Sunday, July 15 2007
We were up at the crack of dawn again this morning to try to beat some of the heat during our travels today. I decided to take a photo of the Creek at the Three Flags Campground off of I-90 in Black Hawk, SD before we left out.
We decided that I would start out driving today so that Mark could take over later when we got into the mountains. It was 6 am Mountain Time. The temperature was 65* and there were gray clouds out ahead of us to the north. When we were heading out the park drive, there was the most beautiful sunrise right there in front of us with the cows in the pasture. I put the truck into park and snatched my camera to take the shot. I think that it turned out pretty nice!
Just minutes after we got onto West I-90, we could see lightening in the mountains to our north. Never have I ever seen such huge bolts of light streaking down to the top of the mountains! Then it started to rain. We were just on the southern edge of the storm. Didn't last too long and the roads soon turned dry again. The road was almost totally free from traffic. I guess that the herd of deer beside the road thought that they might wander across. I fortunately saw them there and stepped quickly on the brakes. The lead deer had stepped out from the grass and onto the edge of the freeway. Didn't he realize that I had over 12,000 pounds to stop?!?! He suddenly turned away once it saw us. Of course this startled Mark while he was busy reading his tour information. We avoided the deer and went on our way. Not long after that, there was a hawk picking up a rodent of some sort and he began to fly up. He then saw our Creek, dropped his catch and swooped up quickly to avoid getting hit. Guess that we were out too early in the morning for nature today!
We were up at the crack of dawn again this morning to try to beat some of the heat during our travels today. I decided to take a photo of the Creek at the Three Flags Campground off of I-90 in Black Hawk, SD before we left out.
We decided that I would start out driving today so that Mark could take over later when we got into the mountains. It was 6 am Mountain Time. The temperature was 65* and there were gray clouds out ahead of us to the north. When we were heading out the park drive, there was the most beautiful sunrise right there in front of us with the cows in the pasture. I put the truck into park and snatched my camera to take the shot. I think that it turned out pretty nice!
Just minutes after we got onto West I-90, we could see lightening in the mountains to our north. Never have I ever seen such huge bolts of light streaking down to the top of the mountains! Then it started to rain. We were just on the southern edge of the storm. Didn't last too long and the roads soon turned dry again. The road was almost totally free from traffic. I guess that the herd of deer beside the road thought that they might wander across. I fortunately saw them there and stepped quickly on the brakes. The lead deer had stepped out from the grass and onto the edge of the freeway. Didn't he realize that I had over 12,000 pounds to stop?!?! He suddenly turned away once it saw us. Of course this startled Mark while he was busy reading his tour information. We avoided the deer and went on our way. Not long after that, there was a hawk picking up a rodent of some sort and he began to fly up. He then saw our Creek, dropped his catch and swooped up quickly to avoid getting hit. Guess that we were out too early in the morning for nature today!The next four hours of our drive this morning was rather uneventful. I guess that we had enough excitement for that morning with the deer and the hawk. Not much to look at besides sagebrush growing in what appeared to be gravel for as far as the eye could see. Sometimes the land was flat and then at times it was rolling. We did see an occasional herd of cattle and a few horses here and there. Not many crops at all, just vast barren land for miles and miles.
The great Rockies lie before us as we neared Buffalo, WY around 9:50 a.m. I thought that I could make it to the next fuel stop, but I was starting to feel the anxiety of those mountains standing before us. I pulled off at a scenic pull off and Mark took over. I snapped a photo of the Creek there. The "fun" was about to begin for Mark as he took over the wheel.
The drive through the mountains wasn't too bad at first, but then the 6% grade climbs and descents started. The truck climbed and climbed what seemed like endless grades one after another. I sat in the passenger seat trying to decide which camera I was going to shoot a picture with......movie or digital. Poor Mark was trying his best to tackle the climbs and then hold the Creek back on the descents. There were also a couple of those "wonderful" hairpin turns! I don't think that Mark was able to enjoy many of the outstanding views. He was too busy with watching the road and what lie before us. The highest point that we were at was about 9000 feet if I recall correctly. Too busy taking pictures to write much down at that time. The temperature was a bit cooler up there between 70 and 75 degrees. It was not an easy drive for Mark and I doubt that he would want to try that one again. Fortunately we are taking a different route home! Here's several of the pictures that I took on our drive across the eastern ridge of the Rockies.
The great Rockies lie before us as we neared Buffalo, WY around 9:50 a.m. I thought that I could make it to the next fuel stop, but I was starting to feel the anxiety of those mountains standing before us. I pulled off at a scenic pull off and Mark took over. I snapped a photo of the Creek there. The "fun" was about to begin for Mark as he took over the wheel.
The drive through the mountains wasn't too bad at first, but then the 6% grade climbs and descents started. The truck climbed and climbed what seemed like endless grades one after another. I sat in the passenger seat trying to decide which camera I was going to shoot a picture with......movie or digital. Poor Mark was trying his best to tackle the climbs and then hold the Creek back on the descents. There were also a couple of those "wonderful" hairpin turns! I don't think that Mark was able to enjoy many of the outstanding views. He was too busy with watching the road and what lie before us. The highest point that we were at was about 9000 feet if I recall correctly. Too busy taking pictures to write much down at that time. The temperature was a bit cooler up there between 70 and 75 degrees. It was not an easy drive for Mark and I doubt that he would want to try that one again. Fortunately we are taking a different route home! Here's several of the pictures that I took on our drive across the eastern ridge of the Rockies.
Once we were out of the Rockies, we stopped at 11:20 a.m. at a little town called Ten Sleep, WY. The temperature there was 91* and the sky was clear. We had a nice lunch at a small diner there and walked across the street to an ice cream parlor named Dirty Sally's. We both splurged with a waffle cone. It sure hit the spot.
The miles ahead held pretty much the same of sagebrush growing in gravel for miles and miles. The mountains were on one side and occasionally a river on the other. Now and then there would be a small town with some crops and livestock. These towns were usually located near to a river or a lake. The oasis type areas were loaded with poplar and Russian olive trees. Many of the small towns were very run down with junk cars, tractors, farm implements and such scattered throughout the fields and yards. The homes were very run down. In other areas there were grand homes with magnificent views and lush green fields of crops. We saw some areas that had oil rigs working in the fields. In some other areas there were underground and above ground strip coal mines.
Hope everyone is doing well. We are having the time of our lives!
The miles ahead held pretty much the same of sagebrush growing in gravel for miles and miles. The mountains were on one side and occasionally a river on the other. Now and then there would be a small town with some crops and livestock. These towns were usually located near to a river or a lake. The oasis type areas were loaded with poplar and Russian olive trees. Many of the small towns were very run down with junk cars, tractors, farm implements and such scattered throughout the fields and yards. The homes were very run down. In other areas there were grand homes with magnificent views and lush green fields of crops. We saw some areas that had oil rigs working in the fields. In some other areas there were underground and above ground strip coal mines.
At 2:30 p.m. mountain time, we arrived here at Absaroka Bay Park in Cody, MT. We have just been relaxing this afternoon and Mark is now watching boxing. We hope to tour the area of Cody tomorrow.
One last shot for the day is our cat Betty relaxing in front of the fan. We DO NOT spoil our animals! LOL
Hope everyone is doing well. We are having the time of our lives!
Posts
3 comments:
Could not remember my password so had to reset it. Between the passwords at home and work too many of them. When I lived in Oregon I loved the mountains, seeing your pic's makes me wish I still lived in the West. You are getting closer to Yellowstone, glad to hear that you are enjoying the trip out there. But Sandy, why didn't you want to drive in the mountains???? I see your cat runs the house also, just like mine. Me and the dogs live here and she owns it!!! Well have fun tomorrow on your next part of the trip. Till we meet again on here.
Hey cuz....
Thanks for the note. We finally have wifi and I can make more posts. Betty is doing well. The last couple of days we have not needed the fan. Barney has been sleeping a lot, but he is getting on in years. We absolutely loved our 10 days in Yellowstone. We are now just about 15 miles outside of the west gate of Yellowstone NP and plan to go back in a few more times to see some of the west entrance road side of the park. We planned it this way so that we could see most all of the park. We've been on every road in the park to the end except for the NE gate so far and just missed that by a few miles.
Luv ya....
Post a Comment