Day 13

Captain’s Log Stardate 13

What is the world coming to? We awoke this morning, and there was no water available on the site, and horror of horrors, the dryers in the laundry room didn’t work either. How will we survive?

Being the improvisational dynamic duo we are, a hose line was quickly connected to the neighbors faucet, and we filled up and headed out.

We traveled for about an hour, to the wonderfully preserved town of Virginia City, which was created in the gold rush of 1863, abandoned, and then kept as a historic site. Most of the original buildings are still there, and we are sure some of the inhabitants were original as well. ( my dad would fit in well!)

We enquired about cell phone service, and were told that a signal is usually available “ on one of the courthouse steps, but not sure which one”

Once again, your dynamic twosome flew into action and climbed the courthouse steps, of course to no avail, signal non existent.

After a pleasant lunch in Bob’s Place, we drove another 300 miles, through some stunning mountain passes on Interstate 15, past Helena and Great Falls, and ended up at mile marker 319 rest stop. We are just 80 odd miles from the Canadian border.

Montana is just beautiful, the land is virtually empty, and the scenery out of this world.

Our favorite state so far.

Then, disaster struck.

As I was attempting to make Marla her evening drink, I opened the fridge door and a bottle of Moose Drool beer fell and shattered on the tile floor.

What a waste of precious nectar!

I was so upset at losing a whole bottle of beer I nearly started back for Houston.

Marla told me I was a wuss for crying, but women don’t understand about beer, and other manly things.

But don’t worry, dear readers, the deep cut I sustained on my right foot finally stopped bleeding all over the floor, and I can soldier on.

Wildlife watch today not so good, a few deer, some llamas, mules, one single seagull, obviously lost, and ospreys nesting.

Tomorrow Glacier Park.

The picture of the car is not about us at all, just a really neat car steaming down the freeway, and a lucky picture.

Day 12

Day 12 – June 10 Sunday

Forget the internet, Al Gore has a lot to answer for!!!
You may receive this by snail mail.
Bright and early o’clock, again, coz it gets light at 5.15 and we were off to Yellowstone Park, this time to see the best well known thing, Old Faithful.
All very touristy with seats and stuff, and sure enough, after a couple of false starts, up went the water geyser spout thingy for about 3 minutes. We were impressed, coz we thought it only lasted for a few seconds.
Of course, with my twisted mind, I am sitting there thinking, what would happen if Mother Nature chose this precise moment to blow the top off the thermal crust of Yellowstone?
But she didn’t, and we live to fight another day.

After, we drove the South loop of the park, which is approx. 70 miles, compared to the 50 we drove yesterday.
This loop took us along the shores of Yellowstone Lake, 136 square miles of unspoiled beauty.
Lots of thermal activity here, with some lovely blue and rust colored pools, bubbling just below boiling point. All the hot springs drain down into the lake, and there are actually a few that bubble up in the lake. Interesting.
We kept running into small herds, and lone, bison, until we had seen so many we stopped taking pix of them.
We did encounter some white pelicans, more females, baby and wonderful male elk, but no bears or wolves.
At one point, we stopped to admire the beauty of the rapids along one stretch of the Yellowstone River and there were four little harlequin ducks right in the middle of the fiercest part of the river, bobbing up and down in the water for fish.
Wildlife highlight of today was the magnificent bald eagle sitting on the top of a dead pine tree, lord of all he surveyed.
After a brief stop in the supermarket it was back to the coach.




I have made it a ritual, wherever possible, to sample the local ale, wherever we may be. It is a tough task I have set myself, but someone has to do it. I had two excellent brews tonight, first a bottle of Old Faithful Ale, a pale golden brew, and as described on the label, closely followed by a bottle of Moose Drool brown ale, as brewed by Big Sky brewery.Both so good I had to force down a couple more.
More tomorrow, if we ever get Internet service again in this lifetime.

Day 11

Day 11 – June 9 Saturday (PS – Happy 1^st Anniversary Mike and Jamie)

I am now going to shoot all internet salesmen. Of course, still no service.

Anyway, nothing could spoil today.

After a very filling breakfast in the delightful town of West Yellowstone, we proceeded into Yellowstone Park.

Whatever you may have heard or seen about Yellowstone is wrong. Reality is 100 times better.

You are warned about wildlife on the road, and you think, yeah right, the odd bird or squirrel. We sat in a Bison jam for 20 minutes as a herd of about 50 bison, females calves and a big old bull male strolled down the center of the road, without a flinch or skittish movement. “This is our backyard, and you people are just visiting”. Magnificent!

We saw several large herds of bison, the one herd so big that Marla had to stop counting after 100, coz they just kept coming. We saw loads of female elk, all over the place, and three huge males with antlers about a mile across, happily lying in the grass, feeding, without a care in the world. These superb animals are about twice the size of your biggest horse, so regal, and they know it, almost posing for us idiot tourists. And there are people who enjoy shooting them. Give the elk guns, that’s what I say!!

A bald eagle nest, with dad sitting proudly on the chicks was our first sight as we got into the park.

We saw in the far distance what we were told were some longhorn sheep, but they were so far away they could have been elephants for all we knew!

And yes, we did see a grizzly bear.

He was about 100 yards away, busily eating some carcass, and not giving the twenty thousand tourists any attention.

I wanted Marla to check the length of his claws, but she wimped out!!!

Although the bear was exciting to watch Marla and I agreed that the one big male elk we saw was probably the highlight of the wildlife.

We saw several coyotes, and a den with 9 small coyote cubs/kittens/pups whatever the young are called, just gamboling on the hillside.

Of course, Yellowstone is not just about wildlife, the thermal springs, rivers and scenic areas are just gobsmacking as well.

If you only get one chance to take a dream vacation, go to Yellowstone, it really is the holiday of a lifetime. Of course, we have only been to a few states so far on our odyssey, so we may tell you of several more holidays of a lifetime before we are done!!!

We spent 10 hours there today, it doesn’t get dark until 9 at night, and we didn’t even see half of it, so back we go tomorrow.

For our English fans, we did not see any amorous wolves, so it’s still been a while since I saw the wolves score!!!! That was bad.

Love from Us.

Day 10

Day 10 – June 8 Friday

Once again, apologies for the lateness, no service at the site.

Went to bed at around 9.30 pm local time, though who knows what time our body clocks say, and got woken up half an hour later by all the cars going into the drive in movie theater next door, which we could see, but obviously not hear. Pirates of The Caribbean without sound is not recommended!

Anyway, a good night’s sleep was followed by an early start, and 120 miles later, we checked in at the Howlin’ Mad Moon RV Park and Bar, in Cameron, Montana, on the Western edge of the Rocky Mountains.

The site is 6000 ft above sea level, in the Madison River valley, right smack on the continental divide.

And you are correct, I didn’t know what the continental divide was, so being the nosey person I am, I enquired.

Apparently, all rivers and streams to the West of the continental divide eventually flow into the Pacific Ocean, or the Gulf of Mexico, and all rivers and streams on the East flow eventually into the Atlantic Ocean. Isn’t that interesting? You can now astound all your friends and family.

We are 30 miles from the West entrance to Jellystone Park, where the buffalo roam……

The old joke has to be asked…..What is the difference between a buffalo and a bison?

You can’t wash your hands in a buffalo.

Moving swiftly on, we spent the afternoon on a dirt back road, in the wilderness, with the occasional bear country warning sign, telling us that black bears have paws with small claws and grizzly bears have paws with long claws. Also, the tell tale signs that bears are near are torn up tree branches and bear poop, and if we encounter a bear, to make a lot of noise.

If I get near enough to one to see its paws close up, I really don’t care what make of bear it is, I will definitely make a lot of noise, and there will probably be some Clive poop around!!!!

Once again the scenery here is breathtaking, and it is easy to see why Montana is called Big Sky country. Rolling hills leading up to forest covered mountains, with snow covered peaks.

We had lunch in the site café, and got chatting with a couple of people from ………..Houston.

Tomorrow it is off to Jellystone Park, and hopefully many wildlife pix.

Today’s wildlife watch was Pine Martin ( no he wasn’t a doctor) red fox, deer, pronghorn antelope, chipmunk, bald eagle, crane, and a ostrich.

Day 9

It is June, it is summer, and we get snow. I thought we had a problem with global warming!!

Yes, snow on the car and coach roof at 5.30 in the morning, a time which probably doesn’t appear on most of your clocks!!

But, when I looked, the rest stop we stayed at was at elevation 8000 ft, and the mountains alongside us were 4000 feet higher, so I suppose snow was to be expected.

We left at 7, and proceeded West along Interstate 70 , and found that the rest stop was the highest point on the freeway, and we went downhill, through road works and on one lane, for the next 10 miles. All was fine until some impatient truck driver decided to blow his air horns up my rear end to get me to move quicker. So, ever obliging Clive, I slowed down to piss him off further!

Any way, we drove North in miserable rain, on Interstate 15, all the way through Utah.

As lovely as the South of Utah is, the central part and the North are not.

Salt Lake City is anywhere USA, and we did’nt even see the pigging lake!

We got into Idaho, and the drive from Utah to Idaho Falls was gorgeous. The road goes along a valley, with snow covered peaks on both sides, and lush farmland in the middle.

(10 points for the first reader to name the movie where the phrase “ As Idaho Falls, so falls Idaho” was used.)

We are staying in a public park, free of course, by the Snake River in Idaho Falls.

Tomorrow it is 100 miles up the road to Jellystone Park for a few days!!

Wildlife watch today includes 3 white pelicans, presumably totally lost, prairie dog/marmot/gopher things in the park, and a suicidal deer what leapt into the freeway from the median, without looking both ways, and was nearly minced by a truck. Pity it got away, I fancied venison for dinner!

We traveled 385 miles, exactly the same as yesterday, which is scary. I think Marlipops took me on the guided tour of downtown Idaho Falls just to get the mileage the same!!

On our evening after dinner (lamb chops and mashed taters with peas) walk, we wandered around the park, and Marlipops annoyed the local bird life sufficiently to attack her, dive bombing from the pine trees. I stood patiently with the camera, but no bird poop was forthcoming!

(Just a side bar, we play cards every night during dinner, and I have discovered that Marlipops cheats, coz she wins every time!)

Todays pix include the RV we have downsized to, coz we are out of funds, and no one is paying yet to read this drivel!!!

Day 7 and 8

News flash, boys and girls! Hard to get phone and/or email service in the mountain ranges....so this email comes to each of you a bit later than planned....but no worries, there will be more to follow!!!

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Day 7.

How can you have a day from hell, and a day in heaven at the same time?

Come ride with us!!!

Wanting to get an early start, we woke the birds up, broke camp, and attempted to put in the sliding room, only to find the awning over the sliding room was bust, so we had to find a dealer who could diagnose and fix the problem.

We found the most helpful person at Desert RV, in Mesa, who, together with his helper spent an hour fixing it, and only charged us $ 50.00

So we left 3 hours behind schedule, traveled through Flagstaff, Arizona, and then through the mountains to Kayenta, the start of Monument Valley.

Driving this beast is great, going uphill no problem, but controlling 45,000 pounds of coach and towed car going down hill and round bendy curves is a challenge, and bloody scary sometimes!

I have grown to respect the way those big truck drivers handle their rigs!

Then, problem number 2. Halfway across the Painted Desert, an enormous noise from outside, and we discovered the passenger side awning had come adrift, and was merrily flapping in the breeze.

So, 10 feet of duct tape later, and Marlipops up the ladder, we moved on.

We get to Kayenta, see lots of RVs boondocking, so we joined them on the McDonalds parking lot. We decided to move to a different location, on the same parking lot, only to find some inconsiderate person had parked in our way. The big problem with towing a car is that you cannot reverse, so we had to disengage the tow bar, with the aid of a hammer and two friendly French Tourists, and consequently broke one of the tow pins. More expense tomorrow.

Alas, no internet access up here in the boonies so this E mail is late. How ever, the scenery on the way here was breathtaking, from the deserts through the mountain pine forests to the Painted Desert. Worth all the hassle, although Marlipops may just get on a plane tomorrow!!!

Wildlife watch today was an eagle on a giant Saguaro cactus, wild horses in the Painted Desert, and wild dogs all over McDonalds parking lot.

Day 8

Sorry, no internet service as yet, in the wilds of Utah.

I make no apologies for the pix today, it is all about some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

(The legs are for Steph.)

We left Kayenta around 9 am in a howling windstorm, which had been rocking the coach all night, so we did not get a good night’s sleep.

But, if yesterday was a trial of RV mishaps, then today more than made up for it.

Highway 163 goes through Monument Valley, which really is more awe inspiring than the Grand Canyon, and I’m not ashamed to admit that it brought tears to my eyes, coz it is one of the places I have always wanted to visit, since I was a kid, watching John Wayne tame the West.

After that the road goes into Utah, and we drove until 7.00pm through Southern Utah, and the views and scenery are just out of this world. Pix do not do justice to the awesome majesty of this area. Makes you feel very humble to know you are standing on 2 million year old rocks. That’s even older than me Dad!

Spent the night at rest area 80, on interstate 70, in the middle of nowhere, after 385 miles, where it started to snow, before dark, so we’ve gone from 107 degrees to nearly freezing in 36 hours.

Once again going up the mountain passes is easy, coming down is kinda scary!!

Wildlife watch today was one prairie dog scuttling across the road, and two squished skunks!

Day 6

Day 6 started with a 5.30 am stroll through the park, watching the family of deer, all the rabbits and thousands of birds waking up.

We then spent the morning tubing in the icy cold waters of the Salt River. It was fun going through the first two sets of rapids, but the third set was rough, and Clive had several encounters between his fat arse and submerged rocks, and the rocks won!!!

And of course macho Clive refused sunscreen on his legs, and is now like the proverbial lobster!

We have pix, but they are the old fashioned kind, on film, in a waterproof camera.

Marla has been busy making curtains while Clive was making sure no one stole the TV.

Tomorrow we are off early o'clock, all points North to Alaska!!

Good luck to you Taylor ( our Grandson) in your baseball game.

Love from The Rolling Hills.

Days 4 & 5

Hallo World, we're back!!!

Missed a day coz it's the weekend, but no worries all is well.

Woke up on the morn of day 4 at 5.15 to catch the most glorious sunrise over Pass Mountain, in the Tonto National Forest, Mesa, Arizona.

Did some coach maintenance chores, chilled at the wonderful scenery and quiet, and had pleasant afternoon and evening with family, Dad Morgan, Nancy and Steve.

The Giant Saguaro cactus which can live for over 200 years, are as solid as oak trees, and are all over the mountains like soldiers, almost as though they are protecting the area.

Day 4 we saw some chipmunks piddling around the coach, and around 6.45 pm, the wildlife highlight of the trip so far....................first the howling, then we saw a coyote.

Only a glimpse, but check out the pix, you can see him from behind, facing away from the camera.

Come On You Coyotes!!!!