Further West

16 June - Father's Day in US.

I have had to make reservations at several RV Parks for the coming days. There are a number of events in and around the areas we want to visit; finding a site is not easy. We are heading west to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone National Park. Today we are crossing rolling high plains - mountains are out to the South. There is a lot of traffic on the road.


We stop at Casper, Wyoming -  in a line of RVs waiting to book in to the Casper KOA. There are quite a few large Tiffin motor homes; the RV park looks good with all the big rigs. There is a Family Motor Coach Association Jubilee in Gillette which will last for several days -  that is where they are all going.


We pass a road sign which reads 'Sand Creek Massacre Trail'. I Google it ...

On 29 November 1864, 165 Native Americans  - many of them women and children - were massacred by the United States Army.
They were from a village of friendly Cheyenne and Arapaho camped in south-eastern Colorado Territory.

The Sand Creek Massacre Trail in Wyoming was created as a memorial. The route runs from the Wyoming-Colorado border to the Wind River Reservation via Cheyenne, Laramie, Medicine Bow, Casper, Shoshone and Riverton and represents a modern day link between the massacre site and the current home of the Northern Arapaho.


Then we are on our way to Dubois.

Where does he find them??

I have noticed when we are travelling that quite often the wind increases in the afternoon, with threatening skies especially over the last 35-50 miles. Gusting winds are scary; we create a fairly high profile on the road.

Our site at Dubois KOA is right beside the Wind River - we can hear the water as it flows by - not quite rapids but certainly fast flowing.

The bikes are off. We stay for 3 nights. I walk each morning; we bike all around town; we are regulars at Kathy's Koffee shop!

We visit the National Bighorn Sheep Centre; a great educational resource. Bighorn sheep wander the ranges above Dubois. Whisky Mountain, just outside Dubois, is home to the largest wintering herd of Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep in North America.

We have a beer in the Outlaw Saloon. We were here 28 years ago. We remember it well; a very cold evening - May I think - we spent a while in the Outlaw Saloon. There was a band playing; it got to the point where they thought they were coming back to Australia with us. We just wanted to get back to our motel ... yes, the Branding Iron Inn! Still there!!

Guess!!!

We leave Dubois on a cool morning - 38F - it is about 47F when we drive out. It was especially cold for me because when I showered  ( in the KOA bathrooms) the furnace had broken down!! A mother was showering her children in the same bathroom. The water was freezing! She made them get in - and - wash their hair! They were screaming!!
I didn't even get wet. I showered later in the day. Ugh! I feel cold just writing these words.

About 12 miles northwest of  Dubois we pass the Tie Hack Memorial which honours the men who cut railroad ties out of the forest and floated them down flumes and rivers to the Chicago and North West Railroad in Riverton - contributing to the first transcontinental railroad linking the country coast to coast.

We reach the Togwotee Pass in about 25 minutes - climbing from 6917 ft in Dubois to 9548 ft - and cross the Continental Divide.

There must be  a bear out there!! There are signs on the roadside 'Be Bear Aware'. We just need a bear to go with the signs.
Now we can see the Tetons in the distance. They are shrouded in clouds but look magnificent.

A deer!  Not a bear but we'll take it!

Then we are standing on an over look - right in front of the Grand Tetons and Snake River  - my 'Heart of the World'. It is so beautiful. The clouds are lifting and the sun coming out. We are 20 miles from Jackson.

We stay one night in Jackson at the Virginian RV Park. There is a free shuttle into downtown. Lots of people are doing just what we do - wandering the beautiful stores. We have a beer at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar - yep, we sit on the saddles! They are mighty uncomfortable.

We end up back at the Virginian Saloon - more atmosphere and close to home!!