Thief CG late in the day. This was Sunday the 18th I think.

We put Indiana, Illinois and Iowa in the rear view mirror. Driving was easy, the girls are good travelers. First day, Wednesday June 15 was from Bloomington to Hidden Hills Vineyard and Winery. A little south of the quad cities it was a convenient place to stop. We set up, bought a bottle of wine and then went to eat at Big Catz BBQ in Galesburg. Here’s a picture of the place, yoga going on on the patio behind us.

Will’s an expert at setting up and taking down Rosie. After some soccer practice in the AM we headed out. After lunch at one of Will’s known spots in Des Moine, the oldest chinese restaurant in Iowa, now a pizzaria/chinese fusion place, the second night was spent at Soldier Creek vineyard in Iowa.

We are set up just off the corner of the building, Rosie can be seen if you squint. There was live music on the lawn and a pretty good crowd. We had a bottle of their cider, two beers and two lemonades. Sautéed peppers, summer squash and summer sausage were our supper. The owner has 1,000’s of acres of corn and soy beans, his daughter learned wine making at Purdue, came home, got her masters at Iowa State and then set up this vineyard. The rows of grapes were labeled and numbered, I didn’t walk to them all but estimate 250 rows, about a dozen different varieties of grapes. Their house is just behind the crowd, that yellow building in the upper left is their garage.

Third day, Saturday June 17 we had a driving snafu, got separated. Will and Anne Kash, and Jackie, went north from Soldier Hill (Fort Dodge, IA), we went west. Too complicated to explain why. We met up in Sioux Falls S.D., just past the northwest corner of Iowa. Everything around here is Sioux, city, falls, center, rapids. We were pleasantly surprised by the falls and surrounding park.

It was so much fun we spent almost 4 hours there. Left for Mitchell, S.D., home of the world’s only Corn Palace, quite impressive. In the process of building 2023’s mural, here are some pictures of 2022’s circus themed murals that haven’t been taken down yet…..

Ate at Back 40 tap room across the street, some bikers couldn’t finish their steaks, and couldn’t take a box with them so Sammy and Jackie got a rare treat. It’s Sunday morning as I write this. On to Horse Thief campground with a stop at Wall drugs for lunch and groceries.