My OperaWyoming
Wednesday, June 21, 2006 10:29:59 PM
From: Douglas, Wyoming (home of the Jackalope and named one of the “100 Best Small Towns in America” by someone we have never heard of)
To: Yellowstone National Park
Miles:
MPG:
Hell’s Half Acre
This was one of the sites of the great buffalo runs, where the Native Americans drove buffalo off of a cliff by the score. Much easier than huntin’ them. Its 630 acres, so we’re not sure where the half acre part came in, but it looked pretty cool.
Apart from the occasional historical marker referencing Native American territories (before we moved them) and the western expansion of the Mormons, there was not a whole lot to see in eastern Wyoming. We contented ourselves listening to the NPR station on the radio (which, strangely, plays things like the Spin Doctors and Elvis Costello – definitely not the east coast version of NPR) and keeping a look out for interesting bits of culture on the roadside, like this one that we found in the small town (pop. 50) of Powder River.
If you thought Power River was small, check out this population!
The Buffalo Bill Historical Museum
We don’t have any pictures inside the museum because someone (Jessica) wouldn’t let someone else (Jon) waste 25 bucks and an hour of precious time (that could have been better spent at Yellowstone) pushing through crowds to ogle dioramas. We did, however take a moment out of the mad dash to the park to return the flamingo to its natural habitat…oh wait. Maybe not.
Yellowstone
Let’s just get this out up front: We did not see Old Faithful. We realize that virtually no one goes to Yellowstone and skips Old Faithful, but as it was we barely had time to get in a quick hike before setting up the tent and getting dinner going. We did, however, manage to do a fly by of some steaming mud springs and squeeze in a short hike along one of the rims – both very impressive.
Along the way we saw plenty of wildlife (and also learned that we had probably been a tad closer than we should have been to the buffalo in the Badlands) – plenty more buffalo, elk, the fearsome chipmunk…None of which impressed Jon, who had his heart set on seeing a grizzly bear, “preferably mauling someone.” (Not Jessica. One week into serious quality time and holding steady.)
On another note, as soon as we pulled into Yellowstone, we realized that we could have skipped the RV hall of fame back in Indiana. There are enough RVs here to fill 20 halls of fame.
To: Yellowstone National Park
Miles:
MPG:
Hell’s Half Acre
This was one of the sites of the great buffalo runs, where the Native Americans drove buffalo off of a cliff by the score. Much easier than huntin’ them. Its 630 acres, so we’re not sure where the half acre part came in, but it looked pretty cool.
Apart from the occasional historical marker referencing Native American territories (before we moved them) and the western expansion of the Mormons, there was not a whole lot to see in eastern Wyoming. We contented ourselves listening to the NPR station on the radio (which, strangely, plays things like the Spin Doctors and Elvis Costello – definitely not the east coast version of NPR) and keeping a look out for interesting bits of culture on the roadside, like this one that we found in the small town (pop. 50) of Powder River.
If you thought Power River was small, check out this population!
The Buffalo Bill Historical Museum
We don’t have any pictures inside the museum because someone (Jessica) wouldn’t let someone else (Jon) waste 25 bucks and an hour of precious time (that could have been better spent at Yellowstone) pushing through crowds to ogle dioramas. We did, however take a moment out of the mad dash to the park to return the flamingo to its natural habitat…oh wait. Maybe not.
Yellowstone
Let’s just get this out up front: We did not see Old Faithful. We realize that virtually no one goes to Yellowstone and skips Old Faithful, but as it was we barely had time to get in a quick hike before setting up the tent and getting dinner going. We did, however, manage to do a fly by of some steaming mud springs and squeeze in a short hike along one of the rims – both very impressive.
Along the way we saw plenty of wildlife (and also learned that we had probably been a tad closer than we should have been to the buffalo in the Badlands) – plenty more buffalo, elk, the fearsome chipmunk…None of which impressed Jon, who had his heart set on seeing a grizzly bear, “preferably mauling someone.” (Not Jessica. One week into serious quality time and holding steady.)
On another note, as soon as we pulled into Yellowstone, we realized that we could have skipped the RV hall of fame back in Indiana. There are enough RVs here to fill 20 halls of fame.
