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Bear Attack Closes Soda Butte and Chief Joseph Campgrounds

Posted in July 18th, 2008

by Mark in Yellowstone NP Roads and Campgrounds

Two campgrounds just outside the Park along highway 212 (outside of Cooke City) were closed yesterday afternoon after a grizzly entered a tent and bit and clawed a camper sleeping there. Reports suggest that the camper (yet unidentified) has bit and claw marks on his arms from defending himself against the bear who entered his tent around 3 AM. The camper was cared for at the scene and then transported to a Cody hospital.

Early reports suggest the camper had taken appropriate precautions with his food storage and campsite.

As a precaution the Forest Service closed the Soda Butte and Chief Joseph campgrounds Thursday, in part as the bear returned Thursday at one point to the Soda Butte campground.

Another reminder to follow the rules about food storage (food, drinks, and personal hygiene products) and exercise thoughtful precautions otherwise.

Final Summary

WE MADE IT!!!!

We weren’t sure it could be done, but sure enough, 21 states in 25 days and we find ourselves back in good ol’ North Carolina. And in case you were wondering which 21 states they were…NC, VA, WV, OH, MI, WI, MN, ND, SD, WY, MT, ID, UT, CO, NE, IA, MO, KS, IL, KY, and TN, whew!

First and foremost though, we want to say thank you for all the well wishes, gifts, and prayers said while we embarked on this trip of a lifetime, it is certainly appreciated and made us feel as if we were on this trip with all of you!

I first thought to take this trip to see a large portion of the country that I had not seen yet. Obviously, the most important thing we both needed was the time to do it. I have recently decided to put the golf clubs away, and Brandi was not exactly enjoying her place of employment. And while we knew the expenses were going to be high, it might be decades before we could actually make this journey a reality. So we made a very rough outline of states, monuments, and points of interest that we would like to see without setting exact dates and times to get there. One of the most important things I wanted to be able to do was stay in a city or state an extra day or two if we hadn’t accomplished all we wanted to do in the given time. And given our lack of an itinerary, the best guess I could give was anywhere from 3 to 4 weeks.

I have a goal to see all 50 states at some point in my life, and have been very fortunate to have seen 38 before this trip started. So among the many goals of this trip were to wipe out 8 of the states in the middle of the country that I hadn’t visited yet, and secondly, to get my navigator Brandi to successfully be able to read maps and point us in the right direction. Both goals……success!!

Brandi has worked so hard at keeping up with our blog and making slideshows, I thought it only fair to write a final summary in case you didn’t have 12 hours to read everything and see all the pictures.

Animals…..we wanted to see all of them!!! Despite the numerous signs/warnings, and even visiting 2 Bear Lakes, not one, no grizzlies for us. We even went to Moose Falls, but no, Bullwinkle was not waiting for us at any point. How about Antelope Island…..nope, you guessed it, no antelope. But we were fortunate to see a couple dozen buffaloes, a coyote, numerous deer, one Crazy Horse, and even run with some donkeys on the road. We also crossed over Snake River and alas, we actually did see a snake!

As for adventure…..if you can believe it, we hiked, rode horseback, played kickball, inner-tubed down a river, rode a bobsled, a luge, and lassoed fake cows. And that was in a matter of 6 days!!!

But activities were not all we did……..we saw 4 NFL stadiums and 3 MLB stadiums, but these still weren’t as big as the worlds largest ball of twine, the worlds largest cow, and the world’s largest mall!! We saw Blue Lake, Green Bay, Golden, Colorado, the Red Rocks, and even the Black Pool. We saw Jenny Lake and Bridal Veil Falls, but luckily neither of these were close to Crazy Woman Creek.

Some things were just down right confusing though. I mean, the Flat River had more

rapids than the Snake River. Kansas City is in Missouri, Alberta Falls are in Colorado, and West Thumb is in the south part of Yellowstone. And for some reason Mackinac Island is pronounced mac-in-naw.

As for geographical landmarks…..we crossed the 45^th parallel multiple times, meaning at some points of this trip, we were closer to Santa Claus than the equator. We drove along the Continental Divide, and we even saw the geographical center of the northern half of the western hemisphere.

We played cornhole (bean bag game) in 3 states. We hiked in 3 National Parks, we played 3 rounds of disc golf, and you guessed it, I lost 3 discs.

We camped in our tent 7 nights, stayed in a hotel 6 nights, we spent 5 days in both Wyoming and Colorado, we saw 4 of our favorite little guys (Dylan, Mason, Craig, and Quin), enough with the 3’s, we rode 2 zip lines in Utah and saw 1 Great Salt Lake. Although, both Brandi and I are re-naming it, Great Bug Lake.

When we first reached the Rocky Mountain range, the temperature went from 84 degrees to 67. And when we filled up with gas in Aspen it was $4.49 and when we got down the mountain to Denver, it was $3.99 (must have been a big mountain!!). We found out who Gutzen Borglem is, we built snowmen while wearing shorts and flip-flops, and rode two indoor roller coasters. We rode down the Oregon Trail, saw the Independence Ghost Town, and played Frisdoo and flip-cup.

All in all it was a great trip, one that neither of us will ever forget. We drove over 6,000 miles all over God’s country, but watch out, we did run into Devils Tower!

And finally we leave you with our best and worst lists:

Best Meal: Jack Stack’s BBQ in Kansas City, MO….mmmmmmm, ribs

Worst: Doc Holidays in Glenwood Springs….no refills on Diet Coke, and bad food, big thumbs down

Best Campground: Chris’s Campground (Spearfish, SD) for internet in the tent and cleanest site

Worst: Lake Cokato (Minn.) our first campsite and so dirty we almost turned the car around and headed home. Oh yea, and mosquitoes the size of lemons, yuk.

Best Hotel: Residence Inn in Salt Lake (thanks D and T!!). Awesome room with a kitchen

Worst: Extended Stay in Kansas City, don’t ever stay in an extended stay if you don’t have to

Best Lake: Bear Lake (border of Idaho and Utah), crystal clear turquoise water with mountain background

Worst: Salt Lake (Utah), bzzzzzzzzzzzz

Best Disc Course: Jackson Hole, right in the Grand Teton Mountains!

Worst: Kansas City, extremely long and extremely HOT

Best National Park: Rocky Mountain N. P., awesome views, spectacular.

Worst: Jefferson National (Gateway Arch), waaaaay too crowded

Best Surprise: Comfort Inn; Sterling, CO (Thanks Jo!!), 95 degrees at 8:00 pm, not good camping weather

Worst: No electrical hook-ups in National Parks. Makes it hard to blow up an air mattress!!

Scariest Drive: Independence Pass (Colorado), this is why they teach you to drive with hands at 10 and 2, yikes, don’t look down!

Easiest Drive: Nebraska, just beware of any cows crossing the road

Shortest Trip: Illinois to Tennessee; 2 hours

Longest Trip: Keystone, SD (Mt. Rushmore) to Jackson Hole, WY; 11 hours

Last set of Pics!

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Day 25 - LET'S GO HOME!!!

We were both up at 7:15 & ready to get home! We said our good-byes and got on the road about 8:45. It rained really hard for about 2 1/2 hours...and boy was there a lot of traffic. After the rain, Mike called in his relief. So I drove for a while...played lots of travel Password (we're ready for national television), then I handed the reins back over to Mike and he drove and drove...we felt delerious from all the driving & 8 1/2 hours later, we made it home!!!

We had such a wonderful trip, we saw some amazing things...we are very glad we made the journey! Thanks for reading our stories & keeping in touch with us!

We're so glad to be home!!!!

Day 24 - Tennessee

We got up pretty early today...ready to get closer to home! Our goal was to make it to Clarksville, TN about 150 miles away...not a bad drive at all. My best friend (old college buddy) lives there with her husband who's in the Army & their 10 month old baby. We got to their house about 2:00 and we just relaxed & hung out...it was great! Then when Jason got home, he grilled some kabobs and we had another home cooked feast....Nice!!! It was just a great low-key night & we had an awesome time with them! Alisha had to work the next day so we decided we'd head home!

Day 23 - Illinois

Today we continued our drive East & saw our last landmark: The Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Truly was a cool sight from up close - way better than seeing it from the road, but then we decided to follow the crowds underground...there were so many people under there! Apparently the way things worked were you buy a ticket for a certain time in which you can get in line to ride a tram up to the top of the arch. Tickets were $10/each & we had about a 20 minute wait before we could actually get in line. They had a museum about Lewis and Clark and a couple "old timey" stores & such...20 minutes went by fairly quick so then we got in line. That lasted about 15 minutes...then they took us to a holding room where we waited another 15-20 minutes, then finally we were down by the tram doors. These doors were sooooo small! We had to listen to some audio thing for about 10 minutes or so, then finally the doors opened. Oh my goodness...we were stepping into a port-o-potty size area where not 2, but 5 people were to sit! It was a very tight squeeze! So then after a 4 minute ride up to the top of the arch, we are let out and swarmed by people. You can't even hardly stop to look out the few 2x4 windows they have up top. It was like being on a crowded moving airplane that was very slanted!
Glad we saw the arch, but could have skipped the part where we went up in it!

After the arch, we headed to Marion, Il where I have an old high school friend. She and her husband (he is a coal miner) got transferred there about 3 years ago. Having Garmin get us to her house was very interesting - we were on dirt roads and roads that didn't have names, it was crazy, but we made it there about 8:00. We grilled out chicken & steak and had a great home cooked meal, it was so nice!

Tomorrow we'll keep heading East...getting closer & closer to home!!

Day 22 - Royals vs Tigers

Today was super hot, but we decided to play a disc course in KC. It was a pretty long course...I only lasted 10 holes. Poor Mike, he's used to carrying a heavy bag full of clubs & play all day...not me & I only had two little discs to carry!

After that we, well I recooperated, then headed over to the Royals/Tigers game. Once again, we had some pretty high up seats, but after much sweet talking, Mike coerced me into sneaking way down front - 4 rows up, third base line to be exact...they were sweet seats!! Right after we sang Take Me Out to the Ball Game in the 7th inning, the skies got dark & down came the rains! It was pouring! We decided to make a run for the car...we got drenched!! Worse part...we couldn't find the car!! It took us probably 10 minutes in the parking lot in pouring down rain before we found the car, it was terrible! But alas, the car alarm worked!

Day 21 - Kansas City

Big day of driving today to Kansas City...about 8 hours. Mike had pricelined us a hotel so we wouldn't have to camp in the heat (temps did not get any cooler in Missouri)...on the way we contemplated stopping in Omaha because Mike heard it was cool place. After a few phone calls and some advice from the parental's in Michigan, we decided to skip Omaha & the steaks & just head on (it would have been an hour out of the way to go).
We arrived around 9 & were starving. We read online that Kansas City has some of the best barbecue joints so we asked the guy at the front desk where we should eat...he suggested Jack Stack Barbecue...it was honestly the best food we've had in 21 days!! It was sooo good! But when we walked into the restaurant...guess what was on TV in the bar area......none other than the Detroit Tigers playing at the Kansas City Royals! Mike immediately inquired about how many more games Tigers would be in town for...you guessed it, we stayed another day to watch the Tigers!

Day 20 - Rocky Mtn National Park

Today we drove from Golden, CO to Rocky Mountain National Park. This park was way better than Yellowstone in regards to hiking. They had so many trails...Mike did his research last night and figured out the best places to hike if you only have one day in the park. We got to the entrance about 11:00 or so and it was packed! We waited a while to pay & get through...then we drove to the trail head where we were going to start hiking, but it was full! We had to park in another lot and ride a shuttle bus. It took us a while to load our back packs with lunch, water, Gatorade, snacks, sweat towel, etc. By 12:00 we started our hike at Glacier Point (I think that was the name). From there we hiked straight up to a lake...it was beautiful & worth the 2 miles up. The views were absolutely amazing...not to mention on the way up there was a huge waterfall. You really had to hike up a bunch of rocks to get to the top of it! On the hike towards the lake, it started to get a little cooler & the sky darker...then the rain came. Lucky for us, we bought $1 ponchos at Wal-Mart! Best $1 we spent & glad we remembered to pack them. BUT then as the rain stopped & we were taking pictures, Mike decided I should run over to the other side of the lake on the rocks & he'll take my picture from where he was. So I go truckin over to the other side, pose, and here "you got to be kidding me"....I yell back "what's wrong", he says, "what do you think"...I assume the card is just full & he's mad he'll have to go through & delete pics before taking more. Sadly that was not the case....the batteries in the camera died!! That was the one thing we did not put in our back-packs! We had them in the car, but that was over 5 miles away & a shuttle bus. He turned it off & back on & it actually had just enough juice to take my picture from across the lake...then it died.
After the lake, we hiked towards another one...this trail was much less marked...it was rough. I kept blaming my wheezing on the elevation, but I think we all know what's happened in the last 3 weeks.......out-of-shape!!! This lake was just as beautiful as the first one, but no way to take pictures......except for a family of 4 on a nearby rock - I asked them if they had extra AA batteries, they did not have any, but then I got smart & asked if I could just borrow theirs to take a couple pictures & they let me! Nice folks.
Next we had to walk to Bear Lake where we can catch a shuttle bus back to our car. On our way there were a couple more great views...one of them I just had to ask this couple passing us if they had batteries we could borrow, but they're camera didn't take the same one's ours did....but they were nice enough to take a couple pictures of us with their camera and promised to email them to us. So far no pics yet, but they were from Buffalo, NY & staying at the park for a week so maybe they don't have internet where they're staying....looking forward to seeing if they send it!

So after a total of 7.9 miles & 4 hours later our hiking excursion in the Rockies were complete. Sadly, its time to head East.

We hoped to make it to Nebraska, but we were so tired from all the hiking we only made it to Sterling, CO...AKA, don't ever stay there...we found a campground (Buffalo Bill RV Park) - arrived about 7:30...got out of the car to go into the office & it was about 92 degrees outside with 30 mph winds. We promptly got back in the car to discuss. Neither of us wanted another night like the one in Buena Vista, CO but then add sweltering heat...so we decided to stay at one of 3 hotels in town. Our choices, Super 8, Travel Lodge & Comfort Inn....I said I would only stay at the Comfort Inn...I know, you're thinking I'm spoiled, but you didn't see the other 2! Yikes!

Day 19 - still in Denver!

Today’s agenda included a free tour of the Coors Plant in Golden, CO about 30 minutes away from Denver. As we pulled into the parking lot, we realized we had to wait in line to catch a shuttle over to the plant…that was a long, very hot wait…about 96 degree hot to be exact. So we sweated, I mean waited it out & an hour later we were inside the plant! It was a self guided tour…they gave us these phone looking things to carry with us & listen to how beer was made. We were both a little shocked to find out all the different brands of beer Coors made…like Blue Moon. After the tour you were allowed to taste test 3 glasses…we only had time for one though! Honest.

Our original plan this morning was to tour Coors then head on up to Rocky Mountain National Park, but the beer tour took a little longer than expected. Plus we couldn’t find any camgrounds that had room for us…all full for the weekend. So we went to Golden’s library & Mike pricelined another good deal in Golden/Denver area. So we checked in & decided we might as well catch another Rockies game! This time we just bought $10 tickets at the box office then headed in (late…3^rd inning)…Mike scoped us out 2 empty seats on the 3^rd base line, but I was scared to walk past the “ticket looker-at-er”….so had to find one that was either a bit slow & unaware of those passing by him without showing a ticket. We found our unsuspecting character & after a 5 minute pep talk by Mike, I was the first to go down……..we both made it past him, no problem! After we sat down in these great seats, Mike asked the nice couple next to us if anyone had been sitting there & the nicely said there wasn’t. We had a great time – awesome seats – but no foul balls were caught.

After the game…a good night’s sleep for tomorrow is full of hiking at Rocky Mountain National Park…gonna be an early one!

Day 18 - Denver, CO

Today’s mission, (well mine more than ours) was to horseback ride somewhere on the way into Denver. The lady who ran the campground we stayed at last night told us one place to go in Buena Vista, but they were booked solid all day. So we drove to the local library to use their internet & started looking for other places. We found the Safari Horse Ranch about 45 minutes away, but definitely on the way to Denver….a girl next to me heard us talking about it and she says she drives there all the time, “it’s the best ranch around”. It looked like this ranch offered a more “open range” trail ride…neither of us knew what that really meant, but we took her advice & drove towards the ranch. We arrive at the ranch (out in the middle of nowhere!) where we are the only 2 people there to ride! Mike gets his first horse lesson & we’re ready to go! I was paired up with Tennessee & Mike got Blackjack. Our “Wrangler” had only been in Colorado for 1 month so he didn’t have much to say about the area. He was a quiet guy, but he did let us trot with the horses (that felt great) & we didn’t have to ride nose to tail (that's what open range meant, by the way) so that was nice. Great views & great fun on those horses…but an hour was definitely enough!

We left the ranch and headed for Denver. Mike pricelined another great deal in downtown, just a few miles away from Coors Field, where the Rockies play. On the outskirts of downtown, we finally see real chain restaurants…we’re in a real town, yeah! So we stop & eat at a Chipotle (one of our favorites)….it was delicious! After that we found our hotel & headed to the game. On the way, we stopped by to see the Mile High Stadium, where the Denver Bronco’s play….very cool to see, but you couldn’t get in like we could in Green Bay. At Coors Field we scalped a couple tickets and headed out for left field. They were actually good seats, very close to left fielder Matt Holiday. We even thought we were going to catch a home run ball, but Matt beat us to it! Rockies played the Pirates & won 4-2.

Day 17 - driving through CO

Today we did a lot of sightseeing through a couple of the snow towns in Colorado....we saw Snowmass & Aspen - very scenic! We did stop & eat lunch in Glenwood Springs (just above Snowmass) at Doc Holiday's.......it was not that great, but we went out on a limb & tried somewhere new...little did we know it'd be a bad dive!

As we drove into Aspen we were ready to do some hiking so we went to their visitor's center & they pointed us to Hunter Creek trail....it was beautiful...it followed a creek (go figure) and went pretty much straight up mountain. It probably would have had a waterfall at the top, but we didn't make it that far.

We left after about an hour of hiking because we wanted drive to Independence Pass....famous for beautiful views & boy were they right! It was high 80's in Aspen, but when we got to Independence Pass it was barely 60, it was cold!! They had an awesome overlook...walking out to it I actually had a hard time breathing...guess that's what happens when your up 12,000 + feet!

After that we drove to our campsite in Buena Vista, CO. We just beat the rain & were able to get the tent set up & grill out some hot dogs (I will never eat another hot dog after we get home!). Then it was lights out pretty early...after a few rounds of Wheel of Fortune on the computer (of course Mike won)! However, the winds picked up around 9:00...and continued to pick up speed the rest of the night. Our tent kept blowing in & hitting us...I have no idea how the whole thing never blew over. It was a long, cold, miserable night with very minimal sleep!

But its up & at em early tomorrow...heading to Denver.

Colorado Pics!

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Day 16 - Olympic Park!!!

Today was a great day!!! We drove from Salt Lake City to Park City where the 2002 Olympics were held. This park is used today for athletes to train on different winter sports. We arrived around noon with a little rain...all rides shut down, but they predicted they would open the bobsled up at 1. So during our hour wait, we watched some guys ski down the practice slope into a pool! The would do crazy flips off the slopes and into the water...it was very cool - we got some great videos of this I will post later.

At 1:00, we were one of the first in line to ride the bobsled. We knew this ride had g-forces, but I think we both underestimated just how many it had!! This is a real track they practice on in the summer time, but its made of concrete so its much rougher than ice. The track is 8/10 of a mile and we completed it in just over a minute! Boy was that a long, rough, scary minute!! Only 4 people ride in the sled - the driver was in the front, then we had a girl that worked there ride with us (to weigh down the sled), then me, then Mike in the back. Everyone is pretty close together so you can't really see where you're going......it was so rough - my head was bobbing around all over the place and Mike's back was compressing against the back of the sled! It was crazy! Definitely not like any roller coaster I've ever been on! But it was sooooo much fun!!

After we did the bobsled, the sun came out and all the other stuff opened up...so we bought our tickets for the 2 zip-wires & the luge. I was a bit scared to ride the luge, but it ended up being a very tame ride...its the only ride where you actually control how fast you go....it goes down a stainless track on a little sled with a bar in the middle for the break....it was awesome! I went first and obviously didn't go near as fast as Mike did - he was so quick behind me that I barely had time to jump off my sled and take a picture of him!!

Next were the two zip-wires....the first one was a little one - not very high up, but because we'd never done one before, it was a good start. You sit in this harness/chair looking thing and the buckle you in & you hold on tight as they open the door and send you down! The second one was much, much higher...you rode a ski lift up that took over 5 minutes to get to the top. I think top speed going down the wire was 60 - it was awesome!

So then our Olympic journey was over. We drove to Parachute, Colorado where we stayed the night with Mike's friend's Dad (Jesse Hutchins)....he was such a hoot! We didn't get there till after 9, but we had a good time catching up with him and listening to his crazy stories! And boy was his house hot! Those Colorado folks don't use air conditioning! What a change for us - we go from freezing cold to super hot!

Utah Pics

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Day 15 - Antelope Island

Today we are headed for Antelope Island...this was also recommended by Neil so we figured it would be just as good as Bear Lake.....we were very wrong. This is a state park tucked away in the Great Salt Lake. We had to pay $9 to get in and as we drove on the straight, long 2 lane road, we aren't sure what we're getting ourselves into....the island looks like a giant rock desert. The lake water was low and you could literally see salt on the ground where the water used to be. We drove and drove till finally we got to the visitor's center. The poor old guy working there didn't know a thing about this island...we had read there was horse back riding and the lady asking him about it got no answers from the old guy....he had no clue on cost, or even if the horses would be there. But he did know where a pack of buffalo were! So we headed for the ranch to check it out...hoping this island would get better. We did see the buffalo and boy were there a lot of them...babies too!
At the ranch, there was nothing going on......the only fun thing was a cow made out of a barrel and a lasso....Mike did his best lasso on the cow - it was down right cowboy-like!

We saw a beach area where people were swimming so we thought we'd give that a try....keep in mind its 96 degrees today...we thought the lake would be refreshing. So we park and realize we have about a 1/4 mile walk to get to the water...on our way we pass 3 girls who tell us, "the water is so hot and there are lots of bugs"....we thought how bad could it be, let's just go. Sure enough, about 10 feet from the water, we were attacked by bugs! They looked like gnats, but I don't know what they were...it was so gross! There were probably 48 million bugs per square inch! I wish I could say we at least put our big toes in the water, but we ran back for the car!

We decided to turn the day around for the better and play some disc golf! We called Mike's mom to help us find one nearby then Garmin did the rest for us. This course was really nice and we left with all our discs!

We checked out our hotel's pool on the way back & then heated up some left-overs for dinner. And now...the All-Star game....of course!

Day 14 - Salt Lake City

For those really reading this and following our travels, just as an FYI, we left on July 1st so day 14 is actually July 14th....if that makes it easier to follow where we really are & the date.

Today we are headed to Salt Lake City which is about 5 hours from Jackson, WY. Neil suggested the route we take so that we will go by Bear Lake which is part in Idaho & part Utah. Boy were we glad he suggested it....it was beautiful!!! They call it the "Caribbean of the Rockies"....the waters were turquoise and the mountains were all right there with it! Wait till you see our pictures!!
Then we kept driving........finally a big city! Its been so long since we were on a real interstate, let alone saw traffic!
Mike Pricelined a hotel before we left and we got a great deal in down town Salt Lake....its wonderful here! We have a living room & a kitchen & even a outdoor balcony! We are staying here two nights because of our itinerary.....but for tonight we are taking it easy & catching up on sleep!!
Oh and had dinner at Buca di Beppo....good Italian!!! Even have leftovers for tomorrow!

Day 13 - Grand Teton National Park

After little sleep, we are up early and glad to be alive so we pack up the tent and head out. By the way, anyone who is thinking of tenting at Yellowstone, there aren't many campgrounds with showers & the one's that do have them, its $2.00 for I think 6 minutes of water.
There were a few waterfalls to see on the way out that we got pictures of then headed for Grand Teton National Park...this park had way more hiking than Yellowstone. We drove to Jenny Lake and took a 5 mile hike up to the Hidden Falls. It was a pretty easy hike, not too much up hill until closer to the falls (Mike was such a trooper for hiking when his legs were still killing him). At the top of the falls it was like nature's air conditioner kicked on....I bet the temperature changed 15-20 degrees colder! But it was another beautiful water fall.

After the hike, we were pretty beat so we headed back to Neil's. Everyone was working that evening so we decided to hit up the Sushi restaurant again...it was just as good! This is our last night at Neil's...off for Salt Lake City tomorrow.

Day 12 - Yellowstone

Today is our big camping trip to Yellowstone...decided just one night would be enough for us as we knew it would be pretty cold (little did we know just how cold). So we got all packed and drove into Yellowstone to our camp sight in the West Thumb area (this is part of Yellowstone Lake). Upon registering, we were given a big list of how to be "Bear Aware"....this pretty much freaked us out & added to our fear of having our tens overthrown by a big black bear! But there was no turning back for us, we decided to take our chances.

Next on our to-do-list was to see Old Faithful. She was about 20 minutes away from our campsite. There were lots of people leaving as we pulled in...that only meant one thing - she already erupted. We quickly found out that there is generally 92 minutes in between eruptions so we had a while to wait. We found a front row seat & just rested. While we waited, a kid behind us got a nose bleed...apparently this happens often because of the dry climate...even Chrissy got a bloody nose on the disc course yesterday. So far, we've been nose-bleed free. While we're on the subject of noses, I have to tell you about the smells out here.......the first night we stayed near Mt. Rushmore we were next to an RV...I thought he had some sort of air freshener inside that was just pouring outside. I finally said something to Mike and he informed me its just the mountain air! He made a good point about why deodorants have flavors like "Mountain Fresh"...I had no idea! But it really is a different smell, one I can't describe other than clean and air-freshener like!
She constantly has steam rolling out, but when it was time for her to erupt, water starts slowing spitting out until it completely shoots up to 150 ft high! We got a great video of this I will post later.
After Old Faithful we wanted to head into Montana through Yellowstone's West entrance. We ate some DQ (no new flavors to report this time) & walked around down town, but Mike's legs were hurting so bad from his down-mountain discing the day before that walking far wasn't an option.
As we headed back to our tent, we stopped at Firehole Falls - very cool!
We made it back just at dusk, right in time to grill some hot dogs & get a fire started. I went ahead and put layers of clothes on so the cold wouldn't hit me too badly....we ate and then we cleaned up really well....I was so paranoid about dropping even a crumb on the ground for fear a bear would smell it from afar and attack our tent for more food! As we were cleaning up it was completely dark now...the last thing to put away was our big cooler...Mike was coming around the car & I had the door open, but had to shut it so he could get by...I quickly went to open the door back up so he didn't have to set the cooler down before he put it in the back seat and I slammed the edge of the door onto his hand.........it was not pretty! I felt soooo bad....I guess the guy next door heard me and he came over to take a look at Mike's hand - he said he was a doctor. Luckily I didn't break Mike's finger...he'll live, but with pain for a bit.
After that drama, we bundled up and headed for bed.......the temp is definitely in the low 30's as we are almost 8,000 feet up.....it was FREEZING COLD!!!! I even slept with Mike's toboggan on (or for you real Northerner's, a ski hat?) & I still was ice cold! So a few light sleeping hours later, Mike is sitting half way up....I ask him what's wrong....he asks if I can hear "that".......I listen intently, sounds like an angry bear huffing & puffing up & down tent lane......our imaginations get the best of us.........then we realize its the good doctor next door snoring very inconsistently. Close call.

Day 11 - Disc golf in the mountains

We are still in Jackson Hole, Wyoming spending some time with Mike's old college buddy Neil. Neil works at a ski resort, Teton Village Resort he wanted us to see...and it just so happens they have a 12 hole disc golf course (why just 12, I'm not sure). This course was set up in the mountains, right beneath a tram called the Gondola. Every hole we played at least one out of four of us was looking for a disc. It was all uphill until the last 3 holes. So once we finished, almost 2 grueling hours later, Neil took us on the tram to the very top where we ate lunch on a balcony of a 4 star restaurant. It was awesome!

After lunch, we were standing by the tram admiring the views when Mike & Neil decide it would be cool to play to one of the holes we had just finished. Figured it would take 15 to 20 throws to get down the mountain...some of us were smarter to just ride the tram down...well, just one of us (Brandi). Two and a half hours, 3,000 foot vertical drop and some very, very tired legs later, they all showed up at the bottom...with 3 less discs!

Neil had to work that night, but his girlfriend had signed up for a Kickball league & they had a game at 5:30. Again, Mike's ears perked up! We went to the game and the captain gave Mike the OK to play...he was ecstatic! Like a grade schooler all over again he played his heart out...he had a great at bat where he kicked it to deep left field for a double...he even got to pitch an inning...and he had a great catch for an out. It was fun cheering him on!

After the game, we were on our own for dinner. Feeling like sushi, we went to Nikai...it was soooo good! Nice to not eat hot dogs for a change!

Day 10 - A MUST READ!

Today was extremely adventurous...it all started with a great breakfast at a diner called Nora's. Then Neil and Chrissy (Mike's old college buddy & his girlfriend) took us on a straight up mountain hike. The path had lots of wildflowers, very pretty, but the 2 mile hike up was pretty strenuous. Once to the top there was a beautiful lake...also at the top was a couple and their part border collie dog who had never swam before. We were entertained for a long time watching this dog jump in the water trying to swim out to get the stick his master had thrown...he would start doggie paddling a bit to early - it was soooo cute! We even took a video of him...I'll post that later.

After the hike back down, we went back to Neil's house. Behind his house was Flat Creek...he began telling us how they float down it on inter tubes. Mike's ears instantly perked up & he was all for a good float down what we thought was a lazy river. The only instructions we received prior to setting foot on the creek was "keep your butt up on the rapids so it doesn't hit rocks & paddle with your arms". Sounds pretty simple...oh and the water was freezing cold. Since neither Mike nor I have shoes appropriate for the river (aka Teva's), Mike decided to wear socks and his slip on Adidas sandles, but he duct taped them to his feet so he wouldn't lose them. I on the other hand only had some Nike flip flops that I had been using as "shower shoes" at the camp grounds & just took a chance on losing them.

So we stepped in the creek and sat on our tubes...off we go pretty quickly floating down stream. The first couple rapids were fun...I was laughing and screaming at how cold the water was and so far no butts had been scrapped on rocks, no problems! Then a few more rapids later, Mike and I were very close together....I am heading through the rapid first, but my tube spins around and bumps into his tube just as I take the downward plunge into the rapid...and I flip over & out! Not sure how long I was under, but because the water was so shallow, my feet were hitting rock after rock...somehow I ended up in my tube instead of on it - not good, just meant more feet dragging on rocks below. So I finally get my legs through the tube & back on top....minimal damage done, little shaken up but not much of choice, going to power through the rest of the 2 mile float. Mike tried to stay close to me, but I would occasionally lose him and end up in the bushes along the creek...OUCH!
A little ways longer, we stopped so we could all catch up with each other. At this point, my feet hurt from the rocks, my arms hurt at my attempt at paddling, my body hurts from steering myslef into branches & tree limbs along shore & my ego is shattered for I suck at tubing! At the stop, the rapids and current are still very strong. I can't back on my raft or get my feet planted on the bottom so the raft falls out from under me and goes floating down the creek along with both my flip flops! Neil's girlfriend, Chrissy immediately hops on her tube to go after my belongings. Meanwhile, I'm now trying to stand up with NO shoes on and I'm failing miserably...so here comes my knight and shining armor to my rescue! But I must sit on his lap while we float down to catch up with Neil & Chrissy and get my tube....not good, I am so scared that I will make both of us flip out just by me trying to get on with him....but we manage to float down stream and I hop off and decide I shouldn't risk anymore tubing. Everyone was very understanding & so Mike and I waited on Neil & Chrissy to go get the car which was over a mile away. Then the tears start...I felt like the biggest loser ever....guess I wasn't meant for Extreme Sports!!
Best part of the story is while we were waiting on them to get the car....we had gotten off the creek in a residential area and as soon as Mike I set our tubes down at the corner of the street, here comes a man on a mission, "do you know you're on private property, you can't just walk through here!"...he has obviously not taken his medication this morning and Mike calmly tells him we were floating down the river, my girlfriend fell off and got freaked out so we got off here & we're just waiting on the car......I immediately start crying again (I know, big wuss) because not only do I suck at tubing, but now we're in trouble for trespassing......but the man's soft side came through as he saw my tears and he wanted to make sure I was ok.....he then proceeds to tell us how nasty that creek is and how we better take showers immediately because there are human pathogens in the water. So now, I suck at tubing, I've trespassed & now my health is at risk because I have human pathogens on me! Great!
So we wait & wait and finally they come with the car....and yes, I immediately took a shower when we got back to their house. Again, so far no damage, just a few bruises & scraps...lucky! I definitely won't be tubing again any time soon!

Later that night, we played corn-hole & had a big cook-out....Neil is a good cook - we had shrimp & chicken, pastas, & crab dip & mushrooms & fruit....good stuff!

Day 9 - Devil's Tower & Jackson Hole, WY

As usual, all campers were up at 7AM so we decided to just get up and hit the road. Today was a long day of driving...about 8 hours to Jackson Hole, but we had to stop at Devil's Tower on the way. It took 45 minutes to get off the curvy roads of South Dakota, but finally we're back on an interstate. We made it Devil's Tower & boy is it much bigger than I thought it would be. When we got to the gate, there was a $10/carload fee to enter the park. We asked another couple who had already been through and they said that really the only thing you get is a closer picture & there wasn't anything else to do inside the park. So we took a few pictures and looked in the gift shop and then headed out.

As we crossed into Wyoming, we saw more and more mountains. At one point Mike asked me if I could see the snow on top of the mountains...I thought it was just clouds! But the closer we got the more visible the snow was. We stopped for gas in Buffalo, WY and the temperature was 87. As we drop up and around in the mountains, the temperature dropped as low as 65 & all within 35 miles of Buffalo!

We had to drive through Yellowstone to get to Jackson, WY. That was one thing about Wyoming, only one way to get anywhere and it definitely was not in a straight line! Yellowstone cost $25 for a 7 day pass...this also got you into Grand Teton National Park. Yellowstone has a huge lake...it was really big! We got a great picture of the sun setting over it. It took us much longer to get through Yellowstone than we thought...we had to go 35 mph most of the way, but add darkness and fear of deer and other wild life jumping out in front of the car. And yes, we saw many deer and slammed on the brakes several times. Finally we made it to Jackson where we stayed with Mike's old college buddy, Neil.

Day 8 - Mt. Rushmore, SD

Woke up early again (darn campers get up at 7:00 every day!), took showers for $0.25 – I didn’t realize this quarter would only get me a limited amount of time…if I had known, I would not have shaved! I ended up donating another quarter! So after that we packed up & headed for Mt. Rushmore.

Along the way there were several sights to see. First we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls, it was huge! In order to see the falls up close through the trees, you had to cross a creek. There was one skinny log going across…in our pictures (Smilebox) it doesn’t look that bad, but it was like walking a tight rope…luckily Mike and I have the skills of circus folks and made it across with no trouble. It was worth crossing the rapids of the creek…the pictures show just how beautiful it was.

After seeing the beauty of the falls, I had to go to the bathroom bad. I told Mike to stop at the next place he saw. He looked at me like I had lost my mind since we were on a windy road in the middle of no where! But lucky for me about 5 miles after my request we came upon a nice resort out there in the middle of nowhere! They had an awesome bathroom!!

On the way to Mt. Rushmore we went through many small gold mining towns. We found a Subway for lunch in a town called LEAD. We also found Bob’s Tee Pee Village – had to stop for a picture!

Next we stopped at Thunderhead Falls. Apparently they came about when miners were looking for gold underground when the water broke through and washed through the mine. So the falls were underground…we paid $12 to see this sight…big waste of money. They walk underground was long, narrow, and very cold…just wasn’t worth the money. We did see a house for sale close to the mine/waterfall…just a 3 bedroom 2 bath with a garage…take at guess at how much? Keep in mind its in the middle of the Black Forest……….great views………..$399.950!!! I guess the views are worth a lot, but I need a Target nearby for that amount! Ha ha!

Next stop, Mt. Rushmore! You could see the great presidents on the drive up the mountain & that in itself was really cool. When we finally arrived in the park (which only cost $10 to park & the pass lasts a year), it was incredible! We took a lot of pictures! There was one hiking path that went around a big loop in front of the mountain they presidents were on so you could see it from different angles. You could even take rock sculpting classes!

We left Mt. Rushmore and drove through the little town of Keystone, just below the presidents & then to our campsite. We stayed at Spokane Creek which looked to only be a few miles away, but the way the roads are in South Dakota, we had to wind up and down a mountain for 10 miles! It was very adventurous…and then the rain came making it even more exciting. Lucky for us, the rain stopped just as we got checked into our campsite. We actually had time at this campground to relax and talk to neighbors. The family next to us was from Grand Rapids, Michigan! We told them we wanted to see the light show at the Crazy Horse monument later that night and he gave us his ticket to get in. Apparently you pay by the car load and you can come & go the same day you purchase the ticket. We found out when we got there, that we saved $28! But before the light show, we grilled out…it was soooo good! It was just so nice to not be in a hurry…we took our time eating and then headed for Crazy Horse around 7:30…the show started at 9:00. Now on a map, this place appeared to be only 10 miles away “the way the bird flies” (that’s Mike’s line, not mine), but once we started the trip, we quickly realized the long curvy 2 lane road was going to take a lot longer than we thought. And sure enough to add to that thought, out comes a pack of donkeys in the middle of the road! That’s right, there were about a dozen of donkeys just trotting down the road! People were getting out to take pictures and some were even feeding them granola bars. They were very friendly! Mike even took off running with them and of course, I had to get a few pictures of them. After the donkeys we saw a buffalo grazing along side the road. Mike had the nerve to get out of the car & get pretty close to the big hairy beast for a picture....CRAZY!!!

It took over an hour to get to the monument of Crazy Horse. Apparently this monument will be larger than Mt. Rushmore when its completed. Crazy Horse is an Indian for those of you that didn’t know (I sure had no clue). It was really cold that night as we waited for the music and lights to start. Once it began, we watched for about 10 minutes and decided to drive back….what an interesting drive too – in the dark & constantly on the look out for donkeys, buffalo, deer…it was a long slow drive back to the tent!

Day 7 - MN, North & South Dakota

Woke up early sweating in the tent so got up and started packing. We packed in record time because the mosquitoes were attacking us! Quickly took showers & headed for Salem, ND to see the world’s largest cow!

We decided on McDonald’s for breakfast this morning since we were up & at em so early…as Mike gave our order, we came upon the first window, but no one was there so he continued on to the window 2….they handed us our food and said “have a great day”…Mike tried to get their attention, but quickly decided to take our free food and continue on….our thoughts were, they make billions & we’ve contributed a lot, we deserve one free meal! And he did try to go inside and pay them, but it was a mad house in there….we tried!

On the way through MN, we found a disc golf course in Alexandria…we had fun playing until Mike lost a disc in the water & woods & murk…he searched for a long time, but no luck. I am just glad he got out with no more poison ivy!

On the way out we stopped at Wal-Mart (the first one we’d seen in days!) – we had to get a new cooler – mine bit the dust, had a bad leak. We also got a storage tub for all the food instead of having 8 grocery bags…we are way more organized now!

As we drove through ND there were lots of cows along the way…then finally, up on a hill in the far distance, there she stood…Salem Sue! We took the winding road up to her platform and boy was she a beaut! We took lots of pictures then headed on our way.

We made it about an hour outside of Mt. Rushmore in Spearfish, SD. We stayed at Chris’ Camp – it was by far the nicest one so far. We even had wireless internet service in our tent! We got there too late to grill out…we practically set our tent up in the dark so we ate at DQ not far down the road…if any of you like Girl Scout Thin Mints, I highly recommend the blizzard with thin mints – its sooooo good!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Day 6, Sunday

We ate our free continental breakfast and headed for Lambeau Field...just had to see it before it we left Green Bay...it was really cool.

The last big city we drove through was Minneapolis & I did some major sweet talking to get Mike to stop at the Mall of America....but I didn't want to shop, I just wanted to ride the indoor roller coasters! Apparently the mall had changed quite a bit since Mike had been there 9 years ago, it is now a huge indoor amusement park fully equipped with Nickalodeon mascots and all! So we ran quickly past those monsters and got on the first roller coaster we saw.....then rode one more and then hit the road! I am sooooo glad we stopped....I love coasters!

But even cooler was our next sight - the world's largest ball of twine (made by one man)! This sight was in Darwin, MN - basically in the middle of no where!! But it was priceless to see the look on Mike's face when he saw that twine...so elated!

As night time was approaching we had to find a campground....about 10 miles from the twine was a small town called Lake Cokato....we stayed at their "resort" campground. We quickly found out it was called a resort because most everyone staying there, lived there. We're talking RV's with built on decks and landscaping and lawn ornaments! It was crazy....another crazy thing were the mosquitoes! I have never seen blood sucking insects this big before! The swarmed us the entire time we put up the tent. This was also the only hot night we had camping, but for me it felt great!

So showers in the morning (very scary shower houses at this place) and off to Mt. Rushmore!

Day 5 - heading West

Then Saturday morning we packed the car (again) and headed North. Our goal was to reach Wauseau, Wisconsin, but when we saw the Mackanaw bridge we both decided we'd love to see the island....so we packed our lunch into our back-pack & hopped on the ferry over to Mackanac Island. We ate lunch on the shore and then decided to rent bikes and attempt to ride all 8 miles of the island. Our first diversion (after maneuvering through the hundreds of people who also had the same idea as us) was a real putt-putt course! It was real green's & it was right on the water....so beautiful! We played 18 holes and then got back on the bike. After about 2 miles we decided we'd had enough of the beautiful island and returned the bikes and got back on the ferry. We left the island around 5:30.

We stopped in Escanaba, MI for dinner at Fazoli's....then made it as far as Green Bay, Wisconsin where we found a cheap Days Inn because we couldn't find a campground...plus it was dark - no way to pitch a tent!

Day 3 - Blue Lake, MI

We arrived in Blue Lake on Wednesday night (July 2) and stayed through Saturday, July 5. Several of Mike's friends all meet up there to spend a few days on the lake playing Frisdoo (see www.frisdoo.com for more info) and just hanging out to celebrate the 4th of July. We got lots of sun and had a great time. Our plan was to sleep in our tent all 3 nights because both houses were pretty crowded, but Wednesday night was very stormy so stayed in a bunk bed inside one house. The next day we pitched our tent and put layers of clothes on for a nice 38 degree night....it was soooo cold! The next night was not much better!

Day 1 - July 1st, 2008

With lots to do the first morning of our departure (feed cats, turn water off, scoop the litter box, change sheets, pack car, ice the coolers, etc), Mike was up before 7:30 & raring to go! Thank goodness it was a very cool morning, it made packing the car much easier. As we packed our final belongings, we realized just how small the Honda was or just how much stuff we were taking....there was not one square inch left in the back seat or the trunk.

I said my last good-bye's to Abbey & Kitty-girl and off we went. Departure time was 9:52AM. First stop was to see my parents in Beckley, WV. They took a couple hours off from work to bring us lunch from Heavenly Ham. Then we sat out back on the porch and enjoyed the cool air. Mom brings out a laundry basket full of items that "we just might need"! As Mike stares at the basket of things, I can see his thoughts - "where in the hell are we going to put any of those things?"!!! I picked carefully, but really thought we'd need the wet wipes, raisins, clothes pins, & char-coal. Mike & my Dad rearranged things to fit in the items I chose from our "tent shower" mom held for us.

It was a great visit and off we went to our first destination: Toledo, OH to see Mike's new nephew Mason Morningstar. We left Beckley at 2:00. After looking at a map and listening to Garmin, we had a decision to make: take back roads (250) or stay on the interstate which appeared to be a little out of the way. We chose to follow the Garmin and take the back roads.....we ran into lots of tractor trailors and many Amish folks on horse & buggy! It was very slow......so after an hour or so out of the way, we finally arrive in Toledo around 8:45. Mike's other nephew who is 2, had already went to bed, but we got to hang out with the new little one, Mason. He is such a good baby at 3 weeks old.

Day one over! Next destination, Burton, MI to see Mike's parents and let him run a few errands, then up to Blue Lake.

The Preparations

As most of you know, Mike has played professional golf for several years now. As he came to a crossroads in his life, he decided it was time to enter the 8-5 working world. But before he could do that, there were still some states out there he had never seen during his Hooter's travels! So we made a schedule and began to plan our trip out West. I of course was still working at Tyco and hating every minute so I thought, what a great time to just quit! I gave a 3 week notice and June 30th was my last day.....and I have never been happier!

First plan of attack was a tent. We knew gas would cost us a near fortune so we needed to live cheap. We decided tent camping was the way to go. Off to Wal-Mart we went! Came home with the Ozark special for $64.99 ("roll back"!) and with excitement we put it up the next day. Much to our dismay, this cheap tent had no zip up windows, it was completely open on 3 sides! We decided it was not making the trip with us. So we took the tent back to Wal-Mart, but they had no other one's we liked. Next stop, Target. They had 2 we were were interested in...we chose the Coleman special for about $15 more than the Wal-Mart tent.......got home to set it up & this one had a big hole in front door zipper. So back it went. We chose the other tent we had looked at in Target, came home and set it up....winner! We love this one! And after another $300 later for chairs, food, and first aide supplies, we were ready to start our journey.