Now, where was I?

It is getting hard to remember where I am most mornings when I wake up. OK, so we left Yellowstone and spent the night at Cactus Pete's in  Jackpot, Nevada. Sounds more interesting than it was. Turns out Pete's is just a big casino with RV parking out back. However if you are ever in Jackpot, NV and are looking for a decent buffet, they got ya covered.

Moved on through Nevada. The pic below pretty much sums it up.












Nuff said.




 Finally made it to Reno where we hooked up with Bill and Gina for the Reno Air Show. What a blast!

Rolled into good old Calif last night. Now we are in Stockton for a day so that we can go to Yosemite. That was the only inducement anyone could ever give me for being in Stockton. I am sure I will have lots of pics.

A River Runs Throuh It

We left Hardin, MT yesterday and arrived in the town of West Yellowstone in the afternoon. I didn't feel like cooking so we went in to town. It is a kitchy little town with lots of shops. We ate at Buckaroo Bill's. Mark had an elk burger. Apparently a must when in Montana. This morning we got up bright and early and headed for Yellowstone Park (hey, BoBo how bout a picanic basket). It was misty and foggy (and a balmy 27 degrees) on the way in but it cleared up and we saw a huge Elk buck in a meadow by the river. The river was really pretty with waterfalls and rapids. It is shallow and there were lots of guys trout fishing. As we rounded a curve there was a buffalo walking along the side of the rode. I think he drew the short straw for the donut run. As we snapped pics he looked like he was saying "Geez, give me a break. I haven't even had my coffee."

We walked up to Old Faithful  at just the right time for it to be, well, faithful. I was a little disappointed as it seemed like nothing but a bunch of steam. Later when the air temp had gotten a little warmer you could see it more clearly and I was more impressed. I have to say that what really impressed me was all of the other geysers and thermal pools there. Really primordial. Looking at the area I have to say that I was a little creeped out. Um, excuse me but are we standing on a volcano?

We drove up to Yellowstone lake. The views were fantastic.

notice the frost on his head

Driving into the park

Mist on the River

Old Faithful

So Cute!

This sort of freaked me out

Nice Hat

The water in this is so clear you can't tell it is there

My old faithful

Tomorrow we are headed out to Jackpot, Nevada. I think we are staying at a place called Cactus Pete's. Once again prayer would be appreciated!

Bathrooms at Little Big Horn

Mark and I visited the Little Big Horn Battlefield today. I had to use the facilities while there and as I was so occupied I started thinking how wierd it was to be tinkling in such a hallowed place. Such is the turn of my mind.
Anyway, the battlefield was awe inspiring. The ranger gave a really good talk about the battle and events leading up to it. Me, I am on the Native American's side. I mean after all there you are chewing the buffalo fat with your buddies (about 8,000 of them) and there on the hill is this blonde haired, white guy waving a pistol and telling his 200 or so troops to have thier way with you. Seriously Dude, your going to be that way? Okeedokee. Obviously Custer overestimated his fire power and underestimated the Indians "Oh, no you didn't.
All kidding aside the area is absolutely breathtaking and there is a pressure there that is unmistakable. Voices still call to each other and death chants still resonate. The grave markers are not all together like in a cemetery but placed where the person fell. White for the soldiers and red for Indians (irony there?) The actual site of Custer's "Last Stand"  on the side of a hill, scattered with the forty or so grave markers (including his) really makes an impression.
Here are a few pictures:

Indian Encampment

Custer's last stand

Grave markers

Proof that he is still with me

And we there yet ??? Are we there yet?

So we decide we are going to go to a lake. We settled on Deerfield lake near the town of Deerfield. It would not come up on the GPS (gee Lori, what was your first indication that this place was in the middle of nowhere?) Miles of gravel road later we found Deerfield lake in the Blackhills. It was worth the trip. I have not heard that kind of quiet since I had kids. We hiked around for awhile and then decided that we may want to eat again sometime so we headed back. On the way through the rolling hills we spotted a herd of about 15 female antelope (I don't know what they are called) and one really large buck. He had it good. I have noticed that on the fences the ranchers place bird houses every so often. I have no idea why but it looks cool. We saw a log cabin tucked back in some trees (did I mention there are a lot of trees?) so I made Mark stop to take a picture (he didn't mind, the guy takes pictures of bugs).We passed a lovely babbling brook (always wanted to say that) and finally made it back to the clubhouse. All in all a good day!