October 1 - 13, 2001

Monday, October 1, 2001                                        Yellowstone National Park, WY

We got a pretty slow start this morning.  It took much longer than usual to post an update to our website.  We finally crossed into Yellowstone National Park at the West Entrance just before noon.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky all day today.  It was a great day to be in the park.

We saw so much wildlife.  Right off we saw a huge porcupine cross the road in front of us.  There were buffalo everywhere we looked.  Grouped in herds of 20-50, we must have seen 200-300 throughout the park.  The elk are in rut and we saw nearly a hundred of them.  We captured a great photo of a 12-point bull elk standing proudly over his harem of a dozen does.  As we pulled into the Mammoth Hot Springs area, there were elk all over the place grazing on the nice lawns that are kept up in the area.

As we entered the park from the west, we turned south at Madison Junction and stopped for a requisite visit of Old Faithful.  This predictable geyser shoots off nearly every hour.  We walked around at several spots to see the hot springs, mud pots, steam holes and geysers.  These are all such unusual phenomena.

We drove along Yellowstone Lake as we circled the south loop road and stopped at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone to see both the upper and lower falls there.  We then turned up the west side of the north loop to visit Mammoth Hot Springs.  This area has fantastic limestone formations created by the deposits of the springs.  One particularly active spring right now is Canary Spring, and its product is fantastic.  The white limestone looks like snow and ice as it wraps around the bases of trees and creates the appearance of an icefall.

1) First Buffalo Sighting; 2) Wild Elk?  These were relaxing in Mammoth.  3) A buck and his harem.

To view many other beautiful pictures of Yellowstone, click here to go to the new Spotlight Pictures Page.

Tuesday, October 2, 2001                                                                            Cody, WY

Last night’s sleep was frequently interrupted by the intense bugling of the elk in the area.  When they weren’t making a fuss, the wolves were howling.  We drove back through town and watched a lounging bull elk with his thirty does sitting right in the middle of town.  We also went back up to the Mammoth Hot Springs to see them in the morning light.  It was another clear day, but a shift of the winds had brought a lot of smoke haze into the area from controlled burns elsewhere in the park.

We drove toward the northeast entrance of the park, stopping briefly at Tower Falls.  It was a beautiful section of the park approaching the northeast entrance.  We drove through the Lamar Valley and saw another large herd of buffalo.  We pulled over shortly after leaving the park so that I could get my bike off the RV.  Christine and I took separate routes down to Cody.  She took the more direct route down the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, while I went north up to Beartooth Pass on the Beartooth Scenic Highway.  We both thoroughly enjoyed our routes.

Beartooth Pass reaches 11,000 feet crossing back into Montana, then descends down a very deep canyon into Red Lodge.  This route is a must for anyone traveling through this area, but keep in mind that the road is only open for about five months each summer.

We reunited in a Cody campground and learned via e-mail that my grandmother had passed away this morning.  I spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out how to get to Cincinnati in time for the funeral on Friday.

By Christine: The Chief Joseph Scenic Highway was stunning.  This was a beautiful ride mostly through state forest land.  If you are in a vehicle too big for Bear Tooth Pass, or just get here too late in the year, this is definitely not a trade off.

1) Yes, that curvy line is the road of Bear Tooth Pass. 2) The view from Bear Tooth Pass.

Wednesday, October 3, 2001                                                                Billings, MT

I finally made some travel arrangements this morning through a local travel agent.  We fly out of Billings very early tomorrow morning.  We took care of a couple errands and then spent the rest of the morning at the Buffalo Bill Cody Center.  This is a state of the art museum complex with four great displays: Buffalo Bill, Plans Indians, Western Art, and Firearms.  The admission ticket is good for two days, which is necessary to thoroughly take in all the exhibits. 

 Thursday, October 4, 2001                                                            Billings, MT

We got up at 5:00 AM and drove up to the Billings airport for our 7:45 AM departure that would take us to Denver, then to Chicago, and then to Cincinnati.  The delay we faced in passing through the security checkpoint resulted more from disorganization than from thoroughness.  It appeared that the airport aimed to improve security by doubling the attendants, rather than hiring brighter people.  I think security is a quality concern, not a quantity concern.

All our flights today were right on schedule.  We arrived in Cincinnati about an hour before my youngest sister, Kathy, flew in from Minneapolis.  Dad picked us all up and took us to his home.  We enjoyed a quiet evening just catching up with each other.

Friday, October 5, 2001                                                                            Bradford, KY

We had a quiet morning.  Dad and I spent a little time grading the gravel on his driveway.  We all dressed for the funeral and went to the funeral home in Augusta.  The funeral was very nice, and Dad shared some good memories of Grandma in his eulogy.  Several old friends of the family returned to the house with us.  We shared some good memories and ate plenty of food the rest of the day.

By Christine: This may sound weird, but it was a very nice day, filled with family and friends.  From what I have learned of Joe's Grandma, I think she would have enjoyed the good stories and laughter.

Saturday, October 6, 2001                                                                      Bradford, KY

We celebrated my parents’ 39^th wedding anniversary today by taking them out to dinner in Covington.  My sisters: Martha, Theresa, Kathy, and their children made a dinner party of eleven.

The Cincinnati Skyline from across the river.

Sunday, October 7, 2001                                                                            Bradford, KY

 We settled in to watch some good football today, but were temporarily diverted by the military actions against the Taliban.  We got to watch both the Bengals and the Packers lose.  There wasn’t much to cheer for today.

Monday, October 8, 2001                                                                            Billings, MT

We packed up and began our trip back to the RV in Montana.  We flew out of Cincinnati at 3:15 PM routed through Washington D.C., then Denver and finally Billings at 9:20 PM.  All these flights were on time as well.  The adherence to the schedule was refreshing.  We walked over to the RV at the airport through the rain, and fired up the furnace before climbing into bed.  It felt good to be home.

Tuesday, October 9, 2001                                                                            Cody, WY

We woke up to the sounds of jets taking off over our head.  We got dressed and drove into Billings for a great hot breakfast before heading back down the road to Cody.  I had planned to drive on through Yellowstone and camp under the Grand Tetons tonight.  We stopped in Cody to do some grocery shopping, and then headed toward the east entrance of Yellowstone.  As we were leaving Cody we passed a sign alerting us that the east entrance of Yellowstone was closed.

I made some phone calls and learned that the rain that we had slept through last night and driven through today had dumped some snow and ice at the higher elevations closing many of the mountain passes.  We decided to camp in Cody for the night and hope for better conditions in the morning.

Wednesday, October 10, 2001                                                                Jackson, WY

We got better conditions this morning and reached Yellowstone’s east entrance shortly after they opened it.  We stopped at the summit of Sylvan Pass (8530 ft) to take the first photo of the RV in the snow, for this season.  The clear skies of Cody had given way to a high gray ceiling in the park.  It was impressive to recall that we were quite warm in the park just last week.

We spent a half hour in a buffalo traffic jam.  There were thirty buffalo on the road, and were mostly unwilling to yield the right of way.  One by one the cars weaved between the meandering beasts.  We then circled around Yellowstone Lake and exited the park through the south gate.  We luckily found clear skies again as we entered Grand Teton National Park.

The Teton Mountains were beautiful against the blue sky.  We stopped at Jenny Lake for some lunch then went for a three-mile walk around the lake area.  I was so pleased that the weather gave us some clear views today.  We were up here in March and could barely see the road in front of us.

We drove on toward Jackson and stopped at The National Museum of Wildlife Art.  The museum is a spectacular structure with plenty of art that befits the area.  We continued into Jackson and found a campground on the edge of town.  We walked around and stopped at The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar for a beer.  The bar stools in this bar are old saddles attached to posts, complete with stirrups.

By Christine: The last picture below shows an arch made of Elk antlers.  There are many of these arches throughout Jackson.  There are many Elk reserves around the area, and Joe learned that the Boy Scouts go and pick the Elk antlers for these arches and they also sell them.

1) Our first snow; 2) A Buffalo roadblock; 3) He's pretty big close up; 4) The Grand Teton and Jenny Lake. 5) An arch made of Elk Antlers.

Thursday, October 11, 2001                                                                      Manila, UT

We woke up to the wind rocking the RV.  A peak outside showed plenty of wind driven snow.  The thermometer was beginning to fall as we packed up and got underway.  Christine took the morning shift behind the wheel as we drove along the southwest side of the Wind River Range.  The road was twisty and the temperature dropped to 29 degrees.  The only accumulation was on the bridges.

I took over driving after lunch as we made our way to Rock Springs.  The temperature climbed steadily into the fifties, but so did the wind.  Gusts of 40 mph coming from the west made driving an extra challenge.  We turned west on I-80 for a short stretch to Green River, WY and then turned south along the western edge of Flaming Gorge.  The dark skies detracted from the gorge views.

We passed several groups of antelope before getting a close encounter near the marina in Lucerne.  They were so close to the road that we took some good pictures.  We then stopped for the night in the small town of Manila.  The temperature was dropping quickly into the low thirties and the wind was really roaring.

  Pronghorn Antelope

Friday, October 12, 2001                                                    Steamboat Springs, CO

We woke to clear blue skies and cold temperatures.  We were glad that we stopped where we did, so that we could see the rest of Flaming Gorge in better light.  We started the morning off by driving the Sheep Creek Geological Loop.  We saw a bunch of sheep that resembled the stone sheep we saw on the Alaska Highway.  The literature referred to these as bighorn sheep, but we both agreed that they weren’t.

The morning light on the red rock of Flaming Gorge was beautiful.  We walked around the Red Canyon area amongst several deer and a light layer of snow.  The views were quite splendid.  We continued south out of Flaming Gorge and turned east on Highway 40 at Vernal, Utah.

We stopped at Dinosaur National Monument before entering Colorado.  The exhibits there are very good.  The park service preserved an existing quarry displaying bones still embedded in the hardened mud.  We took our time there to place our small lives into the much bigger picture of life and evolution.

The drive east into Colorado was open and easy.  We saw many antelope and deer throughout the afternoon.  We ended our day at a familiar campground in Steamboat Springs where we had stayed while skiing in February.

By Christine: We saw lots of hunters today, the blaze orange gave them away, and we saw just as many deer.  I saw 9 mule deer before 11AM.  If only I had a gun and a license - oh and a clue of how to cut up a deer.  :)  We have been seeing alot of wildlife and that really adds to the enjoyment of the beauty surrounding us.

  Flaming Gorge National Recreational Area

Saturday, October 13, 2001                                                                       Golden, CO

We awoke to blowing snow and wasted no time trying to get over Rabbit Ears Pass.  At 9426 feet, we drove through near whiteout conditions and snow covered roads.  The RV handled well and we continued to be accompanied by flurries all the way to Denver.  We stopped in Breckenridge to investigate getting a monthly RV site for the ski season this winter.

We were greeted with clear skies and temperatures in the 60’s in Denver.  We arrived in time to run a few errands.  The most important of which was purchasing deeply discounted ski passes.

Click here to view the new Spotlight pictures page, highlighting great pictures of Yellowstone, the Teton, and Flaming Gorge.