Ouside of Yellowstone

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Our original plan was to go into Canada. After second and third thoughts we decided to help the economy in the U.S. We headed SW into Cody, Wyoming. There are no membership parks here. Close to Yellowstone National Park, we try to blend in with tourists. Many of them are speaking another language, which tells you how much this country has to offer.

The Buffalo Bill Cody Museum sells 2-day tickets as it takes that long to go through it. Tom kept wishing our friends Sandy and Bruce could have been with us as I had no appreciation of the mega gun collection on display....one whole wing of the museum Bruce!

We also spent one afternoon at Old Trail Town. This town had a saloon used by the "Hole in the Wall Gang." It also had a log cabin used by Curly (see my last blog) who was a Crow Scout for Lt.Col. George Custer. 'Liver-eating Johnson," made famous with Robert Redford's "Jerimiah Johnson" is buried.

We camped two nights at Buffalo Bill State Park, surrounded by mountains, with the Shoshoni River running through it. Two beautiful for pictures!

From here we traveled south to Thermopolis, WY. This area is known for mineral hot springs. The hot springs are free and we made daily use of them. While walking the city boardwalk we walked to two tourists from Chechnya , Vlad and Yuri. One was a violinist and the other a sculpter. They liked Princess. How do you get here from there! Not your average Russian peasants for sure.

This town also has the largest display of fossils we've ever seen. They have daily digs with archealogists. Many of the fossils were discovered nearby. Sadly, we decided against a dig because it was just too darn hot outside. They also had some of the best petroglyphs. Next stop was Lander, Wyoming. On the way there we stopped at beautiful Boysen State Park. The Wind River Mountains in the background and the Wind River flowing through it. Marmots everywhere. God is an unparalleled artist.

After several weeks in the wild, we decided there are no moose. This still remains to be seen. We took a day trip to Sinks Canyon. It was beautiful. No moose. However, we had a real treat as the gravesite of Sacajawea was near by.

The Indians keep their cemertaries "natural." That is to say weeds were growing everywhere. We respect their opinions. However, we kept saying John Stossel is right in that the federal government with their monthly reparations to the "chief" of the tribes, along with the Indians self-imposed communistic lifestyle, leaves a disturbing, trashy, impoversihed landscape to an area that is rich farm and cattle country.

So just a short note about our current campground......full of oil and gas contractors. An osprey nest outside our window. A golden eagle resting by a river where we took a day drive. Wyoming is different from anything we've seen lately. Next stop is the Star Valley, south of Jackson Hole. Anyone seen a moose? (hover over a picture name and click to access all pictures.)

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