Custer Battlefield, Sept. 6-9, 2013

A view of Custer's Last Stand Hill

The Memorial on the Hill.

Custer Battlefield. One place on our list is the Custer Battlefield near Billings, MT. We know the events as they are told but being here puts it all together. It’s a very moving experience. The visitor center is the gateway to Custer’s Last Stand Hill. The hill is unremarkable except for what happened here. We walked to the top, marble markers scattered like bones over the hillside, marking the places where men fell. The drive along the ridge follows the events of the battle with illustrated plaques to tell the story. All along the drive are clusters of white marble marks on hills sides and ridges. We are following the men as they run with battle cries still hanging in the wind that always blows here.

Looking at the Visitor Center and the valley from the top of the hill.

The museum displays Custer’s clothing donated by his wife, memories from the native people who were there, reconstructions of the faces of Calvary men.  There are excellent ranger talks and film. It’s a lesson in the clash of cultures and why we fight wars. The reasons remain unchanged.

Markers for the Native Americans who fell here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Memorial to the Native Americans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something to think about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yellowstone Again. We make a loop and head back for another drive through Yellowstone on our way to the Grand Tetons. It’s almost dark before we get to the Park entrance so we find a little state campground along the Yellowstone River. It was a nice find, very peaceful, and the next morning we’re greeted with the soft, shy colors of morning reflecting on the river and a flock of Sandhills.

We happy travelers are on our way down the road again. 'Till then.

Jackie

Yellowstone National Park, Aug. 31 to Sept. 5, 2013

 Thermopolis. Thermopois is a little, off the beaten path, Wyoming town with nice hot springs. There are several resorts but also a state visitor center where you can enjoy a hot springs soak for free for 30 min, which we did. This travertine formation was created as the mineral water dripped over a tee-pee shaped metal structure built in 1909 to vent steam from the hot mineral water that was piped through the park. 

Wyoming Dinosaur Museum. Thermopolis also has an outstanding dinosaur museum with an excellent fossil collection and exhibits that will please the dinosaur lover in everyone. Very enjoyable.

The Yellowstone Welcoming Committee.

Yellowstone National Park. What can anyone say about Yellowstone? It’s like a famous person. You don’t need to say the full name. We stopped at every attraction and hiked through every geyser basin along our route. We spent 3 days here and also did 2 long bike rides one of which was along beautiful Yellowstone Lake. The Park is very accommodating to bicyclists and most of the roads have good shoulders. We stayed in 3 campgrounds as we traveled around the park. The sites were nice and set among the Lodge Pole Pines.

Dragon Mouth. Lots of roaring, roiling action.

Norris Geyser Basin. Wonderfully steamy.

Here are some of our favorite geysers and hot springs. The most entertaining of the geysers are the noisy ones; roiling, churning cauldrons; roaring steam vents; and bubbling mud pots. The earth breathes and speaks. Then there are the lovely, quiet ones with clear, turquoise blue water that allows you to look into their depths, sharing their inner secrets. These landscapes never fail to surprise and delight.

Our next destination is Billings, MT and the Custer Battlefield.

Thanks for joining us. See you later.
Jackie

Blue Star Spring. A window, clear and flawless.

Old Faithfull, of course. This eruption really rumbled.



Puff 'n Stuff Geyser. Very amusing. Imagine an old time steam engine.

 

Porcelain Geyser Basin. So beautiful.

Dinosaur National Monument and Flaming Gorge, Aug. 25-30, 2013

Sleeping Elephant Campground.  After leaving the Ft Collins Metro area we drive the scenic route up Highway 14 along the Poudre River heading for Dinosaur National Monument.  We camp at Sleeping Elephant, a small, peaceful Forest Service campground with no occupants and we have it all to ourselves. The sites are small, made for tents or pickup campers, and our Sprinter fits in easily. It’s nice to be able to camp just about anywhere. If an elephant could get a good night sleep here so could we.

You’d wonder about the name of the campground until you look across the canyon at Sleeping Elephant Mountain.

 

 

 

 

 

Rabbit Ears Pass. Before we get to Steamboat Springs we stop at Rabbit Ears Pass to take a hike. It’s wildflower season in the Rockies and here are some of Colorado’s fine bouquets.

 

 

 

Dinosaur National Monument. Our first night at Dinosaur was at Deer Lodge, a primitive campground along the Yampa River, the ultimate in peace and solitude. It’s reached by a 12-mile paved road but aside from rafting groups few people seem to go there. The campsites are walk-in for tenting so we camped in the gravel parking lot on the bank of the river and watched Great Blue Heron, Sand Hill Cranes, nighthawks and owls.

 The next day we took a drive to Echo Park and were surprised to find ourselves at the center of the universe. If you’ve ever wondered, wonder no more, it’s here. A very beautiful place and the 25-mile drive really isn’t that far to get to the center of the universe. Take the 2-mile, round-trip, scenic hike at the end of the road.

Next we go to the main attraction of Dinosaur, the fossil quarry.  The most complete fossils have been removed over the last century but what remains is amazing. The skull of a Camarasaurus looks down at us. He seems like the friendly sort. The wall is a mass of jumbled fossil bones, impressive in their size and quantity. You can even touch them.

We camped at the Monument’s Green River Campground and went to a star party later in the night. Instead of driving to the closed campground where the event was, we hiked with flashlights the one-mile trail along the river that the ranger told us about. It was a primitive trail, we had no idea where we were going to end up, and there were no lights at the campground to guide our way. After all, it’s a star party. A mile sure seems a lot longer in the dark and after some stumbling around we think we’re almost there when we bump into the ranger. She saw our lights bobbing around and thought she’d better come get us. Guess she rethought the idea of sending some old folks off into the night on a rugged desert hillside. It was a nice event; the night was warm and calm. We looked though the telescopes at nebulas and enjoyed the fabulous Milky Way and immense star fields from one of the darkest places in the country. Then we hike back to our campground with our flashlights happily bobbing along and having more fun knowing where we were going. One doesn’t often take the opportunity for a midnight hike.

Flaming Gorge.  The next two nights we spent at Flaming Gorge in the Greens Lake CG. These photos were taken at the overlook at Canyon Rim Visitor Center. We got in a long bike ride on Hwy 191 to Grizzly Ridge, which actually turned out to be a great ride because it had good shoulders and beautiful mountain scenery.

Sinks Canyon. On the way to Yellowstone we take a detour to Sinks Canyon near Lander, WY. It’s a place where the Popo Agie River flows into a cave, the entire river swallowed up by the mountain.

A ¼ mile down the canyon the river reappears as a deep pool and continues its surface flow.

The pool below the observation deck is filled with very large trout that are just waiting for you to buy fish food from a vending machine. You won’t be able to resist. Watch them swim around for a while and you’ll be buying fish food. They also have a nice visitor and wildlife education center. Well worth the trip.

We're behind on our posts because we don't often have a good broadband. We're on our way to Yellowstone via Thermopolis. Until our next connection. Jackie

USA Pro Challenge, Colorado, Aug. 22-24, 2013

Jens Viogt, team Radio Shack, Germany

Fabio Duarte, team Colombia, Colombia

USA Pro Challenge in Vail. We planned the first part of our adventure around seeing a few stages of the USA Pro Challenge. This 7-day mountainous professional bike race draws teams and top racers from around the world who race in the Tour de France. We caught up with the race in Vail, Colorado at stage 5, a 10-mile time trial. The first 5 miles are a gradual climb and the last 5 miles kick up into a steep climb to Vail Pass. The race started at 1 pm so in the morning we joined hundreds of other spectators riding our bikes on the race course to the pass. After noon all of us would be lining the course to cheer the racers on as they fly by. It was really exciting to see the pros in action. Here are some of them.

Benjamin Day, team United Health Care, Australia

Thomas Dekker, team Garmin Sharp, Netherlands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andy Schleck, team Radio Shack, Luxemburg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janier Acevedo, team Janis-Hagens Berman, Colombia

Tejay Van Garderen, team BMC, USA
The race in the Yellow Jersey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

A fans day at the races

We had staked out our spot near a group of enthusiastic fans who brought their instruments and put in a good effort entertaining themselves and everyone within ear shot. The leader of the band, decked out in a bunny suit, urged the riders on with his whistle and bull horn, and teased the race officials, police and team car escorts. He brought a little vaudeville to the street.

The race ended at 4 pm and we headed over Vail Pass on our way to Estes Park to watch stage 6 of the race. By that time a thunderstorm broke over the pass and we descended on a long, winding stretch of I-70 into Denver in a down pour. The Sprinter handled the road conditions with ease.

Art on the street to welcome the race.

USA Pro Challenge in Estes Park. On Friday stage 6 of the Challenge came through Estes Park on a loop that brought the riders through downtown twice. Crowds packed the downtown hours before the racers arrived and we walked the street checking out the tourist shops. It was a festive atmosphere with good bands playing in the park, food booths, and artists on street corners painting and selling their work.

Part of the entertainment was a trike
relay race. The adults can only turn those little cranks so fast. They all put in a good effort, but I don’t think any of them did any serious training leading up to this competition.

 

 

 

Oooooh. Fresh lemonade!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first racers across the sprint line.

The race came through really fast but we managed to get a picture of the leader followed shortly by TJ Van Garderen in yellow, who would be the overall winner when the race finished on Saturday in Denver.

Tejay Van Garderen, in yellow jersey

We found out how fun the race can be especially since we can join the race enthusiasts and ride the race course in advance. How much more fun can a bicyclist have?

We enjoyed a great day at the race

We stayed with Jim and Ruth, the owners of the Estes Park KOA. They’re great people and have a wonderful park. We’ve know them for many years when we owned our KOA in Silver City. There’s a regular free shuttle from town that picks up passengers at their office and we rode that into town to watch the race.

We're on to Dinosaur National Monument. See you down the road.
Jackie