Yellowstone National Park

Today we made our first venture into Yellowstone National Park using our America the Beautiful Annual Pass which we purchased at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge one year ago today. Support the National Park System by getting your own America the Beautiful Annual Pass for only $80.

Doug holds up his pass for everyone to see.

Yellowstone National Park is the 13th largest National Park by area and the 5th most-visited National Park.

Marlon points in the general direction of the nearest bear...pictures to follow soon hopefully.
Wildfires swept through portions of Yellowstone in 1988.
An elk searches for some tasty grass...

while a friend lounges nearby.

Next we found some bison.

This professional model took some time to give us a great profile shot...

as did this big guy.

Many elk bask in the sun beyond the stream.

Strolling down the highway.

This bison wasn't inebriated...he had no problem walking the line.

Portions of the park are still closed to humans in order to allow bears access to snow-free vegetation during the spring.

Thermal pool runoff fills many streams throughout the park.

Steam vents fill the air.

Spectators await showtime at Yellowstone's most famous geyser, Old Faithful.

Old Faithful erupts, on average, every 90 minutes.

This hot tub looks inviting on a cold winter day, but looks are deceiving. Has anyone seen "Dante's Peak"? Don't go in the water!

This one doesn't appear to be quite as warm.

Icicles prepare to bludgeon unsuspecting passersby.

Even geese can be found among the wildlife here at Yellowstone...

and they messy up the landscape here worse than at any city park we've ever seen.

Of course it was probably with the help of these guys, who held us up as we were leaving. They were NOT going the posted speed limit.

Catch some wildlife and geyser action...watch this video.

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Fort Jax RV Park, West Yellowstone, Montana

Here we are settled into our site at Fort Jax RV Park. Later this week we will have neighbors on both sides.

We will need to visit the laundry this evening to catch up on our big piles of dirty clothes. Our journey from Kansas City has been too cold to hook up to water to do the laundry in the motorhome and it would take forever to catch up now. Time to dig out the quarters!

Took a drive around town. We were told last year at this time about 30 inches of snow was on the ground. So while it seems bad to us as we've been away from Colorado awhile, it's much better than it might have been.

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Highway 191 to West Yellowstone, MT

Driving Highway 191 south from Bozeman to West Yellowstone reminds us of the drive up Golden Gate Canyon from Golden to Blackhawk, Colorado...except it's about 90 miles compared to only 15.

Marlon was only driving about this fast.

Good thing there was no traffic while he was taking the pictures. Doug was following behind the motorhome in the Santa Fe. We decided it would be a more practical vehicle this summer than the Cobalt.

Highway 191 enters the very edge of Yellowstone National Park.

After the long ride down Highway 191, these two were very tired.

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Rapid City, SD to Billings, MT

Today we left Rapid City and headed for our next stop---Billings, Montana.

Just a short drive from Rapid City is the infamous town of Sturgis which becomes a wild and crazy place for one week in August every year...

followed by about a two-hour drive through the northeast corner of Wyoming.

There were some beautiful clouds along the way.

Chatfield tried to get Pedra to look but she wasn't interested.

Wimpy Doug puts on his coat to set up camp in Billings, Montana.
Despite the pleasant image its name may convey, Trailer Village RV Park was a very nice campground.

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Today We Lost a Family Member and a Friend

Today we lost a very special friend of nearly 16 years when Sammy passed away.

Marlon rescued Sammy from an animal shelter in St. Joseph, Missouri as a kitten. Within a few months, Marlon and Sammy moved to Raytown, Missouri.

There Sammy met her new friend, Gypsy.

Sammy liked visiting the outdoors.

Sammy and Gypsy learned how to eat out of plastic bowls...back then we apparently couldn't afford actual cat dishes.

Sammy enjoyed lounging around on the couch in the downstairs family room.

Then everyone moved to Colorado and soon lived in a house.

And Sammy loved to sit by the upstairs railing looking down on the rest of the house.

Sammy always posed like a model with her right paw extended like this.

In 2002, when Sammy was 9 years old, all of a sudden she stopped eating. Suffering from fatty liver, she had a tube inserted into her stomach so that we could feed her through it until she got better.

And six months later, Sammy WAS better. Thank you to Deer Creek Animal Hospital in Littleton, Colorado and especially Dr. Markee Kuschel.

She always liked to rub against her gargoyle on top of the fireplace.

Sammy loved it when we got a paper shredder.

She could enjoy herself for hours with a single strip of paper.

Here's a video of her having fun with paper.
Sammy loved to sleep above Marlon's head when he was napping.

She loved playing in boxes before they went in the trash.

Sammy always worshiped the sun.

She trusted Marlon and always looked like an acrobat on his arm.

Here she is practicing sun worship again.

Sammy always loved lying in a warm pile of laundry.

Sammy and her new buddy, Chatfield, began their RV adventure a little over a year ago and we hope she enjoyed it. Because we really enjoyed having her with us.

To see Sammy featured in our blog, type her name in the blogger search box at the top of the screen.

Dedicated to Sammy...we miss you.

To be continued...