Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM

9-28-15 to 10-6-15

We spent close to a week in the Santa Fe area. The RV parks were very busy since Santa Fe is only 50 miles from Albuquerque and the up and coming balloon fiesta. We were lucky to get an RV spot in town but it was very noisy. A spot opened up out of town at a new, quiet RV park with large sites.

We ventured into town on several days, mainly to enjoy the wonderful southwestern food. They are known for their red and green chilies. It's a bit hot for me but John loves it. Another specialty is their hatch chilies. Santa Fe is known for it's food but also for its art and up scale art galleries.

The center of old town is the plaza with the Palace of the Governors on one side and the Cathedral of St Francis of Assisi on the other side. Local native Americans show their wares on blankets outside the governor's palace. Their jewelry is more reasonably priced than those in the shops.

The city has passed an ordinance and all of the buildings are adobe, making it a very distinctive architectural style.

We have been to Santa Fe several times before, so we didn't visit any of the many museums. We did have to visit the Saturday farmer's market. It was a huge market with lots of local vegetables and many booths with SW chilies.

We arrived a few days early before the start of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. People wanting hookups for their RVs reserve their spots a year in advance. We stay in a big gravel lot with dry camping (no electrical or water hookups). We had reserved a spot ahead of time, but first come first served spots are available. We like it because we are within walking distance of the balloon launch site. It is a challenge to get up at 6:00 AM to see the dawn patrol. They send up a dozen or so balloons in the dark to check for wind and weather conditions, and then if all is well, the other balloons launch at 7 AM. On the days that we do not want to walk over to the launch field, we just watch the balloons from our RV. We wind conditions are just right, they fly right over our RV.

This year they launched 550 balloons. It's quite spectacular. Most of the balloons are the traditional type but there are also special balloons with animal and other shapes. The most popular balloon is the Darth Vader balloon and also Yoda.

You can walk among the balloons as they are being launched. You can also sign up to be on a case crew, which we did 3 years ago, but passed on it this year.

Colorado Springs

9-16-15 to 9-27-15

We left Yellowstone NP and headed north and then east and south on Interstate 90 to repeat the route that we had previously taken. We were having trouble with one of our lifting jacks and decided to stay in private RV parks where the sites are mainly level. So we ended up at Buffalo, Wyoming again. The next day south to Cheyenne, Wy and then on to Denver. Sister Jane and hubby Terry were flying back to Florida on Sat so we met them for breakfast before they flew out.

Next we moved on to Colorado Springs, CO. This is my new favorite city. There are so many things to do there and the food is very good. We stayed about 15 miles outside the city and preferred the rural atmosphere with deer and turkeys wandering around the campground.

The first day we took the COG train to the top of Pikes Peak at 14,100 feet. The train went up a steep canyon through forests, lakes, streams and then up above the tree line to the summit. We were warned about altitude sickness because we went up so high so fast, but it wasn't a problem. We could see forever because it was a perfectly clear day.

The next day we visited the small town of Manitou Springs that is adjacent to Colorado Springs. Just outside the town is the Garden of the Gods park. It has beautiful sandstone formations and lots of hiking and biking trails. The town itself is very artsy and eclectic. One thing I hadn't seen in city parks before were people openly sharing cigarettes, not the filter type, but rolled. Then we remembered the recent legislation that had passed here in Colorado.

The next day off to the U.S. Olympic Training Complex. They gave a great tour, and it's a state of the art facility. 140 trainees live here, and food, housing, doctors and a pharmacy are all available for them.

The next day was military day as we visited the Air Force Academy and then the Peterson Air/Space Museum. The Air Force Academy had a visitors center and self guided walk around the campus. Of course, the highlight of the campus is its chapel.

The Peterson Air Museum had 21 historic aircraft on display. The docents who conducted the tours had actually flown the planes that they were explaining to us. We even saw a similar mockup of a minuteman silo where our friend Ken A spent many 24 hour shifts for 3 ½ years. We thank him for his service AND it also gave him time to complete his PhD.

Next, Santa Fe and some wonderful food.

Yellowstone NP

9-10-15 to 9-15-15

We could see on the national park web site that all the campgrounds in Yellowstone were filling up early. The reason we waited to go to Yellowstone after Labor Day was because in our previous visits the crowds had cleared out and getting a camping spot was not a problem. Wrong! I don't know if it's the lower gas prices, baby boomers retiring, or everyone figured that once school started, the park would be less crowded. So we got up early and crossed into Yellowstone from the Tetons and were at the nearest campground by 9:30 AM and no spot for us. The smart people had made reservations. So off again for a first come first serve campground on the northern side of Yellowstone called Norris CG.

We got one of the last spots at 10:30 AM and considered ourselves lucky.

Our destination the next day was Mammoth Hot Springs CG which was first come first serve. We arrived at 8:20 AM, and much to our relief, we were able to great a site with a very nice view. Mammoth Hot Springs is on the northern side of Yellowstone, only about 5 miles from the northern entrance to the park. The big draw here are the elk herds that inhabit the surrounding area and are frequently in the campground. We would wake up in the morning with bugling elk walking in between the campsites.

We had one large buck with his harem of about 10 or more cows claiming our campground. We had to be careful when walking around the CG so as not to disturb the elk.

The elk would also invade the town of Mammoth Hot Springs, much to the delight of the tourists.

The road in Yellowstone is a large figure eight and is quite a distance to cover. We spent several days covering the different sections. There is quite a variety of terrain, from mountains to flat plains with lots of rivers and lakes. We saw hundreds of buffalo feeding on the grassy plains.

We did have one unusual experience. We were headed east to the Lamar Valley, which is know for lots of wildlife, when we had an encounter with a buffalo herd. We were on a very long bridge hundreds of feet above a river, when a buffalo herd decided to cross over the bridge coming towards us. Believe me, they were much larger than our little Honda Fit. Everything was okay until they decided to start running towards us and cause the bridge to vibrate up and down.

The other days we visited thermal hot springs, and of course we had to see Old Faithful erupt. It's amazing that it erupts with such regularity of about every 90 minutes, give or take.

8-26-15 to 9-9-15

We left Billings, Montana and drove south on I 90 to Wyoming.

We entered Wyoming and decided to pass the town of Sheridan and head for the smaller community of Buffalo. This town of only 4,500 people had a lot to offer in an historic downtown area, some great restaurants, and several nice motorhome parks.

Downtown is the famous Occidental Hotel that was built in 1879. The hotel has been restored and has a wonderful restaurant and the original bar where the locals hang out. The hotel had been visited by Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

There were numerous battles between the Indians and federal troops in this area, mainly from 1866-77. Treaties with the Indians were frequently violated, resulting in these clashes. We visited Fort Kearney which recounted the history of this area.

There are many scenic drives through the Big Horn Mts, which are located to the west of this area. We used our tow car to explore the forested mountain roads. There were lakes and steep rocky canyons cut by the rivers. We were happy to be in the tow car because of all the hair pin turns and switch backs and steep grades. One big rig driver did not heed the signs about going slowly and ran off the road and stopped just short of going down a thousand foot drop off. It got our attention and we also slowed down.

That's not the only hazard of mountain driving, as a deer jumped right out in front of us and then a moose trotted right next to us on the road.

After spending several days exploring this area we headed southwest on Highway 11 and then west on 26 to reach Teton National Park. The magnificent jagged peaks of the Tetons rise sharply from the valley floor. The valley is situated between the mountains, hence the name Jackson Hole, with the town of Jackson located here. Jackson is a very upscale town with great shopping and wonderful restaurants.

We camped at a national forest campground, Gros Ventre, located north of the town of Jackson. It's a large park with plenty of spaces between the campers, and the big draw here are the numerous moose that wander through the campground. We saw moose every day and the bull moose had enormous racks. We did keep our distance.

We met our friend Steve here and he took us off roading and touring of the area. We also did a float trip down the Snake River and took numerous hikes along lakes and streams. Of course we dug out the bear spray since there are Grizzles in the area.

We've seen antelope, buffalo, fox and moose. In addition, Steve and I went to a raptor rehabilitation site outside of Jackson. People from all over bring them injured raptors and they had received over 90 so far this year. The number one cause of bird injuries is collisions with cars.

Washington to Montana 2015

From Washington coast to Montana 8-12-15 to 8-25-15

We left the coolness of the Washington coast to drive east on I 90 through Idaho and Montana. It was a 103 degrees when we went through Spokane, WA and all the RV parks in the area were full. People are definitely on the road. So we drove past Spokane and stayed in a small RV park in Osburn, Idaho. The interstates are very busy and have many more trucks than we remember from our last visit. It makes for some interesting driving going through mountain passes with construction going on. John does it like a pro.

We are still in drought areas as the fields are brown and there are lots of dead trees. So sad to see. There are so many fires, in WA particularly, that there now is a lot of smoke.

We drove on to Missoula, Montana, one of our favorite cities. We have stayed here several times before. It's a small college town with a river running through it with lots of kayaks and float boats on it. The shopping is great, as well as the restaurants. We drove around the countryside and did sight seeing and loaded up with supplies. I remembered the farmer's market from a previous trip. They know how to grow those vegetables in Montana.

This time we toured the Smoke Jumpers base just a few miles from where we camped. The water dropping planes were constantly going over our campsite, so we had to go check it out. They give tours of the whole facility. It was very impressive. We saw smoke jumpers packing their parachutes, the area where they dry their parachutes, and the emergency response room. While we were there, there were also some hotshot fire fighters from Arizona. The fires are so bad in Washington, Idaho and Montana that they have crews coming in from all over the U. S. and Canada.

We also visited an Elk Country Visitor Center. They are some impressive animals. We expect to see lots of them when we continue on our trip.

After a few days in Missoula, we continued east on I 90 to Boseman, Montana. College was starting this week and because of the fires in Glacier NP, campgrounds are again full. We drove on to a small town 25 miles to the east of Boseman. We're finding that it's easier to find CG outside the larger towns.

Livingston is called the Gateway to Yellowstone and lies on the Yellowstone River. Our campground backed up to the river and was situated in a canyon with beautiful cliffs.

We did have one exciting encounter when a black bear ran onto the interstate and just missed us. He got a little excited and couldn't decide which way to go. Also, the morning we left our campground another black bear calmly walked through it. So our street back home is not the only one with bears.

Since we were on the road to the northern entrance to Yellowstone Park,we drove the 60 miles south

to the town of Mammoth in Yellowstone Park. It was a beautiful drive following the Yellowstone River that traversed some rolling hills, flat farmland and majestic mountains. I didn't really get some good pictures since it was very smokey again.

We did meet up with a friend of ours, Steve, who was camping at Mammoth Hot Springs CG. We drove through the town to once again see the hot springs and the elk lounging around on the grass. We will return here later after the crowds have cleared out.

We drove back to Boseman to visit the Museum of the Rockies which is famous for all its dinosaur fossils. The museum has the largest dinosaur fossil collection in the U. S. It was very well presented and BIG AL was a very impressive T Rex.

Another day we took a drive south of Boseman to visit the upscale ski area of Big Sky. It's a scenic drive but it wasn't so scenic for us, because it was obscured by the smoke. No good pictures.

On to Billings, Montana where we visited some of the Lewis and Clark sites. We had seen many of the sites on our previous trip when we followed the Lewis and Clark trail from Indiana to Astoria, OR. However, this time we visited Pompeys Pillar where Wm Clark left his signature on a large rock outcrop. It is the only evidence found of the L and C trip. The park service always does a great job with all of the Lewis and Clark sites (Debbie, even if it doesn't have a national park stamp.)

Montana has been a beautiful state to once again visit. There have been jagged mountains in the western and southern part, high plateaus with grasslands, and beautiful rivers. Fly fishing is a popular sport here and we've seen numerous people in the rivers fishing. Hunting is also popular but we've not seen any evidence of that. Don't think it's hunting season yet. But lots of guns and camouflage around.