Week 1 of our Summer Journey...

Week 1 of our summer on the road in our 'new' motorhome.

It was a little tough pulling out of Alta last Saturday afternoon.. although, the packing, moving, cleaning, and the stress of the last 2 months and trying to figure out what we were going to do.... there was a part of us that just wanted to get away at that point. (In case you aren't aware, the gist of it is... we were renting, and the owner of the house decided to try and sell, and wanted to move back in... so we had to vacate. Rentals in Teton Valley are extremely scarce, so after a month or two of finding nothing, we decided to trade in our travel trailer for a motorhome, and hit the road for the summer, at least).

The Drive over to Teton National park is only an hour via Teton Pass... but I wasn't about to take the fully loaded RV up and down 10+ miles of 10% grade... most people take the long way around (about 2 hrs or so), down through Swan Valley, ID and Palisades Reservoir to Alpine, WY...  and up the Snake River Canyon to Jackson.  I'd like to say it was easier, but I hit part of a major thunderstorm with some gusty winds and heavy rain.. so part of it was a little stressful.

Thunderstorm south of Jackson,WY

Our first night was at Gros Ventre Campground, just north of Jackson in Teton National Park.. $11 a night ... and it was close enough for us to go back into Jackson for some errands and dinner.. sounds good to me.

The drive out through Jackson Hole and the Teton National Park was nice, although there were some clouds, so we didn't get to see the entire splendor of the range... still, it's tough to have a bad view of the Tetons even when they aren't at their best.

Teton Range from near Moran, Jct

We headed over Togwotee Pass.. again, a beautiful area.. but the clouds obscured some of the views.  The road to the Pinnacles, near Brooks Lake was still snowed in, but you can see part of their backside a little bit along the hwy.

Pinnacles along Togwotee Pass, WY

The drive down through Dubois (cool little western town surrounded by red rock) and on to Lander was pretty... rolling hills and red rock.. different from the "plains" I was expecting.

In case you don't know, Debi and I are not big fans of RV parks.. yeah I know, to some degree we better get used to it.. but I'll do my best to find alternatives... this is where the Mountain View Campground and RV Park comes in. About 9 miles NW of Lander in the Wind River Indian Reservation.  We pulled in to a dirt road and a place that looked like it had been abandoned.. we were greeted on the lawn by Lou Ann and Joe... a couple in the mid 70's, who we ended up getting hugs from when we left. Some of the nicest people I've met.

They had about 6 sites, overgrown with grass... (their lawn mower was broke) but.. it looked perfect otherwise. Full hookups, a few trees, but not enough to interfere with the satellite... and 4 bars of 4G for our mifi/cell phone.  The views were awesome.. the Wind River Mtns to the west, and rolling fields of green every other direction. The dogs never saw a leash.. and they got plenty of pets from Lou Ann and got to play with their dog, Sadie.. Cheddar even got to wander around and went on our walks. It was really a great experience, and only 10 minutes from Lander, and centrally located to some of the area attractions I wanted to see.

So... Debi found out about a week before our trip, she had to be in Atlanta for a day for a business meeting... Airfare out of Riverton (40 minutes away) was actually way cheaper than Jackson, so that's why we chose to go stay here for a few days.. so I could explore, etc. while she traveled.

A big highlight was my 'on a whim' visit to the National Weather Service in Riverton, right near the airport I just dropped Debi off at... I have been a spotter for these guys, and post (harass) them on Facebook all the time. To my surprise, all the guys in the office knew my name... LOL!  They gave me a tour of all the computers and what they did... I felt right and home. I really wish I could have done that for a living, but ... my life aint so bad now.

Yours truly in front of the computer models

The "War Room"

I have been reading alot of books lately on Indian/early American history... so this is prime country for alot of what happened in the late 1800's. I visited the gravesites of Sacajawea and Chief Washakie, and also the site of Fort Washakie... the only US Fort named after a Native American, btw.

Sacajawea Site

Chief Washakie Grave

Sinks Canyon, about 10 miles SW of Lander was stunning... its main feature is a river that disappears into a cavern underground for 1/4 mile before bubbling back up to the surface... it takes 2 hours for that water to go that 1/4 mile... the USGS did a dye survey in the 1980's to confirm this.. they don't know where it goes for that whole 2 hrs though. The rest of the canyon and mountains upstream were just as spectacular though!

Wind River Mtns, Shoshoni National Forest WY

Sinks Canyon, above Lander, WY

The "Sinks"

Sinks Canyon Walls

The "Rise" where the river bubbles back up from underground

We went out to eat the evening to a great brewpub/restaurant called "Cowfish"... and holy cow was it good. We tasted a few beers, but opted for the mixed drinks.. I had one of the best martini's of my life... it had some infused rosemary and lemon and some other stuff.. devine! The food was great, too... Debi had a warm spinich salad, and we shared some gorgonzola smothered fries.. and I had seared ahi.. everything was delish. We had a molten lava cake for dessert. Debi and I both agree, Lander is a very cool little town.. very diverse and outdoor oriented.. they even had a sushi bar that I tried to eat at, but they wait was too long! The only downside to this area is there is not a ski resort anywhere nearby.

Off to Thermopolis... only 90 minutes away... and home of the largest mineral hot spring in the world... also, we had to get some RV work done.. I bought a steering stabilizer system that needed to be installed... so I found a place here to do it.  The drive up was again pretty country.. the Wind River Canyon was awesome.. who knew Wyoming had so much beautiful country?  Once in thermo... we ate lunch and got milk shakes... then headed over to Merlin's Hideout.. which is a guy that makes fur hides and other stuff. We bought a buffalo blanket from here online this past winter, so I thought I'd pay a visit.. I ended up buying a bison hide wallet and a bison cowboy hat! We also visited the Hot Springs State Park and stayed at an RV park with its own hot springs pools, which were awesome... minus the sulfur smell of a spring just outside the campground!

Wind River Cyn, WY

My new hat, and a buffalo beard

RV park and hot springs pools, Thermopolis, WY

Hot Springs State Park, WY

How you doin'?

So... off from Thermopolis to Buffalo, WY.. over the Big Horn Mountains. Rolling hills again, and as  we near the small town of Ten Sleep.. the foothills come alive with color again.. we then head up Ten Sleep Canyon (again, spectacular) along the Cloud Peak Scenic Byway and over 9,600 ft Powder River Pass. Unfortunately, on the east side of the pass the clouds were thick and heavy and we didn't see much... that's how it's been in Buffalo the last 2 days is overcast and rainy, so we can't see the Big Horn Mtns, which are amazing.. however, everything is super green!

Stunning, Ten Sleep Canyon, WY

We are camped on Lake Desmet, which is about 8 miles NE of Buffalo.. at a small park right on the lake. It has 9 sites with electricity, for $15 a night.. again, much better than $40 a night in town for a parking lot. It's a beautiful lake, and the "dry" campsites are RIGHT on the water.. too bad the weather sucks. Dogs love it, again... no leashes!

Our site

Lake DeSmet

We went into town last night to the Occidental Hotel.. built in 1880.. it is also of "The Virginian" fame... with the likes of  Butch Cassidy and the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill, Tom Horn, the young Teddy Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover visiting. We ate at the saloon, and had buffalo burgers... Debi talked to a guy that ran the museum in town and has lived here for 70 yrs.. it was quite interesting. We walked through the Virginian Restaraunt and the hotel.. I opened up a door t the Herbert Hoover Suite that had someone staying in it... whoops!  There was also a country band playing... the Bitter Creek Band who was excellent... the guitarist used to play with Johnny Paycheck.

Occidental Saloon

Buffalo, WY

Dining at the Virginian

Then today... we drove about 10 miles up the road to the Fort Phil Kearny site, also the site of the Fetterman Massacre... (and nearby Wagon Box Fight..) when the Indians kicked the shit out of the US Army and killed 81 soldiers. It was, at the time, the worst military disaster ever suffered by the U.S. on the Great Plains.  I had just finished reading a book about Crazy Horse and Custer, so this was really neat to see first hand. The Fort was also cool, although not much was left.. but they recreated everything.. the visitor center was nice, too.

Wagon Box Fight Site

Fort Kearny

Fort Kearny

Fetterman Massacre Battlefield

Monument overlooking battlefield

Battlefield... soldiers came over hill on far left (not pictured here) into the valley.. the Indians were all along that far rigdge and to the ridge on the right.. and ambushed the soldiers in this small valley bottom.

Tonight, we are sitting in the RV and it's been storming for over 2 hrs.. kind of peaceful, kind of loud with the rain on the roof!  Tomorrow, we are off to Devil's Tower for a couple days, then to the Black Hills for probably a week or so, before heading off to St. Louis for a few weeks at the end of the month and early July... then, we head back west to Colorado.

Hope you join me and Debi on our journey... in the future, I'll try not to write a complete book.. it's hard for me not to though!

Until next week....

Debi, Todd, Merced, Sierra, Dixie and Cheddar! (DTMCDC)