Vacation Journal
Monday, August 21, 2006
On the Road Again - August 18-21, 2006
We left home at 9:00, Friday, August 18, on our way to Dubois, Wyoming to join up with our motor home which had been enjoying the much cooler Wyoming weather while we endured many 100 degree days in Oklahoma.
I hope I never get tired of driving across the United States. The variation of the land and people is fascinating to me. I have particularly enjoyed this trip since I haven't traveled much lately. Our first stop of consequence was in McPherson, Kansas where we visited the Button Hole, a quilt store and fabric shop that bills itself as the fourth largest fabric store in the United States. It may well be. It certainly was the largest fabric store we have visited. It even had a coffee shop in one corner where I bought a cup of the flavor of the day and read my book while Charolette was shopping. Shortly after I bought the coffee, the clerk entered the one-dollar bill I paid with into Where's George. This was the first time in six years and 36,000 bills that someone entered a bill I spent where I spent it while I was there.
After an hour's delay at McPherson, we were on the road again. Instead of going into Nebraska and taking I-80, we decided to take I-70 across Kansas which we have not done in several years. We were impressed. I-70 has been almost completely resurfaced and is a great road. We will probably take it more often since it is in much better shape than I-80. We enjoyed the continual small hills of Kansas. I always think of Kansas as flat, but it really has a lot of hills. Once we turned onto I-70, we were under continual threat of rain the rest of the day. Storm clouds were everywhere. We could see one or more patches of rain in the distance at all times. However, we only got sprinkled on a couple times. For some reason it never seems to rain where I am. We made good time to Colby, Kansas and spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express.
We were on the road again about 9:00 Saturday morning. It was foggy when we started. Then we again saw rain clouds everywhere. We got a little rain near Limon, Colorado, but mostly we just saw rain in the distance. We got off I-70 just before Denver and took state highways to avoid getting into the Denver metropolitan area. It worked well. We decided we would bring the motor home this way in the future. We dislike driving it through Denver. Along the way we saw several herds of cows that had a strange color scheme. The looked somewhat like those pigs that have distinct color bands, one for the head, one for the body, and one for the rear where the color borders look like someone used a straightedge. We have never seen cows that way before. Maybe they spray paint them. We got on I-25 heading north. We stopped at St. Vrain State Park to check out the birds. We didn't see many, but decided we might camp there sometime when passing through.
We got off the interstate at Fort Collins and took U.S. 287 to Laramie. This was new country for us and we enjoyed it. The road was good and we made good time with all kinds of interesting rock formations to look at. We got to Laramie in time to stop at a quilt store. We spent the night at a very nice Hampton Inn which served a great breakfast.
Sunday morning we left before 9:00, heading for the Snowy Range, some mountains in the Medicine Bow Mountains and in Medicine Bow National Forest. We were in for a shock. Even though they are not exceptionally high mountains, they are one of the best looking mountain ranges we have seen. The mountains are made of a whitish rock which gives them their name. They have lots of pretty lakes all around. We stopped at several lookouts. We spent about an hour at Lake Marie enjoying the awesome mountains (Medicine Bow Peak) and the birds. We saw Mountain Chickadees, American Goldfinch, Yellow-rumped Warblers, plus several others we didn't identify. This was the first time I've ever seen a Goldfinch anywhere besides at a feeder. We were reluctant to leave. We did decide to come here for a week or two in the future.
We enjoyed the drive across central Wyoming to Dubois. We went through the Great Divide Basin, a place with no outlet to the ocean. No water escapes from this place because it doesn't get enough precipitation for any to need to escape. It gives the land a different look when, even on a small scale, not every spot is connected to some kind of a water drain, such as an intermittent creek. During the day we saw two different Golden Eagles sitting on electric poles. We stopped at Split Rocks National Historic Site which was used as a navigation aid by both wagon trains and the Pony Express. We got to Dubois about 5:00. The forest fire in Bomber Basin that was here when we visited in July is still going. There is also a new fire on the backside of the mountains near Union Pass. The air in the area was hazy. There were many firefighters living in tents in the Dubois City Park. The government had an arrangement with our campground to provide showers for firefighters. There were signs all over town thanking or welcoming the firefighters. I'm guessing there were at least 200 in town.
Monday morning we broke camp, hooked the Jeep behind the RV and hit the road about 9:30. There was a definite smoke haze in the air for over 60 miles. We went through Riverton, a very neat town with a large Wal-Mart. We went by Boysen Reservoir and then through a gorgeous canyon, the Wind River Canyon carved by the Big Horn River. We went through several tunnels that sort of make you wince when you're driving a motor home even though the clearance signs indicate no problem. I'm not sure I've driven this motor home through a tunnel before. We stopped in the canyon for a picnic lunch. The Wind River Canyon is definitely worth seeing. We had a Magpie making lots of noise where we stopped. I guess he didn't like us being there.
We reached Greybull about 2:00. We plan to take several scenic drives tomorrow as we are spending two nights in Greybull. One interesting fact about Greybull, they sound a siren every night at 9:00. It used to sound to signal the curfew for young people. Now it sounds as a test for the local volunteer firemen, whose average age is supposedly 78. I guess once they can no longer hear the siren, they have to stop being a fireman.
I hope I never get tired of driving across the United States. The variation of the land and people is fascinating to me. I have particularly enjoyed this trip since I haven't traveled much lately. Our first stop of consequence was in McPherson, Kansas where we visited the Button Hole, a quilt store and fabric shop that bills itself as the fourth largest fabric store in the United States. It may well be. It certainly was the largest fabric store we have visited. It even had a coffee shop in one corner where I bought a cup of the flavor of the day and read my book while Charolette was shopping. Shortly after I bought the coffee, the clerk entered the one-dollar bill I paid with into Where's George. This was the first time in six years and 36,000 bills that someone entered a bill I spent where I spent it while I was there.
After an hour's delay at McPherson, we were on the road again. Instead of going into Nebraska and taking I-80, we decided to take I-70 across Kansas which we have not done in several years. We were impressed. I-70 has been almost completely resurfaced and is a great road. We will probably take it more often since it is in much better shape than I-80. We enjoyed the continual small hills of Kansas. I always think of Kansas as flat, but it really has a lot of hills. Once we turned onto I-70, we were under continual threat of rain the rest of the day. Storm clouds were everywhere. We could see one or more patches of rain in the distance at all times. However, we only got sprinkled on a couple times. For some reason it never seems to rain where I am. We made good time to Colby, Kansas and spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express.
We were on the road again about 9:00 Saturday morning. It was foggy when we started. Then we again saw rain clouds everywhere. We got a little rain near Limon, Colorado, but mostly we just saw rain in the distance. We got off I-70 just before Denver and took state highways to avoid getting into the Denver metropolitan area. It worked well. We decided we would bring the motor home this way in the future. We dislike driving it through Denver. Along the way we saw several herds of cows that had a strange color scheme. The looked somewhat like those pigs that have distinct color bands, one for the head, one for the body, and one for the rear where the color borders look like someone used a straightedge. We have never seen cows that way before. Maybe they spray paint them. We got on I-25 heading north. We stopped at St. Vrain State Park to check out the birds. We didn't see many, but decided we might camp there sometime when passing through.
We got off the interstate at Fort Collins and took U.S. 287 to Laramie. This was new country for us and we enjoyed it. The road was good and we made good time with all kinds of interesting rock formations to look at. We got to Laramie in time to stop at a quilt store. We spent the night at a very nice Hampton Inn which served a great breakfast.
Sunday morning we left before 9:00, heading for the Snowy Range, some mountains in the Medicine Bow Mountains and in Medicine Bow National Forest. We were in for a shock. Even though they are not exceptionally high mountains, they are one of the best looking mountain ranges we have seen. The mountains are made of a whitish rock which gives them their name. They have lots of pretty lakes all around. We stopped at several lookouts. We spent about an hour at Lake Marie enjoying the awesome mountains (Medicine Bow Peak) and the birds. We saw Mountain Chickadees, American Goldfinch, Yellow-rumped Warblers, plus several others we didn't identify. This was the first time I've ever seen a Goldfinch anywhere besides at a feeder. We were reluctant to leave. We did decide to come here for a week or two in the future.
We enjoyed the drive across central Wyoming to Dubois. We went through the Great Divide Basin, a place with no outlet to the ocean. No water escapes from this place because it doesn't get enough precipitation for any to need to escape. It gives the land a different look when, even on a small scale, not every spot is connected to some kind of a water drain, such as an intermittent creek. During the day we saw two different Golden Eagles sitting on electric poles. We stopped at Split Rocks National Historic Site which was used as a navigation aid by both wagon trains and the Pony Express. We got to Dubois about 5:00. The forest fire in Bomber Basin that was here when we visited in July is still going. There is also a new fire on the backside of the mountains near Union Pass. The air in the area was hazy. There were many firefighters living in tents in the Dubois City Park. The government had an arrangement with our campground to provide showers for firefighters. There were signs all over town thanking or welcoming the firefighters. I'm guessing there were at least 200 in town.
Monday morning we broke camp, hooked the Jeep behind the RV and hit the road about 9:30. There was a definite smoke haze in the air for over 60 miles. We went through Riverton, a very neat town with a large Wal-Mart. We went by Boysen Reservoir and then through a gorgeous canyon, the Wind River Canyon carved by the Big Horn River. We went through several tunnels that sort of make you wince when you're driving a motor home even though the clearance signs indicate no problem. I'm not sure I've driven this motor home through a tunnel before. We stopped in the canyon for a picnic lunch. The Wind River Canyon is definitely worth seeing. We had a Magpie making lots of noise where we stopped. I guess he didn't like us being there.
We reached Greybull about 2:00. We plan to take several scenic drives tomorrow as we are spending two nights in Greybull. One interesting fact about Greybull, they sound a siren every night at 9:00. It used to sound to signal the curfew for young people. Now it sounds as a test for the local volunteer firemen, whose average age is supposedly 78. I guess once they can no longer hear the siren, they have to stop being a fireman.
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