LA to Badlands SD and return.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Keith,

Nice photos.

One does wonder in what parallel universe Wyatt Earp and Calamity Jane would have been working/living in Cody, Wyoming!

Cody is the city of my birth.

[keithg]

Keith,

Nice photos.

One does wonder in what parallel universe Wyatt Earp and Calamity Jane would have been working/living in Cody, Wyoming!

Cody is the city of my birth.

Well that explains why you are such a good bloke Mark. Cody is a great place we think and to think that you rubbed shoulders with Wyatt Earp and Calamity Jane who we met. They were awesome. :)

[keithg]

We headed to the other end of town to the Buffalo Bill Cody Centre. We had been there once before in May 2013 and really enjoyed it. Building dosn't look that big from the car park but it is bigger than it looks and there are three levels that we have been to plus an outside area. Pensioner rate was $18-50 each. So much to see there. Very crowded this visit. There is a little cafe plus a bigger one that opens for lunch. We didnt see it this time but usually there is a show outdoors there with Hawks and Eagles. We missed it somehow this time. Lots of beautiful Indian clothing plus lots of magnificent paintings around the wall on display. Some of the paintings you can photograph but others you cant as they are on loan from private owners. Those one are usually in one room. Just have to check before taking a pic of them.



Entrance to centre. Lot bigger inside than the entrance shows.









Plenty of gun displays there. Would be hundreds of them around the walls and in glass display cabinets. I am sure we haven't seen everything there. So much to see and well worth it.

I must be getting old as i was running out of puff, so we left there after a few hours and went back up town.Had some subway and then went back to cabin. I downloaded our photo's on to laptop and had a rest while Margaret went for a walk down town.

Next morning, we checked out of cabin and said goodbye to Billy Bison. Coey wasn't happy. We left town to head out the Chief Joseph Scenic Hwy.



Followed the sign out of town to the right there but missed the turnoff to the left a few hundred yards up the road. Dummy me took us all the way to Powell. We realised we were on wrong road so turned around to head back. Had a snack at Macca's and talked to locals. Great talking to them. Love to spend more time in some of these places talking to people.

We finally got right back to Cody and got on the right road. We gassed up at Cooke City, a little town in the middle of no where. Some great views on this drive. Pull up to admire them and you usually get Chipmunk's hanging around looking for food. Offered them a bit of fruit but they didn't want healthy stuff hehehe. A young lady was feeding one by hand with a bit of bread i think it was. Happy she didn't get bitten.



Coey went for a ride with the Indians. Loved it.



We drove into Yellowstone and headed for Mammoth Hot Springs. Extremely busy in park with very few places to park. Margaret went for a walk and took a few pics of the coloured terraces. Was a very dull day so not the best for seeing them. On we went to Gardener where the Elk were resting on the lawns. Had to be careful as they were spread around a bit and the bull's were getting cranky when another bull got to close to a lady one. Park ranger was there warning people to run for cover if the big guy came towards them. Margaret said to the Ranger, she would stand behind him. He said she would want to be able to run fast as that's what he would be doing. Running. hehehe.



No accommodation in Gardener so we headed for Livingstone MT. Some beautiful colours and scenery on the way. Lots of Aspens out in colour.



Aspens helping make a beautiful sight to see.

We finally got to Livingston and booked in for the night. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Keithg

[keithg]

We were lucky enough to wake up, still breathing on what Margaret's notes say is day 24. We had breakfast and headed out to have a quick look around town. Livingston is a beautiful town with old buildings and many pot plants. Clean and tidy place. Found this small lagoon there.



Sacajawea Lagoon.



Part of the Lagoon. Note the old caravan.

We went on to Bozeman and had a look around the town. Margaret loves poking around in shops looking at stuff but i get bored and not many places have shops for men. Usually i end up getting lost and find an ice cream shop. That's where she finds me. Didn't happen this time. She kept an eye on me. We arranged to meet an old friend we have known since Adam played fullback for the Israelites. He was playing golf just out of town. Found him and then followed him out to his ranch at Norris. Met his lovely wife who is also a publisher like Megan and Mark. We had a good old yarn with them and stayed the night. Yapped again in the morning over breakfast and met there small dog Molly and the cats and horses. Think the horses were more interested in carrots. We had Peach's, Strawberries and Blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Spoilt rotten we were. Stan had to make a trip to Spokane so we followed him out to the hwy and then he showed us the turnoff to head down through Ennis and into west Yellowstone.





Small town of Ennis.

Whoops, according to notes, i didn't let Margaret look around long enough. Sorry about that but but but. :) It was a very pretty drive all the way down to West Yellowstone and then it was hectic. So many tourists. I know, i know. We were tourist as well but they could have waited until we had been. Yellowstone was chockas. A few places in there were closed because there was no more room at that particular spot. Park was a mess with rubbish everywhere and rest rooms disgusting. Even foot prints on some of the seats. Couldn't get to a couple of parts we wanted to see. Parking all full or road closed because no more room. In saying this, we still recommend Yellowstone to everyone. We were there in 2010 and 2013 and it is a magnificent place. Could spend days there. Just not this time. Found out later from a coach driver who goes in and out of there all the time that either July or August, cant remember, there were 4 million people went through the gates there in one month. Popular place.









OLD FAITHFUL.





Inside this old building. Magnificent.



There she blows. Geyser blows every so often. Pretty regular. The average is 74 minutes but can range from 60 - 110 minutes. I just looked it up.
We were disappointed we didn't get to see all the parts we wanted to and we had to get moving. No accommodation in park. We drove out the south end of park and around past Oxbow Bend and into Jackson Hole where we found a room for the night. Extremely busy here as well. Accommodation price's were nearly double for some places. It was dark when we came around past Oxbow bend and there were a few cars there. Some were staying there all night.



OXBOW BEND. This shot was taken quite late at night and it was a lot darker that the pic shows. Hope its a clear day when we come back in morning. Its about 35 minutes out of Jackson Hole.

Keithg

[glc]

and many pot plants

That means something a bit different here than what you are thinking........:D

[keithg]

That means something a bit different here than what you are thinking........:D

Hahahahaha I never thought about that. I meant pots of flowers and hanging baskets of flowers making the place look pretty. :)

[Mark Sedenquist]

Beautiful shot of Oxbow Bend!

[keithg]

Thanks Mark. Loved to have had a Moose in it. :) We didn't get to see one.

[Southwest Dave]

Yep, loving the photo's and reading your adventures Keith.

Loved to have had a Moose in it.

The last time I saw him he was at Redrock Lake in Glacier NP. ;-) Hehe.

Dave.

[keithg]

We drove out to the Morman Barns first up. Thats about 15 mile out of town. Then on to Oxbow bend which is 32 miles out. We turned into the road where the first barn is and there were lots of people there already. Plenty of parking though. We were after shots of the barn with the Tetons in the background. Unfortunately someone was burning off around the Tetons somewhere and there was lots smoke haze. But you do the best you can. Both barns were built by the Moulton family.



First barn not that far off hwy.



There is a side road straight across from where top picture was taken and the 2nd barn is only 1/4 of a mile away with a parking area there. I had to look up the distance. Didn't want to tell fibs.
We were there for a while hoping the haze would go and taking different shots of the barns. But then had to move on and went out to Oxbow Bend, another favourite place. Again quite crowded but we found a parking spot. Had been looking forward to a nice clear day but smoke ruined it. The colours were on the way out on the tree's and in another few days would have been perfect. It was Margaret's no 1 activity that she wanted to do, was get a great shot here. She was very disappointed and still is. It wasnt what she had pictured in her mind.



Best we could come up with.

After spending some time there, we headed back towards Jackson Hole a little way and turned into Swazberger Landing. Still on Snake River. Once again the smoke ruined it but Coey had a lot of fun. Margaret had to hold him back as he wanted to jump in the river for a swim. Beaver make there homes in there so thought that wasn't a great idea. If he dosn't behave, we may let him.



Coey wanted to have a go at taking pictures. Even with the smoke hanging around, it was still a great place to check out. There were a few fisherman throwing a line out there as well.
Went back to Jackson Hole for a walk around and have a look.



Love the boardwalks.



Fun to be had if you want to ride the rapids.



We didnt go in. We should have. So much to do and so much to see.



One of the Elk Antler arches in the park. You can see a few different views on u tube of this park. Its live view. We were going to stand in the Arch and wave to some friends back home but we couldnt get hold of them to let them know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-F4CeVsWHA

Live view in Jackson Hole.

We had leave and head for Idaho Falls. Margaret was very disappointed to go. Wanted to have a better look around the town but we didnt want to spend at least $240 for another night in a cheap hotel. So busy there. Places that you would normally pay under 200 for were 4 and 500 dollars a night. What i should have done was ring ahead some where and book a room. But nooo. Dumb me said we have to go and headed for Idaho Falls. I still havnt been forgiven and fair enough. I blew it.

Back later for day 27. I know because it's in Margaret's notes. :)

Keithg