Hazy Dayze

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After sampling the “Kamping Kabin” we can definitely agree that it is just a glorified “shed,” which for the price is only so-so value. On the plus side you and drive right up to your door, cook outside your “Kabin” and don’t have to totally rearrange all the stuff that is in the truck!… on the down side you have to walk in the cold to the bathrooms…

Statistics

Starting Destination: Buffalo, Wyoming
Ending Destination: Missoula, Montana
Ending Destination GPS: Ooops! We forgot…
Miles Driven: 527
Geographical Highlights: Crossed (1) The Continental Divide, (2) Half-way to the North Pole…
Most Interesting License Plate: Too Ugly

The Sprint for Canada and Half way to the North Pole

Our plan for today was to drive as many miles as we could—we had looked at the weather and seen that temperatures were only getting colder and if we wanted to make it to Canada we had better get there quick!!


This meant we had plenty of “windshield” time… As you might have noticed we found Carl’s GPS (Global Positioning System) unit and have been using that to amuse ourselves (see the unit in the picture left)… Along the way we noticed that the North value was between 44° and 45°, 45° being half way to the North Pole… Carl commented that he thought a certain feature corresponded with this location—so for Carls’ Travel Trivia Question of the Day: “What feature corresponds with the 45th parallel (I.e., Half way to the North Pole)?

p.s. Carl was right!

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Little Bighorn

Our first stop for the day was the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. We were able to use our National Park Pass so are ticking off the entry fee’s until we reach the purchase price! The site has monuments to both the US and Indian soldiers involved in the Battle as well as a National Cemetery. In visiting the site Carl was struck by the amount of effort and study that has been expended to understand exactly what happened during the battle—markers like the one depicted in the photo left have been erected where soldiers fell… In many cases the name of the person could be determined by either historical record or forensic science. Maria was again interested in the fact that a person who by many accounts was “not very nice,” could possibly be revered as a National Hero—General George Armstrong Custer is not someone that she would have liked to know…

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Source of the Haze…

Traveling through Wyoming towards the Bighorn Mountains we were intrigued by the haze that was obscuring our view… Was it smog or some atmospheric phenomenon? Our thought was that it would “go away” overnight and we would be able to take photographs the next days… But much to our dismay the haze did not disappear, and in some cases it actually got much worse. We finally determined that it was smoke… As you are probably aware there are many fires burning throughout the West, more than 9 Million acres have already burnt, surpassing last year’s record-setting total… Unfortunately, some of these fires were positioned such that the smoke obscured our view of the—what we think must have been—majestic scenery… We actually passed the Incident Command Post for one particularly bad set of 3 fires—nearly 250,000 acres had already burned—we could see some of the results from the road. In the picture left (if you look hard enough) you can see smoke from the fire in the middle of the picture--it is trailing off to the left and even reaches some of the higher clouds. Along the way Maria was concerned that the fires would impede our progress towards the Canadian Border… So she was particularly disappointed when, upon talking about the fires with the girl who checked us in to the campground, she indicated that it was just “Montana in the summer… and most of the smoke was from Idaho!”

If you ever wondered just exactly where the fires are... Then try this website: FireMap Carl certainly had fun with all the other information that is available at this site...

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Comments

[Paul Cox]

General Custer
George Custer was a very interesting character, graduating last in his class from West Point, 1859 or 60, just before the Civil War. He was a brilliant combat leader of Cavalry during the Civil War , was rapidly promoted, became the youngest General of the american army. He had a talant for being at the right place at the right time in several important battles, frequently his cavalry charges made the difference between victory or defeat. He lead from the front, was a dashing, heroic character during the War. Was highly regarded by his men for his courage. He played a pivotal role at Gettysberg, prevented Stuart from getting behind the Union lines which could have changed the outcome of the battle. He had political ambitions and wanted to turn his military fame into political office. After the Civil war, the Indians having been pushed from Boston to Dodge City were getting desperate, and the Americans were getting impatient. Thus a policy of confining the "good"Indians to out of the way reservations and exterminating the rest was adopted. The Indian Wars started in Western Kansas immeidately after the Civil War, Custer conducted the battle/massacre of the Washita in Oklahome in 1967. Various engagements occured until the Summer 1876. That summer was to be a major campaign to end the Indian Problem. Custer wanted to play a major role and add to his fame.Thus he eagerness to ride off by himself with a small detachment to his death in a minor skirmish. Is very interesting that his serious military accomplishments of the Civil war are passed over and his claim to fame is a minor skirmish in the far West.

[Paul Cox]

Angus Cattle
Aberdeen/ Angus cattle orginated in the counties of Aberdeen and Angus of Scotland, which is about the same latitude as Minneapolis. The do well in the cooler climates. Some Experts assert that Kansas is too far south for black cattle. Due to the drought situation there are reports that cattle numbers are down in that part of the country. But maybe they are closer to the roads for the winter, probably summer in the "high country"

[Cecil]

45th parallel
Google tells me many things. It the border between Montana and Wyoming.

[The Odyssey]

Correct!
Carl Says.... You win 300 points, no, they are not good for anything - but you have 300!

[The Odyssey]

Angus...
They seem to be doing well at Turkey Creek Ranch?... Also, they seem to do well in Australia and command a high price in Europe. Of course, they are best on the grill!!