Reflections on the Road to Mount Rushmore.

Up early and on the road to Rushmore. A several hour drive. Eight if I remember right.

Dubois, WY is an old western town that was modernized. I’m liking this state.

Traveling Southeast across Wyoming towards Casper where Lena lives. No trees. Wide open. Really want to look at a starry night in big sky country.

Listening to music and reflecting. The past me and the now me. The amalgamation of people’s influence and experiences on a person. Getting to the bottom of me, becoming me.
The procession of trauma from my godson, Noah’s death. That feels like another lifetime ago almost.

Check engine light popped up on Daniels truck again. OnStar is running diagnostics. Haven’t heard back from them yet. Everything is broken yet the truck runs.
The suspicion is the truck's hard shifting on cruise control while pulling a camper the size of a small mobile home.

We stopped at a peaceful but crowded campground. No idea what we’re doing tomorrow.

The plan is to pack light and leaving after we see Rushmore. Joey will bring the rest to Jacksonville if necessary, if they don’t meet up with us in Oklahoma.

Taking in the stars. Finally getting to see the Milky Way. Looking at it through the binoculars and I can see even more stars. Reminds me of Psalm 147:4, “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.”

If only my camera could catch that beauty.

Invading the Grand Tetons and the Top of the World

Woke up to the kids being awake. Talking about ghosts and hackers. The stories about hackers sound like something conspiracy minded adults would come up with.

Casey’s going with meon the hike. I’m going to stop at the store for grizzly info. May get the spray. Casey said it’s not important.
Considering the size of that bear....

Carrying Daniel’s pistol. The revolver. Haven’t carried a pistol in 6 years. Doesn’t feel to unusual.

Ground squirrels everywhere.

Didn’t get to far and seen a mama moose. She was moving quick, and right behind her were two calves. Couldn’t do a binocular shot.
Got a blurry picture. Started trying to flank her because I dang sure didn’t want to surprise her. Especially with calves

Snake River by Camp

We got called back before we got very far. Less than a mile.
It was slow because it wasn’t like a normal hike. More like a hunt where I would feel better with my .308 than a .45 Long Colt.
Usual where I usually go I’m the apex predator.
Not here. Even the herbivores are very dangerous.
Still very relaxing, either way.

Going into the Grand Tetons around Jenny Lake. On the way a big black bear just went off the road. Neither Joey or I were fast enough to get that picture

Jenny Lake overlook is so peaceful. Lots of normal pictures and through the binoculars. The other shore is a mile across but doesn’t look it.

Grand Tetons

Jenny Lake

Snowmelt Waterfalls

Going on the tram at a Jackson Hole resort called Teton Village.

That was amazing. So many pictures and videos. Insane. 10,450 feet up in the air. Only been that high in a plane. So cold too. When we got to the top we saw other tourists in jackets, shivering. Definitely weren’t prepared for that today.
All of Casey’s pictures have her shivering. You'll see in the video.

Back at camp and packing for the ride to Mount Rushmore tomorrow. Today was definitely my favorite.

So Many Animals! So Fluffy!

Finally had a brief moment of cell service. FitBit was running again and I was reaching out to mom and RussKee to let them know we’re safe.

Today’s was full. A animal bonanza. First was West Thumb, with a sign about bears and a great view.
Followed by a stop at Yellowstone River. Still not used to a river running “backwards”.

More Geyser stuff like the Dragon’s Mouth and Mud Volcano. The Mouth has a rumble to it.

Rolling through Hayden Valley. Bison everywhere. A small dot moving but we can’t stop. I glass it and it appears to be a bear. Black I think.
We finally stop and glass the whole valley. Surprising amount of life.

We make it to Artist’s Point on the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. 

It’s impossibly deep. John says it’s hard to imagine the Grand Canyon is deeper.
Right. Got a lot of pictures, and had to endure a lot of Casey’s pictures. 

Trails were closed so we couldn’t go to the lower falls.

Finally figured out these black birds that are hanging around are not crows but ravens. I thought they were to big to be a crow. 

We stopped at Canyon Village.
While at its gas station, we saw a couple of ambulances drive in. Then leave. No idea what happened there. Down the road a lot of people were out looking at something.
Joey, me and Dustin walked down there. Not smart if it’s a bear.
Bull elk.

Passing beautiful country on the way to Mammoth Springs. Stopped at one canyon with a layered rock that was interesting. It was straight with grooves that looked like it had been scooped out. 

I forgot who saw them first but there were mountain goats walking on the incredibly steep sides.
I used my binoculars as a zoom lens.

We’re passing one area with people hiking when Daniel and me notice a grizzly in the middle of them running away.
They’re within 10 feet, taking pictures.
Daniel yelled Bear and a few ran. I got one blurry picture from the truck.

Mammoth Springs was interesting. It’s in beautiful country.

Seen so many elk and bison it’s actually getting boring.

Black bear has traffic stopped. Me and Dustin contribute to the jam by jumping out and getting pictures.

Coyote or fox (I think fox) darts across the road with a rodent in its jaws. I try to get a picture but it’s blurry.

Another traffic jam. I’m trying to find what everyone is looking at before we arrive. It’s not till we get there I see a small grizzly in the woods. I know there are some big ones here but I’m not seeing any in Yellowstone.

Dustin took this one

Almost to camp, I’m looking in the burned out forest, thinking about making the same loop Joey, Lillian and Miranda and John hiked that morning.
That’s when I spot a huge grizzly.
Bear! Bear! Big Bear!

I grab and drop my binoculars because this foolishness will have to happen fast. I bolt from the truck, leaving the door open in case I have to run back.
Silently running to where Dustin and Georgia are. We’re shooting pictures, video, Casey runs up, I do shots with her better camera. 

Dustin took this and the middle one. His Samsung camera is better than my iPhone 7's

Then I watch the beast tear open logs for grubs as more people stop to get pictures.
Daniel is freaking out, telling us to come back.
Then the bear turns towards the road.
We beat feet back to the vehicles.
I’m at the truck watching through binoculars.
Can’t wait to tell John about this.

Show John the video. He gasps.
I grin, saying, "You walked through there this morning."
It did change my plans a bit. I’m not going through that area. I’ll stick to the river. Where Bears also hang out...

A recurring thought today was God’s an artist

Elk, Bison and Geysers

We saw elk on the way to Old Faithful. While I was taping, one walked across the road. It headed to where Casey was throwing up in the trees. She was carsick. It was sorta funny that she had no clue an elk was 20 feet away from her.

The geysers were all you can imagine. Saw some type of varmints. Maybe prairie dogs. 

We tried to see as much as possible but still probably only saw half of it.

Group separated. One hiking. One looking for critters. I was in the critter bunch. Saw a bison. We got too close for my father-in-law's comfort to it.

My father-in-law hurt himself. I broke out my medical kit to patch up the gouge in his leg. His blood thinners made him bleed a lot.

Thought about a hike. Except I’d be alone and Bears. Not the best practices. Because bears. 

Joey took the kids to the river. Dustin and me tagged along. Saw ground squirrels and a mule deer. Which is surprising considering how loud the kids were. 

Though making a lot of noise is a bear safety tip. It warns them that you're coming so they leave...you hope.

Got a bit windburnt in the mountains today.

It’s nice to have no interruptions from the phone but my pessimism was wondering if something is wrong and I can’t be reached.

We Have Arrived At Yellowstone

Breakfast at the hotel was good. Joey threw me under the bus, saying I was egging on the girls last night. Playing along with them and their dolls. By playing I mean beating up the dude from Frozen. I forgot his name. Roloff?
I have a hard time ignoring kids.

These mountains are beautiful. Snowing now as we enter Wyoming. Wind moving fast. Before we arrived in Wyoming we stopped at a rest area and almost froze to death. It was snowing. In late June.

I'm from the South. I usually don't see snow in the winter.

As soon as we crossed into the mountains you can see and feel the difference in temperatures and weather

Beautiful shots. Stopped for gas and it’s warm again. Mountains here are weird. Have seen so many pronghorn and an 11,000 foot snow capped mountain.

John learned their are 600 grizzly in there and he’s freaking out. Looking for bear spray.

In the Bridger-Tetons. Gorgeous. So many pictures.

Whoa! Grizzly bear. Buncha idiot tourists taking its picture and its 50 yards away. Still...impressive cool

Now I’m a idiot tourist walking up. It would not be the first stupid thing I’ll do this week.

Wow. Seen mule deer. A moose. Got to the camp and looking around, crowded but plenty of amenities. No cell service though.

Got lots of pictures of Jenny Lake I think and the Tetons, which is where the book I’m reading is based. Deliberately chosen. Westerns are better read if you've been there and have a point reference.

Starting the Trek To Yellowstone

Road trips can be dreadfully boring when you’re not driving. In fact I’m writing this while riding back to where our car is in Oklahoma.

It makes me wish Blogger had an app like WordPress does. *hint-hint*

With all the time on my hands I read and looked at the scenery. Except for Kansas, it got boring quick.

On the way to Denver, I tried to help John, my brother-in-law, with some Bluetooth head phones. Bonding. To their credit and not so much mine, they try to include me. That’s how I make friends since I’m an awkward social moth.

I need to be more of an includer.

I learned useless trivia makes the kids happy. Particularly Maximus who’s nerdy like me. Thanks books!

The boys and girls switched cars. I’ve been abused more by the girls in the first 10 minutes than the whole 379 miles with the boys.

Kansas is cold and windy in the middle of it.

Colorado is so open that cows that should be close look tiny and far. I guess because of the topography.

The clouds looks lower. Maybe because we’re higher. Still don’t see the Rockies. Just this awesome store cloud.

There the mountains are.

We’ve gotten ourselves into a pickle. Big camper and a crowded hotel parking lot. The fact my father-in-law hasn’t hit anyone is a testament of his driving skills.

After checking in we went to Denny’s. Walked with my other brother-in-law. You can tell pot is legal. It wafts through the air. Rude.

They can toke, but I don’t want to deal with the second-hand smoke in public. Kinda like public intoxication.

Colorado is cold! Definitely didn’t choose well for the trip as far as clothes are concerned. We left 90s and rolled into the 50s with the wind.