South Dakota

Our first stop in the Black Hills was to the SD Air and Space Museum which is just outside Ellsworth Air Force Base, home to some 35 B-1 aircraft

We took a bus tour of the airbase and to the Minuteman II missile silo, where we went down into the silo for a closer look. We were lucky enough to see two B-1s take off (Mark also saw one land and earlier in the day, fly over our campground) and what a noise they made

Unfortunately, the museum was in the throes of landscaping so had removed all the signage to the outside exhibits and we couldn't get close to the planes either.

That evening we visited Mount Rushmore, also known as President's Mountain. The carving of the 60ft high faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln commenced in 1927 and was completed in 1941. The reasons behind which presidents to include were based on the following:

George Washington - he was the first president and represented the foundation of American democracy

Thomas Jefferson - with the Louisiana Purchase, he greatly expanded the nation and was the author of the Declaration of Independence.

Theodore Roosevelt - he not only represented the industrial development of the nation but was widely known for conservation efforts

Abraham Lincoln - the president during the US Civil War, he represents the preservation of the nation above all costs.

Today we visited Deadwood, the home of Calamity Jane and where Wild Bill Hickok was shot. Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874 and set off one of the last great gold rushes in the country. In 1876, miners moved into the northern Black Hills where they came across a gulch full of dead trees and a creek full of gold. 

From Deadwood we headed to Sturgis, home of one of the world's largest motorcycle rallies. The small town with a population of around 6,700 gets over 750,000 visitors during the second week of August alone. I always dreamed of visiting when I had my Harley, but glad I didn't as I think it will be rather boisterous. With pubs called  One Eyed Jacks and the Knuckle Saloon, the town looks like it's traded horses for bikes. The Full Throttle saloon is the world's largest biker bar and can hold 15,000 bikers - I bet that's a sight to see.

Tomorrow we start our 900 mile journey east across the prairies to Milwaukee 

Devil's Tower

After a very expensive day where we had to replace the two front tyres of Badger, we made it to Devils Tower. It is rather imposing and this was the view from our campsite

There are many other indian names for it including Bear's Tipi which I prefer. The movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind was filmed here at the campground  (so they say) and is screened every night on their deck. We'll have a wander over later and take a look, and if the quality isn't up to much, we'll watch our DVD in Badger on the big screen. The movie also inspired our dinner tonight

As you can see, I'm no artist...

Yellowstone National Park

As we crossed Idaho at Lookout Pass, it was snowing at 4,600 feet. Idaho sped by and we were then in Montana where we had a few days to break up the journey. The views of the snow covered Rockies in the distance were something to see.

On into Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park, which was the country’s first National park established 100 years ago. As we drove to our campground, bison were happily roaming the grassy fields by the side of the road

Our first campground, Madison at an elevation of 6,800 ft, wasn’t far from the west entrance, so didn’t take us long to set up especially as we were dry camping and relying on our own water and power. All the sites were really nice among the trees with lots of space, table and firepits. Mark saw a guy hoping to set up camp but unfortunately a bison had decided that the grass on his site was very tasty J  In the afternoon we headed down to Old Faithful and within a few minutes of getting there, we were rewarded with an erupting geyser, some 135ft high

The following day was rather wet but that didn’t slow us down. We went waterfall spotting:

Gibbon Falls

Golden Gate

Wraith Falls

Firehole Falls

Yellowstone is one the world’s most active geothermal areas, home to hundreds of geysers, hot springs, mud pots and steam vents. At Mammoth Hot Springs, water that is heated underground, rises to the surface and percolates through buried limestone where it dissolves calcium carbonate. Above ground, the hot water deposits the calcium carbonate, sculpting the rock and building travertine terraces.

On the drive back we saw a couple of elk

and a black bear and her cub

Norris Geyser Basin was the last stop for the day and is the hottest and oldest thermal area in Yellowstone.

The weather was much better the next day so we walked a number of the geyser basins.

Upper Geyser Basin contains the world’s greatest concentration of hot springs and more than 150 geysers including Old Faithful. We saw so many more that I can't list them all here. 

Midway Geyser Basin along the Firehole River contains the Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone’s largest single hot spring (which really needs to be viewed from the air)

and Excelsior Geyser

The hot water cascading into the river was something to see, but the bright orange colours left behind on the rocks, doesn’t really show in the photos

Lower Geyser Basin has nearly 100 geothermals including the multicoloured Artist’s Paintpots

The next day we moved to a new campground (for RVs only so not as spacious) at Fishing Bridge and added another 1,000 feet elevation to 7,900ft.   In the afternoon we drove down to West Thumb Geyser Basin, which was formed about 150,000 years ago when a volcanic explosion formed the small caldera, also known as the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake.

Fishing Cone Geyser was so named when local fishermen used to stand on the cone, catch trout then dip it into the geyser to cook!

We also found a few locals having their lunch by the lake

The view across Yellowstone Lake to the Grand Tetons was stunning

The following day we drove to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone to check out the park’s most outstanding natural features: 109-foot Upper Falls

 And 308-foot Lower Falls as seen from the aptly named Artist Point on the South Rim (it doesn't look real)

We then drove to the North Rim and hiked to the Brink of the Lower Falls, a very steep and rapidly descending path (1/2 mile with a drop of 600ft/180m) but it was worth it to see the Yellowstone River thundering over the edge

And this was from the lookouts further along

Next stop was the Mud Volcano area. The smell of sulphur was incredible and Sulphur Cauldron is one of the most acidic lakes in Yellowstone. 

Tomorrow we head down to the Grand Teton Range and see them up close

Grand Coulee Dam...

in Washington state is a gravity dam on the Columbia River and is the second largest in the world, after the Three Gorges Dam in China. It was built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants. A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy production. It is the largest electric power-producing facility in the US.

We took the scenic drive back and crossed Lake Roosevelt/Columbia River on the local ferry and had it all to ourselves

Tomorrow we continue our journey east as we head for Yellowstone

On the road again

One week on from leaving Whistler and we are properly on the road again. We had a few days getting badger sorted and packed and stocked up ready, then had a very short run down to Anacortes to go whale watching - a few minkies but sadly no orcas- then started heading east to new territory. We spent yesterday afternoon in Leavenworth which is a strange sort of mock Bavarian village on the east slopes of the cascade mountains, and on today to near the grand coulee dam which along with the Hoover dam has been on my to-do list for years.

I'm glad to say the wine we bought in California last summer has all survived the winter, so it's time to enjoy some sunshine, sunsets and outdoor living....and while it's 80 here today in central Washington, the forecast for Yellowstone on Tuesday is snow showers....

And back to Badger

collected Badger from storage this afternoon and he seems to have fared quite well this winter - a couple of areas where water has driven in through the windows but onto plastic trim so easy enough to clean up. No signs of problems with the plumbing - i remembered to disconnect the icemaker this time - and electrics, although I did have to link in the house batteries as the chassis batteries were low, but he started up on the first turn again.

It was looking iffy at the US border again - the border guard let us in on his discretion but said because we are not going home between trips it does look like we are trying to play the system to stay in north america. And as that is now probably on their computer it means we may have to change our plans for summer 2017.....lots to think about....

Done with Whistler

107 days - 4 more than last year. Theoretically I was here for 12 days more this season than last as we were here when the mountain opened in November, but a combination of illnesses, injury, mountain closures and the Banff road trip pretty much wiped that out. According to the mountain stats page I did over 1000 lifts and more than 570km of vertical, but I know it is definitely missing a few lifts where the scanners are a bit slow. Didn't quite get the skiing down to $10 bucks a day or a dollar per lift, but wasn't far off.

Its been a mixed year. The season started really well with lots of snow and very cold temperatures in December, and we got to ski runs on the lower parts of both mountains that were never opened last season, especially the whole of peak to creek. Then the coastal mountains reverted to their usual tricks of rain, and when we did get snow there were very few big snow days but rather small amounts every day as every half arsed weather system off the pacific rolled over us - grey skies, low cloud/fog, poor visibility, bad light and just enough snow to make the pistes lumpy and slow without being enough to freshen up the bowls. Technically it's been a good snow year in total, but I think I enjoyed last season more and did more actual runs and miles.

We did finally get some blue sky days in April, but accompanied by very warm weather and very little fresh snow - I think 2 minor falls all month - so the past couple of week have been very slushy and an early finish with nothing to help bind it together and freeze it in.

Banff next year will be very different. Definitely higher, probably colder and with drier snow. Whether the weather pattern is any different we will have to see - some people have said its a more european style with only the occasional big storm making it over the rockies, and with clear spells in between, and others have said its often grey and cloudy like here. The main ski area is called, Sunshine - lets hope its more a statement of fact than just wishful thinking.....

We've now got 2 days to wash all my ski gear, pack the car up and clean the apartment before heading down to the US on saturday morning to reclaim badger. A few days getting set up in Bellingham and hopefully a trip out to see Orcas before we hit the road and head inland.