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| The Wind River Range in the Shoshone National Forest |
Remember when we said we would let
you know how our visit to Lander, Wyoming was and that we hoped we could meet
up again sometime with Sue Ellen and Carey, who we met in Saratoga?
Well, we feel like we hit the jackpot when
we stopped in Lander over the 4
th of July weekend.
We stayed in Popo
Agie Campground (which is a Crow Indian word,
pronounced po- po – shuh) in beautiful
Sinks Canyon State Park, right next to a rip-roaring creek.
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| Our campsite in Popo Agie Campground, in Sinks Canyon State Park |
We hiked up to one of the widest and
prettiest waterfalls that we have seen and the next day, who came knocking on
our door but Sue Ellen and Carey!
They
changed their plans and came to Lander too.
We were able to have dinner with them at a great Thai restaurant in town
and watch the parade with them the next morning….. what fun!
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| Middle Creek Falls in Sinks Canyon |
The “Western” 4th of July parade here was so very
different from the parades that we are used to in Venice.
The Indians from the nearby Wind River
Reservation were on horseback, some wearing war paint, one with
war paint on his horse and yelling out what
sounded like war cries.
It was so
interesting.
What we had heard about
the fireworks being extraordinary was SO correct.
We went up to the hilltop “by the hospital”
to watch the fireworks and ended up at the rodeo grounds watching the last half
of a rodeo, including the bull-riding (for free!).
Every 4
th of July, the whole town
of 7,400 people shoot off “big” fireworks from about 10am until after
midnight.
As far as you can see from
west to east fireworks like we are used to seeing only at the sites designated
by a city, are exploding everywhere.
It
truly is a sight to see!
Even though we
stayed a day longer than we had planned to stay in Lander, we were sad to leave
this beautiful place.
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| We forgot to bring our Western Birds book! |
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| On our hike to the falls |
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| so many beautiful butterflies |
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| .... and wild flowers too |
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| .... and this is why our hikes take twice as long as everyone else's hikes! |
From Lander, we headed west into the
Grand Teton National Park.
Jean had
been here 53 years ago with her family and she really enjoyed seeing it again
but this time as an adult, and with Jerome.
We camped in Upper Teton View which was our first experience camping in
a dispersed campsite in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
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| the view from our campsite |
You can’t get a better view of the Tetons
than from this spot, as long as you are willing to camp without any electric,
water, or toilets…. ‘just the “bare necessities.”
The only downside is if people driving a
humongous big rig pull up behind you and say they can’t back up so that they
can “steal” the prime spot that you had your eye on, then park horizontally to
the view, blocking much of the view from all those behind them.
Needless to say, our “neighbor” chewed them
out and by the time we left, everybody camping there was complaining about
them.
Hopefully we will never meet up
with “the dip*#+@*” again!
On the
positive side, we met some wonderful people here and especially enjoyed
visiting with Jaimie, Jeremy, and little Ruby.
If you get a chance, check out Jaimie’s artistry at www.CrazyDiamondStudio.Etsy.com.
While we were here, we also went into
Jackson Hole to see an art fair in Miller Park and to see the “famous” antler
arches in the city square that Jean remembered so well from being here so long
ago.
As with the “western” parade being
so very different, we also found this “western” art show to be just as
different from the ones we see in the south.
We saw styles and mediums that we have never seen before as well as the
western scenes instead of the tropical, beach scenes.
We had planned on kayaking also while here in
the Tetons but were sorely disappointed when we found out that, unlike the
other national parks,
Wyoming as well
as the Tetons National Park BOTH charge for boating permits.
The combined permits would have cost us
$50.00 so we sadly had to pass on this plan.
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| The majestic Grand Tetons and the river we wanted to kayak |
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| ... more of the Grand Tetons |
As we headed westward into Idaho,
Jean also wanted to visit another of her childhood memories – Craters of the
Moon National Monument. We camped in the
Lava Flow Campground amidst the miles and miles of mounds of black lava flows
and hiked into a lava tube. We expected camping here to be really hot, especially without electricity for air-conditioning,
but we were blessed with strong winds which made it tolerable and a very
interesting, worthwhile stop. We learned that not only did the astronauts train here for the trip to the moon, but they are also training here for the trip to Mars.
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| view from our campsite |
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| sunset over the lava flows |
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| .... lava flows for miles and miles and miles! |
The next campground we stayed in was
the hottest, most miserable 2 days of our trip so far.
The review of Macks Creek Campground on a
reservoir just outside of Boise, Idaho said that it was shaded with waterfront
sites.
What it didn’t say is that
described the tent sites.
The RV sites
were up on a hillside across the road without shade, in the blazing sun.
We thought the site in Pratt, Kansas was
hot, but it was nothing compared to here, and at least we had air-conditioning
there!
The radio said it was 98
degrees outside, but the thermometer on the outside of our trailer read 121
degrees, and the thermometer on the inside of our trailer read 101
degrees.
We tried to take Carly with
us down under the trees by the water where there was a bit of a cool breeze,
but she freaked out from all the loud boats and jet-skis.
Jean took her back up to the trailer and
fanned her a bit with our road atlas and she just slept while we felt like we
were melting.
The scenery was stunning
but we don’t plan on ever coming back here!
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| pretty view but we won't be back! |
Thank you, thank you for electricity
and air-conditioning.
After 14 days of
boon-docking, ie: no electric or water hook-ups, we felt like we were in heaven-on-earth
when we pulled into a full-hook-up RV park in Burns, Oregon.
This particular park was an exceptionally
nice RV park, well-manicured and green like an oasis in a desert.
It’s in the middle of nowhere, 130 miles from
Bend, and 130 miles from the Idaho/Oregon line, with hardly anything but
wide-open land and mountains in-between…. ‘not even gas stations.
When we pulled into our site, a deer was
laying in the grass beside the tree and wasn’t in any hurry to leave.
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| ....both of them trying to figure out what the heck they are looking at! |
Even though we only spent one night here, we
met some really nice people who we enjoyed visiting with and hope we will cross
paths with again in our travels.
Thank
you Jana and Corey for sharing your delicious pizza!
We are heading west along the route
of the Oregon Trail and plan to be to the Oregon coast by the beginning of next
week. Hopefully by the time we reach
Sisters, Oregon and get into the Deschutes National Forest it won’t be so
gol-darn hot! ‘Hope life is treating
you well. ‘Until later, Jerome & Jean
