South on Hwy 89 from Page, Arizona

I wanted to stop in Page for a few days and visit Antelope Canyon, but when I called the only two campgrounds in the area, they were both full. So, I am putting this on next year's itinerary. In the meantime, we stopped at Horseshoe Bend, which I have heard about and seen pictures of, and wanted to see for myself. We pulled into the parking lot and it was jam packed with cars, tourist buses and RVs. Since we were pulling the trailer, we could not find a parking space and were going to just leave, but as we pulled out, found a place to park along the side of Hwy 89. I took this picture from the top of the hill, and if you look close, you can see our truck & trailer parked along the road.

Grand Canyon, North Rim, Arizona

The Grand Canyon North Rim was not on my original itinerary, but I adjusted it to make a side trip there.  It is 80 miles from Kanab, and took us 1-1/2 hours to drive there, but I am glad we did. The day we were there it was so windy it blew hats right off of heads, and also had a chill in the air. It was also kind of hazy, but still beautiful. The drive into the North Rim area was via Hwy 67 and ended at the Grand Lodge. We stopped there for a while to view Bright Angel Point, have lunch at the Lodge and sit on the patio with a view of the canyon. There are a few places that they allow dogs, which includes the Lodge, Saloon, the patio, and the path that runs next to the parking lot.  They could not go on the Bright Angel Point trail; as you can see from these pictures, it was a very narrow trail.

Paria Mountains, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah

The geology of southern Utah and northern Arizona covers an area from the Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon and includes the million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We drove into the southern part of the National Monument and headed to the Paria Mountains.  There is also an entrance just east of Bryce.  

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Bryce Canyon is called Poetry in Stone. To get there, we drove through Red Canyon National Forest before heading into Bryce.  Red Canyon is amazing in itself with its red canyon walls and hoodoos.

Zion National Park, Utah

The drive into Zion National Park is via Hwy 9, which starts at Hwy 89 in Mt. Carmel, Utah, and runs west to Hurricane, Utah on the west side of the state. Hwy 9 is actually a main route and part of the highway just happens to go through Zion National Park. We drove in and got to Springdale, which is the first city south of the park, near the south entrance; stopped in the city to have lunch and visit the Visitor's Center, and then headed back into the park. The road into the heart of the park is called Zion Canyon Scenic Drive and can only be accessed by shuttle. The park has free parking and to ride the shuttle is also free. We did not do this as it was really crowded, so we opted to just drive in and back out, taking pictures along the way. 

Pipe Spring National Monument, Arizona

Pipe Spring National Monument was a ranch and refuge for the Mormon people. It is also a reminder of the plight of the Paiute Indians who were starved and displaced from their homeland when Morman Leader Brigham Young made Pipe Spring part of his vision for expansion. He built a ranch, which included a fortified ranch house which they named Winsor Castle. 

CCC Salina Creek POW Camp, Salina, Utah

POW's in America. The war was over ... the enemy surrendered. 371,000 Italian and German prisoners were to be housed in special camps in the United States. And so they came ... hundreds of ships and thousands of men who had fought under a different flag. 150 main camps and 500 branch camps were set up and administered under the U.S. Army. With few exceptions, the POWs were content. "I could be happy here. The food is excellent, the clothing adequate, and no one is shooting at me." This blog highlights the CCC Salina Creek POW camp.

Golden Spike National Monument, Promontory Point, Utah

The Golden Spike National Monument is dedicated to the completion of the railway system consisting of the Central Pacific Railroad beginning in Sacramento, California heading east and the Union Pacific Railroad beginning in New York heading west, to their meeting place at Promontory Point in Utah.

Southern Idaho Travels ~ Hagerman Fossil Beds NM; Balanced Rock; Malard Gorge; Ritter Island; Shoshone Falls

It's been hot, hot hot - in the high 90's to 100; low humidity, and the air conditioner is not keeping the trailer cool. It's about the same temperature inside and it is outside.  So, we have been traveling around the area to see the sights. Our first trip was to Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. There was nothing to see at the actual monument as they are just excavating the fossils. There were fossils at the Visitor Center that I took pictures of.

Mastadon head & tusks

Pictures of the Oregon Coast

After staying for a few days near Pacific City, Oregon, we traveled down the coast to Florence, about 90 miles south.  We stayed within walking distance of the dunes, and also close to the coast so I could get some good pictures.

Dune Buggy Ride, Sandland Adventures, Florence, Oregon

Miles and miles of windblown sand encompass the Oregon Dunes, which stretch for fifty-four miles, from Heceta Head north of Florence to Cape Arago just south of Coos Bay. Well over 100,000 years old, this dune complex of roughly 40,000 acres covers the largest area of any dune system on the West Coast of North America. Its eastern boundary is more than three miles from the shore for much of its length.

Dune buggy riders take advantage of these huge dunes and ride for hours every day.  We can hear them from our campsite at South Jetty Thousand Trails Campground. We decided to partake in this adventure through a company called Sandland Adventures, which offers dune buggy rides to visitors. It was a blast.

Our seats for the ride

Cape Perpetua, Thor's Well, Brays Point, Oregon Coast

Cape Perpetua is another national recreation area in the Siuslaw National Forest system. There are awe-inspiring views, tide pools and old-growth forest. It also has 26 miles of trails, none of which we walked. At 802 feet, it is a spectacular view down the coast. The CCC served as a lookout for enemy ships and planes during WWII. We drove up to Cape Perpetua to see Thor's Well, (also known as 'Spouting Horn'), which is a fountain/sinkhole, which is driven by the immense currents of the Pacific Ocean.  I actually walked down onto the rocks to Thor's Well (with the dogs) to get these pictures.

Munson Creek Falls & Cape Meares, Oregon

Traveling north on Hwy 101 from Pacific City, we stopped at Munson Creek Falls, which is the highest waterfall on the coast at 319 feet. There is a small creek that flows next to the path where there are spawning salmon during the fall and winter.

Cape Kiwanda, Pacific City, Oregon

Cape Kiwanda is a National Recreation Area packed with cars on the beach, people and dogs. People are swimming, surfing, and climbing the sand dunes to slide down or surf down on boards. It was quite a place. There is also a huge rock about a mile out from shore they call a Haystack Rock. This is one of three Haystack Rocks on the Oregon coast. The two most famous are this one at Cape Kiwanda and the other is at Cannon Beach, pretty far north on the coast and a place we are not going to (so I found some pictures online to post here).

Cape Kiwanda, Haystack Rock

Mount St. Helens, Washington

At one time Mount St. Helens was just another mountain/volcano in the Olympic National Forest. But on May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, fracturing the volcano's entire north slope, cutting the summit height by more than 1,300 feet. This caused the largest ever recorded landslide. The resulting ash cloud billowed 15 miles into the air, depositing debris throughout the state.

Olympic National Park, Hurricane Ridge, Washington

The Olympic Peninsula is composed of about one million acres, 95% is Olympic National Park, five acres in Olympic National Forest, and over 600 islands in national wildlife refuges. From where we were camped, the closest place we went to was Hurricane Ridge. We will have to hit the west coast of Washington on another trip to see the Hoh Rainforest, Kalaloch, the Quinault Rain Forest, to name a few, which are a part of the Coast and Forest sections of the park.

Olympic Peninsula, Washington

After we left North Cascades National Park, which is located northeast of Seattle on Hwy 20 off of I-5, we drove south on I-5 to Rockport, then to Elma. It was a long drive, mostly because of the traffic on I-5 through Tacoma into Olympia. It was mostly stop and go for about 20 miles and not much fun. Elma is a small town with not much in it, and the park we stayed at was small, with small spaces and no good places to walk and let the dogs loose. Our final destination was Sequim, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula.

North Cascades National Park, Washington

North Cascades National Park contains some of America's most beautiful mountain scenery - high jagged peaks, ridges, slopes, and many waterfalls. Glaciers can be seen on the highest mountain peaks. We took a trail behind the Visitor Center, which turned out to be longer than we had intended and Jim was quite tired and his back started hurting before we finished.  It took us down to the Skagit River, but there were no good views of the river.  I got a better shot of the river from the River Trail that is across the street from our campground.

Wild Horses Monument, Vantage, Washington

The road sign calls it Wild Horses Monument, but the real name of this artwork is Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies. Despite being begun in 1989, supposedly it's still not complete.

Trail to the horses

Kootenai Falls & Ross Creek Cedars, Libby, Montanta

The Kootenai River flows down from the mountains into a canyon and over Kootenai Falls, one of the largest free-flowing waterfalls in the Northwest. Kootenai Falls was the setting for the movie "The River Wild" filmed in 1993. The falls do not look very big but they drop 90 feet in less than a mile. The main falls are 30 feet high.

Glacier National Park, Montana

We finally made it to Glacier National Park. We arrived in Coram, Montana on Tuesday, June 27, after spending Monday night at Lake Placid State Park in Seeley Lake amidst a slew of mosquitoes. Glacier National Park is an International Peace Park World Heritage Site along with Waterton Lakes National Park, which is in Alberta, Canada.  Going-to-the-Sun Road connects St. Mary Visitor Center on the east side with Apgar Visitor Center on the west side.  It was closed due to snow and it finally opened Wednesday. There was still quite a bit of snow at Logan Pass Visitor Center, which is about the half way point. The Continental Divide comes through Logan Pass with an elevation of 6646 feet.  

Gates of the Mountains, Helena, Montana

The Gates of the Mountains boat tour starts out in Holter Lake and goes up the Missouri River. For over 125 years tours have taken place showing guests the route taken by Lewis & Clark in 1805. The first boat was a steamboat and could only take guests downstream, where they had to get off the boat and were driven back in a horse & wagon.

Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, West Yellowstone, Montana

The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center has eight grizzlies that, for one reason or another, were not able to be left in the wild, and were brought to the Center to live. It is a not-for-profit center, using donations and admissions to run the center as well as build additions to house more animals. Their biggest grizzly, Sam, is let out into the bear habitat by himself. Sam wandered into a fishing village with his sister in 1996 after his mother disappeared. Because he is from coastal Alaska, he is much larger than Yellowstone grizzlies - weighing in at 1,000 lbs.

Yes, I'm real

Earthquake at Hebgen Lake, West Yellowstone, Montana

It was around midnight on August 17, 1959, when campers and locals were sound asleep. They were awoken by a loud roar and the ground shaking when one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded in the Rocky Mountains struck the Madison River Canyon. The quake registered 7.5 on the Richter scale and triggered a massive landslide, sending over 80 million tons of rock crashing down into the canyon, blocking the Madison River.  The water backed up behind the slide and formed Earthquake Lake. High velocity winds and a gigantic wall of water swept through the area.

Earthquake Lake

North Rim Drive, Canyon Village, Yellowstone National Park

Another trip into Yellowstone National Park took us northeast to Canyon Village. I wanted to go to Hayden Valley and see some wildlife but the road was closed due to a mudslide. So instead of that we took the North Rim Trail back to Canyon Village. Part of the trails and road were closed, even though it's almost the end of May there was a lot of snow all over the place.  The elevation was almost 8,000 feet so the snow was not all melted.

Our first stop was Gibbon Falls, which is on the way from West Yellowstone to Norris. Gibbon Falls plunges 84 feet then continues toward the Yellowstone Caldera about 1/4 mile down river. As Gibbon Falls erodes the rock below, the waterfall forever grows higher and migrates farther from the rim of the caldera.

Old Faithful and other Geysers, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

We visited Yellowstone National Park for the first time today - even though season is still not actually here, it was still somewhat crowded. The few geyser basins we drove into were crowded and we could hardly find a place to park. We headed to Old Faithful with a couple of stops along the way. We entered through West Yellowstone and visited the sites on the western side of the park. 

Crook County Museum, Sundance, Wyoming

Our travels this year took us to Sundance, Wyoming to visit Devil's Tower and tour the city of Sundance as well, where the "Sundance Kid" made his reputation. The Crook County Museum has some of the history of Sundance.

Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming

Stopped in Sundance, Wyoming for a couple of days so we could visit Devils Tower National Monument, about 23 miles northwest of Sundance. Devils Tower started forming about 50 million years ago and over the next millions of years, erosion of the sedimentary rock exposed Devils Tower. The Tower rises 867 feet from its base and stands 1,267 feet above the river and 5,112 feet above sea level. The area on top is a tear-drop shape and is 1.5 acres. The diameter of its base is 1,000 feet. Approximately 1 and 1/2 vertical miles of rock and sediment have washed away since the Tower formed.

In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower the first national monument under the new Antiquities Act. His action made Wyoming the home of both their first national park (Yellowstone in 1872) and their first national monument.

Custer State Park, Custer, South Dakota

Another "must see" in South Dakota was Custer State Park. We met up with Linda Clayton who we met back in 2012 when we worked for Amazon. Linda is workamping in Keystone for the summer and since she had done the same thing last year, she was our tour guide for the day.  It is so great when we can meet up with workamping friends ~ we had a great day.

Crazy Horse Memorial, Rapid City, South Dakota

Crazy Horse Memorial started with the inspiration of sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski who was born in Boston, MA of Polish descent.  After the 1939 World's Fair, Korczak received a letter from Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear, who asked Korczak to come to the Black Hills to carve a memorial of Lakota Leader Crazy Horse. The Lakota chiefs wanted to let the white man know the red man has great heroes as well. Crazy Horse was to be carved not so much as a lineal likeness but more as a memorial to the spirit of Crazy Horse to his people. With his left hand gesturing outward in response to the derisive question asked by a white man, "Where are your lands now?" He replied, "My lands are where my dead lie buried." Korczak began work on Thunderhead Mountain in 1948 with only $147.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Rapid City, South Dakota

Most of us have only seen Mount Rushmore in pictures and that is how we know of it. To see it on the  mountain it looks so small against the vast background of sky and mountain. We were not able to get real close to it and Roosevelt was in the shadow due to where the sun was located. The memorial is dedicated to four of our great Presidents ~~ George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

Our Founding Fathers (And Jim shooting a Musket), Rapid City, South Dakota

The story of how the United States of America began with the signing of the Declaration of Independence is on display here in Rapid City at the America’s Founding Fathers Exhibit.  History meets art in the stunning, life-size sculpture installation of John Trumbull’s iconic “Declaration of Independence” painting. Here, inside a likeness of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, we heard the amazing story of how those 56 patriots forged the American Revolution and invented a country. 

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

As we traveled west on I-90 from Sioux City, we stopped in Wall to visit the famous Wall Drug, the Minuteman Missile Site, and Badlands National Park. What a diverse landscape this state has, and very rugged. The badlands got its name from the harsh landscape of mountains and valleys - not a very welcoming place to travel. 

White Prairie Dogs, Prairie Homestead, South Dakota

The Prairie Homestead on your way to Badlands National Park on Hwy 240 have the world's only white prairie dogs. These white prairie dogs are extremely rare and are a unique species with black skin and white hair but are not classified albino. In 1966, the Ogalala Sioux Tribe was going to poison out a large area of prairie dogs on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation which contained two or three white dogs. The white prairie dogs were relocated to the Prairie Homestead through cooperation with the Sioux Tribe and the Badlands National Park. They were successful in catching one white male prairie dog.  It took 30 years before most of the whole prairie dog town turned white.

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, South Dakota

The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site was established in 1999 to illustrate the history and significance of the Cold War, the arms race, and intercontinental ballistic missile development. This National Historic Site preserves the last remaining Minuteman II ICBM system in the United States. 

Wall Drug Store, Wall, South Dakota

The infamous Wall Drug ~~ we first saw an ad for it when we were in Jasper, Arizona last year, and on our way here on I-90 there were so many billboards advertising it ~~ of course, it had to be on our list of must sees. Wall is located in the "Badlands" of South Dakota. The "Badlands" was named when French trappers who explored the west in the early 1800s called the area a "bad land to cross." The Dakota Sioux Indians labeled it "makosica," meaning "land bad."

Dorothy and Ted Hustead bought Wall Drug Store in 1931. When they moved here there were 326 people in Wall ~ very poor people, most of them farmers who had been wiped out either by the Depression or drought. 

Branson, Missouri

We drove around Branson to see the various oddities and famous landmarks. This place reminds us of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge ~ just lots of show places, water parks, mini golf, to name a few ~ everything geared to taking ones money. Most of the museums are over priced so we did not see them, even though they did sound interesting. 

Ripley's Believe it or Not

Ralph Foster Museum, Branson, Missouri

We visited the Ralph Foster Museum located at the College of the Ozarks, a Christian liberal-arts college where its students work at the college in payment for their tuition, so they come out of college debt free. 

Mr. Foster also collected artifacts, one of which is the famous "Beverly Hillbillies" vehicle, which was the actual one seen in the television series.

The Original Beverly Hillbillies Automobile

Dismal's Canyon, Phil Campbell, Alabama

Dismal's Canyon is a designated National Natural Landmark although still remaining private. It is designated a National Natural Landmark because of its uncommon, wild rugged character, largely the result of its geological history. There is a 1-1/2 mile hike along the stream, over the stream, around waterfalls, boulders and trees. It was quite a struggle for Jim and he almost turned around, but he stuck it out to the end.  The dogs had a blast too. I had to let them off leash to get over the stream and let them play in the stream. 

Let's begin our journey:

Ave Maria Grotto, Cullman, Alabama

The Ave Maria Grotto is known throughout the world as "Jerusalem in Miniature." It is located at the St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama. The Abbey was founded in 1891 and Brother Joseph Zoetl, a Monk of the Abbey for almost 70 years, is the Monk responsible for constructing the Grotto. Begun as a hobby, he used various materials he could find. With infinite patience and a remarkable sense of symmetry and proportion, Brother Joseph recreated some of the greatest edifices of all time.

Crooked Creek Civil War Museum, Vinemont, Alabama

Fred Wise owns and runs the Crooked Creek Civil War Museum and took us on a personal tour. He bought the property about 30 years ago and built the museum when he discovered that some of the civil war was fought on his land. He found artifacts and discovered that many soldiers were buried there as well. He and his wife and son spent many years going to antique stores and the like to fill up his museum. He has many authentic Civil War memorabilia - it's quite something. 

Russell Cave National Monument, Bridgeport, Alabama

Just cannot imagine living in a cave like the prehistoric people did. It gets darn cold up here in northern Alabama and to live in a cave with just fire for heat and hardly any clothes makes for hard living. Russell Cave was their refuge from the elements though; it faced east, away from the cold north winds but letting in the morning sun. It would be cool in summer. There was a spring next to their cave which bubbled out of the ground and into the cave, giving them fresh water. 

Tin Can Tourists Rally, Sertoma Youth Ranch, Brooksville, Florida

The Tin Can Tourists were organized at Desoto Park, Tampa, Florida, in 1919. They received the official state charter a year later. The group's stated objective was “to unite fraternally all auto-campers”. Their guiding principles were clean camps, friendliness among campers, decent behavior and to secure plenty of clean, wholesome entertainment for those in camp. The group known for the soldered tin can on their radiator caps grew rapidly during the twenties and thirties. Members could be inducted fellow campers through an initiation process that taught the prospective member the secret handshake, sign, and password. After singing the official song “The More We Get Together” the trailerite was an official member of the Tin Can Tourists of the World.

Jack Culp