Yellowstone day 3

We walked to the cafeteria for a casual, inexpensive breakfast at the Lodge, then walked back to our cabin along the lake. It was a gorgeous walk, on rocks and black sand beaches. The lake is huge and you can see little ‘thumbs’ and trees flocking the lake on the other side. I decided to take a brisk walk to get some exercise as we spent so much time in the car and traveling the last two days. It felt so good! And it was so wonderful hearing the sound of the water washing up on the shore. That sound is absolutely my ‘happy place’ and I miss living near an ocean to hear it.

We headed out to Fishing Bridge, another point along Yellowstone Lake. This lake is absolutely enormous! We stopped in the visitor’s center and spoke for a while with park ranger Tom Vanzant. He was really friendly and so helpful! I asked if I could take his picture for my blog, and he generously agreed. I told him that he’ll now be famous.. that I have a travel blog and people will read about him. He laughed and said…

Quote #1 of the day: ‘I’d rather be rich than famous!’

So, I let him know that I’ll recommend that anyone who reads this and makes their way up to Yellowstone, please stop at Fishing Bridge’s visitor’s center, and find Tom Vanzant. When you do, offer him money!!!

We headed out and went to the mud pits. Before we parked we could see steam floating up from the ground, and could smell the rotten eggs of sulfur. Some of the pits were just venting shafts in the ground, and other are boiling witches’ caldrons. We walked along a boardwalk path between all of the mud pits. They range from being really small slightly percolating pools, and some are larger and the size of a backyard pool or larger. They had some interesting names like Dragon’s Breath and Black Dragon, among others. One was gorgeous shades of blue running in a narrow stream beneath the boardwalk. The land seems so barren with all of the pine trees either dead or absent from the area around the pits.

As we were finishing the walk, we saw a ranger talking with a  young boy who was filled with questions. The ranger told him that bison frequent the area, and they generally know where to walk to avoid the pits. While some are a reasonable temperature, many get to 180 degrees. Apparently some of the bison have burns on their bodies and faces from getting too close. He also shared that the gasses are from volcanic activity below, in the magma.

The views in the park change from sloping hills to tall yellow and gold grasses similar to what you see in the Serengeti, to pine-topped mountains with waterfalls and lakes. We drove to Canyon Village which was incredible crowded, especially for this time of year which is just off-season.

We decided to continue driving and went on the North Rim road, the north rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Each stop was more incredible than the next. We started on the upper basin waterfall and hiked down to enjoy the views, then we drove on and hiked out to the upper basin waterfall. We decided to eat a picnic lunch enjoying the view there and met several really great people. We continued down the road and took in the incredible views. The two amazing waterfalls, but also the beautifully-colored rocks, in hues of hold, orange and rust, and reds. Inspiration Point and Artist Walk were two of my favorites.

When we were at the lower basin falls it started to rain, and we quickly realized ‘that’s not rain!!’ It actually started sleeting pretty heavily, in the middle of September. We decided to drive on and thankfully the sleet turned to rain and cleared up. We’re hoping this will help contain some of the fires burning in the park (there are apparently three right now) as well as those south of Grand Teton. There were signs indicating smoke ahead at several points as we drove, so we knew the fires were near, especially around the Norris area.

Norris has the Norris Geyser basin, and we went there next. Wow. You walk through the visitor’s center and there are two trails. The first is a walk on a boardwalk through a barren wasteland with no trees, and only pools of bubbling cauldrons of steaming plumes that fill the air. There are several streams with green (from algae), orange and red (from rust) and bright blue (silica) as well as yellow and gold (sulfur.) The land here is barren of trees and quite eerie, but beautiful in its way. One hike is around ½ a mile, and the other is around a mile and a half. We did both and were glad we did!

The second walk started off similarly to the first however, the cauldrons are in areas with some trees. You could see where the living was starting to make way to the pits.  Then we started walking up the boardwalks and it felt almost like we were in a treehouse. The last three that we saw were the most impressive.  The first was a gorgeous bright turquoise blue. The second, Steamboat Geyser, is the largest geyser in the world and has reached heights of over 400 feet! It’s very not consistent, and while it does blow 10-40 feet, the last time it blew over 300 feet was in 1995. The last was Emerald geyser, and it is a gorgeous emerald green pool. It has a heavy concentration of sulfur, and with the blue water, it turns the pool an impressive green color.

We went through the bookstore and marveled at some of the pictures of the other geysers in the park, and the scenes in the winter. We headed back and ate in the cafeteria instead of the restaurant. We only were able to get reservations at 5 and didn’t want to rush back and were back after 6:30. The meal was much less than in the restaurant, and almost as good. The rain hit here as we were eating, and we made our way back to the cabin to have a couple of drinks. It’s been a long and busy day with a lot of walking. It felt great but we’re all pooped! And very ready for bed. What an amazing day this was!!

Tomorrow will be a slower day, kicking around different vantage points around Yellowstone Lake. We’ll head down the Grand Teton the day after and that’s a good bit of driving. This park is so amazingly beautiful, and the diversity of the landscape is really amazing. Within five minutes we saw herds of buffalo and antelope, and we’ve now seen two coyotes which blend in well. Tomorrow will be a new adventure!!

Yellowstone day 2

There's very little access here (phone or internet), so my posts may be a bit sporadic!
*****

We woke up surprisingly late, and I was the first up at 7:30 (of course, it was 6:30 Phoenix time!) I got ready and took a walk down the main drag in Red Lodge, which took maybe 10 minutes stopping to take pictures. Very quaint and touristy. I went back to the Pollard for our breakfast, then we headed out a short while later.

We stopped by the store to get some snacks and food to eat mid-day so we could be out in Yellowstone all day, then start to drive to the Beartooth Highway. Some have called it the most beautiful highway in the country, and whoever says this really knows their stuff! I took a ton of pictures, but they don’t do the views justice. Very quickly you climb and much of the ride was at 10 or 11k feet. The aspens at the lower levels were already starting to turn shades of gold. Then they open to the pines, which litter the countryside. Fires in recent years left bare patches with either downed trees or bare trees in silent forests.

The sprinkling of early fall gold among this gorgeous landscape was amazing to see. The mountains seem to extend to the heavens, almost like in Zion but instead of shades of rust and browns, they are green and gold. There were lookout points and vistas to stop at along the way, and we stopped in one that actually had a view of Red Lodge, the town we just left. There are several lakes around as well, so the landscape takes on these incredible shades of gold, pine green, tan and brown, and a deep bluish turquoise with patches of white snow.

We passed an amazing lookout area and stopped to see the ski pull. Insane people want to ski the Beartooth, and they ski down towards one of the largest lakes, then can get pulled back up. It was an immediate drop and quite amazing to think of anyone being crazy enough to try to ski down it. But they apparently do. There are narrow orange poles guiding the path of the road, so snow plows can see where the narrow windy roads are in the deep winter. It’s amazing to think of the snow going at least four feet high, and heavy plows going down these narrow paths through the mountains.  We saw a huge patch of snow by one of the mountain lakes, and the contrast of color was breathtaking. This is truly beautiful country in Montana.

We saw Beartooth Butte and Beartooth Lake, and stopped for a snack. A gal dipped her toes in the lake and said the water was warmer than where she was from, in Alaska. Needless to say, we kept our toes dry. :o) It was a gorgeous view and we stayed for a while before heading back on the road.

Quote #1 of the day (Carolyn):  If I was a bear, I’d live here. It’s the perfect place. Well, except for all these damned people!

We next were driving towards the Pilot and The Index. The pilot is a very distinctive mountain formation in a very tight spire, and the pilot, next to it, is pretty distinctive too. Not pointed and not a butte, but an interesting shape. We spent a while weaving down the road viewing it in every direction, then we hit Cooke City, a very small picturesque town built from a prospecting stop. It had a quaint old hotel, general store and other similar places. I stopped at a place to try huckleberry ice cream.

The weather is gorgeous and so much warmer than we expected. The weather reports showed 50-60 during the day, and the 30s and 20s at night. It hit the mid-70s, though varied depending upon our elevation. It was quite a nice treat. We stopped in the next town, called Silver Lake, to see this old quaint hotel that one of our crew who used to live in Montana had been to. It looked like it hadn’t been operation for quite some time, but the architecture was quite impressive. It was built like a very grand log cabin.

We stopped at one more place before Yellowstone park, and saw how Yellowstone got its name. The sides of this cliff that led down to the water (The Yellowstone River) were a bright golden yellow. We parked and hiked a short bit to view the Upper Waterfall. It wasn’t very large this time of year, but still beautiful. One of the gals stopped in the store and bought a bottle of the Moose Drool Ale that I found.

Quote of the day #2: Oh look! This door holds a beer bottle!

We crossed into Wyoming for a bit then back into Montana. While most of the park is in Wyoming, the northeast entrance is in Montana. We passed the gate and quickly re-entered Wyoming. Within ten minutes we saw our first buffalo lying not too far from the road. Five minutes later, in Lamar Valley, we saw a herd of buffalo by a stream, and on the other side of the road, a group of six antelope. It was amazing. The buffalo were playing by the water and some were napping.

We were compelled to sing (a quite lovely rendition) of Home on the Range, laughing through it. But this land does it to you. I’ve seen gorgeous parts of the United States, but this area is so expansive, and so diverse. It really takes your breath away. Less than a minute of driving later we saw a herd of hundreds of buffalo. We stopped to look at them, and picked some sagebrush which smelled wonderful. Some areas are taller than we are!

We got to an area where there was at least a hundred people stopped, and a park ranger guiding some traffic. Apparently there was a coyote not far feeding on an antelope carcass. We were able to see it in binoculars, and within a few minutes, the coyote grabbed off a chunk, and ran off across the road.  We crossed over the Yellowstone river, which was gorgeous.

There was evidence of a former fire through a good bit of the park, from back in the late 80s. It was amazing how many of the pine trees still stood, without any needles. Sections of the pine forest were made up of these bare trees, though there were a lot of dead trees blown over by the wind. We also saw smoke in the distance, which appeared to be a fire in the park. Apparently there is a large fire just outside of Jackson Hole which is now contained but not out, so we were told that we may not be able to see the Grand Tetons! Hopefully in three days the fire will dissipate so we can. It was smoky at certain parts of the trip as well, evidence of the fires still burning.

We went driving through some sulfur pits, and you could smell the odor. Steam was rising all around. I asked the gal who used to live around here which park she likes better, Yellowstone or Glacier. After a moment’s thought, she said Yellowstone, as the landscape is so diverse. Then..

Quote of the day #3: It probably smells better, too!

We arrived at Yellowstone lake and pulled up to the Yellowstone Hotel. We tried to get a room in the hotel but they were booked up, amazingly, given that this is off season. So we kept our rooms in the cabins, which turned out fine. We had a snack and a drink and then headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner. It was good and the service was good too, but a little overpriced we all thought.

There is little internet service and phone service in the park. So, I’m writing this up and hoping to find a connection tomorrow. My posts may be sporadic, but I will continue writing and will post when I can.

Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park was established by the U.S. Congress in 1872 and signed into law by Ulysses S. Grant. It's mostly in the state of Wyoming, though part of it extends into Idaho and Montana. It spans almost 3,500 square miles, and Yellowstone Lake is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano in North America. It's home to grizzly bears, wolves, bison and elk and is the world's largest collection of geysers. It's also a UNESCO world heritage site (My second in one month.. woohoo!)

We've been talking about this trip for three years, so it's so exciting to go! The plan was to fly into Billings, Montana via Denver, CO. We made it into Denver and twenty minutes later, boarded the plane. And waited. And waited. And waited. Finally the captain got on and said that the first officer scheduled was flying in from another location and they hadn't heard from him. So, they were hoping to get another,... Blah, blah. They had us all leave the flight, then a while later we reboarded with a new first officer. I think we lost around three hours.

We arrived in billings and our bags did all make it.. Perhaps we should be thankful for our extra time. One do the people I am going with lived in billings for fourteen years, and is playing tour guide. Sweeter! One of the only trips I have been on where I didn't have to do the planning! Her friend got us at the airport and took us to the rental car place. Very nice, especially given the significant delay. She was a really cool lady. 

We decided that with four of us along with our bags and a big cooler, we were best off upgrading to an suv. Great idea as our things JUST fit! We headed off to our first destination, red lodge. It's a very picturesque town at the base of granite mountain,con one of the paths in to Yellowstone. The pollard is a wonderful old lodge with wood paneling, wood and leather chairs and a real sense of a time past. We got settled and since it was close to eight, decided on a restaurant. We checked out a few and decided on the pub in the hotel.

Great choice! Irish fare there was great, and there was a guy playing guitar. Beet salads were the popular dish, not for me though. The place has things like wild boar ribs, Cornish pastry, and some other traditional fare. 

Tomorrow I'll take some pictures of the town of Red Lodge. It's basically one main street and very quaint mostly brick buildings with two or three stories consisting of a storefront on the lower level. Very old town USA. Then we will drive down the Bear Tooth Pass which according to our tour guide, is the most beautiful route into Yellowstone. 'magnificent views and you feel like you are on top of the world.' it's also been called the most beautiful highway. 

Can't wait!
S

Getting my culture on at Chaco Canyon Cultural Center

I came to New Mexico to visit my Dad for Labor Day weekend. What better way to spend a long weekend in NM than with dogs and visiting ruins with dad? Junebug, a dog that my dad is doing rehabilitation on was here on Friday and Saturday. Her beautiful big white pittie face greeted me in the car at the airport. She is white with large brown spots, and looks kind of like a heifer cow but oh so cute!

On Saturday we went to the Albuquerque west pound to watch a play group. Amy Sadler came a while back to talk about how to run play groups. It's a great thing for the dogs, and for the people to use to evaluate their social skills. When we were there, we met this super scared dog named Princess. She was so frightened she couldn't walk and had to be carried. Dad worked with her for a little bit and she showed some quick progress. She was e-listed (euthanasia list) but one of the primary volunteers pulled her off hoping to find someone to work with her. Dad offered to take her for a few days on Monday. He felt that in a few days he could get her to come around enough so other people can work with her. She's a real beauty and taking some time to help her get her over her fear will make her adoptable. It was nice to see a fairly large dedicated group of volunteers. I got some ideas to consider trying in Phoenix when I go home.

On Sunday we headed up to Chaco Culture National Historic Park to get my native american ruins fix. It's one of the 'Four Corners' sites, but Dad and I didn't hit it a couple of years ago on our last road trip (we did visit the other four corners in Utah, Colorado and Arizona and the ruins in those areas.) It's just under three hours from where he lives, and the last part was along a dirt road. Oh, I was in heaven! I just love going to places like this where you can feel the echoes from the past.

The ancestral Puebloans lived here from around 850 and 1250 A.D. It was first believed that thousands lived here, however, as they excavated they noticed that there were very few hearth fires. They've since concluded that it was an administrative and ceremonial area. Centrally located, it drew thousands for purposes that they are still unsure of. They found evidence of people living across the creek.

They built six Great Houses that were several levels high, showing the architectural sophistication of the time. One of the structures stood 4 levels high, which is impressive when you look at the small rocks they used to construct the structure. It is believed that Chaco was the cultural and ceremonial center of the San Juan basin around 1050, and may have been a hub for the turquoise trade. In the 1100 and 1200's there was a shift and people migrated to different areas, however, it provided a distinct influence in the area. Each structure was a little different, and there were a few areas with petroglyphs that you could walk to.

http://www.nps.gov/chcu/index.htm

It's also a UNESCO world heritage site.

We drove back to Rio Rancho and on the way stopped at the grocery story. I thought I heard angels singing, and sure enough, when we pulled up we saw a hatch green chili roaster outside. Do you hear them? Now, do you hear them? I have been addicted to these things since my first trip to New Mexico. Strange, I know, but they are incredibly good. Guess there's worse things I could be addicted to.

 Hatch is a town in the southern part of New Mexico near the town of Las Cruces. It's known for these green chilies. Green chilies are grown in other places, but they can't compare to these heavenly goods! yummmm... I'm trying 1001 ways to make green chilies. Had it in pasta last night, and with an egg this morning. Yummm....

We went to pick up Princes, the scared brindle puppy, from the Albuquerque pound. Poor girl got quite sick on the ride home. I included a pic of her (you can see she was drooling a bit from car sickness.) She's settling in nicely and showing some interest, albeit still scared. Bandi (the cattle dog in the picture) is interested in her, and will help with her recovery. Wish I could stay a few more days to see it..

I head back home tomorrow. It's been a nice break from the heat and fun spending time with dad. I did sneak in a trip to see my nephews in Denver, and with my 'sister' in the San Fran area and her kids. They are 10 and 11 and great fun!

In a week and a half I'm off to Yellowstone, a trip I planned several years ago with a friend. I'm so excited to go! Lot of travel in a tight time, but looking forward to it! I'll hopefully blog from there if I can get an internet connection. I will have one at least a couple of the days.

Happy Labor Day everyone!!! s

New Mexico 9/3/12 3:31 PM

Philly pics: murals, gardens and food.. oh my!

Philly 7/12

Philly day 5: Happy 4th!!!

Hi everyone, and happy 4th of July!!! We went out for breakfast then headed over to Longwood Gardens to tour the incredible 1,077 acres of amazing gardens. Wow, you will not be disappointed.

http://www.longwoodgardens.org/History_1_3_2_1.html

The land was purchased from William Penn in 1700 by a Quaker family named Peirce. An arboretum was planted on the lands. In 1906, Pierre du Pont purchased it in order to preserve the trees. The lands were cultivated to the gardens seen today from 1906 through the 1930's. In 1946, the lands were turned over to a foundation, and in 1954, following du Pont's death, a director was hired to run it.

There is an open air theater, a conservatory, a tower overlooking a beautiful waterfall, a restaurant with casual and fine dining, as well as the large residence once occupied by the du Pont family. All are open for tour now. The home chronicles the history of the land, and is occupied by several cats (which didn't make their presence known to us, sadly.)

In 1907, Pierre started building the 400 foot flower walk. He had no master plan, but built out the gardens when inspiration hit. Following trips to Europe he built out an Italian water garden, including over a dozen fountains, lilly pad lakes, rose gardens and a topiary garden. There are several areas with fountains, and the 4-acre conservatory showcases thousands of plants from around the world. This is truly a horticultural masterpiece showcasing a great love. For the kid in you, there are several tree houses and two children's gardens Tours are offered, and this property offers continuing education classes to carry on the traditions of horticulture and to cultivate a love of it. The passion that led to the construction of this masterpiece is clear with every step.

It was quite hot and muggy, but we did enjoy this place for a while. We headed to lunch at the Pub, a large restaurant with a medieval theme and large portions, for an early dinner then back to the house to cool off a bit.

We headed out to see some fireworks as I was not about to miss them on the 4th! It took around 35 minutes to get there, and the fireworks sure didn't last that long! It was kind of funny.. by the time I got my camera set up to record them, they were over! Oops. Well, we tried. We headed home and watched the Philadelphia ones on the Museum of Art's steps and the NYC ones on the tv!

Heading to the airport to return home today. It's been such a great trip! I enjoyed visiting with my friends and family and seeing the sites of the city and the surrounding countryside. Hot and muggy aside, it's been a really wonderful trip! I can't wait to do it again! S

Philly Day 4

We woke up and decided to grab breakfast before heading into the city. We went to a place that was closed (I see a theme on this trip!) so went to another called Mil-Lee Diner. It's a quaint old-style diner in Lower Makefield (I think!) We got leaded up on coffee and got omelettes and oj then headed into the city. My friend had some work to get done, so she dropped me where my cousin works so he could grab my bag. He works at One Penn Plaza/JFK Boulevard, above a train terminal and site of an old terminal station. There are mosaics in the lobby that show the history of the place.

I decided to cab it over to the museums, which would have been a 20ish minute walk had I known where I was going. The cabbie was frustratingly hilarious. 'Where are you going?' 'The Barnes Museum at one Ben Franklin Boulevard.' two minute pause. 'where are you going?' 'One?' 'What road?' Wow. So after clearly stating 'One Ben Franklin Boulevard' about 100 times, I gave up and demanded he let me off. The meter ran up a few extra dollars during this interchange, and we passed it a while back at that point. The funny part too was that he pulled over to ask someone where it was, and that person clearly had no better grasp. 

http://withart.visitphilly.com/museums-attractions/the-barnes-foundation/?gclid=CNCL4rmGgLECFYkSNAodyi1SBQ

I walked down Ben Franklin and stopped at the Rodin Museum. The Museum is closed for renovations (yes, we did find that out before leaving) but you can walk the grounds. It was really beautiful and there were statues around the grounds to enjoy. A large replication of the famous "The Thinker' was out front, reminding me of when I was in Paris and almost got tossed from the Rodin Museum there of taking a picture of it.

http://www.rodinmuseum.org/

I saw a Whole Foods and decided to pick up some of the soap my friend had at her house (she has a 'thing' with soaps, lol!) They unfortunately didn't have it, but it was nice a cool and a good break from the heat and humidity. I continued walking to the Barnes, to find out, yes, you guessed it! It's closed on Tuesdays. Ugh. Sad but true. It just opened in mid-May so would have been really nice to see. Oh well.. So, I admired the building a bit then made my way to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

There was a beautiful and large statue of George Washington on his horse on the grounds in front of it that I stopped to look at, then headed to the South Entrance made famous by Stallone in the movie 'Rocky.' To commemorate it, they have a large statue of 'Rocky' at the base of the steps, and of course, tourists were having fun talking a picture posing in boxing stance, beside it. I walked up the steps by a family who did a race up them, so it was pretty entertaining to watch. Especially when the youngest boy of the crew declared 'I'm dying!' and nowhere near the top. The stairs are an architectural feature and quite impressive. Near the top there are quite a few beautiful sculptures, and the building is beautiful to look at.

There was an exhibit on 'Arcadia: Gauguin,Cezanne,Matisse that was really beautiful and well-done with an auditory accompanyment. You could also play music from the era as you walk around. The museum has a lot of Monet, Renoir, Gauguin and others, so I enjoyed walking around. There's also an armour collection which was interesting, and some modern art as well as European art from other time periods. http://www.philamuseum.org/

I spent two hours touring, pretty much my museum limit, then headed back toward's my cousin's office. I stopped in the Comcast building next door, which has huge displays on the wall inside the building, offering constant movies. Downstairs is a food court, but a rather upscale one. I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat for a bit, enjoying the coolness!

My cousin got out of work early so we headed over to the Continental for a drink. It's a funky place that we ate at the last time I was here (maybe three years ago.) http://www.continentalmidtown.com/ It has a rooftop restaurant as well with a nice view, so we went up there when it opened. We met up with my cousin's wife and two friends of hers from work, and talked for a bit.

We left and made our way to Parc, where we were eating. It's in the Rittenhouse area of Philly, which is very nice and beautiful, with a large park in the center. The restaurant is french and very good, with gorgeous tiles on the floor, almost like a mosaic, and very french-style seating. For dinner I got the scallops, and my cousin got french onion soup (when in rome!) and spaghetti bolognese and Lisa got chicken. We got an order of pomme frites (french fries) for the table. It was great.

After we left, we decided to walk around the park, which is very dog-friendly, and the area. They showed me million-plus dollar condos on the square which didn't seem quite so impressive. We walked back to the car and came home to Northeast Philly. Their cat, Ashley, is not very happy about visitors, and that hasn't changed. Surprisingly, she isn't hiding constantly though, and has stared at me a bit.. from a distance. I think that means she likes me! Today we go to Longwood Gardens, which I'm looking forward to. Then *fireworks*.. yay! I LOVE fireworks. Have a great day!! s