Yellowstone-Wonder of Wonders

Today was definitely one of my favorite destinations, even though I had seen Yellowstone when I was 13. I don't really think I had the appreciation for nature at that age that I have at the ripe old age of 53. Today was my day to drive, and I drove from Alpine to the Grand Teton National Park first thing in the morning. I was a little wary because the Tetons look so imposing, but the roads we took just meandered through the mountains and weren't nearly as scary as the drive from Yosemite. We loved the Grand Tetons and the gift shop in Moose, which is my husband's nickname. Needless to say, I had to pick up a few "moose" souvenirs.

Entering Yellowstone, we saw a small waterfall on the left, which was more imposing than any other waterfall we had seen on this trip. We headed for Old Faithful and ate lunch at the Old Faithful Lodge; it was an amazing edifice. Disney's Wilderness Lodge imitates it nicely, but it was a real thrill to see the authentic lodge with the timbers from the local trees supporting the ceiling of the lobby. Look it up online, if you have never been. We timed it well as far as seeing Old Faithful erupt, but Mother Nature ruined our photographs with a solid downpour right at the time of eruption. It didn't rain long; however, and we toured the southeast corner of the park.

This is another place where families spend weeks, and we had half a day. We saw as much as we could; we saw the rim of fire, steam vents (also known as fumeroles), mud pots (the paint pots were amazing), and one area where the hot sulfuric water flowed into pools of the clearest water i believe I have ever seen. Knowing that we were walking on volcanic land makes everything more amazing.

The variety of wildlife we saw was bounteous. We spotted a wolf playing with a frog, which we watched through binoculars; we stopped and crept closer to a herd of elk, grazing by the side of the road; we saw mule deer, and oh, I can't forget the buffalo. In fact, since it was my day to drive, I will personally never forget the buffalo, especially the big daddy buffalo, who kept looking my way as if I were going to approach his baby. Believe the rangers when they tell you these animals are more dangerous than the grizzlies; they are more aggressive, the rangers say. Just our close encounter with the buffalo stopping traffic in our "buffalo jam" made a believer out of me. The one animal we did not spot today was the grizzly bear; I would not have minded seeing one from a distance, but I'm a little glad they weren't around. The buffalo were fierce-looking enough for me.

Our last destination in Yellowstone was the falls, and for once it looked just like the photographs. We all took lots of pictures. My eyes wore out in the evening, and Jane relieved me of driving duty once we left the park. It was a wonderful day, but it was a long drive to Cody,Wyoming, where we spent the night at the Beartooth Inn. I'm sorry we drove that road at night; I have read since then that the drive is one of the most beautiful roads in America. We passed the site of the Cody Rodeo, which is one of the biggest in the country, on the way to the hotel, but we were all too worn out to go. Maybe next trip; I would like to see a real rodeo one day.

Salt Lake City to Alpine, Wyoming

Today we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, which was one of Betty Jo's places to visit. Two very devout Mormon "sisters" gave us a tour. One girl was from Korea and one was from southern California. This is their mission for two years, just like the Mormon boy from my hometown who is gone away for two years on a mission. All Mormon youth are required to do this, from what we could gather. We toured the visitor center and saw some beautiful mural size paintings of the life of Christ and a huge statue of Christ on the top level. The girls took us into a chapel and ended our tour by singing together "We are Children of God." If the visit had ended there, things would not have been too bad, but unfortunately, we left rather angry. Betty Jo asked one of the ladies at the Visitor Center desk why they claim to be Christians but they don't allow other Christians who are not Mormons to enter the Tabernacle. We allow anyone to enter our church, no matter their religious background. She told Betty Jo she was not "worthy." Well, they were "fightin' words" to Jane, who quite quickly told the woman that Betty Jo was as worthy as any or all of the Mormons in Salt Lake City, and I suggested that now might be a good time to leave!

Kristee wanted to swing by Park City, Utah, home of the winter Olympics in 2002. We took some pictures of the ski runs and bobsled tracks and bought some postcards. We drove through part of Idaho on our way to Yellowstone. We pulled off the road at a gas station for about 35-40 minutes to wait out a terrible thunderstorm. It was raining so hard and visibility was so bad, we just chilled for a while. We definitely depended on the tom-tom a great deal after we left the interstate.

We had made reservations at a Best Western Flying Saddles in Alpine, Wyoming, which is not too far from Jackson Hole. The hotel restaurant was closed because of a private party, so we ate across the street at a place called Nordic Inn. The bartender was a very entertaining gay man whose partner is the chef and a former professional pianist. They close up shop here in September and leave in November for New Zealand, where they stay until April. Not a bad life, huh? He had pictures of his partner performing onstage, and all sorts of fascinating stories to tell. It was really a pleasant evening, even the Norah Jones CD playing in the background was soothing and added just the right touch to my two cocktails.

This is definitely cowboy country. We have seen road signs all afternoon that say "Watch for stock" and "Open Range." Pictures of cows are on yellow road signs like we have pictures of deer at home. Our hotel rooms are nice, but not worth the $149 price tag. I ran the bathtub full of water and turned on the jacuzzi, only to find that it was broken. When I called the front desk, I was told none of the jacuzzis work, and they had not advertised them as working. The hotel lobby is filled with bear, moose, elk, and bighorn sheep decor. I took pictures of Jane and Betty Jo on some "flying saddle" bar stools after breakfast the next morning. They were so cute!

Great Salt Lake Desert

Today was a travel day, but we got a late start. Jane and I had stayed up late last night playing slots, and we played a few more this morning. Betty Jo and Kristee had a morning massage, so we weren't exactly behind the wheel at 8:00 this morning. We crossed the state of Nevada today and arrived in Salt Lake City tonight. We stopped and took pictures of the Bonneville Salt Flats and saw the Great Salt Lake. The Great Salt Lake Desert was interesting at first, but after a while it was a little dull. The highlight of the day was seeing the Morton Salt factory, but we were too far away to get a decent picture of the little girl with the umbrella. Kristee provided the other entertainment by sliding on some salt-covered mud that she and Jane wanted to walk on; fortunately she hurt nothing but her pride. This is probably my shortest blog because we really did cross the desert most of the day, and after a while, it all looks the same. I even got the Mad-Libs out for the first time. Kristee had never played, so it was fun teaching the game to a newbie.

The Wild West-Old and New

Today we drove around most of Lake Tahoe, spent a delightful afternoon in Virginia City, and spent the night in Atlantis, a gorgeous new casino in Reno. We saw some beautiful natural scenery, the western "tourist" town where Ponderosa was filmed, and spent the night in what was one of the nicest hotels (for the money) of our trip. Casino hotels tend to be more reasonable, because they plan to sock it to you at the slots, but it was still worth every dime I lost there to sleep in really nice beds with luxurious surroundings. In one day, we traveled over one hundred years in time, and we had a bit of fun along the way.

Lake Tahoe was beautiful, with lots of plush accommodations surrounding it. We enjoyed seeing all the people skiing, boating, and just plain enjoying this lovely spot. From Lake Tahoe, we headed east and really just decided to visit Virginia City on an impulse. We ate lunch at the Delta Cafe, toured the town on a tram, dressed up as saloon girls at a costume shop (that photo is priceless-especially such we are all such good Methodists!), and visited the newspaper office where Mark Twain got his first job. Virginia City was the site of the Comstock Lode and the setting for Bonanza. Jane and I had newspapers made for all of us with the headline "WOW Girls Conquer the Sierra Nevadas" to hail our feats of driving prowess through the last few days.

After feeling really ripped off by last night's hotel rates in a rinky-dink Best Western that charged $140 for a double, coming across this Atlantis hotel seemed like a bonus. It wasn't in downtown Reno, but it was a miniature city in itself, and we joked about finally seeing waterfalls with lots of water-in the lobby no less! Jane won over $300 in one bonus game on a slot machine named "Grandma's Cookie Jar" and I lost overall but had a good time. I'm one of the reasons casinos stay in business and can charge $43.68 a person for really plush, comfortable rooms. The food was great, the slots were fun, and the beds were so comfy! Another memorable day!

Yosemite- A Natural Paradise

Today we headed to Yosemite National Park and spent most of the day there. It's pretty clear some people spend a week here, but with our overall tour of the country, each of these amazing destinations rates about half a day. One good thing is that we know which places we will want to return to for longer stays in the future.

I drove from Fresno to Yosemite, and there were beautiful views and many hairpin curves along the way. The mile long tunnel bothered me a little, but mainly because I still had my sunglasses on and didn't have enough notice to change, plus the insides of the tunnel are still big chunks of rock, which seem rather intimidating. Our first pull off in Yosemite, called Tunnel View, is the classic postcard picture of El Capitan (the largest chunk of exposed granite in the world), Half Dome, and Bridal Veil Falls. Unfortunately, once again, the falls were a mere trickle because of the drought.

We ate lunch at the historic Ahwahnee Lodge dining room, which is worth the visit all by itself, and then took a two hour tour on an open tram. Yosemite is a truly beautiful place, with granite cliffs, forests, rivers, rippling brooks, lakes and rivers, filled with families, couples, and mountain climbers who were all hiking, tubing, wading, or just photographing the scenery. Our guide was a retired high school principal whose lifelong dream was to work in a National Park. He and his wife both live and work in Yosemite. It made me happy for them that they have made this dream come true, and now share their delight in Yosemite with those of us lucky enough to visit.

Today we saw a bear, thanks to the quick eyes of Betty Jo (who also spotted Cadillac Ranch earlier in the trip). He was lumbering along the side of the road to the right of our car as we were leaving. He was a large black bear with a patch of grey on his chest. We actually lowered the windows and shouted to hikers that he was behind them.

We exited Yosemite by the Tioga Pass, which I heard more about later, a road filled with hairpin and corkscrew turns, dangerously steep descents, and cliffs right beside us that dropped thousands of feet. Kristee didn't look out the window this afternoon either. Signs indicated that we were as high as 9k950 feet at times, and we descended to 5,000 feet by evening. We traded a visit to San Francisco and Los Angeles for Sequoia and Yosemite. Best decision we have made so far!

Sequoia National Park

This morning we left Lemoore for the Sequoia National Park, the home of the largest grove of giant trees in the world. The redwoods in northern California are the tallest, but the Sequoias are the most massive. The ride to Sequoia was a breathtaking climb up the Sierra mountains, including some rather scary one lane roads, due to construction. They were building barriers and supports on the outside lanes, so we figured we would just have to suffer for the sake of the future generations! Maybe our kids won't be scared to death when they travel up here!

Once we entered the park and parked, the first sign we saw in the parking lot read, "Active Bear Area." Immediately, I thought of my sister Connie, who has a deep-seated fear of the creatures, stemming from my family's visit to Yellowstone in 1966. No, Connie would not have left the car. We actually never saw a bear in Sequoia National Park, but we did see one later in Yosemite. The people in the tram that passed us on our tour had just seen one, but we missed it. I did take a photo of a bear photo that was on the bus dashboard, and I zoomed in to make it really look authentic. I admit I had a little fun with sister Connie with that later on. Once people on the bus saw how my picture turned out, they all tried it.

The pleasant lady tram driver said she saw bears every day, and she had never seen them behave aggressively. All the trash cans here have a special feature on them that makes it difficult for bears to get to the trash (and for humans to throw it away.) We saw the tree that people used to drive through, but it collapsed several years ago. There is one on its side that has a tunnel that small cars were driving through. This is an amazing place, and the size of these trees makes you stand still with wonder. Surely, one feels closer to the creator when faced with such tremendous works of his hand.

The hike to General Sherman, the largest living thing in the world, was not too bad because it was downhill, but the path was dotted with warning signs about the fact that you have to come back up. On a cool, fall day, this might not be too bad, if you get here before the snows, but we visited on July 31, when it was 95 degrees. We were above 7,000 feet throughout the park, so breathing was a little difficult to begin with. Betty Jo and I paced ourselves and rested every now and then, well, we may have rested many nows and thens, but we made it back to the parking lot not too far behind Kristee and Jane, who saw the hike as a challenge. I would do it again, just to see that magnificent tree, but I would prefer doing it on a cooler day. It took two pictures to get the whole tree because I couldn't back up enough to take the whole thing in. It was truly amazing. I just wished it had another name; being from the South, General Sherman isn't exactly one of my heroes. I suppose he gets the last laugh, because General Sherman still has a way of bringing some southerners (and northerners) to their knees, just like he did to Georgia.

We then drove just a few miles to King's Canyon National Park, just to say we went there. It is the home of General Grant, the third largest tree in the world. Jane was driving this day, and she brought us out of the parks through a pass, which I believe was carved from the side of the mountain by some very drunk Indians, mountain men, or Virginia Tech engineers. Kristee refused to look out of her window, but Betty Jo and I loved looking over these steep, steep, drops as Jane brought us careening down the mountain road. No male could have done better; in fact, all three of us became rather adept at mountain driving during this trip. Once we reached the valley, we were once again treated to beautiful orchards, this time of orange and tangerine trees, all of them lovely to behold. We headed towards Yosemite, staying in Fresno that night. Another glorious day! Thank God, John Muir, Teddy Roosevelt, et. al. for our National Parks!

The Turn Eastward

Today we left Santa Barbara and drove north towards Hearst Castle, San Simeon, which was our major destination of the day. We stopped off to see the mission of San Luis Obispo and made another stop at Harmony Winery. I bought three bottles and had them shipped home, which proved to be a major headache because they didn't delay delivery as I had asked; they shipped them immediately. UPS wouldn't leave them because there were specific instructions not to leave them in the sun. I finally had them left at my brother's office. So I'm getting phone calls during my vacation because these folks didn't delay delivery as I requested!

Anyways -- as I was saying-- after the winery we took a few shots along the Pacific Coast Highway, which we had originally planned to take to San Francisco. After our afternoon on one California freeway, however, we all decided to forego the major cities of SF and LA for more natural scenery. We opted to turn east and head towards Sequoia and Yosemite, which turned out to be one of our smarter decisions.

We spent a few hours at San Simeon and visited the gardens, the guest house, the pool and a few of the rooms, but for $24.00 we all thought we should have seen the entire place. I was amazed at the ancient Greek and Egyptian artifacts that Hearst had purchased legally. Today, there are laws against the sale of such antiquities. We then left and headed easterly, with a sense of sadness, for it seemed we had reached the halfway point of our journey, and the view of the ocean from Hearst Castle was our last view of the Pacific.

We crossed mountains and entered a valley of vineyards on the left and the right, as far as the eye could see. The vineyards gave way to huge groves of trees, which we found out were pistachio and almond trees. We stopped at a store and bought some of both and learned that this store was the last stop James Dean made before his fatal accident 25 miles down the road. We live in peanut country and were shocked that the folks in this part of the country call our wonderful peanuts "dirt nuts." Of course, I know peanuts are not true nuts at all, but they used to be one of the biggest cash crops in our farming community.

We ate supper at Jack's Roadhouse in Kettleman, CA, where I had the most audacious meal so far: chicken fried steak, baked potatoes, greens, and a big chunk of cornbread. It was a diner/gift shop/local hangout, but the food was good and plentiful. We made it to our Best Western in Lamoore, which was not too far from Sequoia National Park. It was a wonderful day of seeing some great man-made sights as well as some beautiful countryside.