Day 9: Great Falls, MT

Today started out wet and cool. We drove from Bozeman, MT to Great Falls, MT via Helena. Along the way, we stopped at the state capital building. Closer to Great Falls, we partook of many Lewis and Clark stopping points. The first one was Tower Rock, which was the marker between the plains and the start of the Rocky Mountains. Next, we stopped at First People’s Buffalo Jump. This is the longest buffalo jumps that the Indians used to kill buffalo off the side of a cliff. The jump itself was over a mile long and up to 65 feet high. In Great Falls, we stopped at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Trail Center. It was very similar to the trail center in Casper, WY, but it covered the Lewis and Clark expedition only.


From the trail center, we walked along the Missouri River path to the shortest river in the world, the Roe River. The river measures 201 feet in length. It just so happens to flow into the longest river in the US, the Missouri River, which spans 2,540 miles. This is actually 200 miles longer than the Mississippi River. The Roe River was certified the shortest river in the world by the Guinness Book this year. It starts from Giant Springs, which is one of the largest freshwater springs in the world. Below is a picture of the springs with the 1st half of the Roe River flowing from it.

Other than laundry, that’s our day in a nutshell. Tomorrow we’re off to the Grizzly Festival in Dupuyer, MT and Glacier National Park. Therefore, the next post may be delayed a few days because we’ve come to find out that most National Parks lack modern conveniences, which is the whole point of going there in the first place.

Days 7 and 8: Yellowstone National Park

On Wednesday morning, we woke up bright and early to try and beat the crowds to Yellowstone. However, we were hindered by road construction, so we arrived later than expected.

Our first impression of the area made us feel as if we were in pre-historic times, and a dinosaur was about to come around the corner. Our first stop was at Old Faithful. We ate breakfast at the Old Faithful Inn. We also watched Old Faithful erupt. After the eruption, we drove the lower loop of Yellowstone. Our favorite section was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone which had breathtaking views, similar to its cousin in Arizona.



One of our last stops of the day was at the Mud Volcano. As with all the other attractions in Yellowstone, there was a huge crowd. Luckily, we found a parking spot and started walking on the sidewalk which looped through the mud volcanoes. The walk was about 3/4 mile long on a heavily-traveled, paved path. As we were walking along, we noticed bison footprints and excrement close to the path and around the volcanoes. As we were coming to the last leg of the loop, we saw a girl running down the path with her camera. We were headed that way anyway, so we continued walking down the path to where the girl had ran. As we rounded a hill, we were greeted by the sight of 4 bison approaching us from below. If we could've turned around without them noticing us, we would've. However, it was too late. We decided to slowly walk another 15 feet to where a group of 4 guys were standing on the path. At this point, the bison were about 20 feet away from us. We also realized that the animals' path was only about 5-10 feet from our paved route. We had just watched a movie at the Visitor Center about an attack by a bison on a little girl. It was amazing how fast the bison ran and how far it flung the girl. This was going through our heads the whole time. We stood as still as possible and avoided eye contact. (Of course, Jeremy had to take the camera from Marissa and start taking pictures as the bison passed.) The pictures below show the bison coming up from near the road, and one of the bison as it passed us. These pictures are NOT zoomed in! After a few tense moments, the bison finally passed, and the 6 of us made our way to safety. One of the guys we were walking with told us that someone had been killed 2 weeks ago when a bison gored him. It happens to be mating season, and they are especially hostile right now. At the end of the paved loop, we saw a warning sign mentioning the bison and their propensity to gore people at 30 mph! We wish they would've had a sign at the beginning of the loop.






After getting our heart rates up, we decided to check into the Lake Lodge Cabins. This was on Yellowstone Lake. (Today's nature lesson: Yellowstone Lake is the largest high altitude lake in the US.)



Today, we spent about 10 hours on the road. Most of this was scenic driving. Our first stop was Mammoth Hot Springs. On the way there, we saw a black bear foraging in the woods. We tried to get a good picture, but there were too many trees in the way, and we weren't about to get out of the car after yesterday's event with the bison. Also along the way, we saw a wolf walking along a creek bed. Below is a picture of him (or her).





After Mammoth Hot Springs, we headed out of Yellowstone through the northeast entrance near Cooke City, MT. We decided to make a pit stop here because there would be no towns for about 3 hours afterward. The only restroom options available were port-a-potties (PP). We stopped at a gas station, and Marissa asked to use their restroom. They gave her a key to the locked PP. She went in, lifted the lid, and quickly came out gagging. It was completely full of excrement and the visual was not pretty. So, we walked across the street to some other PP's. This time Jeremy went in first. Jeremy had no problem using the urinal. He said, "It isn't bad in there." So, trusting him, Marissa went in and lifted this lid, and quickly came out not only because it was full but also there wasn't any TP. She went to the other 2 PP's. Same story.. gagging each time. Someone needs to actually empty those things occasionally! Normally, they aren't so bad.

After Cooke City, we drove the Beartooth Scenic Highway. This was a very pretty drive. There were a few waterfalls, lots of switchbacks, and gorgeous views of mountains in the distance. There was also a Forest Service Fire Tower that we walked up in order to get a better view of the area.



Coming off of Beartooth Highway, we made our way to I-90 in Montana. We drove through Livingston, MT, which was where the movie "A River Runs Through It" was filmed. Tonight, we're staying in Bozeman, MT. They happen to be having "Music on Main" festival, so we partook of that after supper.



Next up: Great Falls, MT (and laundry day!)

Days 4-6: Jackson, WY and Grand Teton National Park

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed to Grand Teton National Park to claim a campsite at the very popular Jenny Lake Campground. The campground usually fills before 9AM on most summer days. We arrived around 7:30 and waited in line for the ranger station to open at 8AM. The ranger told us we were in the wrong spot to reserve a tent camping site and that at that point, we may be out of luck on getting a campsite. We bee-lined to the campground and were lucky enough to find a site.

We then went back to Jackson, WY and ate lunch at The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. It was a historical building and seemed popular, but we don’t know the story on it. That afternoon we set up our tent and explored the Jenny Lake area. We were just going to walk down to the lake to take a peek at the scenery but ended up walking 7 miles around the lake. After working up an appetite, we splurged on some pizza. On the way to pizza, we saw a moose and its calf. That was pretty exciting!

We were planning on doing a 20 mile hike on Monday and Tuesday in the backcountry. The ranger told us that there was still snow on our route. We tried to fit all of our warm gear in our backpacks, but we couldn’t, so we abandoned that idea. Instead, we back to Jackson, WY for a little while. We also got to take showers which are now a luxury. It was very rainy and cold so we spent most of the day in our tent listening to rain and hail. It was very relaxing. During a break in the storm, we boiled water and ate some Ramen noodles for dinner.

On Tuesday, we woke up early and broke camp. Then we rode a ferry boat across Jenny Lake to the trailhead. We hiked 9 miles in the mountains past several waterfalls. We are so thankful that we went early in the day before the crowds came out. We stayed in Colter Bay Cabins and took a scenic boat cruise on Lake Jackson in the Park. We saw bald eagles on our voyage, which was very exciting.

We’re off to Yellowstone next!

Lesson for today: Do you know what is the number one reason for bald eagle deaths? Drowning. (Look it up if you want to know more. Hint: It has to do with their talons.)

Day 3: Casper, WY to Jackson Hole, WY (Mormon-Style)

Before we begin, we would like to thank today's sponsor, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (or LDS for those of you in the know)...

Last night's accommodations at the KOA were much less eventful. We were asleep before sundown and arose at dawn.

We had two route options for our trek to Jackson Hole. We decided on the more historical of the two. We followed the historical trails from yesterday's blog. Our first stop was at Independence Rock which was the most important monument along the trials. It was where settlers carved their names into a large rock as a registry. If the settlers made it to the rock by July 4, they were nearly guaranteed to make it to their destination before winter's storms struck.

Our next stop was definitely the most interesting part of the day. That occurred at the Martin's Cove and Devil's Gate. This stop also happened to be run by the LDS church. We were greeted by one of the Elders and his wife whom was referred to as "sister". We were looking forward to a five mile hike to Martin's Cove, however, the polite man wanted to describe everything in great detail about the Mormon Trail. Eventually, he allowed us passage and a handcart to pull along on the hike. About 1/4 mile down the trail, there was a little hut with LDS missionaries. They also had many stories to tell us and were very nice. We finally were able to proceed again with our cart. We made it about another 1.5 miles before another hut with missionaries. This time, however, there was a huge group of kids who were in the area, so we were able to bypass without stopping. We proceeded up the hill for another mile or so before we saw this lady peek around some bushes at us. It was a little creepy. We walked around the bushes and found another hut. This time they wanted us to sit down and chat. We politely told them that we had a long day's drive ahead and that were used to physical activity, so we really didn't need a break. We knew that if we sat in their chairs we would be there all day. While Elder Johnansen and Sister Johansen were telling us about the Mormon's arriving in Zion and spreading the word throughout Utah, Marissa heard their walkie-talkie broadcast about how many hikers were headed in a particular direction on the path. It was a little disturbing to know that our every move was being watched. We went back and our handcart and booked it down to starting point and politely bypassed the remaining Elders and Sisters. Our five-mile hike at a very minimal incline ended up taking about three hours due to all of the unplanned stops along the way.

By that we were hungry and thirsty, so it was time to think about lunch. If people think Kansas is desolate, try out eastern Wyoming. We were to the point where lunch at a gas station sounded gourmet, but there were no gas stations for at least 100 miles.

We passed the Grand Tetons on our way to Jackson, WY and are very excited to explore them in the coming days. We splurged on tonight's accommodations and are actually staying at a motel, The Jackson Hole Lodge. We also worked up an appetite with all of the cart-pulling and worries about fighting off religious conversion. We went to the Bar-J Chuckwagon Supper this evening. The food and entertainment were both exceptional.

We better let you go for now. Tomorrow morning we will rise early once again. We will head to Grand Teton National Park to try to get one of the few campsites around Jenny Lake. It's first-come-first-serve. Goodnight, y'all.

Days 1 and 2: The Adventure Begins (Cheyenne and Casper, WY)

We started our adventure on July 22nd as we pulled out of town mid-afternoon. We drove to Jeremy's parents' cabin in south-central Colorado and spent the night there. On the way there, we were greeted by this scene as we were pulling into the cabin.

We woke up on the 23rd and drove to Cheyenne, WY. We explored the town, but we were mostly there to check out Cheyenne Frontier Days. This year was the 113th year for event, and last night the festivities included Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler in concert. We enjoyed the concert with 20,000+ others. Even Jeremy, who is not a Country music fan, liked the concert.

Prior to the concert, we decided to check into our "campground." We pulled up to a ranch in the country in which the owners rented out slots under dwarf pine trees. These were the shaded tent sites. Needless to say, most of the people staying there went to the concert, and they all came back very late, very loud, and mostly drunk. Unfortunately, we did not get much sleep. (BTW: Did you know that roosters not only crow when the sun rises, but they also crow throughout the night? We learned this first-hand last night as the people noise quieted, and the animal noise increased.)

This morning, we woke up at first sunlight and packed our tent up. We ate breakfast at Little America Truck Stop and Resort. (We had seen this a few weeks prior on The Travel Channel.) After breakfast, we took off for Casper, WY. On the way, we passed through the metropolis of Buford, WY, the smallest town in the US with a population of 1.

We drove through Laramie, WY before heading north to Casper. The road between the two towns was very desolate. We saw several pronghorn antelope before later hearing that there are actually more antelope in Wyoming than there are humans.

We went to the National Heritage Trail Museum in Casper. The Oregon, California, Mormon, and Pony Express Trails all intersected in the Casper area.

Tonight (the 24th) we are staying at a KOA near Casper. We are hoping for a good night's sleep to make up for last night. We're off to Jackson Hole, WY tomorrow.

Prologue: Adventure Before THE Adventure

Welcome to our blog! We have started this blog to keep all of our friends and family up-to-date on our life's happenings. We hope you enjoy reading about our adventures.

I (Jeremy) am writing this sitting at a desk in a motel in Wichita. The past two weeks have been a crazy smorgasbord of stress, anxiety, and excitement. After finishing residency at the end of June, we started focusing on our transition to our next stage in life. We moved out of our apartment on July 4th. However, because today (July 16) is Marissa's last day of work, we have been sleeping on an air mattress in an empty apartment.

Prior to moving out of our apartment, we decided to take most of our breakable items to our new house. Therefore, on the Monday before our big move, we loaded Tinkerbell, our Ford Explorer, and Marissa headed west. When Marissa was about 30-45 minutes west of Wichita, Tink's check engine light came on, and the car started shaking violently. Luckily, she was within 6 miles of Cheney, KS, where there happened to be a Ford dealership. So, she drove Tink at a slow pace to the dealership to find out what was going on. After a diagnostic test was done, Tink was officially pronounced dead. Not only did we have our move to worry about, but we now had to worry about finding a replacement vehicle as Tink was going to be our ride for our big adventure to the western US.

We returned to our empty apartment after we moved over the 4th of July weekend. Marissa had to work on Monday, so I began the process of calling around for the best deal on a new vehicle. We had an idea in mind as to what we wanted. I made calls to most Honda dealers in Kansas and in northern Oklahoma. Surprisingly, the best deal we found was in Bartlesville, OK. So, on Tuesday, we made a road trip to Bartlesville to buy a Honda Pilot. Because he is a Pilot, we affectionately named him Captain. (Our cars started having names about 3 years ago when the first "Transformers" movie came out. It's only appropriate to give a proper name to something that keeps you protected, right?) Whew! All of our troubles were solved. Or were they just beginning?

The next night, we decided to test out the new speakers of Cap by going to the drive-in movie. This would be the evening of July 8. As most Wichitians know, this was the night of the huge, surprise hail storm that blew through the city. The drive-in manager reported that a severe storm was heading our way, so we jetted out of the parking lot, hoping to beat the storm. We did not. We made it to I-135 and Pawnee before the big hail started. We pulled into a residential neighborhood that had lots of large trees, hoping they would help block some of the hail. Here's the radar signature from that storm:
The whites and purples in the image are the largest hail. This measured baseball to softball size. Luckily, we were "only" in the red area. Therefore, our hail was only about golf ball to tennis ball size. Needless to say, our new vehicle now looks like a golf ball on wheels. I guess it could be worse. None of our windows were broken, and we were safe.

Our pre-adventure doesn't stop there. We decided to take Cap our for a spin since he had been garaged for a few days after the storm. As we were were driving down the main road in Andover, a police man came up behind us and turned on its emergency lights. I quickly pulled Cap over, wondering what was going on. Surely one of the tail lights wasn't busted from the storm. I definitely wasn't speeding. The cop came up to the window and proceeded to tell me that our temporary license plate had expired. "What!?" I exclaimed. I told him we bought it 3 days ago in Bartlesville. He looked at the tag again, and he apologized for pulling me over. Apparently, in Oklahoma, they print the day that the vehicle is purchased on their temporary tags. In Kansas, they write down the day the tags expire.

And that leads us to now. On top of all these stressful and exciting events, we have experienced many Wichita "lasts." We said good-bye to our Sunday School class and our church on Sunday, we ate at our favorite Mexican food restaurant in Wichita for the last time, I ran my 3-mile route and my 4-mile routes for the last time, and I saw one last movie at the Warren before heading west for good. Needless to say, we will come back for the occasional weekend, but it won't be the same as living here for the past three years.

The next week looks to be busy as we prepare for our 6-week road trip to the American West. We hope you continue to follow us as we begin our journey and have the experience of a lifetime.