Bear Girls: Part IV- Choose Your Own Adventure

Ok....I'm a couple days behind on my blogging of adventures, but I think I can get caught up today. I REALLY thought about doing 2 days in yesterday's post, but the story of boxing squirrels was just too good to get lost at the bottom of a blog.

Basically we spent the night in Lewistown, MT after a beautiful drive up from Billings in sporatic rainstorms. We got really excited because Lewistown has some fantastic houses in it and we just drove around looking at them for a little bit. Monday morning we got up and ready and headed out to a ghost town. There were several buildings still standing, including the old jail and "ladies of the night" house. We got some really cool pictures there.

 

We had this route planned out to go to 3 different ghost towns, but we went about 4 miles past this one (Gilt Edge) and the road was closed. A ranger had driven past us while we were checking out Gilt Edge...it would have been really nice if he had stopped and told us he was closing the road or something. BUT....if he had, then we wouldn't have gotten to go mud bogging. What.An.Adventure.

 

We went up and down hillsides and finally made it to this one stretch that was extremely muddy....my pictures don't do it justice....

 

 

We had a blast plowing through these.....not knowing that around the curve at the bottom of the hill would be a ROAD CLOSED sign meaning we had to turn around and head back UP through the mud again. I was slightly worried that we would get stuck in the backwoods of Montana, but Anne quickly reminded me we had passed several ranches on the way up which were SURE to have cowboys on horses that could help us out. :)

 



We plowed through mud, slipping and sliding all the way, and finally made it back out to paved roads. We headed back into Lewistown, not expecting much to be open due to Memorial Day, but still wanting to look around some. We pulled in at the Central Montana Museum in Lewistown, which was surprisingly open, and found ourselves practically struck dumb at the sight of boxing squirrels.

Let me set the stage for you. In the back corner was a classroom scene with a creepy mannequin teacher in front of the desks. On one of the bookshelves was a boy's high school project that he created back in the 1930's. I think the picture pretty much says it all.

 

 

After seeing that, we felt like anything else we might POSSIBLY do would be such a let down, so we decided to head back towards Billings. On our way out of town, we stopped into the airport to see some old buildings. Lewistown was a training facility for bomber pilots during WWII and several of the buildings they used are still up at the airport.

 

We had really wanted to see part of the old Air Force Base up the mountain over near one of the ghost towns, but since the road was closed, we couldn't get up there. Hopefully I can make it back one day and will get up there to see the base. We also saw a Norden Bombsight used during training. This device was one of the major secrets that the U.S. had during WWII and bomber crews were instructed to completely destroy the device before bailing out of an airplane.

 

In Billings, we went to the mall for about an hour or so to take a break from driving and then went to Red Robin for supper (yum!). 

Today we were at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. I had some training/orientation type stuff to do, since I'll be a tour guide there for part of the summer and Anne got to explore all the museums there. We had Bo, Coy, and Hazel over for a pizza supper tonight which was a lot of fun. Hazel got to play in the backyard and entertain us with her antics. A good day.

Anne leaves tomorrow (sad day!) and then I fly out Thursday for Pittsburgh and Mike's graduation (again!) and will then be in NC for another week! I'm getting in lots of good vacation!! Anne and I have had so many laughs and adventures together over the past week. I am sad to see her go. The Bear Girls adventures will be slowing down for the time being, but will hopefully resume SOON when Anne decides to come back. We've got a coffee shop/bookstore to open! :)

Bear Girls: Part III

We just got back from our next adventure, and boy, what an adventure it was! Yesterday we went to the Battle of the Little Bighorn and saw where Custer made his last stand. I've been to the battlefield several times in my life, so I knew what to expect, but it was fun to see it through Anne's eyes and have to tell her all about the battle and what happened there. She said she felt like she was getting a personal tour. :) I hope I was able to put SOME of my history knowledge to good use. We both really enjoyed the talk that the Park Ranger gave.

 

 

We left the Crow Agency and headed back to Billings for a quick stop before heading northwest to Lewistown, Montana. That was such a beautiful drive. We ran into a couple of thunderstorms, which were seemed unusual because half of the sky was bright with sunshine while the other half was incredibly dark with storm clouds. I expected a rainbow, and sure enough, we found one. Actually, we found 2....for about 5 miles we saw a double rainbow. Absolutely gorgeous.

 

 

The closer we got to Lewistown, the more excited we got. I re-remembered how much I love Montana....mostly because of the green-ness. It is definitely more beautiful than Wyoming. The sunset we drove towards cast different colors across the wide meadows and pastures. We kept playing a song on repeat because it just seemed to fit. I'm not going to lie, there were beautiful moments that brought tears to our eyes. What a wonderful God we have to create so much beauty just for us.



 

 

 

It is late and we are tired, so stay tuned for the next Bear Girls Adventure Story featuring boxing squirrels and mud bogging.



Bear Girls: Part II

What ANOTHER awesome day for the Bear Girls! Unfortunately, that did not mean seeing any bears...but there is still hope for another day. After an awesome sleep at the Wyoming Inn in Jackson, we got up and headed back through the Tetons. With only 2 clouds in the sky (that we could see) we had terrific weather, and although it was cool and breezy, it wasn't bad out.

I called Mom as we were leaving Jackson because she had taken an AMAZING picture with the Tetons reflecting into Jackson Lake that I absolutely love. I was determined to find where this picture might have been taken and we set out on a mission. We never found that spot, but we found places for other great pictures.

Mom's picture....our measure for success:

The ones we were able to get:

We left the Tetons and headed back into Yellowstone, stopping at Old Faithful for a picnic lunch in the car including PB&J with Sundrop and a healthy dose of the Backstreet Boys playing on the radio. Backstreet's back, alright?

We then left, grooving to the music, and went up the Mammoth Hot Springs and then over the Lamar Valley to Tower Junction before heading out of the park. We saw lots of bison in the Lamar Valley, and a good number of bison calves. Most were sacked out asleep in the afternoon sunshine although we did see one frolicking around.

The northern part of Yellowstone is my favorite. We saw lots of water in the rivers due to snow melt, one of which was roaring at us. It was hard to hear each other talk.

Leaving Yellowstone was gorgeous, as usual, and we headed out the Chief Joseph Highway through the Sunlight Basin and Dead Indian Pass. THAT is my favorite spot in all of Wyoming. The further into we got, the more Anne agreed with me. :)

Quick funny story...I had been telling Anne all about the Beartooth Mountains and kept looking for them to point out the main peak to her. We both kept looking around at different points and she kept saying, "I think that's it!" based on what I had described to her. I would look in my rearview mirror or the side mirrors and say, "No! That isn't it....it's crooked! The one we want is pointy!" Finally, she said "Kathryn, I REALLY think that's it and I want you too look at it." Since nothing was coming either direction, I stopped in the middle of the road and turned completely around. Sure enough, the one SHE had been looking at WAS the Beartooth Mountain, and the one I had been looking at was the peak right next to it! I wasn't getting the same angle from my mirrors that she was getting for hers. So I pulled off on the side of the road and we got out to take some really fun pictures. You can see the main peak that I was talking about, and the slightly crooked peak off to the right that was the one I thought she was talking about. We laughed really hard about that one. :)

We are off to the museum today so I can get in a little work before I come back to NC on vacation next week and for Anne to see the museum. Then we're kidnapping Hazel for a couple hours to play and go for a walk and then get ready for Cassie's tonight! We're going out to Cassie's for supper with Coy, Bo, and Hazel and a couple other people. Hopefully we'll get to do some dancing while we're there! (Cassie's is a restaurant with a live band and a dance floor. It'll be great!)

Bear Girls: Part I

Anne is here!! I am SOO excited! For those of you who don't know, Anne was one of my college roommates. She has made the long trip out here (by plane) to visit for a week. She got in late Wednesday night and we took off Thursday for a 2 day trip through Yellowstone and the Tetons.

We stopped for breakfast at the Shoshone Lodge which has the BEST pancakes in all of the world. (sorry Dad....yours are great too) Once into Yellowstone we started around the Lower Loop and took a stop at the Upper and Lower Falls. There is a staircase you can take at the Lower Falls that is basically bolted into the rocks. It's a little hairy...

This is a picture from the bottom. There were 328 stairs to get to the bottom. Going down was a breeze....it was the coming back up that was a problem. :) We had to take quite a few breaks...

On we went, and throughout the day we saw 2 foxes, 2 coyotes, a couple elk, bison, and a moose (with antlers!). Not the typical animals I was expecting in Yellowstone yesterday, but at least we saw some wildlife. As we go back through today, I'm hoping we can see a bear. Driving in the car, we decided that we were going to open up a coffee shop and bakery called Bear Girls...complete with scones and bear claws and an espresso machine for Anne to run. "If you risk nothing....you gain nothing..."

 



Heading out the South Entrance to Yellowstone, we zipped down to the Tetons. They were BEAUTIFUL (as always) and we stopped several places to take pictures and decided to come back to certain spots Friday morning. The sky was cloudy yesterday so we wanted a little more light for our awesome pictures.

After a interesting supper in Jackson at a restaurant that was way nicer than we were expecting (there were meats on the menu for $40) we came back to our hotel and crashed. But not before getting a little soft serve at a gas station (which i've never heard of before, but i'm not complaining!) and crashing. We're up today and headed back through Yellowstone!

Stay tuned for more adventures with......Bear Girls!

Climbing the Chimney

Today was AWESOME!!! I got to go to the top of the chimney during work today!

Here's the backstory:

When WWII was over, the internment camp was disbanded. The barracks buildings were sold to homesteaders for $1. The area of camp where the Japanese lived has since been turned into farmland, and there are very few traces that the camp was ever there. A small portion of the camp was left where the camp administration was....and a couple of buildings, including part of the hospital complex are still standing. The boiler room section of the hospital is still standing and it has a large chimney attached to it. Back in the 80's this land was transferred over to the Bureau of Land Management, who still owns it. Down below this area is where the museum is located. The museum sits on land that was part of the camp, but is down at the bottom of an embankment. I guess a better way to describe it is that the barracks buildings where the Japanese lived was up on a terrace-like landform.

Anyway, over the years, the chimney has started leaning further and further, so it now looks similar to the leaning tower in Pisa. The Park Service has provided a grant to stabilize the chimney so that it doesn't lean any further.

Today I got to climb up the scaffolding to the top, which is about 75 feet high. It was so cool!

 

You can really see what a difference irrigation makes! The area in these 2 pictures is where the barracks buildings and main part of camp were. The 2 buildings in the corner were part of the hospital complex. That is Heart Mountain in the background.

 

One girl always wondered why it was called Heart Mountain. After the war she finally saw a picture of it from the Cody side, where it has more of a heart shape. She was in camp here and only ever saw it from this angle.

 

Irrigation vs. No Irrigation

 

That is the museum down there. You can see the edge of the plateau which drops down a fairly steep cliff to main level below. The main highway is past those trees on the other side of the museum. The musuem was built to look like the barracks buildings. Pretty neat!

 

 

I didn't get to stay up there very long...they were getting ready to do something with new concrete or something so I didn't get to stay but a few minutes. They told me to come back when they aren't so busy so hopefully i'll get some more pictures from up there.

 

In other news, Happy Birthday to my wonderful Dad! Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

Yellowstone: Animal Bonanza

My trip to Yellowstone was quite the adventure! We saw a TON of different animals (most of the cool ones outside the park!) and had a blast. Hazel had a great time in Yellowstone. She did great riding in the car all day and had me cracking up most of the time.

Most of the park roads are open now (except the South entrance) and the snow plows have certainly been busy.

We stopped at the lake which was completely frozen over. We threw rocks at it to see if we could get the ice to break, but it was frozen solid! Crazy!

 

We stopped for a picnic at Old Faithful and watched it blow....20 minutes late! So we had a little photo shoot with my camera while we waited.

 

 

 

                                    

 

 

 





After a picnic lunch we headed back through the park and stopped at the Upper and Lower Falls.

 

On our way back out of the park, we saw some bighorn sheep who started a rock slide going up the mountain. Very exciting stuff! Then we ran across 2 moose having a snack in the river. And THEN we ran across a grizzly who was having a snack on a caracss by the river and stopped to take a nap and then went back to get another snack. I looked through a telescope that this man had set up on the side of the road trained on the grizzly and it was looking RIGHT AT ME! I made sure the car was close enough to get to before he could get me! :)

 

 

 

 





I am LOVING my new camera! The pictures are turning out REALLY nice....I can't wait to get back to take some more!