Oh, Kansas

 Emporia, Kansas, well what can I say. In the outskirts, we found an old jail, and in town, a very nice Mexican restaurant, Casas Ranchos. The campground was the noisiest ever, but the metal birds hanging in the restaurant were spectacular and made in Mexico;  we asked. This location is near the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge (where we saw a scissor-tailed flycatcher) and the Tall Grass Prairie National Preserve ( post to follow ).

Heading East....Wyoming to to Kansas

Sinclair

Leaving Wyoming took hours. Vast expanses of sagebrush hills, pronghorns, oil derricks and more sagebrush hills. Along the Platte River again, we made it from Cheyenne, WY to Kearney, NE (again) on I 70, a long hard day to a noisey campground, but we were committed to stay in a hotel the next night  in Manhattan, KS. It was wonderful! Here we had entered the area of the Flint Hills. We had read about this place and the new education center in Manhattan that might help us find a way to experience it.

Grazing on the prairie

South Pass City, gold rush town

 On the way to South Pass, the road across the continental divide at the base of the rockies, we visited an abandoned gold rush town and viewed Red Canyon.  These are just awesome landscapes. The remnants of the old towns were reminiscent of movies we have seen. However, there was a nice Airstream trailer parked on the street in South Pass City! You just never know what you will find when you go down these roads...

abandoned gold mine

Lander and the Oregon Trail

From Lander WY we were able to make a day trip to find the Oregon Trail. Also known as the Mormon Trail, the California Trail and the Pony Express Trail, we could see in the distance (top center) where the wagons had been based on the interpretive signs at the site. We imagined that we were on the actual place where these early travelers had been, but after so many years and so much land use change, we could not be certain.

Grand Teton National Park and Jackson, WY

View of Jackson from Targhee pass

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Ranching in Jackson

 Outside the park we drove around to get different views of the area. Rt 22 goes up one mountain and down into Idaho. We stopped for lunch at the top of the pass and had lunch, looking out over Jackson. Before we entered the park we took a side road by some horse ranches.  The prices on these places in the real estate section of the papers are out of this world. The price to be in this valley surrounded by the towering mountains is beyond reach for most people. The private jets flying into and out of the Jackson Airport tell the tale.

The expansive views and sense of space is so vast and unfamiliar. The weather can be seen for miles away. Vermont seems confined compared to the west. The flip side of this is that there are so many miles between one place and another, and gas prices are quite high.

Going into the park was a treat, not crowded at first. With only a few trails open and most still snow covered, the walking was limited. These pictures are in the park around Jenny lake, the clearest lake I have every seen. I remember it from 15 yrs ago. We also remembered the Snake River Brewing company as a small place, but we got the Tee shirts then, and we did it again. Only this time they had expanded into a multi-leveled, indoor/outdoor restaurant with a huge tank outside covered with stickers from everywhere in the world, including Mad River Glen, VT!

From the Jenny Lake trail

Jenny Lake

Last night at Snake River Brewing

Yellowstone Geyser Basins are out of this world!

Yellowstone day3

Soda Butte

We spent most of the day  looking for anything interesting that we had not seen before. The best spots were already occupied when we arrived. These are people on tours, or just crazy about wolves, or wolf nerds. We did actually see a wolf on our first day, so we sort of checked that box, however, another opportunity to see or hear them led us down the Lamar valley which did not disappoint. When people gather, you stop and someone will gladly tell you  what is being seen, in this case a grizzly sow and two yearling cups. We had a good look with our scopes, but no photos. You have to imagine it!..

Along the road we passed Soda Butte, ancient hot spring that now only gives off the hydrogen sulfide gases, no waters.  Along the way back to Mammoth Hot Springs we discovered some yellow flowers and the Yellowstone River .


The valley is high rock walls of tan, yellow and even blue, was so far down below the lookout that even John didn't  want to look down. When we stopped, we were under a huge cliff of the basaltic rocks which hung over us.  I made a couple of videos of the river below, rushing through the valley --you can look at them here...Yellowstone River video and here Another Yellowstone River video

Week Two-- we reach Yellowstone

juvenile sand hill cranes

 After the two bison met us head on just past the East entrance, these sand hill cranes were seen when we reached Yellowstone Lake, (still iced over).

first bison

Where the grass was greening up, the bison are there.




A grizzlie grazing was a real surprise.

The landscape is overwhelming. Bison grazing in the distance remind us of the environments of days gone by, but it's today!

gorgeous views begin

T 

A day in Broken Bow

Along with a visit to the tourist info center, laundromat, grocery and farm/home center, we thought we would drive around the area and see a feedlot. Here is what Wikipedia says..

Feed lot
Nebraska's largest cattle feedlot, the Adams Land and Cattle south lot, with a capacity of 85,000 head, is located 2 miles south of Broken Bow. In the past, some locals have feared the potential of environmental damage from the feedlot, but the state's environmental agency has found the company in compliance with state standards.

I know that even though they are in compliance, whatever that means, I will never forget what I saw and smelled here today.   Feast your eyes on this....

I kept thinking as we drove by acres and acres of open grassland that the 80,000+ head held captive would be better off grazing and that people would be better off if they did, too.

Yellowstone Trip, week one

Our journey began the morning of May 5, 2014 just after breakfast. By the time we got onto the hard road, closets and cupboards had emptied with the bouncing our Brownington dirt roads. Off to a great start!! We are better at packing and latching now.

First night in western NY, by a river
we started the experience of camping in our new Airstream.
Travel along I 80 is not remarkable other than to say.....TRUCKS and tension.

Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, more of the same. Getting flatter and  more agricultural. Wind mills and trains start to take over the views. We did meet a nice couple at the Lake Erie campsite, traveling for 3 months all over the US before returning to Montreal. We hope to connect with them again some day.

sand hill crane juv, web pic

On to Nebraska, destination Kearney, home of Cabellas. The Platte River in this region is remarkable, a braided river, never seen in the East before. From the shore at the Rowe Audubon Sanctuary nearby, we observed new birds, but unfortunately the Sand Hill Cranes had come and gone in late March. Two juvenile birds were seen on a golf course somewhere on I80 one day, so that will have to do.

Our new friends travel in a Sprinter Van. We had tour and envied the space and comfort. Our Airstream is doing well for us, no complaints.

Lake Erie sunset 

Currently we are in Broken Bow, Nebraska, stuck as it  were, due to the snow predicted for eastern Wyoming, right on our travel route. Not what we prepared for, no snow tires. It is one of the new weather events that are becoming so familiar with the New Normal weather of country. And so we stay put and explore this cattle belt, bible belt, corn belt, you name it. With any luck we can venture out monday, one week after departure and make it to Yellowstone in a couple of days.

Platte River in Nebraska