It rained heavily through the night in Riverton and by morning the front was through and the temp 42 degrees. Brrrrr !!! We left under very cloudy skies and were surprised to see snow on the distant mountains. We headed east on US 20/26 towards Casper which would be a lunch stop and then on towards Laramie, our stop for the night. The route was once again to be the most scenic available. Along the way was a place named "Hells Half Acre". It is a canyon just off the main road and provided spectacular views. There had been a restaurant there at one time but it is now boarded up and deteriorating. Hell’s Half Acre is a geologic oddity - a craggy horseshoe-shaped gorge that drops away from an otherwise flat plain where Highway 20 ... read more

We headed north again to Riverton to visit with Frank's long time friends. The drive took us about 3 hours. The only two rest stops with bathrooms on that 3 hour trip through the desert were closed for renovation. I thought that was rather a cruel thing to do to people of our age. Our bladders are not as young as they used to be. Riverton is a city in Fremont County, Wyoming. It is both the largest city in the county and the largest within the historical boundaries of the Wind River Indian Reservation. The city is an incorporated entity of the state of Wyoming, on land ceded from the reservation in 1906, a situation that often makes it subject to jurisdictional claims by the nearby Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes. One of the ... read more

In the morning as we were leaving Teton Village, the hang gliders were all out floating above the mountain. Several landed at their designated spot in a field near the parking lot. The weather was sunny with a pretty heavy haze on the horizon. Today we drove further south in Wyoming via a scenic route that lead us into Idaho, down through a small portion of Utah and back into Wyoming again. Route 89 traveled through the Targhee National forest with the snake river running along side the road. The forest rose up very steep slopes each side and the underbrush was deep orange and gold in many places. There were lots of Cottonwoods beginning to turn yellow and clusters of red, orange and gold deciduous trees amongst the green pines. It was gorgeous.!!! Once through ... read more

The rain and cloudy weather from last evening was still with us when we awoke this morning. So what does one do on a rainy day in Grand Teton National Park? We began the day with a little drive around Teton Village where we are staying. There are some lovely homes here and even on a rainy day there is usually something to photograph. I found my "something". The Tetons were completely hidden by the low hanging clouds and there was nothing to been seen there but I found a fire hydrant surrounded by daisies. When you are desperate, you will photograph anything. Our plan had been to drive along the Snake River to Oxbow Bend where there is a lovely view of the Tetons and then go to Signal Mountain. We did take the drive ... read more

We made our last drive through Yellowstone towards the south entrance. The temp this morning was 55 F and consequently all the springs and geysers were steaming heavily. I was thankful that I was able to photograph so many of them yesterday when the air was warm and the steam was minimal. This is Sunday and there are not nearly as many people in the park as there were yesterday. The road to the south entrance is one that we had traveled 4 years ago when we crossed the Continental Divide to see the Tetons. On that occasion it was snowing but today the temp was in the 50's and the forests were green. At one overlook further into the forest, there was an interesting story board about the terrible 1988 fires in Yellowstone. Many fires ... read more