Wednesday 30 August 2017
Yellowstone to Billings Montana
We thoroughly enjoyed Yellowstone and the drive North East out of the Park toward Billings today was interesting. We were back into the high country of the Park but there were still geyser fields in a couple of places. At one point we had to stop the car while a small herd of Bison crossed the road in front of us. The larger males went across first and then one huge male just stood in the road, quite close to the cars and waited until the females and calves were safely across.
Then he strolled off. We saw more Bison today up in the high valleys than all the rest of our travels around the Park. We also saw an antelope and what Bob believes was a white fox. I am not convinced it was a fox but he didn't stick around long enough for me to ask him.
From there we took the Bear Claw Highway to Red Lodge, a ski resort town. I had read that the Bear Claw was not to be missed and it definately was the icing on the cake. I am saving the cherry on top for Glacier NP if it lives up to it's reputation.
The Bear Claw is a very sharply pointed mountain near the road. Interesting in itself. However the road is amazing. We were up above the snow line at the Pass which is 10,947 feet. Below were glacier carved valleys and alpine lakes of great beauy. Fortunately the road has been recently re hotmixed and was in excellant condition. Just as well because the drop off from immmediately beside the road was straight down. It took us quite a while to do the 60 miles to Red Lodge partly because it was essential to drive slowly and partly because we kept pulling into laybys to take photographs. By the time we reached Red Lodge we were starving (2pm) so we went to a cafe for lunch. Had yummy home made tomato soup and a sandwich. Very reasonable despite this being a skiresort/tourist town. That kept us going until we
arrived in Billings.
Then he strolled off. We saw more Bison today up in the high valleys than all the rest of our travels around the Park. We also saw an antelope and what Bob believes was a white fox. I am not convinced it was a fox but he didn't stick around long enough for me to ask him.
From there we took the Bear Claw Highway to Red Lodge, a ski resort town. I had read that the Bear Claw was not to be missed and it definately was the icing on the cake. I am saving the cherry on top for Glacier NP if it lives up to it's reputation.
The Bear Claw is a very sharply pointed mountain near the road. Interesting in itself. However the road is amazing. We were up above the snow line at the Pass which is 10,947 feet. Below were glacier carved valleys and alpine lakes of great beauy. Fortunately the road has been recently re hotmixed and was in excellant condition. Just as well because the drop off from immmediately beside the road was straight down. It took us quite a while to do the 60 miles to Red Lodge partly because it was essential to drive slowly and partly because we kept pulling into laybys to take photographs. By the time we reached Red Lodge we were starving (2pm) so we went to a cafe for lunch. Had yummy home made tomato soup and a sandwich. Very reasonable despite this being a skiresort/tourist town. That kept us going until we
arrived in Billings.
Tuesday 29 August 2017
Photos at Yellowstone , 29/8
Grand Pa Bison taking a break. I used the zoom to take this shot from the car. We are warned not to go closer than 25 meters. We aren't supposed to stop to take photos but every one was doing it.
Volcano Geyser.
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The mist in the foreground is spray from the water fall.
Yellowstone Tues 29/8
Today we had a great day driving around the central road circuit of Yellowstone. We had been warned that it would get busy early. However getting out of bed before we have had a cup of tea just doesn't work. Then we had to have our cereal, fruit and yogurt out on this fantastic upper story verandah. So it was 9am before we had rubber to the bitumen. Never the less we were out overlooking the Yellowstone Grand Canyon before the crowd filled the car park. We walked down 3/4 mile decending 600 feet to photograph the Upper Falls of the Gibbon River as it descends through the Canyon. It was truly worth the climb back up. Either we have become more aclimatised or the graduated path made it easier.We went from there to further around the South Rim where the walk is reported to give spectacular views. Unfortunately this was where ambition met reality. There was one car park closed for reconstruction work and the other one was grid locked with drivers looking for a space. We did one circuit, realised the walk was closed for the construction work anyway and called retreat. We then went around to the North Rim of the Canyon where we repeated the climb down, this time to the lower falls of the river. The views were unimaginable to us flat land people where rivers flow rather than roar. There is still ice on the glaciers on the highest peaks so the river was effectively in flood. The Canyon is narrow so the pressure of water over the falls was spectacular. My photos won't do it justice but I will post them anyway.
From there we meandered our way around, found a herd of Bison grazing and I struggled heroically out into a sudden onset of wind and rain to photograph them for you. Found a spot to eat our lunch and were swooped by a small bird with Magpie - like behaviours who wanted to share.
We then took the road home around the rest of the circuit and discovered just how variable geysers can be. Yesterday Bob commented "seen one geyser, seen them all",
Today demonstrated just how different they can be. We saw mud geysers, boiling water geysers, volcano geysers,( this one erupted just as we reached the boardwalk), and a Dragons Breath geyser which huffed steam from the mouth of a cave. On our way home we took a couple of minor side roads around geyser basins and along a minor canyon. It rounded of an excellant day. Photos separately.
From there we meandered our way around, found a herd of Bison grazing and I struggled heroically out into a sudden onset of wind and rain to photograph them for you. Found a spot to eat our lunch and were swooped by a small bird with Magpie - like behaviours who wanted to share.
We then took the road home around the rest of the circuit and discovered just how variable geysers can be. Yesterday Bob commented "seen one geyser, seen them all",
Today demonstrated just how different they can be. We saw mud geysers, boiling water geysers, volcano geysers,( this one erupted just as we reached the boardwalk), and a Dragons Breath geyser which huffed steam from the mouth of a cave. On our way home we took a couple of minor side roads around geyser basins and along a minor canyon. It rounded of an excellant day. Photos separately.
Jackson to Yellowstone. Mon 28/8
We cruised north through the Grand Tetons National Park. Stopped to photograph a herd of Bison conveniently crowded near a ranch fence. Along with nearly every other car going past. We then stopped into at a lakeside village on Jackson Lake which is a deep glacier carved lake which has had it's size increased by a reservoir wall to allow irrigation water for Idaho which is next door. Stocked up on lunch supplies at the store which was typically quite well stocked and without significant mark up on prices.
When we reached the south entrance to Yellowstone we slowed to a crawl for a while. The entry process took each car a couple of minutes and then there was quite a delay to get through some road works .They are laying down new hotmix in preparation for winter. The traffic finally sped up and we took the risk to stop off at a waterfall which plunged down a narrow chasm. It was a worthwhile move but we then continued on until we reached the Old Faithful car park. Because this is the largest geyser "field" of the Park the car park is huge. Never the less it was pretty full. We slipped into the back because we knew this was where the picnic tables were. After lunch we set off to explore. We aarrived at the boardwalk for Old Faithfull ( here after referred to as OF) to find that we had just missed an eruption. There are boardwalks and pathways around and through what is essentially the throat of a volcano. It was a bit unsettling to realise that you are walking over an area which is bubbling and steaming because of what is just below your feet. This was especially brought home when we heard a ranger explaining that the area experiences between 2000 -3000 earthquakes per year. The crowds walking around were as nonchalant as I tried to be, it really is a most amzing place. We then decided to remove ourselves up to an observation place overlooking the whole of the field. This was supposedly a half mile while ascending 200 feet. However I am sure it was a higher climb than that. When we made it to the top the view was worth while. People nearby gave us various estimates of how
long the gap was between OF's eruptions. We fnally waited 45 minutes by which time i was figetting. We did see two minor geysers perform during the wait. Also Bob was playing around with the camera on his tablet and worked out hoe to use the zoom. Since I hadn't realised my camera could also zoom I regret my photo of the deer and the bison. It does mean I did get some decent shots of OF which was worth waiting for.
We then drove out of the Park to West Yellowstone to our accommodation. West Yellowstone exists for tourists of course and as the oldest National Park and the most popular it has lots of accomodation. When we were looking on the net I found the Maddison Hotel which is on the National Historic register. It is built in the log cabin tradition and is the only building that survived an early fire in the town. The timber is amazing. I will send photos in the next blog when we have taken some. We booked it because it was affordable due to the historic part of the building having shared bathrooms rather than ensuires but we have no regrets. Our room is comfortable and quite unique as is the the rest of the building.
Today we are off to explore more of Yellowstone.
When we reached the south entrance to Yellowstone we slowed to a crawl for a while. The entry process took each car a couple of minutes and then there was quite a delay to get through some road works .They are laying down new hotmix in preparation for winter. The traffic finally sped up and we took the risk to stop off at a waterfall which plunged down a narrow chasm. It was a worthwhile move but we then continued on until we reached the Old Faithful car park. Because this is the largest geyser "field" of the Park the car park is huge. Never the less it was pretty full. We slipped into the back because we knew this was where the picnic tables were. After lunch we set off to explore. We aarrived at the boardwalk for Old Faithfull ( here after referred to as OF) to find that we had just missed an eruption. There are boardwalks and pathways around and through what is essentially the throat of a volcano. It was a bit unsettling to realise that you are walking over an area which is bubbling and steaming because of what is just below your feet. This was especially brought home when we heard a ranger explaining that the area experiences between 2000 -3000 earthquakes per year. The crowds walking around were as nonchalant as I tried to be, it really is a most amzing place. We then decided to remove ourselves up to an observation place overlooking the whole of the field. This was supposedly a half mile while ascending 200 feet. However I am sure it was a higher climb than that. When we made it to the top the view was worth while. People nearby gave us various estimates of how
We then drove out of the Park to West Yellowstone to our accommodation. West Yellowstone exists for tourists of course and as the oldest National Park and the most popular it has lots of accomodation. When we were looking on the net I found the Maddison Hotel which is on the National Historic register. It is built in the log cabin tradition and is the only building that survived an early fire in the town. The timber is amazing. I will send photos in the next blog when we have taken some. We booked it because it was affordable due to the historic part of the building having shared bathrooms rather than ensuires but we have no regrets. Our room is comfortable and quite unique as is the the rest of the building.
Today we are off to explore more of Yellowstone.
Monday 28 August 2017
JacksonWyoming Sun 27/8
Yesterday's drive was across the "high desert". This looked quite similar to driving in the Pilbara. The main vegetation looked like salt bush and the grass even resembled spinifex. As we drew closer to the mountaibs we paassed through two small communities that were each built around the banks of a river. Suddenly there were lush green valleys of irrigated crops and huge areas of hay either cut and to be baled or already in massive stacks. Winter is coming but there wasn't a tractor baling anywhere because these farmers seem to respect the Sabboth. Besides the weather was so perfect nothing was going to damage the cut hay if it was left for a day.
We stopped fot a break in a camping spot beside a river once we were in the mountains just to reaqaint ourseves with trees and water. It was a beautiful spot and seemed quite remote from the town as we were still about 20 miles out but we found a sign informing that the camping fees were $15/day so there must be some system for collecting fees.
Jackson is the main town to access the Grand Tetons Nnational Park and Yellowstone and thrives on tourism. We wemt for a walk "downrown" and found replica bears in rubber rafts, hanging off verandah posts, carved from wood and then a stuffed moose. The moose is a very large animal and you definately would't want to cross it. Our motel is dedicated to the bison with a wallpaper photograph which leaves you in no doubt that the Native American Indians were very brave to hunt these one ton animals.
Dinner was a bit of a dilemma because of the choices available. We resolved it eventually by the old fashioned method of walking the street peering at menus displayed outside the restaurants. Eventually we settled on a "barbeque" restaurant having consulted Google to ensure that it had a good rating. For the Aussies reading this BBQ in the US means smoked meat not charcoal grill. We haven't freqented this style of restaurant before because there have always been other options that we are more familiar with. This particular restaurant promoted their salad bar and that decided it for me. We had a delicious meal and despite asking the waiter to arrange a small serve of my smoked brisket I couldn't eat it all and fairly waddled back to the motel. We couldn"t share our meal on this occasion as we had different preferences. Bob wanted to try the smoked ribs and he thoroughly enjoyed them.
Tonight we will be sleepng in West Yellowstone. There was a lot of smoke in the atmophere as we drove up yerterday which we had been forewarned about. It didn't seem so bad up here probably because the vista is more confined by the mountains. There have been large bushfires in Canada which may have made the news at home. We haven't snagged many useful news programmes on our occassional use of the TV so this came from fellow tourists. We do know about the floods in Texas and are wondering how our Goldwing Association President is faring since he is in Houston for a Conference. More tomorrow.
We stopped fot a break in a camping spot beside a river once we were in the mountains just to reaqaint ourseves with trees and water. It was a beautiful spot and seemed quite remote from the town as we were still about 20 miles out but we found a sign informing that the camping fees were $15/day so there must be some system for collecting fees.
Jackson is the main town to access the Grand Tetons Nnational Park and Yellowstone and thrives on tourism. We wemt for a walk "downrown" and found replica bears in rubber rafts, hanging off verandah posts, carved from wood and then a stuffed moose. The moose is a very large animal and you definately would't want to cross it. Our motel is dedicated to the bison with a wallpaper photograph which leaves you in no doubt that the Native American Indians were very brave to hunt these one ton animals.
Dinner was a bit of a dilemma because of the choices available. We resolved it eventually by the old fashioned method of walking the street peering at menus displayed outside the restaurants. Eventually we settled on a "barbeque" restaurant having consulted Google to ensure that it had a good rating. For the Aussies reading this BBQ in the US means smoked meat not charcoal grill. We haven't freqented this style of restaurant before because there have always been other options that we are more familiar with. This particular restaurant promoted their salad bar and that decided it for me. We had a delicious meal and despite asking the waiter to arrange a small serve of my smoked brisket I couldn't eat it all and fairly waddled back to the motel. We couldn"t share our meal on this occasion as we had different preferences. Bob wanted to try the smoked ribs and he thoroughly enjoyed them.
Tonight we will be sleepng in West Yellowstone. There was a lot of smoke in the atmophere as we drove up yerterday which we had been forewarned about. It didn't seem so bad up here probably because the vista is more confined by the mountains. There have been large bushfires in Canada which may have made the news at home. We haven't snagged many useful news programmes on our occassional use of the TV so this came from fellow tourists. We do know about the floods in Texas and are wondering how our Goldwing Association President is faring since he is in Houston for a Conference. More tomorrow.
Sunday 27 August 2017
Photos
Rawlins Prison, the inside was
Less impressive.
You might be able to see the deer if you are looking at this on your computer or have a magnifying glass.
Laramie to Green River Wyoning Sat26 August
Last night we decided to go to the restaurant next to the motel. It is a Mexican Restaurant and the reviews rated it highly. We had a delicious meal and then just had a short walk back to our motel.
This morning we headed out to Green River on Highway 80. We have been managing to avoid the major highways most of the time but today was one instance where the alternative was a lot longer. It turned out to be quite interesting. The reason we usually dodge these roads is that they are dominated by the trucks. Throughout the day there was rarely a period when we could not see between 5 and 9 trucks at one time. The speed limit is 75 miles per hour but most cars were driving faster than that and we were regularly passed by semi trailors. The truckees are remarkably disciplined and move straight to the slow lane once they have overtaken. Bob also commnted at how well made the roads are and how that this intense use by the trucks had not caused the indentations in the roads that we experience from heavy truck use. The other features were that for the first 100 miles there was tall deer fence either side of the highway. Also at any point where there were hills near the road there were sophisticated wooden snow barriers . These were continuous for long stretches and all constructed of wood. I took some photos but they were mostly on Bob's side of the car so they are not particularly clear. The terrain was undulating plains which are very dry and there was not much agriculture as this is an area with very few rivers. There were occasionaal oil derecks. As we came closer to Green River we noticed large open cut excavations and found out later they were to extract soda ash which is used to make baking powder and numerous other products.
There were only two towns roughly midway in our 200 mile trip and they were only six miles apart. The first was the base for Sinclair oil and gas and unsurprisingly was called Sinclair. The other, Rawlins, seems to be most well known for it's now abandoned prison which was built in 1902. We needed a break and decided to go and at least look at it. When we arrived we discovered that a one hour tour was about to start and decided to join it. The initial philosophy was humanitarian but this did not last beyond the 1930's Depression. The conditions were grim as you might imagine. Given it's stone constuction the temperature never rose above 50 degrees F, the showers were cold water until 1978 and education was not introduced until the mid 60's. I couldn't face deaath row and waited outsde but the reality was that many more men died in the hospital than the 14 who were executed during the 80 year history. The guide did lighten the tour with some human interest stories but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.
The rest of the drive was uneventful and we arrived at 2pm. We were too early to check into our motel so went to the Visitors Centre to find a park where we could eat our lunch. The Green River is quite a significant river which joins the Colorado River and eventually the water flows through the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The town has established a lovely shady park alongside the river to honour the early explorers who set off in small boats to determine the river's potential for industry. We spent a relaxed couple of hours there eating our late lunch and walking the paths reading the explanatory plaques. At the large traffic bridge which we reached in our wandering I looked up as we entered the shade under the bridge and spotted a deer curled up on the top of the bank just under the supports. 2She was completely unconcerned by us and Bob took some lovely photos. I will attach my tablet shot but I was too far away to show her clearly.
Tonight we had dinner at the American Diner attached to the motel. The food was plain fare but well cooked. Our breakfast in the morning is included in the motel tarrif so I will take a phote when we go down.
This morning we headed out to Green River on Highway 80. We have been managing to avoid the major highways most of the time but today was one instance where the alternative was a lot longer. It turned out to be quite interesting. The reason we usually dodge these roads is that they are dominated by the trucks. Throughout the day there was rarely a period when we could not see between 5 and 9 trucks at one time. The speed limit is 75 miles per hour but most cars were driving faster than that and we were regularly passed by semi trailors. The truckees are remarkably disciplined and move straight to the slow lane once they have overtaken. Bob also commnted at how well made the roads are and how that this intense use by the trucks had not caused the indentations in the roads that we experience from heavy truck use. The other features were that for the first 100 miles there was tall deer fence either side of the highway. Also at any point where there were hills near the road there were sophisticated wooden snow barriers . These were continuous for long stretches and all constructed of wood. I took some photos but they were mostly on Bob's side of the car so they are not particularly clear. The terrain was undulating plains which are very dry and there was not much agriculture as this is an area with very few rivers. There were occasionaal oil derecks. As we came closer to Green River we noticed large open cut excavations and found out later they were to extract soda ash which is used to make baking powder and numerous other products.
There were only two towns roughly midway in our 200 mile trip and they were only six miles apart. The first was the base for Sinclair oil and gas and unsurprisingly was called Sinclair. The other, Rawlins, seems to be most well known for it's now abandoned prison which was built in 1902. We needed a break and decided to go and at least look at it. When we arrived we discovered that a one hour tour was about to start and decided to join it. The initial philosophy was humanitarian but this did not last beyond the 1930's Depression. The conditions were grim as you might imagine. Given it's stone constuction the temperature never rose above 50 degrees F, the showers were cold water until 1978 and education was not introduced until the mid 60's. I couldn't face deaath row and waited outsde but the reality was that many more men died in the hospital than the 14 who were executed during the 80 year history. The guide did lighten the tour with some human interest stories but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.
The rest of the drive was uneventful and we arrived at 2pm. We were too early to check into our motel so went to the Visitors Centre to find a park where we could eat our lunch. The Green River is quite a significant river which joins the Colorado River and eventually the water flows through the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The town has established a lovely shady park alongside the river to honour the early explorers who set off in small boats to determine the river's potential for industry. We spent a relaxed couple of hours there eating our late lunch and walking the paths reading the explanatory plaques. At the large traffic bridge which we reached in our wandering I looked up as we entered the shade under the bridge and spotted a deer curled up on the top of the bank just under the supports. 2She was completely unconcerned by us and Bob took some lovely photos. I will attach my tablet shot but I was too far away to show her clearly.
Tonight we had dinner at the American Diner attached to the motel. The food was plain fare but well cooked. Our breakfast in the morning is included in the motel tarrif so I will take a phote when we go down.
Saturday 26 August 2017
Scenery along the way
Our 100 year old genuine log cabin at South Fork of the Rio Grande.
Friday 25 August 2017
Photos from Leadville and Walden
The pink granite did not show up so you get buildings instead.
The Opera House Leadville
Just look at those beams and the stonework next door. G
Beautifully restored private house Leadville
Just look at those beams and the stonework next door. GFrom South Fork to Silverthorne to Laramie
Our drive yesterday was meandering along the river valleys occasionally climbing but only one major mountain pass. As we passed through the small town of Beauna Vista we noted how aptly it was named. It sits on a high plain with a 14,000 foot mountain close by. The view was beauna .One change that I was interested in was that there was a period when we were driving through a valley of pink granite as opposed to the usual grey. I have taken a photo and if it looks OK I will attach it. The railway lines around here have been closed as the mining has petered out. Thus there are a lot of surplus rail cars which have just been shunted into long rows and abandoned. It makes the place look untidy.
By lunch time we had reached Leadville. This was originally a gold mining town which then became silver/lead mining and now there is a huge molybdenum open cut. The town has an interesting history and some great old buildings once again. This includes a huge opera house. You can take a tour if you have the time but which we decided it was not a priority. We did go into the old Presbyterian Church were a delightful elderly woman gave us the history. It had been abandoned by the church for a larger more modern construction and had fallen into disrepair. Some community minded citizens raised funds to renovate it and it is now a small musical theatre. Interestingly all the seats were still functional and arranged in a semi circle along the length of the church, complete with attachments under the seat for the mens top hats.
We strolled the main street and then moved on to Silverthorne, just a bit west of Denver. We have been to Denver before so chose a new overnight stop. Silverthorne has an Outlet Mall and for the first time since San Francisco I was let loose. We arived early and it was cold and wet so first we had a nap and by the time we headed for the Outlets it had stopped. We were both very restrained and only purchased things that we really wanted. The consequence of this was that overnight I decided that there was something I needed to go back for. This nearly caused a divorce because the Outlets don't open till 10am. Bob was obviously impatient though he suffered my desire as we did not have far to go today. I had made my purchase and we were on the road by 10:10am.
We were travelling through the high plain country again today and were amazed at the number of major rivers that we crossed. This is obviously the headwaters for the following: Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Canadian and the Grizzly Bear Creek which we crossed three times. Add in the Rio Grande and the Arkensas which we met yesterday and we have seen a lot of the American water supply.
We took a break and our usual stroll around a small town called Walden. Once again the buildings hooked us and we were even more amazed when we rounded a corner to find that the county seat ( local govt building) was a palatial 2 stories with imposing Southern style pillars ( also 2 stories high) at the entrance. There must have been a mining history here as well.
We stopped for our usual picnic lunch at a National Parks entry to some walking trails. It was very pleasant sitting in the shade of the pine trees at the tables provided. Sadly many of the pine trees have been decimated by the Pine Beetle. The good thing is that there is distinct evidence of regrowth.
We are in Laramie for the night and intend to go exploring once we have had a cuppa. There is lots of blood and thunder history here. More tomorrow.
By lunch time we had reached Leadville. This was originally a gold mining town which then became silver/lead mining and now there is a huge molybdenum open cut. The town has an interesting history and some great old buildings once again. This includes a huge opera house. You can take a tour if you have the time but which we decided it was not a priority. We did go into the old Presbyterian Church were a delightful elderly woman gave us the history. It had been abandoned by the church for a larger more modern construction and had fallen into disrepair. Some community minded citizens raised funds to renovate it and it is now a small musical theatre. Interestingly all the seats were still functional and arranged in a semi circle along the length of the church, complete with attachments under the seat for the mens top hats.
We strolled the main street and then moved on to Silverthorne, just a bit west of Denver. We have been to Denver before so chose a new overnight stop. Silverthorne has an Outlet Mall and for the first time since San Francisco I was let loose. We arived early and it was cold and wet so first we had a nap and by the time we headed for the Outlets it had stopped. We were both very restrained and only purchased things that we really wanted. The consequence of this was that overnight I decided that there was something I needed to go back for. This nearly caused a divorce because the Outlets don't open till 10am. Bob was obviously impatient though he suffered my desire as we did not have far to go today. I had made my purchase and we were on the road by 10:10am.
We were travelling through the high plain country again today and were amazed at the number of major rivers that we crossed. This is obviously the headwaters for the following: Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Canadian and the Grizzly Bear Creek which we crossed three times. Add in the Rio Grande and the Arkensas which we met yesterday and we have seen a lot of the American water supply.
We took a break and our usual stroll around a small town called Walden. Once again the buildings hooked us and we were even more amazed when we rounded a corner to find that the county seat ( local govt building) was a palatial 2 stories with imposing Southern style pillars ( also 2 stories high) at the entrance. There must have been a mining history here as well.
We stopped for our usual picnic lunch at a National Parks entry to some walking trails. It was very pleasant sitting in the shade of the pine trees at the tables provided. Sadly many of the pine trees have been decimated by the Pine Beetle. The good thing is that there is distinct evidence of regrowth.
We are in Laramie for the night and intend to go exploring once we have had a cuppa. There is lots of blood and thunder history here. More tomorrow.
Thursday 24 August 2017
Photos from Creede
The valley where most of the early silver mines were. The log cabins are now mostly weekenders or holiday lets.
South Fork &Creede
Yesterday when I read the blog back to Bob he thought that I had left out a couple of important things. One was the Ford GT that we saw on the road out of Ouray. This was the racing version that won numerous races in a very short career. Then Ford stopped producing them. We very graciously pulled over to let him past and didn'see him again after the next bend. The second was the huge number of bikes in this area, most of them Harleys of course, but yesterday we saw three Can Am's and a Gold Wing touring together. Then last night they were eating dinner at the next table in the restaurant and we had a good chat.
Yesterday was mountain travel on a good road so pretty relaxed. We detoured briefly to get a closer view of a National Monument, "The Chimney". We spotted some Praire Dogs as we drove in. They are cute little creatures that sit up on their haunches to look for predators the same as Meercats. We tried for photos but they decided we were in the predator catagory.
South Fork is at a junction of the Rio Grand River and is primarily a ski resort town. Unusually for this altitude (8000 feet) it is on level ground and spread out. It has a very good visitor centre which had a small stuffed bear that we gould photograph for Eleanor and Hannah. The ranger suggested that we spend the afternoon taking a 20 mile drive up to Creede. This is an old mining town turned tourist centre. The difference here is that is was the area of the richest silver mine in North America - 200 ozs per ton. The town is very well preserved and visually attractive. If I can make my photo programme work I will include some shots. There is a "gap" in the surrounding mountains at the end of the town which is very steep sided and narrow. It is the junction of the road out of town and the road to the numerous mine sites, hence important. There is the usual problem with rock falls and sIips here and to protect the road there is an amazing dry stone walling system all the way up the side of the valley, about 200 feet in a switchback pattern. It is obviously old and has had to be reinforced with timber in places but is substancially in place. We strolled around the main street after a walk out to the gap. The town is another 1,000 feet higher than South Fork and constrained to a couple of streets but is prosperous and very well maintained. We had a chat with the owner of a Standard Poodle and I was allowed to have a thorough pat.
We discovered some information at the visitor centre that explained why we feel woozy when walking at these altitudes. Apparently there is a higher risk of dehydration as you lose moisture more rapidly up here. We have been drinking more water than usual because the days are warm but apparently not enough. Our accommodation overnight is a 100 year old log cabin which is small but entirely self contained and very comfortable. It even has two rocking chairs which we have made good use of. Over and out.
Yesterday was mountain travel on a good road so pretty relaxed. We detoured briefly to get a closer view of a National Monument, "The Chimney". We spotted some Praire Dogs as we drove in. They are cute little creatures that sit up on their haunches to look for predators the same as Meercats. We tried for photos but they decided we were in the predator catagory.
South Fork is at a junction of the Rio Grand River and is primarily a ski resort town. Unusually for this altitude (8000 feet) it is on level ground and spread out. It has a very good visitor centre which had a small stuffed bear that we gould photograph for Eleanor and Hannah. The ranger suggested that we spend the afternoon taking a 20 mile drive up to Creede. This is an old mining town turned tourist centre. The difference here is that is was the area of the richest silver mine in North America - 200 ozs per ton. The town is very well preserved and visually attractive. If I can make my photo programme work I will include some shots. There is a "gap" in the surrounding mountains at the end of the town which is very steep sided and narrow. It is the junction of the road out of town and the road to the numerous mine sites, hence important. There is the usual problem with rock falls and sIips here and to protect the road there is an amazing dry stone walling system all the way up the side of the valley, about 200 feet in a switchback pattern. It is obviously old and has had to be reinforced with timber in places but is substancially in place. We strolled around the main street after a walk out to the gap. The town is another 1,000 feet higher than South Fork and constrained to a couple of streets but is prosperous and very well maintained. We had a chat with the owner of a Standard Poodle and I was allowed to have a thorough pat.
We discovered some information at the visitor centre that explained why we feel woozy when walking at these altitudes. Apparently there is a higher risk of dehydration as you lose moisture more rapidly up here. We have been drinking more water than usual because the days are warm but apparently not enough. Our accommodation overnight is a 100 year old log cabin which is small but entirely self contained and very comfortable. It even has two rocking chairs which we have made good use of. Over and out.
Wednesday 23 August 2017
Durango Colorado Wed 23/8
Yesterday was very relaxed. Domestic duties such as a visit to the supermaket and the laundry were required. Then we walked the mile into the historic downtown and browsed the shops. Discovered a "French" bakery which bakes almost authentic bagettes. We will be calling there in the morning to purchase one for our lunch. The American bread is usually too sweet for our preference. We visited the railway station which has been fully restored as a museum including an operating steam train which makes daily trips up to Silverton during the Summer. Bob tells me it runs during Winter as well weather permitting. There are a few of these trains in the region and we had a ride on one with Lou and Mike in our travels with them.
Durango is a pretty town and has some well preserved old buildings allthough like many of the towns through here the buildings post date a major fire in the late 1800's. We visited the Information Centre to obtain a map of the River Walk and walked it back to our hotel. We also found out how to use the "trolley" bus which goes past our hotel down to the historic district.
After lunch and a nap and another cup of tea we paddled around until shower time and set off for dinner. We caught the trolley downtown and perused all the resaurant offerings until we found a menu to our taste and price range. It was a good choice. We sat outside in a walled garden set up with a series of gazebos. It was very pleasant surroundings and temperature and the food was good. Generally we have found wine to be expensive often buying by the glass. However I have discovered the Californian Zinfandell wine which is a little different to our Aussie offerings but very drinkable so we splurged on a bottle. As we sat finishing our meal we heard melodious singing and then we saw a Barbershop group stroll into our part of the restaurant. They stood by our table to sing two songs and as they finished the dimutive conductress engaged Bob in a twirl, to his delight. It was a good night. We then caught the Trolley back up the hill to our motel. The Trolley is operated by the City and a donation of $1 is the fare, 50 cents for seniors. It runs ever 20 minutes from 9am till 10pm and seems to always be on time. It is a great service and just adds to the overall tourist focus of the town. We have enjoyed our stay. Today we are off to South Fork, another community relying on tourism but much smaller.
Durango is a pretty town and has some well preserved old buildings allthough like many of the towns through here the buildings post date a major fire in the late 1800's. We visited the Information Centre to obtain a map of the River Walk and walked it back to our hotel. We also found out how to use the "trolley" bus which goes past our hotel down to the historic district.
After lunch and a nap and another cup of tea we paddled around until shower time and set off for dinner. We caught the trolley downtown and perused all the resaurant offerings until we found a menu to our taste and price range. It was a good choice. We sat outside in a walled garden set up with a series of gazebos. It was very pleasant surroundings and temperature and the food was good. Generally we have found wine to be expensive often buying by the glass. However I have discovered the Californian Zinfandell wine which is a little different to our Aussie offerings but very drinkable so we splurged on a bottle. As we sat finishing our meal we heard melodious singing and then we saw a Barbershop group stroll into our part of the restaurant. They stood by our table to sing two songs and as they finished the dimutive conductress engaged Bob in a twirl, to his delight. It was a good night. We then caught the Trolley back up the hill to our motel. The Trolley is operated by the City and a donation of $1 is the fare, 50 cents for seniors. It runs ever 20 minutes from 9am till 10pm and seems to always be on time. It is a great service and just adds to the overall tourist focus of the town. We have enjoyed our stay. Today we are off to South Fork, another community relying on tourism but much smaller.
Tuesday 22 August 2017
Grand Junction to Durango Colorado 21/8
Yesterday was another interesting one. We began by setting off to find a Post Office to buy some stamps printed for the solar eclipse. We did buy some and I had visions of buying some cards and having them date stamped for the 21st but that was not to be. I had persuaded Bob to visit the Gunnison Black Canyon National Park. This added an extra 60 miles to our day but we had realised that we had travelled part of this road on a previous trip with my cousins Mike and Lou Ann. The only road in marked on our map turned our to be the lesser Park entry accessing the North Rim of the Canyon. This was mildly annoying when we studied the Park map supplied but seemed of no major consequence. A bonus was that there were free eclipse glasses supplied so we actually viewed the partial eclipse. We ser off to walk the rim but once we achieved the first overlook we realised that that was as far as we could go. The ultimate spot was an hour further and the altitude was affecting us again. We took our photos and returned.
We then decided to take the circuit route to get back to our original route. It would also take us past the main entrance to the South Rim of the Canyon, if we had time. This was a very beautiful drive through the mountains and we found a rest stop with great views to eat lunch. However we had forgotten just how slow it can be driving these roads. By the time we reached Ouray, known as "Little Switzerland" we still had two hours driving ahead. And this was without seeing the South Rim. We had stayed in Ouray with Mike and LouAnn so we were not too disappointed that we needed to keep driving. By now it was thundery and threatening rain so that was another imperative. The gorge leading south from Ouray is the main reason that this highway is recommended as not to be missed. It was great to revisit it and even though the 25mph speed limit for a long way made slow going it was worth it. We then wound our was along the Rocky Mountains, not just over them, There were two major passes to climb over. One at 10,900 feet and one at 10,600. Along the way we went past the old mining towns of Silverton and Telluride showing wooden structures dating from the late 1800's. We finally drove into Durango at 6-30pm, During the day we had experienced temperatures in the high 80's in the valleys and then dropping to the 60's on the mountains. We had been through the rain but it stopped by the time we reached our motel and the temp was 54. Such contrasts.
Ouray
We then decided to take the circuit route to get back to our original route. It would also take us past the main entrance to the South Rim of the Canyon, if we had time. This was a very beautiful drive through the mountains and we found a rest stop with great views to eat lunch. However we had forgotten just how slow it can be driving these roads. By the time we reached Ouray, known as "Little Switzerland" we still had two hours driving ahead. And this was without seeing the South Rim. We had stayed in Ouray with Mike and LouAnn so we were not too disappointed that we needed to keep driving. By now it was thundery and threatening rain so that was another imperative. The gorge leading south from Ouray is the main reason that this highway is recommended as not to be missed. It was great to revisit it and even though the 25mph speed limit for a long way made slow going it was worth it. We then wound our was along the Rocky Mountains, not just over them, There were two major passes to climb over. One at 10,900 feet and one at 10,600. Along the way we went past the old mining towns of Silverton and Telluride showing wooden structures dating from the late 1800's. We finally drove into Durango at 6-30pm, During the day we had experienced temperatures in the high 80's in the valleys and then dropping to the 60's on the mountains. We had been through the rain but it stopped by the time we reached our motel and the temp was 54. Such contrasts.
Ouray Photos from Utah
I had trouble finding my way around the site again yesterday but have it taped now I think.Monday 21 August 2017
Ely Nevada to Grand Junction Colorada 20/8
Yestterday was a loonnggg day. We drove 700 kms.. We were on the road by 8am and the first part of the drive was over similar countryside as you might expect. Alternating granite mountain chains with wide basins. As we crossed the border into Utah there was very little irrigation and more rough grazing. Bob had read that there was a salt problem in these Basins if there was no natural water course draining them. Shortly after that we came upon Lake Sevier, a huge Salt Lake. We realised that we weren't that far south of Salt Lake City which was named for obvious reasons. As we drove further into Utah the terrain changed to more sedimentary rock ,sculpted plateaus. The colours were varied and constantly changing. We didn't have time to constantly stop so I have quite a few photos taken from the car. They have turned out quite well proving that my decision to be modern and not carry my camera as well as my tablet was justified. We did stop at two overlooks which had views of canyons. At the first one Bob read the plaque and found this was the first site where Joseph Smith's successor had lead his faithful followers into the wilderness. Some of them did survive but barely. It seems incredible that anyone except the Navaho could survive here. Local Indians were selling pottery, (which I could resist) and at the second overlook jewellery. This I struggled with as I would have loved to buy but resolutely got back in the car because we still had a way to go. As we drove along the highway we were passing through thundery showers which temporarily cooled the temperature so that it varied from low 80's to 100 F . Suddenly as we approached a rain shower there was a flash of forked lightening slant wise across the highway close in front of us. Shortly after we were amazed to see a small pine had burst into flame and was burning merrily all by its self. Was it a sign?
We finally arrived at our very comfortable motel and we are very relieved that we won't have any more long stints like that. This Quality Motel is of very high quality especially after the previous night at the White Pine. I forgot to mention that there was a Country Fair and Horse Show on in Ely on Saturday so there was a constant cycle of desperate people through the car park because the No didn't work on the Vacancy sign. We were lucky to have booked even that "last chance" accommodation.
We finally arrived at our very comfortable motel and we are very relieved that we won't have any more long stints like that. This Quality Motel is of very high quality especially after the previous night at the White Pine. I forgot to mention that there was a Country Fair and Horse Show on in Ely on Saturday so there was a constant cycle of desperate people through the car park because the No didn't work on the Vacancy sign. We were lucky to have booked even that "last chance" accommodation.
Saturday 19 August 2017
Ely Nevada. Sat 19th Aug
Today we drove the 70 miles to Ely and then a further 60 miles to the Great Basin National Park. This Park is really misnamed as although it encompasses a huge basin surrounded by the most rugged mountains I have seen the basin is not the main feature. For day visitors like us the main feature is Mount Wheeler which is 10,300 feet high. It has a huge ice sculpted bowl which holds tons of ice in the Winter as a glacier. Today there was still quite a bit of ice visible in the clefts around the summit but it won't last much longer. We drove from the Visitors Centre at about 6,800 feet up an amazing road to the car park and camp ground at 10,000 feet. Here Bob and I decided to tackle the 4 mile walk which climbs 400 feet up around two lovely alpine lakes. We had to go slowly on the climb because we were both feeling quite woozy with the altitude. However once we made the upper lake it was easy going from there. Well worth the effort. Along the way we talked to some other walkers. Two younger men were completing the walk we were on in preparation and acclimatisation for tackling the summit the next day. Another man has visited numerous times and commented that he had never seen the Park so busy. He attributed this to people visiting on their way north to view the Solar Eclipse which will occur on Monday. It is the first time in most people's history that there has been a solar eclipse in North America so it is creating a lot of interest. He is going to the border of Ohio and Colorado to view the entire show.
When we came down we finally managed to get our Park Pass from the visitors centre. We then returned to Ely for our bed. We imagined this desert road would be quiet but we have had to book in advance to get accommodation and to take what is available.
Tomorrow will be a long day as we drive across southern Utah to Colorado so you may not hear from me until at least Mon. The little critter on the rail is BB our toy bear who appears in regular emails to Eleanor and Hannah.
When we came down we finally managed to get our Park Pass from the visitors centre. We then returned to Ely for our bed. We imagined this desert road would be quiet but we have had to book in advance to get accommodation and to take what is available.
LAKE tahoe to Eureka Nevada
Friday was a very up and down day. We had a leisurely start and did some food shopping in Carson City so that we can self cater breakfast and lunch. Then I persuaded a reluctant Bob to drive to the US Government offices to enquire about purchasing a National Parks Pass. We are visiting so many National Parks that their annual pass is cost effective. When we arrived there the staff were very unhelpful and couldn't guarantee that the first park we are going to would ne able to sell us one. So between the two of us we were mightily annoyed. Meanwhile Bob had been consulting the GPS which said that our destination was 6 hours away instead of the 4 that Google had advised. Since it was already midday that meant we would be arriving late. AND IT WAS MY FAULT.
Things simmered down as we rolled down the highway. We were heading out into the Nevada desert and as Bob commented " it made the Nullabor look like a forest". However the terrain is made up of chains of hills interspersed with large flat valleys. The hills became progressively higher and had more shrubby comifers dotted over them due to the fact that they are snow covered in the winter and the melt irrigates the trees in the summer. Also in the valleys surrounding the three main towns they have diverted water courses and built reservoirs to capture the snow melt and irrigate the land. So in the midst of this rugged barren area there a green patches if agricultural production. This whole area is more than 4,000 feet above sea level and as we drove over the mountain passes they were mostly over 7,000 feet. This made the approaches fairly long and steep but fortunately the road is good. It was an interesting drive and we arrived at our destination, Eureka Nevada by 4-30pm proving google right. The fun was just beginning though. We had booked a hotel through Expedia and as we drove through the very "western" small town we searched for our hotel without success. We put the address into the GPS and she took us 7 miles back out of town to a new housing development with no hotel. By now we realised that we were in trouble because there was only 3 motels in this town and the first to were full. Apparently there is a lot of construction going on in the area and thus lots of workers needing room. We spotted an older motel back at the beginning of town and hustled down there. It was old but immaculately kept and cheap as well. We took a room and I would recommend the Ruby Hill Motel to anyone. We soon had three couples from Utah who were riding Harleys taking the rooms next to us.Naturally there was a bit of bike chat.
This morning two more events made the stay memorable. A group of deer strolled down the highway outside our room on their way to breakfast. Then our biker neighbours held a prayer meeting on the lawn outside their room.
I am attaching some photos ( I hope) of Lake Tahoe. These are a day behind because I was having trouble working out the storage system on my new tablet. Elise was bemused by my photo of a car park recently not appreciating that it was of the entrance building of the Peppermill and I was trying to give an imppression of the scale of the buildings.
Things simmered down as we rolled down the highway. We were heading out into the Nevada desert and as Bob commented " it made the Nullabor look like a forest". However the terrain is made up of chains of hills interspersed with large flat valleys. The hills became progressively higher and had more shrubby comifers dotted over them due to the fact that they are snow covered in the winter and the melt irrigates the trees in the summer. Also in the valleys surrounding the three main towns they have diverted water courses and built reservoirs to capture the snow melt and irrigate the land. So in the midst of this rugged barren area there a green patches if agricultural production. This whole area is more than 4,000 feet above sea level and as we drove over the mountain passes they were mostly over 7,000 feet. This made the approaches fairly long and steep but fortunately the road is good. It was an interesting drive and we arrived at our destination, Eureka Nevada by 4-30pm proving google right. The fun was just beginning though. We had booked a hotel through Expedia and as we drove through the very "western" small town we searched for our hotel without success. We put the address into the GPS and she took us 7 miles back out of town to a new housing development with no hotel. By now we realised that we were in trouble because there was only 3 motels in this town and the first to were full. Apparently there is a lot of construction going on in the area and thus lots of workers needing room. We spotted an older motel back at the beginning of town and hustled down there. It was old but immaculately kept and cheap as well. We took a room and I would recommend the Ruby Hill Motel to anyone. We soon had three couples from Utah who were riding Harleys taking the rooms next to us.Naturally there was a bit of bike chat.
This morning two more events made the stay memorable. A group of deer strolled down the highway outside our room on their way to breakfast. Then our biker neighbours held a prayer meeting on the lawn outside their room.
I am attaching some photos ( I hope) of Lake Tahoe. These are a day behind because I was having trouble working out the storage system on my new tablet. Elise was bemused by my photo of a car park recently not appreciating that it was of the entrance building of the Peppermill and I was trying to give an imppression of the scale of the buildings.
Friday 18 August 2017
Lake Tahoe 18th August 2017
Yesterday we drove from South Tahoe around the west side of the Lake up to Tahoe City. This is the steeper side of the terrain and just as beautuful as we had been expecting. The traffic was steady but not difficult except at the viewing spots which were without exception congested with cars waiting for a parking spot. At one Bob just drove around the parking area while I hoppd out, took the photo and hopped back in. We allso found a couple of laybyes to stop in briefly. There is one area where we climbed a switch back up from the lakeside and found the top was a ridge just wide enough for the road with a plunging drop a few thousand feed either side to the lake. The water was blue geen in the sun today but the day was not too warm.
We had forgotten that in places like this Americans don't have many casual picnic spots and had packed the makings for lunch. There were plenty of entries to the State Park areas but these are places where it is anticipated that you will be camping or at least spending the day. Hence there is the usual $8 - $10 entry fees. You can imagine that once again Bob was not having a bar of that. At about 1pm we were driving through one of the small communiies where there was a large complex of buildings for hiring sport equipment such as boards and skis. At the back of the large car park servicing a cable car station thre were some tables and benches. I convinced Bob that as the cable car station was a winter thing and was currently locked up we could be cheeky and use the table. He was feeling nervous about being challenged until I decided to walk over to the bar/restaurant to buy a drink and use the toilet. It was a huge building with one small office the only part occupied and open, spacious and recently cleaned toilets.we settled in and enjoyed our lunch. Tahoe City was very busy with the usual holiday village offerings so we drove through and then retraced our route home. Coming from the bush one of the things we really enjoyed were the huge fir trees along the road. These doesn't seem to be as much damage from beetles in this area and the trees are tall and beautiful. Not like our commercial plantations as they are still in their natural parkland growth.
We had a delicious Italian style meal last night with both of us choosing some rissoto instead of spagetti for the first time. We both had seafood combined with it and it was fresh and well cooked.
Today we are heading east again and will be in Eureka, Nevada for the night.
Yesterday we drove from South Tahoe around the west side of the Lake up to Tahoe City. This is the steeper side of the terrain and just as beautuful as we had been expecting. The traffic was steady but not difficult except at the viewing spots which were without exception congested with cars waiting for a parking spot. At one Bob just drove around the parking area while I hoppd out, took the photo and hopped back in. We allso found a couple of laybyes to stop in briefly. There is one area where we climbed a switch back up from the lakeside and found the top was a ridge just wide enough for the road with a plunging drop a few thousand feed either side to the lake. The water was blue geen in the sun today but the day was not too warm.
We had forgotten that in places like this Americans don't have many casual picnic spots and had packed the makings for lunch. There were plenty of entries to the State Park areas but these are places where it is anticipated that you will be camping or at least spending the day. Hence there is the usual $8 - $10 entry fees. You can imagine that once again Bob was not having a bar of that. At about 1pm we were driving through one of the small communiies where there was a large complex of buildings for hiring sport equipment such as boards and skis. At the back of the large car park servicing a cable car station thre were some tables and benches. I convinced Bob that as the cable car station was a winter thing and was currently locked up we could be cheeky and use the table. He was feeling nervous about being challenged until I decided to walk over to the bar/restaurant to buy a drink and use the toilet. It was a huge building with one small office the only part occupied and open, spacious and recently cleaned toilets.we settled in and enjoyed our lunch. Tahoe City was very busy with the usual holiday village offerings so we drove through and then retraced our route home. Coming from the bush one of the things we really enjoyed were the huge fir trees along the road. These doesn't seem to be as much damage from beetles in this area and the trees are tall and beautiful. Not like our commercial plantations as they are still in their natural parkland growth.
We had a delicious Italian style meal last night with both of us choosing some rissoto instead of spagetti for the first time. We both had seafood combined with it and it was fresh and well cooked.
Today we are heading east again and will be in Eureka, Nevada for the night.
Thursday 17 August 2017
To Lake Tahoe
We only had a short run from Reno to The Lake so we had a leisurely start. We arrived before lunch and had no difficulty finding a reasonably priced motel on the South Tahoe strip around the lake. I hasten to add that it is not lakeside accommodation as they are well out of our class. However the bakery rated as the best in South Tahoe is just two doors along and i have
made the trip for lunch yesterday and breakfast today.
On the way here we stopped over in Carson City, the Nevada State Capital. Bob had read that it was worth a visit. It was certainly a contrast to Reno with a gracious old centre of administrative and business buildings. An interesting feature was that there was plenty of free parking which make the stop over user friendly. We had a stroll around the city centre and then went on our way.
The scenery on the approach to the Lake and once we had topped the 7100+foot pass was beautiful. The Lake is huge and very deep having been ice formed. The proud local claim is that it is blue and clear enough to see a white dinner plate on the bottom at 70 feet. The surrounding mountains still have quite a lot of snow and the pines go right down to the edge so the contrast of rugged peaks and the lower level pines should make some great photos. We walked down to the two beach areas near us that are accessible to the poor public like us. They were busy but not impossibly so. We had tried to pull into a parking area near a recommended bay and found it was a private resort area and that we would have to pay $10 to park. Needless to say Bob declined to pay this for a half hour stop over. The day was a bit cloudy so not as good for photos. We will be exploring today and the sky is clear so I hope to get some good views along the way. I will attach photos of the Peppermill which is typical of the Reno casinos.
We only had a short run from Reno to The Lake so we had a leisurely start. We arrived before lunch and had no difficulty finding a reasonably priced motel on the South Tahoe strip around the lake. I hasten to add that it is not lakeside accommodation as they are well out of our class. However the bakery rated as the best in South Tahoe is just two doors along and i have
On the way here we stopped over in Carson City, the Nevada State Capital. Bob had read that it was worth a visit. It was certainly a contrast to Reno with a gracious old centre of administrative and business buildings. An interesting feature was that there was plenty of free parking which make the stop over user friendly. We had a stroll around the city centre and then went on our way.
The scenery on the approach to the Lake and once we had topped the 7100+foot pass was beautiful. The Lake is huge and very deep having been ice formed. The proud local claim is that it is blue and clear enough to see a white dinner plate on the bottom at 70 feet. The surrounding mountains still have quite a lot of snow and the pines go right down to the edge so the contrast of rugged peaks and the lower level pines should make some great photos. We walked down to the two beach areas near us that are accessible to the poor public like us. They were busy but not impossibly so. We had tried to pull into a parking area near a recommended bay and found it was a private resort area and that we would have to pay $10 to park. Needless to say Bob declined to pay this for a half hour stop over. The day was a bit cloudy so not as good for photos. We will be exploring today and the sky is clear so I hope to get some good views along the way. I will attach photos of the Peppermill which is typical of the Reno casinos.
Tuesday 15 August 2017
Going to Reno
Today has had a very frustrating beginning. Recently there have been delays in the post going to publish. Then today the work I wrote last night has refused to publish despite numerous attempts. Finally I searched for an answer on the net and it seems I have to change the internet connection. So here's hoping this will work. The story as I wrote it yesterday goes like this. It would have to have been a long one.
We travelled over the mountains today and the scenery was stunning. We drove along the river valley until just before we reached Aubourn. Then we entered the Aubourn Gorge. The photo I hope to post shows the bridge that we subsequently crossed. The highest point in the Highway was the Donner Pass at 7000 + feet. There was snow on the mountain tops as we drove through.
We arrived in Reno at about 12pm which was too early to check into the accommodation we had booked at the Peppermill Casino & Resort. However I was prepared with the addresses of our two favourite stores and they were conveniently enroute to the Casino. The first one was a bit pf a disappointment but they did have a good cafe so we opted for lunch. When our sandwiches arrived we realised that half a sandwich was equal to what we would usually have for lunch. We agreed then that we would just order one in future and share. We developed a similar strategy for dinner at the Casino. I ordered a salad and Bob ordered a steak. Then we explained to the waitress that we can't eat their big meals and we planned to share. She was a bit bemused but hap
pily cooperated and brought us an extra plate and steak knife. The meal was delicious but we still couldn't finish all the salad.
The Peppermill is huge and we are staying in the budget rooms that we booked on Expedia. They are very comfortable and equal to 5 star in Australia. Tomorrow (today) we planned a quiet day doing some low key shopping and exploring. Bob needed time to recover from the shock of my shopping frenzy at Sierra Trading yesterday. I went armed with a list of specials that I had researched on the net but I must admit I had not actually planned to buy 4 pairs of shoes. I told him how much I saved but he was still shell shocked.
Today we have been into the centre of Reno which is actually wall to wall huge casinos and not much else. We did manage to find stamps for some snail mail and the Visitors Centre which we had not really hoped to track down. Tonight we are having Mexican Dinner as Bob has pointed out that if we are going to have it anywhere this is probably a good place.
I will now try to attach a couple of photos.
We travelled over the mountains today and the scenery was stunning. We drove along the river valley until just before we reached Aubourn. Then we entered the Aubourn Gorge. The photo I hope to post shows the bridge that we subsequently crossed. The highest point in the Highway was the Donner Pass at 7000 + feet. There was snow on the mountain tops as we drove through.
We arrived in Reno at about 12pm which was too early to check into the accommodation we had booked at the Peppermill Casino & Resort. However I was prepared with the addresses of our two favourite stores and they were conveniently enroute to the Casino. The first one was a bit pf a disappointment but they did have a good cafe so we opted for lunch. When our sandwiches arrived we realised that half a sandwich was equal to what we would usually have for lunch. We agreed then that we would just order one in future and share. We developed a similar strategy for dinner at the Casino. I ordered a salad and Bob ordered a steak. Then we explained to the waitress that we can't eat their big meals and we planned to share. She was a bit bemused but hap
The Peppermill is huge and we are staying in the budget rooms that we booked on Expedia. They are very comfortable and equal to 5 star in Australia. Tomorrow (today) we planned a quiet day doing some low key shopping and exploring. Bob needed time to recover from the shock of my shopping frenzy at Sierra Trading yesterday. I went armed with a list of specials that I had researched on the net but I must admit I had not actually planned to buy 4 pairs of shoes. I told him how much I saved but he was still shell shocked.
Today we have been into the centre of Reno which is actually wall to wall huge casinos and not much else. We did manage to find stamps for some snail mail and the Visitors Centre which we had not really hoped to track down. Tonight we are having Mexican Dinner as Bob has pointed out that if we are going to have it anywhere this is probably a good place.
I will now try to attach a couple of photos.
Sunday 13 August 2017
Placerville Sunday 13 / 8/17
Today has been delightful. Warm and sunny with some new exploring. We had a leisurely start and decided to walk the rest of Main Street. We had only seen the top end last night and typical of the area it is not a straight street. When we turned the corner we found it blocked off and a craft fair in full swing. I thought of Ingrid immediately because she loves such events. It was a big affair and took us quite a while to browse our way around. There was some lovely pottery and wood work. Lots of fabrics and jewellery of course. When we had seen as much as we wanted we headed off on our original plan which was to visit one of the old mining towns nearby. Georgetown was at the heart of the 1850's gold rush and many of it's buildings are substantial enough to have survived a severe fire in the 1850's. The road up there was amazing. Only 25 miles but it was so narrow and winding it took us 3/4 of an hour to get there. The scenery was beautiful with heavily wooded steep valleys opening up occasionaly for great views. Unfortunately the narrowness of the roads didn't permit parking for photos. Georgetown was all that we expected with lovely old stone buildings. We had lunch at the saloon and it was yummy. We just had to be strong and not eat all the fries which came with our sandwich. I had to endure my first serve of iced tea because I can't face soda's and didn't want beer. I will attach a photo which shows the interior of the bar. The photo is deceptive because the place had emptied out while I went back for my tablet. It had been hopping with a seniors group some bikers and some young people. After strolling the street, inspecting the fire station ( very important in this country) and the gift shop we drove home. The way back was through a couple of different communities. The contrast between those which are close to the highway or have a means of promoting the town and those that were less fortunate was very marked. A couple of places were very evidently peopled by those on low income who lacked the resources to do more than eke out an existance. Tonight we are walking down to Main Street again for dinner and hope to keep our waistlines in check with the exercise.
Check out and collect Car Day
I reaIsed when i was looking through the photos that I hadn't included one of City Hall. So here it is today. Bob said that I had to tell you that it's main claim to fame is that the dome is taller than the one on the National Capital. It also has gold trim on it's external paint work.
The collection of our car went very smoothly. We had to return to the International Airport to pick it up and used our "seniors discount" train tickets. These just seem to apply to the round trip for the airport and were half price. Our appearance was the only proof required that we were over 65. How surprising. In contrast to our experience with Dollar Hire cars last trip Alamo were extremely efficient despite a long queue. And we had a choice of cars. Our destination was Placerville which is the heart of the original gold rush area of California. It is only 230 miles from San Francisco and we arrived by 3-30pm. It was just as well we made it then because we needed our "Nanna Nap". Friday night at the hostel had been very noisy with a group of young people drinking on the sidewalk until about 3am. Even though our room was not on the street front we were overlooking a service court yard which seemed to collect the sound. Sounds of passion nearby topped it off.
Placerville is very pretty being in the foothills of the mountains. In contrast to the hills around San Francisco which really are treeless there a tall pines around the town. Due to it's location in a valley it is a long thin town and we had quite a walk to reach the restaurant area in Main Street last night. The walk was good for us after the drive and dinner was very good. We are looking forward to a relaxed day exploring the area before we move on again on Monday. Bob is preparing our yogurt and cereal so it is time to close.
Saturday 12 August 2017
Friday 11 August 2017
San Francisco Day 3
Well we have had the best day today. The weather was warmer and we planned a gentle stroll down through the Tenderloin area to the San Francisco Civic Centre. We drove past it yesterday and marked it as somewhere to visit at leisure. It was destroyed like many other buildings in the 1906 earthquake and rebuilt by 1915. It is very impressive as a structure and when we arrived we found that it was a very social building. It is the place where Marilyn Monro married Joe DiMagio and there were at least 4 weddings happening while we were there with more couples with entourage arriving. People were laughing, cheering and singing during the services and it was a very alive place.
From there we walked around the square past the Opera House and other impressive buildings to the Asian Art Museum. This was not somewhere that I would have sought out but it was recommended and we were there so in we went. The art was so beautiful I was so pleased that we went to see it. There were examples of pottery from 300 BC through to modern day. The art from Korea and Japan was exquisite. We only saw one floor and then ran out of steam so retired to the restaurant for a delicious lunch of genuine Asian style food. Light and tasty.
After walking back through the Tenderloin which I have to tell you is not a place to go after dark we had a little rest before going down to the area where we ate last night. This morning we spotted an Italian Restaurant, called "Little Henry's" which is operated by a Cambodian couple. We immediately decided that was where we would eat tonight. We did make a mistake ordering the special Alaskan Cod because we were intrigued to try it. However although the fish was nothing special it came with sides of salad, pasta, vegetables and bread. By the time we had eaten as much of that as we could we decided that we may well return on our last night before flying home to order pasta which is what we should have done tonight. More interesting yet was that while we were eating Bob spied a GOLD Lamborgini being parked just across the road. While I say gold that it just what I mean. Not golden yellow but gold like gold leaf. He could hardly contain himself to finish his meal to go over the road to look at it. When we did it was so amazing that we decided to walk back to the hostel to get our cameras hoping it would still be there when we returned. It was and there were others taking photos. One man was pretending to open the driver's door. With that there was a hale across the street telling him to get away from the car. It was the owner. We had assumed he was eating at a nearby posh restaurant but he subsequently informed us he had been having a haircut. He came over and as we had been a respectful distance taking our photos and polite he chatted. He is a US citizen of Pakistan heritage. He informed us he owns 3 gold cars and often displays them for charity. This is the latest version designed to be a street car as well as high performance. He explained that the gold is applied as a wrap and the car has to be dismantled to apply it. As we were obviously very admiring and Bob was asking all the right mechanical questions he asked me if I had ever sat in one and then invited me to do so. I did and Bob took the photos to prove it.
He was just a very nice person who obviously enjoyed talking about his cars and San Francisco.
On that note we strolled back to the hostel and had a little boast about our evening to the young impressionable hostel reception staff.
Thursday 10 August 2017
San Francisco Day 2
Well today has been a different experience. When I checked the weather forecast this morning it said "cloudy 20 decrees C". Perfect we thought as we set off for the Hop on Hop off Bus for a city tour. We were just in time to get front row seats on the top of the double decker and we were primed to see the sights. San Francisco is a beautiful city and we learnt a lot - such as all the trees around the streets and parks had to be gradually introduced and are all non native species. This is because there are no trees native to this area. Hence we saw a lot of eucalypts and some flowering red gums ( in flower). Also 70% of the city was new since 1906 due to the massive earthquake of that year. In this respect it is a lot like Perth with very few venerable buildings. Unlike WA they have been a lot smarter about preserving their 1900's era buildings. This is particularly notable in the houses in the older areas of the city where care has been taken to preserve and maintain them. There is an area where the houses are known as the "painted ladies" because of the detailed trim which enhances their timber painted exteriors. We also drove through the Haight Aspery area of the 60's fame where the decoration of the buildings is much more "out there " and more in the theme of "painted molls". Lots of fun to see evidence of "The Summer of Love". Unfortunately the weather forecast did not live up to the original prediction until late this afternoon. Long before then we had tumbled off the bus on numbed legs and with shaking hands into a handy "Hot Spud" lunch bar to re negotiate the plan. Fortunately we had taken our jackets anticipating the cold breeze which lurks around corners and pounces unexpectedly but even they were not enough to protect us. We decamped back to our cozy room for a nap, a hot shower and then ventured forth for some retail therapy. Tomorrow we will retrace our path to the magnificent Civic Centre for a closer look.
Before we joined the bus tour we had to track down a USA Post Office to post a parcel of photos to my cousins in Oklahoma. In the walk there and back we discovered some restaurants that were off the "tourist trail". Tonight we went back to that area which was conveniently only 3 blocks over from our hostel. Bob very generously volunteered that we try out a Mexican/ Salvadorian restaurant "Olivo's" knowing that I would enjoy it even though it is not his preferance. We had an hilarious conversation sorting through what he might enjoy and me then translating his order to the proprietor's son who was bemused but patient. What is more Bob thoroughly enjoyed his thin sliced topside and prawns. Though I have to report that he would not eat the mashed refried beans gravy.
And so ends another day.
Wednesday 9 August 2017
The trip to San Francisco
All began well when our dual alarm system worked and we were up and dressed when the taxi arrived at 2.45 am. Ingrid had also nobly set her alarm to make sure we were awake and to wave us off. The driver was early which saved us any anxiety about whether he would be on time. He had us at the domestic terminal earlier than we had expected which turned out to be unfortunate. Because of the recent security alert and our relatively short transfer time at Sydney Bob had "chatted" with Qantas to ensure that there were arrangements in place to make sure we caught our USA flight. We had been assured that as long as we were at Perth airport two hours before the departure time there would be no problem. This meant arriving at 3-15am. We were actually there at 3am and found to our annoyance that we were locked out of the terminal. The notice on the doors informed us that the Terminal does not open till 3-30am. So with a few other concientious mugs we hung around the doors in the cold. The security staff did actually open the doors at 3-15am and we all streamed inside to queue up at the Qantas counters. Then to our utter disbelief we read an electronic sign which informed us that the Qantas staff would not be there until 4-15 am; one hour prior to boarding. All was not lost however as true to Bob's prediction the coffee stall was open and we were able to while away some time sipping expensive flat whites. The flight went went well and because our luggage was checked through to San Francisco we had no trouble transferring from the domestic to the International Qantas terminals. Since our last trip there is a shuttle which crosses the airport land instead of having to go right around the outside on public roads. Hence a faster trip. The Sydney to San Francisco leg went smoothly too except that the plane was full and there was no room to spread out. Neither of us slept as "mother's little helpers" did not work this trip. Never the less the staff were excellant and we were plied with food and drinks even during the "night" stretch. We have had no problem finding our hostel which is close to Union Square and very central. We walked down (and I mean down then back up) to AT&T to buy a chip for my phone and she set it up for me. I was so pleased to have the means of phoning while over here that I sent Elise a text straight away with our phone number forgetting that it was 3am at home. Sorry Elise I hope you slept through the "ping". Ingrid was lucky that I realised before I sent her one too. We had a short nap and are showered, topped up with tea and are ready to walk down to Chinatown for dinner. Over and out.
Monday 7 August 2017
Departing for the USA
We are sort of packed and are having dinner with Ingrid tomorrow evening and then having a brief sleep before heading to the airport at 3am.
It really is the most uncivilised time to be catching a plane but it does have the advantage of delivering us to San Francisco at 7am. I will post more when we have had our first day in San Francisco.
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