text: The Grand Tetons and Badlands - 2010 : rburke8
  By this Author: rburke8
  Grand Tetons to Cheyenne, WY
  08.16.2010 - 08.16.2010 78 °F
  Well we left the Tetons around 7:45 AM (MST) and headed southeast to Cheyenne, WY. A distance of 413 miles. I will tell that without a doubt the biggest expense on this trip is the fuel. We are getting about 13 miles per gallon and so far have traveled 3600 plus miles. The average cost of fuel is around $2.76. You can do the math. It adds up really quickly and is not over yet.
  We arrived at our stopover (F.E. Warren Air Force Base) at around 4:30 P.M. (MST) and got our camper setup just in time before a thunderstorm hit big time. This storm has been chasing us since Rawlings, WY. This is actually the first rain we have seen during the day since leaving Dryden on July 31st. We have been very lucky. We've had rain during the night on 2 occassions. The first was in Dayton, OH. That night a extreme thunderstorm surprized us during the night with a lightening show to beat the band. My wife, the lovely Diane, was scared, so scared she jumped out of our little bed and went to stand over by the bathroom door. A total distance of about 6 feet away from the bed. I was laughing so hard looking at her and wondering what the difference 6 feet was going to do if a lighening bolt had stuck our bed. She evens laughs about now, but then it wasn't funny for her at all. Just one of the little stories that happened on our trip.
  The trip today started with a disappearing view of the Grand Tetons and took us through the Wind River Canyon again, but then turn us down Rt 287 (WY) which is the Chief Washaki Trail. This road takes us through the Wind River reservation and is the seventh largest indian reservation consisting 2.2 million acres and is the home of Eastern Shoshone & Northern Arapaho Indians. The view is of rolling hills, some mountains, but virtually no trees. The land is covered with scrub grass and priare grasses. Once we reached Rawlings, WY the ground flatten out and you could see for miles and miles. We have been told that our trip tomorrow will be basically flat all the way to Omaha, NE. There we will begin to see dairy lands with cows grazing.
  Today we had a black black cross our road in the Wind River Canyon and a few miles down the road we saw a Momma bear and 2 cubs playing out in the field.
  I will post a few last pictures of the Grand tetons and some of the trip today.
  Posted by rburke8 16:59 Archived in USA Tagged family_travel Comments (0)
  A Down day and reflections
  08.15.2010 - 08.15.2010 55 °F
  Today, Sunday, we are taking it easy. We have no plans of siteseeing, at least not at this point. Maybe later we will take a ride up to see a different part of the park. For now we are in the laundermat taking care of our clothes and getting ready to head back home. It's so much easier to load clothes in the camper when they are clean and folded.
  Tomorrow, we decided, to head south to Cheyenne, WY and stay at the Air Force base there. It's about 413 miles from the Grand Tetons and will take around 7-8 hours to get there. After a nights stay we will turn east on Rt. 80 and head towards home. Right now we are expecting to arrive at our Son's house in Canadaiqua on Friday. We not going to push as hard to get home as we did to get out here. We will stay the night at Michael's so that we can visit with our grand-daughter whom we miss a lot.
  So far this has been a fantastic vacation. We have seen more then ever before. Sights that have been burned into our memories that will last a lifetime. This country we live in is so broad, so vast with plenty of expansion room. The various landscapes that I have posted are so interesting. I would have never expected to see the different hills and mountains that we have witnessed on this trip. I can only imagine what we might encounter on the way home. Let's not leave out the different wildlife we've also seen. They have been pretty awsome as well.
  I am now looking even more to the time that Diane and I can become "full-time" RV'rs. Then we can travel and see the rest of this country in the style we so enjoy. The best part about RVing is that you meet the most interesting people from all over the country. To add to that statment, you also learn new tips on RVing which make the RV life so much better. We have seen many different styles of RV's and I have come to the conclusion that the best rig is a 5th wheel. Some 5th wheels we have seen are almost as big as my home. A 5th wheel can also come with a garage in the back where we would be able to store our motorcycles. Perfect answer to travelling our the country.
  Sorry, no pictures today. I will wait until the demand for pictures of a laundermat increases.
  Posted by rburke8 08:29 Archived in USA Tagged family_travel Comments (1)
  Posted by rburke8 17:11 Archived in USA Tagged family_travel Comments (0)
  Posted by rburke8 12:29 Archived in USA Tagged family_travel Comments (0)
  Jackson Hole, WY and Jenny lake
  08.11.2010 - 08.12.2010 60 °F
  As you figured out by now I got back way too late last night to write about the days adventures. So I need to catch you up.
  Yesterday we spent the entire day (except for a bit over an hour) in Jackson Hole. The town is actually called Jackson, but because back in the days of the pioneers the valley was called a hole and that is how the name Jackson Hole came to be. The town is named after a trapper named David Jackson. The town is a real resort town that caters to the folks that travel to the Grand Tetons during the summer months and to the people who travel to Jackson Hole for the winter activites that the town provides. It is full of t-shirt shops, curio shops and art galleries. You can literally walk out of one shop, turn right, walk about 20-25 feet, turn right and enter another shop. In my opinion the art galleries cater to the well-to-do becuase this town is really set up for people with money. Most things are very costly. We didn't check out the hotels but I am sure that the prices are expensive. During the summer I am sure that the shops lower their prices so that they can make money off the tourists that are there for the scenery and not the skiing and nightlife.
  We did take a ride over the Teton Pass and entered Idaho. Diane thought we would get a different view of the Grand Tetons from that side. However, the buttes were is the way. We only got a small glimpse of them.
  After that we decided to take a "Covered Wagon" ride that included dinner. The wagons were pulled by 2 draft horses that can weigh up to 2000 lbs and are extremely strong. They are very gentle creatures but we were warned not to get close to them because if one stepped on your foot it would hurt a great deal for several weeks. The ride was enjoyable going about 2 miles into a canyon were they had a setup to serve meals out of a "dutch" oven. We had chicken, roast beef, corn on the cob and beans. The meal was actually very good. After dinner we were entertained by a group which sang country songs and play acted gags which had us laughing. Diane even got into the act. You will have to see the video. By the time we rode the wagons back to our start point and drove the 35 miles back to the Grand Tetons National Park we were both very tired and went quickly to sleep.
  Today we slept in as bit (7:30) and really just took our time getting moving. We really didn't have any plans for the day. At 9:00 A.M. (our time) we tried to webcam with Michael so we could see our grand daughter. That didn't work out so well. Our internet connection is slow and voice over ip didn't work well. So after trying for 1.5. hours we gave up and moved on to some more sightseeing.
  We drove up to Jenny Lake with the idea of taking the boat across to the base of the Tetons, but the weather here today was calling for heavy rain and winds. In fact it started to rain just as we got to Jenny Lake (a distance of 20 miles) but the rain didn't last very long. Even still we choose not to go across the lake in fear that we would get caught in a rainstorm. The temperature today is cool, not reaching much up to 60-65. This morning we needed sweatshirts and jackets. Saturday morning the temps are suppose to be in the 30s. Brrrrrr!
  Tomorrow we are takng our 4 hour float trip down the Snake river with a guide. Suppose to be warmer. It's a morning float so that we can see the wildlife that is out in the mornings. Speaking of wildlife, we almost hit a mule deer last night that decided he wanted to cross the road in front of us. Missed him by only a foot.