GA Gypsies – Fulltiming

Yesterday afternoon we explored downtown Bozeman for awhile and then went to a movie and had pizza at Chicago Pizza. Took a walk around the neighborhood when we got back. First day it hasn’t rained in forever it seems. Today we are just chilling here at the house with the animals. Another sunny, warmer day.

We left Cody Thursday morning and had a beautiful ride to Bozeman. As we traveled west, thunderstorms built all around us. We were able to skirt the storms all the way to our destination. It started raining while we were parking the camper at Pat’s house, so we got it out of the road until the lightning and rain stopped. We had a nice supper with Pat and her friend, George. We met our furbabies – Pepper, the dog and three cats – Gato, Buttons, and Augie. We slept in a real house for the first time in over a year! It rained all night and was very cool – in the 40’s. Pat left this morning and will return in ten days. The dog and cats have a big, fenced in back yard and all we have to do is feed them and water the plants. She has a nice little house in a quiet subdivision between Bozeman and Belgrade. We have days to chill and explore the surrounding area. I slept in this morning and it is still chilly and raining. Not sure what our plans are for the rest of the day.  I know we will go to the museum in Bozeman sometime while we are here. It is nice to have fast internet! Gato, the yellow tabby cat is trying to be my best new friend. He has climbed between me and the computer, purring and making biscuits on my robe. Pepper, the dog, sleeps more than me! It is really pretty here. We can see the mountains out the windows in the front of the house.

Tony went back to the museum this morning to see the Firearms Museum while I slept in. This afternoon we went shopping in Cody and then back to the camper. Leftovers from last night for supper. Another thunderstorm blew in and it is very windy. The news out of Billings says they are having severe thunderstorms with large hail between us and Billings. Hope we don’t get any of it here tonight. We are headed out in the morning for Bozeman. No pictures today.

Catching up on some much needed rest. Went to bed early and slept late this morning. After lunch, we went to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, which has five different museums. We went into the Plains Indian Museum, the Buffalo Bill Museum, and the Draper Natural History Museum. We’ve been to these before, but some of the exhibits change. Tony is going tomorrow to the Cody Firearms Museum while I sleep in again. We had a really nice dinner at the Proud Cut Saloon and then we walked up and down both sides of that block of town. We are back at the camper now. It rained most of the morning and even while we were at the museum and eating, but the sun has come out and it doesn’t look like anymore rain heading our way. We will be here tomorrow and then Thursday we head to Bozeman to housesit for 10 days. How did we get hooked up with housesitting?  I was reading another fulltime rv’ers blog and that was something they did. So I looked at housesitting sites, chose two, and joined. We have four confirmed dates, three in Washington state. We’ll be in Bozeman, then head to Yakima, Washington for three weeks, then to Ocean Shores, Washington for a week (on the beach), and last, we will be in Olalla, Washington. Each place is near a place that we want to visit, so we will be able to take day trips. They all have room to park our camper, so no camping fees during that time. We don’t get paid, but we have places to stay for free. They all have pets – cats or dogs, and just want someone to be at their home while they are gone. The lady in Bozeman is a retired veterinarian and she will have dinner ready for us when we get there Thursday. She leaves on Friday morning. We have internet and cable and all the “things” we don’t always have, even when in a campground that advertises they have these services. We will see how they go.

Peace & quiet is so nice, but I do miss internet and cell service when it is not available! Let’s see, where were we. On Friday, we rode into Yellowstone and went to Old Faithful Inn. We stayed long enough to watch it erupt, then we rode on, stopping at Grant Village, Yellowstone Lake Lodge and Fishing Bridge.

We saw an elk and three bison. We stopped at West Thumb and I walked the self-guided boardwalk around the geysers. This was the first full sunny day we’ve had in a while. Yellowstone still and will always hold a special place in my heart. In my younger days, it was the one place I always wanted to see if I had a chance and I watched hundreds of programs about Yellowstone. On our 25th anniversary, we finally went. We’ve been back several times and it still has such a wonder about it. You can’t see all of it in a lifetime – it is so vast. I always think about the first people to explore the west and how tough it must have been for them. There’s just something about it – so wild, so vast. So glad that National Parks were established so these jewels are preserved for all to see the way God intended us to see them.

Saturday we rode into the Tetons – Colter Village and Jackson Lake Lodge. Tried to use the internet, but it was just too slow. It had been sunny when we went in the lodge. When we came out, it was lightning and started raining. On the ride back to our camper we came upon a BEAR JAM. That means all the cars going by the bears stop and some park and get out and take pictures. Park Rangers were there, directing traffic and keeping dumb people from getting too close. Of course, we stopped and Tony was able to get some good pictures – a Big, Bertha Mama Grizzly, Tony estimated to be about 850 – 1,000 lbs. She was HUGE. She had two cubs with her.

Sunday we decided to make a short drive back into the Tetons and we ending up spending most of the afternoon riding. We first drove the outer loop down to Dornan’s General Store. We drove down to The Chapel of Transfiguration – it is a beautiful little log cabin church with the center window framing the Tetons. Walking in there, you can feel our Creator showcasing His Handiwork. Even though it was raining and the clouds were over the mountains, it was still beautiful. It was almost like He was saying, “Even though you can’t see me, I am here.”

After we left the church, we drove to Jenny Lake and on home. Since it was nearly 7:00, we stopped at Leek’s Marina for a pizza and when we left, there was another bear jam at the junction of the road to the marina and the main road. This was a much smaller grizzly with two cubs.

Today, we left the campground and had to go through the park to get to Cody. Just after exiting the park, we came to another semi-jam – people pulled over but still on the road – two moose eating willows in the water. And yes, we added to the pile and took some pictures. Got into Cody early and we’ve just rested today. We have plans for the next two days and then we are off to Bozeman for a week to housesit.

Few more random pictures.

Two full days. Left Thermopolis headed for the Tetons. Made a stop in Riverton for supplies. Made it to Headwaters/Flagg Ranch campground around 5:15 PM. Beautiful, wooded campground. We are on a back row, close to the Snake River. From all the rain and snow melt, it is full and fast. We can hear it from the camper but not see it.

Signs everywhere to be Bear Aware, especially Mamas with babies. It started raining after we went through Dubois, it was 71 degrees and we had to go over Togwotee Pass. As we climbed, the temp. dropped to 37 and there was snow all over the sides of the roads and even people snowmobiling. We saw an elk, an eagle and lots of deer. Just outside of Dubois, we saw some bighorn sheep.

Rained as we set up the camper and all night long.

This morning, we traveled through the Tetons – 48 degrees when we left and misting rain. Went into Jackson and stopped for a pastry at The Bunnery, then strolled through Jackson, doing a little shopping. Sun came out and temp. was up in lower 70’s.

There was a Mountain Man Rendezvous going on today through Monday, so we were going to just cruise in there. Ended up spending two hours in there talking to a modern day Mountain Man called “Hombre”. He is a personal friend of Tom Oar from Mountain Man series. So much fun, so much information. He made all sorts of leather works – absolutely beautiful. I could only afford a bracelet and he was all sold out.

Hombre is on the left.

Left the rendezvous and headed back through the park, stopping at Signal Mountain Lodge to eat their famous nachos and to hang out in the lodge with cell service and internet. It is 6:30 PM, cooling off, cloudy. As I’ve been uploading pictures and writing this, thunder has started and the clouds have rolled in. We can barely see the Tetons across the lake now. Will post again when we have service.

Another full day. We went to The Wyoming Dinosaur Center. It was very interesting.

Next, we drove in the opposite direction through then Wind River Canyon Scenic Highway for about 20 miles, then turned onto a gravel road another 5 miles to the Legend Rock State Archaeological Site. There are numerous petroglyphs along the canyon wall. It was a short hike into the canyon, but the trail became more difficult to walk along – narrower, rocky, and unlevel. We got some good pictures of the petroglyphs and the canyon/trail where we hiked. It had warmed up to 75 and I was carefully watching the trail for rattlesnakes.

The rock steps I had to walk down on this “easy” trail.

After our hike for the day, we drove back to Thermopolis and drove through the Hot Springs State Park, where there are some thermal features and several hot springs that you can soak in.

The day ended at the Mexican restaurant. Clouds had been building in the sky all afternoon and it began raining while we were eating. After supper, back to the camper we headed and it is still raining, with severe thunderstorms in the forecast. Tomorrow, we head to “the parks” – Grand Teton & Yellowstone – staying at the Headwaters/Flagg Ranch situated between both parks.

We left Devil’s Tower this morning, headed to Thermopolis, WY. It was 75 degrees when we left. We took a scenic route across/through the Bighorn Mountains. As we climbed in altitude to almost 10,000 feet, the temperature dropped to 47 degrees. It was a long, long, long, long, long pull up the mountain and then a long, long, long, long ways back to the bottom! There was snow still at the base of the trees and on the sides of the road as we reached the top. The higher mountains in the distance, that we didn’t have to go over, were still covered in snow at the top. It was a long driving day – over six hours. Exhausted when we made it into the campground this afternoon. Finally have cable and watching the Idol Finale! Yeah! Love Maddie and Caleb – who will win? We are going to the dinosaur museum tomorrow and t Hot Springs State Park and hopefully a short ride to see petroglyphs on the canyon wall. Pictures tomorrow.

Took a nice Sunday afternoon ride to Vore Buffalo Jump. It is a huge sinkhole that the Plains Indians used to stampede a herd of bison towards the hole, forcing them to jump into the pit. They would then finish killing the bison and right there in the pit they would skin them and cut the meat into movable sizes, thus leaving behind all the piles of bone. The dig site, that is enclosed in a building, features bone and stone artifacts preserved in layers. There are more than 4,000 butchered remains of bision as well as stone arrow points, knives, and other tools. Only about 10% of the VBJ has been excavated. The exhibit had not opened for the season, but the gate was open and we walked down to the excavation site. The site was discovered when I-90 was being built and is named VORE for the people who owned the piece of land and donated it to a private foundation. Some pictures of the sinkhole.

Next, we rode in a different direction to find our new friend’s ranch. It was pretty impressive too. These are just a few pictures from a ranch across from the Buffalo Jump site. Look at how red the dirt is.

We are headed to Thermopolis, WY tomorrow morning for a couple of days, then to Headwaters/Flagg Ranch campground between The Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone for about six days, then to Cody for three days, and then to Bozeman, MT to housesit for eleven days. We will get some rest while we are house/pet sitting!

Yesterday, we headed back into the park (Devil’s Tower) to hike the trail around the base. It was cold and the wind was howling. We both took big jackets, hats, & gloves. The trail that goes around the base is 1.3 miles and is said to be relatively flat, paved, and easy. My definition of easy is different once we got started. And we decided that we didn’t need the really big jackets once we got into the forest at the base. Well, the trail was up and down, up and down. The up was a killer. But I was determined to make it. It was beautiful to look off to the left and see the hills and terrain below us. We saw several deer as we walked. And being so much closer to the base gave us a much better view of the Tower.

There were many, many rock climbers all around the Tower, all at different heights of the climb.

I was really glad to get to the 1/2 mark because I had contemplated turning around.

Notice that the jacket had come off! I think the sign was holding me up!

But once there, it was just as quick to continue on around. I had to sit and rest quite a number of times, sometimes on the rocks if there weren’t benches close by. My legs did well – I was just getting very fatigued and unsteady from the MS. But I made it! That was a good feeling.

Back to the start – the finish line. I was a little bit winded!

After the hike, we drove into Sundance. (This is not the same Sundance that Robert Redford has the film festival.) We went to the Crook County Museum, which the sign out front said it closed at 3:00. I called the number and a lady answered and said she was still there and was waiting for a group to get there, so come on in. And we did. There were over 7,000 artifacts (all donated by Crook County residents) and multiple dioramas. They have outgrown the space and are moving to a bigger facility in March. The lady, Cricket, said all of the employees and volunteers have tons of packed items in their homes because they have run out of room.

We struck up a conversation with her and found out that she and her family own a 10,000 acre ranch between Sundance and Upton. She said she had found hundreds of arrowheads and petrified wood on the ranch and that there were even tipi rings on the ranch. I asked if she had facilities to camp, which she didn’t, but said they were planning a B&B for the ranch. And she sincerely invited us to come to the ranch and we could go artifact hunting and see the tipi rings. We exchanged cards and told her we would definitely be back in the area and take her up. She said, on her own ranch, she had gotten lost before, looking down for arrowheads and wandering out of view of her truck. We meet such interesting people.

Then we finally made it to a restaurant, which she recommended and said her daughter worked at – The Longhorn Saloon + Grill. My first excellent steak since we’ve been on the road.

Time ran out to see the Vore Buffalo Jump, so we headed back to the camper and decided to stay one more night here and to drive out later today to the Buffalo Jump and to ride by Cricket’s ranch, just to take a look. I will post that adventure later.