Tuesday, September 02, 2008

The Details


For those interested:


We traveled 4,165.9 miles in 10 days.


The most we paid for gas was $4.80; the least was $3.39.


We did NOT see any moose.


We did NOT see the world's largest ball of barbed wire. (we would have if I had known about it sooner).


We did NOT visit Harrison Ford's ranch in Jackson. (I'm sure he would have invited us if he had known we were in town).


We did see buffalo, elk, deer, prairie dogs, and assorted other small critters - crawling and flying.


We did have a great time - seeing a beautiful part of the country!
So until next year.....


Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog

The weary travelers are home! The actual arrival time was Sunday around 5:00 p.m. But VacationGirl has been too tired (read, 'Lazy') to post.

When I last left you, we were in the lovely, price-gouging town of Cooke City, Montana. It was a cute little (very little) town. We headed out on the 3-hour drive down Beartooth. It was a very pretty drive but I don't know what I'd agree with Mr. Kuralt in saying that it is the most scenic road in America. It is beautiful, but I've seen other that are just as nice, or nicer. But I'm glad we drove it!

Friday's drive took us to Dickinson, North Dakota - just past the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We just there just before sunset so we did have the chance to see some buffalo, elk, and of course, prairie dogs. The little critters were everywhere.

Up early on Saturday - we need to make it to Madison, Wisconsin tonight. Not sure why - since we're 2 days ahead of schedule - but we wanted to get there. The 19 year old wanted to get home to see his buddy Mason, before he headed off to college. VacationGirl tried to entice him with the prospect of seeing the Mall of America but his response (as well as Dear Husband's) was "it's just a mall, Mom". MEN! They just don't get it.

So the only item on the agenda for Saturday (besides getting to Madison) was to see the largest Holstein cow. It 'lives' in New Salem, North Dakota - up on a hill. The cow is easily spotted from the highway but we needed pictures. Sue, the cow, is 38 feet tall and 50 feet long. I thought for sure we'd be the only goofballs to be out there taking pictures, but darned if there wasn't someone else driving up as we left.

We did make it to Madison - I'm sure that the state of Wisconsin is beautiful around the Dells but VacationGirl couldn't tell. We got to a hotel around 10:30 p.m. and immediately crashed.

Sunday found us up early, heading for the Buckeye state, and we pulled into the driveway at 5:00 p.m.

Glad to be home!!!!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Hey BooBoo

We're in Yogi Bear land ~ Yellowstone! But we haven't seen hide nor hair of Yogi or BooBoo. Hmmm, maybe we need to carry a 'pic-a-nic-a' basket and they'll come out. We did see quite a few buffalo roaming around today though. And up at one of the waterfalls, we saw a beaver.

We left Jackson around 8:30-ish and stopped back at OxBow to see if my moose came out but once again, she decided to play hide and seek. And she won! We couldn't find her anywhere. VacationGirl is pretty sure the moose are still hanging out at the lake we couldn't find ~ wondering where we are.

I also just found out that we missed seeing the world's largest ball of barbed wire in Jackson. I almost feel like we should drive back there to see it. Almost!

One of our first main stops in Yellowstone was to see Old Faithful. We were in luck - we got there about 15 minutes before it erupted. It's definately a touristy thing to do but if you're here, you have to see it. It was actually pretty cool.

There are so very many little sights to see as you're driving! And I think we pulled off at everyone of them and trugged up hills, down hills, up stairs, down stairs, all around to see the various sights. Most were well worth it - great waterfalls, cool thermal pools, beautiful mountain views. But, it makes for a long day!

Our plan was to drive the Beartooth scenic road today ~ "America's Most Beautiful Road" according to Charles Kuralt. But as we neared the end of Yellowstone, in a lovely little city called Cooke City, we realized that we'd end up driving most of the scenic route in the dark. So rather than do that, we decided to stay in the Super 8 (whoo hoo) in Cooke City, Montana. It's a one street, no stop light little town just outside the NorthEast gate to Yellowstone. We'll get up early in the morning when it's light out and then drive down the scenic route. After that, we'll probably head up to I94 and start the trek home. Should take a few days.

No pictures tonight. The 19 year old had no phone signal most of the day and none of us can get a signal still so he's been going through text-message withdrawal. He confiscated my laptop that has all the pictures. So I'll upload some tomorrow night.

Until then...

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Who Let The Moose Out?

Moose are elusive little suckers! And don't let anyone tell you any differently.

VacationGirl, Dear Husband, and 19 year old got to bed a little later than normal Tuesday night. If you remember, we had gone to the Jackson Hole Playhouse to see 'The Ballad of Cat Ballou" ~ and we're still laughing about the show. It was great! But we got to bed around midnight which isn't late in the grand scheme of things. BUT, moose-trackers Eextraordinaire have to get up mighty early to outwit the moose.

So the alarm went off at 5:00. It was still dark out and Dear Husband and 19 year old weren't moving. The funniest thing happened, though. VacationGirl made lots of noise getting dressed this morning. I have no idea why that happened.

Eventually, the other 2 stirred and we got on the road at 5:30. It was still dark. Interestingly enough, they have large lighted signs at different intervals to let you know that there is wildlife on the roadways. I was expecting to see huge parties of animals out having a good old time but it must have their night off.

We finally got up to Oxbow Turnout and surprise! We were NOT the first ones to arrive. There are actually others as crazy as us. Well, actually, many of the people were photographers, waiting for the sunrise. I couldn't figure out why until I walked down to where they were all set up ~ and then it became clear. One of the mountains was beautifully reflected in the Snake River. I got some cool pictures. None are edited yet (too tired tonight again) but even unedited, they are pretty. And surprisinly enough, not one of them contains a moose.

So, after freezing our collective rear ends off (32 degrees in the morning), we headed down to find a lake where the moose hang out. One of the actresses in the show had told us about it. We drove down dirt roads and never did find the lake ~ or any moose ~ but there were signs all over the place telling us that it was a great place for them. Sure wish someone had told the moose. But the vacation is not over yet - there is still hope for a real, live moose.

Wildlife spottings were not completely a loss ~ we did see a herd of elk and got a few pictures of them. They were pretty, but not moose.

After the moose hunting expedition, we went back to the hotel to sleep some more. You'll love this - we had the "Do Not Disturb" sign on our room door. So around noon, we got a phone call from the front desk asking if we really didn't want to be disturbed and if we really didn't want our room made up. Well duh! We got a chuckle from it.

Since we were all awake, we decided to walk down to town and check out the stores. I'm pretty sure that Dear Husband and 19 year old went in every store in Jackson. Two hours later, I bailed and walked back to the room and started doing some laundry. (fun times, I know).

Dinner was good - expensive - but good. We're finding that there is no cheap meal in Jackson. and I mean NO cheap meal. After the meal we headed to the local rodeo. It could have been a lot of fun but we had some horribly annoying people right behind us. After about 45 minutes, we decided to bail and head back to the room.

Tomorrow is another moose expedition on our way out of Jackson ~ heading towards Old Faithful. Yeh, yeh, yeh - typical tourist - but it's here and we have to see it once in our lifetime (or twice for Dear Husband). Then it's on up to Montana.

See ya then,
Enjoy the pics...


Moose Patrol

Watch out, Moose! VacationGirl are looking for you. Of course, we hear you have to get up early and I'm guessing leaving the hotel at 8:00 isn't really early, is it? However, we did get some great pictures today.

We went to Jenny Lake and Jackson Lake. Jenny Lake was by far the prettier view but wow - was it windy. Then we drove to find OxBow turnout where the moose hang out only we went past it - by about an hour. We were all the way out of Grand Teton National Park and almost into Yellowstone and give up. We finally realized the error of our ways and turned around. And after an hour back the right way, we found it. But no moose were hanging out at that time.

So we stopped for a very expensive 'chuckwagon' lunch at Moose turnout because we were starving and didn't want to wait the 30 minutes it would have taken to drive into town to get something both good and inexpensive.

Tonight, we went to the Jackson Playhouse dinner theater to see 'The Ballad of Cat Ballou". It was really good - we enjoyed it thoroughly. I particularly enjoyed it when all of a sudden, during dinner, the waiters/waitresses started singing. Of course, they play up to the crowd and the girls were having fun with the 19 year old. The theater itself is very old and had the most incredibly uncomfortable seats you could imagine. But the show was great. Most of the cast are college students working a summer job from around the country but they were all very good. The show had us all laughing.

So, now, we're back at the hotel and I'm setting the alarm for 5:00 to find those moose. and since it's 11:40 now, I'm not posting pictures tonight - but I'll some tomorrow.

see ya then,

Monday, August 25, 2008

No Moose...YET!

We stopped, and stopped, and stopped along the road but not one single moose made its way up to say 'hi' and welcome us to Wyoming. As the ultimate VacationGirl, I am sorely disappointed. However, the trip is young yet so one may come out of hiding yet.
We finally made it to Jackson around 6:30 p.m. We came by way of Thermopolis and Cody which then routes you through Yellowstone. It's beautiful country but when you want to get somewhere fast, it is not the route to take. We have plans to visit Yellowstone on our way out ~and we still will but now we know what we're in for.
Some buffalo were vegging near the road so everyone had to stop and take pictures (us included). But people never cease to amaze VacationGirl and family. There were 3 girls - probably early 20's and each one had stand as close as possible to the one buffalo that had singled himself out from the herd while another girl took a picture. Fortunately, there was a ranger sitting there to made sure that no dummies got too close. We just sat and laughed. It would have been funnier if he had moved and freaked them out.

We did finally see mountains - but with the typical family curse ~ dark clouds. It's either fog or dark clouds. This time it was particulary amusing, because the sky all around was the most beautiful blue with stikingly white fluffly clouds. You know ~ the ones that you could spend hours 'seeing' things in them. yeh, well, that beautiful sky and fluffly clouds existed everywhere except over the ONE mountain that VacationGirl wanted a picture of. But pictures were snapped anyway - dark clouds or not.

Not quite sure what's on tap for Tuesday...I guess we'll figure it out in the morning. Until then...

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Still Not There

It's Day 3 and we are not in Jackson ~ much to VacationGirl's dismay. We did get a little bit of a late start today but we also gained an hour so I'm not sure what happened. We did, however, get to see a little more than corn, corn, corn, corn, and cows.


After leaving North Platte, NE, our first stop of the day was at Chimney Rock. This unually shaped rock marked the end of the prairies for the pioneers. Apparently, the Native Americans named the rock "Elk Penis" but that name just didn't fly with the Anglo-Americans that made the trek through on the Oregon-California trail so it got renamed.

After that, we drove up the road about 20 miles to Scott's Bluff. Scott's Bluff was another popular landmark for the people on the trail from the East to the West. You can hike to the top or you can drive up. Guess which one we chose! :) The view from the top is beautiful. On a clear day, you can see about 90 miles in each direction.
After Scott's Bluff, it was off for more driving. We pretty much decided not to try to make Jackson - it would take too long and we were all tired. But VacationGirl did drive to Riverton, Wy. After scouring the AAA book, she found that it was the only city that had a hotel between Casper & Jackson. Ok, maybe that's a slight exageration but not by much. We we pulled up to the very nice Holiday Inn only to find that 'there was no room at the inn'. Fortunately for us, a brand new Comfort Inn had just been built down the road.
So that's where we are tonight - ready to sleep and head out early for Jackson and the Grand Tetons.
See you there!

Corn, Corn, Corn, Corn, Cow

The title pretty much sums it up - corn, corn, corn, corn, cow. VacationGirl and family made it to North Platte, NE last night. But thinking about using the internet made my eyes cross ~ I was way too tired.

We drove from about 8:00 CST to 8:00 CST. And yes, it was as mind-numbingly boring as we anticipated.

We did make a discover, however, that will make us RICH beyond belief. We found the Loch Ness Monster! Yep, we sure did. As VacationGirl was driving and Dear Husband was sleeping, the eagle-eyed 19-year old found dear old 'Lochie'. I drove on up the road until I could turn around and go back and sure enough, there it was! Right in the middle of a pond on Rt 2 in Nebraska. See for yourself...

Oh - that's not enough proof? Well, Lochie was kind enough to let us get a closer picture.
In addition to finding Lochie, we did actually see something worthwhile. We visited the original Pony Express Station in Gothenburg, Nebraska. It was actually rather interesting. There was a nice gentleman working at the station that told us the history.
So, today brings us to Wyoming - not sure which route to take but as long as we see mountains eventually, I don't care!
So until tonight...

Friday, August 22, 2008

go Go GO

On the road again
Just can't wait to get on the road again.....

Whoo hoo ~ we're on the road again. Left Ohio at 2:33 EST after lunching at Taco Bell. Now there's something you want to eat just before riding in a car for endless hours!

VacationGirl drove since Dear Husband only got about 1 hour of sleep before hitting the road. The route was selected - I70 through St. Louis to Kansas then up 29 to I80. We missed the mind-numbing cornfields of Iowa but trust us - Indiana, Illinois and Missouri aren't much better. And tomorrow brings Kansas and Nebraska. Whoo hoo!

We did get to see the Arch in a background of a beautiful, pink sunset! It would have made a beautiful picture. But the sky would have lost the color by the time we got down to a place where we could take a picture. However, I was lucky enough to get some pictures of the fine restaurant where VacationGirl, Dear Husband, and 19-year old relaxed for a quiet, relaxing dinner in a wonderful setting. See for yourself...










This was such a high class place, they even had signs for those less fortunate that were forced to take their food to a place without the atmosphere that VacationGirl and family experienced.













This wonderful meal was eaten in Vandalia, Illinois - home of the oldest state capitol building. It served as the state capitol from 1836 - 1839. Abraham Lincoln started his political career in this building.

The evening ended for us in Warrenton, Missouri. One of us is sleeping already, the other is in bed and watching TV, and VacationGirl is heading towards the pillow too...
See ya tomorrow.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Vacation-Get Set!

In less than 24 hours, VacationGirl and family will be on the road again. The packing has begun but the route is not planned. Should we go to Kansas City and then up to I80 or go up first and then over? Regardless of the route, we'll still spend a full day of corn, corn, corn, cows, corn, corn, corn, cows.

The plan is to be on the road as soon as VacationGirl gets home on Friday - and hopefully that will be earlier than normal. And then we'll drive until we don't feel like driving any longer. (Sure hope that's not before Indy!)

I had big plans for being able to come home to a clean house - but that's not happening. I'm falling asleep now as I write and I still have to pack. Guess I need to stop typing and start packing.

Next update should find us somewhere in Indiana, Illinois, or Iowa. Or maybe Missouri. Guess it will be a surprise!

See ya then.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Vacation-On Your Mark

Ten days to go until VacationGirl and family hit the road. Too much to do and little time to do it!

The countdown list begins - get oil changed, make a list of things to bring, take out a 2nd mortgage to pay for gas, check route....hey, wait a minute. What's up with the mortgage? We're hoping someone will strike a new oil reserve and prices will fall back to the < $2.00 range for our vacation.

Ok - if VacationGirl can dream, she might as well dream big!

The driving route is just about nailed down. Instead of enjoying the thrill of traffic and other fun stuff in Denver at the Democratic National Convention, VacationGirl, Dear Husband, and 19-year old will be taking the alternate corn field route. Yep - good 'ole Iowa and Nebraska. Can you say 'YAWN'? We're hoping for another green dinosaur in the middle of nowhere or something else to break up the seemingly endless rows of corn, corn, corn, and more corn.

Add another thing-to-do to the already long list - check the handy, dandy AAA book to see if there is anything worth seeing on the planned route. Not meaning to offend anyone in those lovely states, but seriously, are there even any hills in those states?

VacationGirl is a little sad that the route has been changed. She was hoping to find an excuse to visit the OZ musuem in Kansas. But alas, that will have to wait for another place and time ~ maybe when Utah moves up on the vacation plan list.

I'm sure, though, that between the 3 of us, we'll be able to find something odd or unusual to see while we're driving. We usually do!

And that's the fun of it all...

Sunday, July 06, 2008

No Room At The Inn

WOW! That's all I can say! Doing some research on rooms at the vacation destination and sticker shock prevails. So call VacationGirl a snob but nice hotels are what she likes. Unfortunately, the family wallet just can't justify $795 ~ per night. But wow - it is nice.

VacationGirl is back to the drawing board to find something a little more in line with the finances. Hmmmm, maybe we should just take our sleeping bags!!!

Monday, May 26, 2008

The Bridges of Warren County

Started out to find the covered bridge in Germantown but went to the MetroParks instead. But by that point, we had the urge to see a covered bridge. Too tired to do it that Sunday so we headed back out on Monday (Memorial Day) to see the bridge. A good bit of exercise for both VacationGirl and Sha-Sha.

VacationGirl wanted to see if she could actually learn about aperture settings. Of course, she couldn't quite get the camera to do what she wanted it to do but it wasn't for lack of trying. It's become apparent that she is going to have to break down and take a class to figure out how to use the darn thing. But still, pictures were taken and photoshop used. Here's the results:





This one is SOOC (straight out of camera)




I boosted the colors a little on this one. Slightly better.


Here's a vintage one - kinda cool.
The actions that I used were the ones I downloaded from ThePioneerWoman.com. I'm still trying to figure out Photoshop - kinda like I'm still trying to figure out the camera. ARGH! One of these days, it will come together! I just hope it's before vacation.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

New Picture Toys!

This isn't exactly vacation related ~ OK, it's not vacation related at all ~ but VacationGirl got a new toy last week. Photoshop CS3. Today, while scanning the never ending pile of negatives, she decided to play around with it. And what better subject to try it out on than almost high school graduate (HSG) at prom.

First, some background - "almost HSG" decided to go to the prom but wanted to go dateless. No tux, but he wanted a vest and a shirt. (The price of which was almost as much as renting a tux). Since he is the finest looking young man on earth (yes, I'm slightly biased), I thought these would be fun to work some of the new Pioneer Woman 'actions' on these pictures. Here's the before/after:


I used an 'action' called 'Fresh and Colorful" and then 'Quick Edge Burn'. I really like the effect. So now, all I have to do is learn how to create my own Actions and I'm good to go. I have SO much to learn about Photoshop CS3 but I think by the time vacation rolls around (in 98 days but who's counting!), I should be fairly good at some of the techniques.
Bring on those snow-covered mountians!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Visions of Sugarplums???

Ok - so maybe not visions of sugarplums but I was having visions of lobsters and ultimately lobster rolls, and of course the beautiful views.








But then I started having visions of beautiful mountains and geisers and all that jazz.






Now do you see why the decision is so hard? I think we're leaning towards the mountains and I know we'll love every minute of it but I will miss not being by the ocean and having lobster, lobster, and more lobster.
I have threatened Dear Husband - there HAS to be snow on my mountains or, or, or I'll think of something but there better be snow on my mountains. Of course, that could get a little sketchy since we're going the last week of August. It will probably be the ONE week out of the whole year that the snow melts completely. Then, the week after we leave, it snows again and the mountains are snow-capped and beautiful.
Dear Husband and almost-graduated Senior don't know it yet, but if there is no snow on the mountains then we'll have a small detour up to Glacier National Park. Haven't figured out how far that it is - heard maybe another day's drive - but it will happen so we can have snow-covered mountains. (Please, please let there be snow on the Tetons so we don't have to drive!)
We won't have the luxury of driving in different, beautiful Saturns either, like some other recent U.S. travelers. Nope, we'll be driving in a gas-guzzeling Tahoe. VacationGirl loves her Tahoe but the gas prices will kill us. Guess that's even more reason to forgo the lobster treats every day~ gas in our Northern Neighborhood is even worse than in the good, 'ole U.S.
Let the planning begin!









Monday, May 05, 2008

East or West ~ Which is Best?

Which way to go - we don't know. VacationGirl and family can't seem to decide between the Grand Tetons and Nova Scotia. This is the last year for 4 years that we can take a long vacation. VacationGirl only has 3 weeks of vacation for the next 4 years since she changed jobs and she needs to use one for Spring Break, one for Christmas holidays, and one in the summer.

VacationGirl and family are leaning towards the Grand Tetons. Ok - Dear Husband and almost Graduate are leaning towards it so VacationGirl is slightly out numbered. So plans are being made and routes are being mapped and then they tell me that "Nova Scotia would be ok too".

I honestly can't decide. I see pictures of the Grand Tetons and they are beautiful but if they are not snow covered in the winter like Mt. Hood & Mt. Rainier, then VacationGirl will be VERY upset. After Colorada Springs 2 years ago, she has determined that her mountains must have snow. Now the way to ensure that would be to travel to these mountains in a month other than September but unfortunately, VacationGirl and family are at the mercy of the school systems - both High school and College. Their breaks just don't fall at the right time.

Now, Nova Scotia doesn't present those types of problems - the only issues there are not-so-good exchange rates. But after checking today, the US and Canada are almost even so it's a wash right now. It's been a few years since we've done a lighthouse tour and oceans and we would have an abundance of them on the Nova Scotia route. Those things would be rather scarce on the mountain route. Oh - and N.S. has LOBSTER - lots and lots of it. VacationGirl could have lobster for every meal - and she would.

But VacationGirl would also get to see beautiful mountains and Old Faithful if the western route was chosen. And after the Oregon trip, mountains (big one with snow) rank right up there with lighthouses. It's a tossup.

So minds will change weekly until we finally leave. Since we're being brave and not booking any hotels for either trip, it really doesn't matter.

If anyone has any thoughts - please let us know. Maybe it will help us decide.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Wishing You Were Here

Where else can you find single digit temperatures followed 3 days later with temperatures in the 50's? Where else can you find dreary, rainy days? Ok - I suppose that it could be many places in the country this time of year and I suppose there are many places a LOT worse right now. But I think I'd prefer to be here:

















Of course, I hear the weather is not so great there right now. So maybe I'd go here:

But, I imagine that it's a little on the cold side there too.
So, maybe I'll just stay put ~ and snuggle in with a good book.
See ya later...

Tuesday, January 01, 2008