Wednesday 9-9-26 Yellowstone National Park, Madison Campground & Site Seeing

 

We had a super day. 

We woke up to 43 degrees in Cody, Wyoming. The high in Yellowstone National Park in Madison Campground was 71 degrees. There was a little breeze.

We are very excited, we started the day out in Cody, Wyoming and ended up in Yellowstone National Park. Larry drove 120 miles from the Walmart in Cody to Madison Campground in Yellowstone National Park. We left Cody at 8:00 am. The drive to Yellowstone was beautiful.

We drove through a beautiful mountain pass and by Buffalo Bill Dam and Reservoir. We drove through three tunnels. The third tunnel was very long and it brought out to the Visitor Center of Buffalo Bill Dam. We stopped here last year so we passed it by. The reservoir was gorgeous and almost full. We entered into Yellowstone National Park at the East Entrance. We hadn't done this entrance in a long time. 

The lady who helped us was very friendly and asked if we wanted a map. Larry said yes. As we drove to Madison Campground we saw a few lonely bull bison and a herd of them in a meadow at Hayden Valley, a Grizzley bear climbing a hill at Grizzley Peak and a swan. The scenery was gorgeous. We saw tall pine trees, rolling hills, mountains and a small waterfall on the side of the road. We drove through Hayden Valley, by Fishing Bridge, along the banks of Yellowstone Lake, Norris Geyser Basin and did some site seeing.  We stopped in a parking lot we hadn't been in before and did a short hike 1.5 mile one way along the rim of the Yellowstone River. We stopped at the Upper Falls of the Grand Canyon of The Yellowstone. Then we continued walking the trail to the main parking lot to see the Upper Falls, which was about 1.5 miles. Then we turned around and went back to the Minnie. 

When we got back to the Minnie. We saw three cars behind the Minnie, they belonged to a group of people from Alberta Canada. One was an old Woody Wagon, a Porsche and a Corvette. Larry talked to the group. They said there was a group of 50 people, who belong to the club and travel around together. They just finished doing a four day run.

After talking to the group we had lunch. Check-in at Madison is 1:00. After lunch we drove to the parking lot for the Lower Fall of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It was a lot busier. We walked around a little and took pictures. Then we continued our adventure to Madison Campground.

We arrived there at 2:00 and check-in. We are staying here for one night in site #24. It's a pull through and very small. We setup the Minnie for the night. We have no internet service so Larry setup the Star Link. It works very well but slow. We don't have any hook ups and we have lots of trees so no solar. I probably won't play all my games while we're in Yellowstone.

After relaxing a little bit we walked down to the river. It's a great place to go fly fishing and just sit and relax. Sometimes you can see elk and bison at the river. We didn't but we saw 10 people flyfishing. 

For dinner I barbecued seasoned pork. While doing so I saw a couple of elk in the trees and pointed them our to Larry. While watching them one showed up at the campsite in front of ours. She was just eating the grass and wasn't worried about us being there. How cool is that?

After dinner we went back to the river and relaxed on a bench. Two gentlemen from Austin were sitting on the bench and we asked if we could join them. They said sure. They had been coming here for many years and told us the history the the area. They were very friendly. About 7:00 they went back to their RV to have dinner. Another gentleman came and sat on the bench with us, he was from Chicago. About 7:30 we decided to go back to the Minnie because it was getting cold. We were going to stay until sunset, which was 7:47 to see if any elk or bison will show up. We didn't see any.

On the way back to the Minnie we saw three elk walking by the trail to the river. We really didn't have to go down to the river to see them. They were right in the campground. When we got home I baked muffins in the new cups we bought. I didn't realized you had to butter the silicone cups so they stuck to the cups. They did come out tasting good.

I played the daily event of Solitaire, which was Event: Experts Only of 10 games. It took me 1 hour, 19 minutes and 23 seconds to complete, which put me in 3rd place in my group.     

     

Tuesday 9-8-26 Dentist, Visiting Cody & Having Fun

 

The Old Cody Post Office

We had a wonderful day hanging around Cody, Wyoming. We woke up to a cool 46 degrees and a warm 75 degrees as the high temperature. We had a breeze so it didn't seem too warm.

Last night while eating pizza Larry chipped a tooth. He was worried it was going to get worse. He decided to get it looked at by a dentist. He found there were six different dental offices in Cody. He picked Taylor Dental because it had three dentists on site and they took walk-ins. 

They opened at 8:00 am. As soon as it opened Larry called to see if they could look at his tooth. The gentleman who answered the phone said they could look at it at noon. 

We had four hours to kill. I was going to make pancakes for breakfast and was getting stuff ready. We decided we would go in town and park the Minnie somewhere near the dentist office. We put everything down and went to downtown Cody. We found a great place to park. It was a free public parking lot. We parked the Minnie at an end spot that had a sidewalk, perfect. Then I made breakfast. We shared a pancake and a shake. 

Larry has been communicating with Ron from Tucson. Ron sent him his e-mail address. Ron is in South Dakota visiting a friend and planned to head straight back to Tucson. Larry told him it would still be hot in Tucson and since he is already this far north he might as well stay where it is cooler and see some sites. Larry took some time and composed a long note on places to go and links to the places, that would give him more information. One place he strongly recommended was Yellowstone National Park.  Once he had written the note he send it. Ron responded, he loved the information and he is now planning on going through Yellowstone.

While Larry wrote the note I walked around downtown Cody for a half hour and took pictures. I walked around the City Park, which had a beautiful band stand and a bronze sculpture of Sor Capanna, who is a musician. There a city run miniature golf course, that opens at 11:00. The holes have buildings, that tells the history of Cody. It's very nice. I took a picture of the Cody Visitor Center and Cody Arts. I took a picture of the Buffalo Bill Center of the Wild West, we have visited a couple of times but not this trip.. I walked around and took a couple of pictures of the bison sculptures around town. I took pictures of businesses around town. They have a Cody Heritage Museum but it was closed but there were a display outside about the Site of the Halfway House Stage Stop, which was at the spot in 1903. This spot was a rock dugout, that was near a fresh-water spring. Where you can change out your horses and have a fresh meal. The have a nice auditorium and a big old post office. Cody is a cool touristy town with shops, coffee shops and restaurants.             

City Park Bandstand

Sor Capanna by Harry Jackson (1924-2011)

Miniature Golf Course

Sculpture of bison in front of the Cody Visitor Center

Cody Visitor Center and Cody Art

Bison sculpture in front of a business

Buffalo Bill Center of the Wild West museum

Sculpture in front of the Buffalo Bill Center of the Wild West

Another bison sculpture

The sculptures at the entrance of the Moose Creek Lodge & Suites

Sculpture at the  Site of the Halfway House Stage Stop

Cody Heritage Museum

Cody Auditorium

Mural on the building at the visitor parking lot

When I got back we read a bit until it was time to go to the dentist. We walked over to Taylor Dental, it was only a few blocks away. Their office is an old house, that was converted into the dentist office. The staff was very friendly and thanked their patients for coming in. Larry dentist was Dr. Eric Shultz. He numbed Larry up and filled the tooth. He told him the filling should be fine but to be careful eating anything hard where that tooth is and to see his dentist when he gets home. He said the tooth really needs a root canal and a crown. Larry was in and out within an hour.

Taylor Dental

After Larry's appointment we walked around a bit. Cody isn't, that big. As we walked we saw a beautiful bronze sculpture of a cowboy and his horse drinking water. It was called High 'n' Dry by T.D. Kelsey (b. 1946). In 1995 they made the sculpture into the bronze edition and this one was the 4 of 7. We had a great time walking around.

High 'n' Dry by T.D. Kelsey (b. 1946) 1995 Bronze edition

When we got back to the Minnie it was 2:00. We could have moved on to a campground about 30 miles down the road but Larry wanted to wait for the numbness to wear off to ensure the tooth felt fine. The dentist had to adjust the bite and there have been a few times over the years where Larry has had to return to have the bite adjusted. We read for a couple of hours and then moved back to Walmart for the night. While sitting there we read. Larry made reservations for us in Yellowstone. Yesterday he made a reservation at Madison Campground for tomorrow night, it was the only opening. Today he made reservations at Grant Campground for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. We are very excited that we're going to Yellowstone National Park for four nights. 

For dinner we had soup. For dessert we shared a mini apple pie. Larry finished his book. I played my games. 

Apple Pie from Walmart

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong from yesterday and today. I did the event, which was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 41 minutes and 26 seconds to complete, which put me in 13th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

After playing games I read. By the end of the day I had done 7,000 steps.  

Monday 9-7-26 Happy Labor Day! Windy Day & Having Fun

 

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day to everyone. I hope everyone had a great day celebrating Labor Day. 

Labor Day is the first Monday in September, it is to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of the laborers to development and achievements in the United States.

We had a windy warm day. The morning temperature was 60 degrees in Rawlins, WY and the high temperature was 75 degrees in Cody, WY. It was very windy.

I woke up at 7:15 am and got dressed. We had power so I toasted bagels for breakfast in the toaster. We put cream cheese on them. Then we put things away and secured because we're moving on. We were on the road by 8:00 am. 

Larry drove 268 miles. It took us about six hours.  We drove two lane highways from Rawlins, WY to Cody, WY. We saw a lot of Pronghorns, cattle and horses. One cow got out of the fence and was eating the grass by the highway. The scenery was pretty at times because we drove through a few mountain passes. Other places the scenery was rolling hills and prairie with a lot of sage bushes. We stopped a few times to stretch our legs and for bathroom breaks. 

We stopped in Shoshoni at a convenience store to stretch our legs and bathroom break. Then we drove through a beautiful mountain pass. The mountain pass took us by the Wind River. We usually go the opposite direction so things looked a little different. We drove by Boysen State Park, which is on the Wind River. We drove through three tunnels and saw a couple of train tunnels. It a gorgeous drive. This mountain pass took us to Thermopolis. Before getting to Thermopolis we saw a few groups of people on raft rides ( one group had four huge orange rafts and another had four smaller rafts) and we saw fly fishermen. 

Mountain range we drove through

One of the tunnels we drove through

Another mountain pass

We stopped in Hot Springs State Park. We usually dip in the state run hot springs pools but they were working on the outdoor pool. They only had the indoor pool so we decided to pass on the hot springs. We parked the Minnie at the park and had lunch. It had a breeze and it was very comfortable. After lunch we continued our adventure.

Hot Spring State Park welcome sign

The park

Next stop was Cody at the Walmart. Cody is 86 miles from Thermopolis. It was a beautiful drive we saw mountains and rolling hills. Before going to the Walmart we stopped and filled the Minnie with gas. The price of the gas per gallon was $4.499, the Minnie took 26.38 gallons, which cost us $118.68. This is the most we spent on a single fill up of gas so far this trip. When we were in Salida, CO the gas price was $4.499 but the Minnie only took 17.112 gallons, which cost us $76.99.

After getting gas we went to the Walmart. It was 2:00 and Larry was ready to call it a day. He had fought wind all day and it moved the Minnie around. 

We parked the Minnie and then went shopping. We picked up a few things we were getting low on. We looked at the muffin pans but didn't find one we wanted. But Larry found some silicone reusable muffin liners so we bought them. We use to buy their mini pies when they were $.50 but now they're $.75. They lowered them from $1.00. Today they had some apple pies for $.38 because they were older. We bought a few of them. Then we went back to the Minnie.

Muffin liners

At 4:00 we walked over to the gas station to get a Little Caesar pizza. There was a Little Caesar Express in the store. You can't order what you want online and you can only buy what pizza they have available. We bought a pepperoni pizza. We were going to buy a deep dish but their deep dish was half the size we had back at home. 

Little Caesar Pepperoni Pizza

After dinner we went back to Walmart because I forgot to buy apple juice. When we got back we relaxed for the rest of the night.

I played the Solitaire event, which was Event: The Hard Road of 16 games. It took me 2 hours, 7 minutes and 2 seconds to complete, which put me in 16th place in my group. I played Angry Birds 2. Larry read.

We had a super day.

Sunday 9-6-26 New State & Doing This and That

 

Welcome to Wyoming sign

We had a super day.

We woke up in Frisco Colorado with the morning temperature of 45 degrees. By the end of the day we were in Rawlins Wyoming with the high temperature of 83 degrees and wind.

We have been at Pine Cove Campground in White River National Forest for a week. We had done 6 hikes for a total of 25.5 miles and walked around the campgrounds four times for 8 miles. We visited Frisco and attended Great Divide Art Festival in Breckenridge. We had a super time.

I rolled out of bed at 7:20 and got dressed. We had paid for another night at Pine Cove Campground but we decided to move on. We bagged up the chairs, put the grill away, brought in the controller and wires for the solar panels, put things down and secured and took some trash to the dumpster. We said good-bye to the neighbor across from us and her dog. As we were we driving away Mike from Kansas waved good-bye and we waved back. We were on the road by 8:30 am. 

Larry drove 220 miles today. He mainly drove on two lane highways. We saw Pronghorns, cattle and a couple of Yacks. We drove by a lot of rivers, the White River, Blue River, Colorado River, Illinois River, Michigan River and a few more. As we were driving highway 90 right outside of Silverthorne, CO the Blue River ran along side of the highway. We saw a few people fly fishing. The highway took us through a beautiful mountain pass. We drove by Green Mountain Reservoir and it was almost empty. After the mountain pass the scenery changed to hilling hills and plains. We drove by a lot of beautiful ranches. We stopped in Kremmling CO to fill the water tank, which we did two years ago but we couldn't because they were on #3 water restriction. So they couldn't do bulk fills. We were disappointed. We continued our adventure towards Walden CO. The drive was kind of boring because it was mainly plains. We did see a couple of wildlife crossing bridges, that went over the highway. We also saw a couple of people hiking the Continental Divide Trail. 

Wildlife Crossing Bridge

 

When we got to Walden we had driven 110 miles. We stopped at the dump station and dumped the tanks. We donated $5.00. Once again we couldn't get water because of the water restriction #3. The city park and schools were just around the block. So we drove and parked the Minnie to have lunch. We had a sandwich with chips. While we were eating lunch we saw this gentleman working out on the football field. He wasn't a youngster but he was in great shape. He was doing sprints. We had free entertainment while we ate lunch.

After lunch we continued our adventure we had another 110 miles to go. As we drove we saw Pronghorns and cattle. The scenery was about the same a lot of rolling hills and prairie. We drove another 10 ten miles when the highway Ys off. If you go to the right you go to Laramie and to the left you go to Rawlins. We went to the left. We drove another 26 miles to the state line. 

We arrived at Rawlins, Wyoming about 1:30 and did some errands. We first went to Carbon County Fair & Rodeo to make sure we could still stay there and take a shower. Someone three months ago said the showers were locked up. It still $20.00 a night with power. The showers were open. It was early so Larry programmed his cell phone to a laundromat so we could do laundry. Rawlins has three laundromats. One you have to buy a card and put money on it. We didn't want to do that. We went to one of the other ones. We didn't like how it looked so we went to the other one. It looked better. We did two loads of clothes in the washers it cost $3.00 per load. They had a coin machine, that gave you quarters for the machines. We used one dryer, which cost us $1.50 to dry the clothes. We were there for an hour and half. Then we went across the street to the Maverick and filled the Minnie up with gas. Maverick had a dump station and at our pump it had a water spicket. After filling up with gas we filled the water tank. Now we have water for a week or more. We had enough water in the tank for another two or three days before filling it. Then we went back to Carbon County Fair & Rodeo. 

Carbon County Fair & Rodeo entrance gate

The shower house

The Minnie in site #6 for the night

The grandstands 

Once there we called it a day. We took showers. The showers were good. You had to wait a long time for the hot water to get warm. It didn't get hot so we took showers without turning on the cold water. The water pressure was so much you had to turn the knob down about halfway. It was free and the bathrooms were clean.

For dinner we had leftovers. 

In the evening I played games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Tri Peaks Mini of 5 games. It took me 15 minutes and 34 seconds to complete, which put me in 29th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2. 

Larry read his groups he follows. I ended up doin 4,500 steps today.  

Saturday 9-5-26 Great Divide Art Festival, Hiking & Having Fun

 

Great Divide Art Festival in Breckenridge Colorado

We had a super day.

The morning temperature was 43 degrees and the high temperature was 74 degrees. We had a lite rain shower come through at 4:00 and left about an hour later. The camp host said this was their monsoon season in Frisco, CO.

I woke up at 6:30 to go to the restroom and then went back to bed. I slept for an hour, which was 7:30. I got dressed and made oatmeal for breakfast. After breakfast we got ready for a hike. We decided to basically do the same hike as yesterday except go the opposite direction. We got started at 8:30. When we were starting on our hike we stopped and visited with our neighbor from Kansas. 

After our visit we walked to the end of the campground and got on the Perimeter Trail, that took us towards Frisco Adventure Park. While hiking the trail along the shores of Dillon Lake four little boys came by on their bicycles. The first one said their were four of them so we got off the trail. We saw two of them yesterday. They were great bicyclists already and they weren't even six years old. We were very surprised they were doing the trail by themselves and didn't have an adult. I guess the trail is very safe. The Perimeter Trail came to a Y, where the Beach Trail intersected it. We got on the Beach Trail because we hadn't done this trail yet. The trail took us through part of the Disc Golf course. At one of the baskets we saw a beautiful beetle. I figured this was thanking the pine beetle for the Frisco Adventure Park. The host of the campground told us that 20 years ago the pine beetle took out a lot of the forest in the area. They didn't know what to do with the land. They thought about making a golf course but decided to make Frisco Adventure Park. That way everyone could use it and it could be used year round. We took the beach trail to Frisco Adventure Park. We walked around the baseball field and batting cage and by the horses/mules. Once again we walked around the park. Everytime we walk around we're amazed. They were people using the paved bicycle trail. They were jogging, walking their dogs, bicycling and walking. The bicycle tracks were being used today. We watched the people riding the tracks and some of them were very good. Frisco Bike Park has five different tracks, which were Peninsula Pump Track, Royal Roller Beginning Flow Track, Buffalo Run Intermediate Jump Trail, Ten Mile Advanced Jump Trail and Peak One Dirt Jumps. The one I thought was an agility course is actually the Intermediate Jump Trail. On the Ten Mile Advanced Jump Trail we saw a big jump and a couple guys jumping. We spent most of the time watching people do the Peak One Dirt Jumps. We had a super time watching people use the bike park. After watching them we went back to our hike. We got on the Phat Loop Trail. We did the section we hadn't done. Then we were back on Peak One Trail back to the campground. By the end of the hike we had done 3.75 miles. The trails were through the trees, in the open and small inclines. We had another great hike.

Beetle Sculpture

Frisco Bike Park Map

Peak One Dirt Jumps

Getting big air

Pedestrian tunnels under the highway

Our neighbor from Kansas was here because of the Great Divide Art Festival. He's a photographer. He told us the Great Divide Art Festival is Saturday 9/5/26 thru Monday 9/7/26. It starts at 10:00 and stops at 5:00 each day. 

In the afternoon we took the bike off the carrier and took it to Breckenridge, which is 8 miles from our campground. The art festival is at Colorado Mountain College. It's free and set up in the parking lot. We stopped by our neighbor's booth and he had gorgeous landscaping photography. He said he use to do the canvas photography and had just one left. Then he got into the metal because the colors were brighter and you see the landscape better. The booth next to his had two ladies dressed up in beautiful art. Their dresses were made of table coverings and they looked gorgeous in the outfits. There were jewelry booths, metal art, ceramic sculptures, animal sculptures, animals paintings and more. There were 51 booths of artist from all over the country. We walked around for about an hour and saw gorgeous art.

Animal Sculptures

Horses and landscape paintings

Animals and Landscaping Paintings by Meg Harper

Grizzly Bear and Moose

After walking around the Great Divide Art Festival we drove around Breckenridge. It was a busy touristy town with a lot of restaurants and shops. You can ride the Gondola for free but parking is $20. We didn't stop because it was way too busy for us.

When we got back we spent the rest of the day and evening relaxing.

Larry did some research on way to go next. Larry finished his book. I continued reading The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz. It's a good book.

I played my games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 1 hour, 14 minutes and 23 seconds to complete, which put me in 13th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2. 

I ended up doing 10,500 steps for the day.   

     

   

   

Friday 9-4-26 Happy Friday, Hiking, Walking and Having Fun

 

Celebrate it's Friday

We had an outstanding day.

The temperature was like yesterday, the morning temperature was 39 degrees and the high temperature was 75 degrees. 

I woke up at 7:15 and got dressed. We had oatmeal for breakfast. After breakfast we got ready to go on our morning hike. It was our fifth hike in a row so we decided to take it easy hiking. We did a 3.75 mile hike. We hiked Peak One Trail to Phat Loop Trail to the Frisco Adventure Park. There were some small inclines. The trails took us through a beautiful forest. It was a cool but once you were out of the trees it warmed up. When we got to Frisco Adventure Park we walked around. It's so impressive. We saw courses we didn't see the first time. There was a course, that looked like an Agility Course for dogs. In the parking lot there were a group of people getting ready for their hike with their dogs. The workers are constantly working on something. We rested on a bench at the park for a little while. Then we got on the Perimeter Trail, that took us back to our campground. We would walk a bit and then sit on their benches and enjoy the views of the mountain and Dillon Lake. We saw people from the marina getting ready for the weekend. We saw a gentleman carrying his skull to the water down the long ramp. He was pretty fast we saw him rowing down the lake. We also saw a gentleman on a stand up paddle board. We had an outstanding hike.

Mules in their corral at Frisco Adventure Park

Skateboard park at Frisco Adventure Park

Agility Course at Frisco Adventure Park

Paddleboarding down Dillon Lake

Larry disconnected the Mobley because our phones are working great as Hot Spots.

Before going on our hike Larry setup the solar panels. We had great solar power all day. 

For lunch we had soup. 

In the afternoon I played games and Larry read.

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Pyramid Adventure of 20 games. It took me 1 hour, 27 minutes and 41 seconds to complete, which put me in 18th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

After playing games I joined Larry outside, where he was reading in his chair. I read until it was time for dinner. We had the rest of the sausages we had yesterday.

After dinner I went on my evening walking around Peak One Campground. The full sign was out. I walked around the three loops (A  Loop 1-13, B Loop 14-62 and C Loop 63-80) once. I walked around the A Loop two times. By the time I got back to the Minnie I walked 2 miles. 

By the end of the day I had done 15,500 steps, which is 6.75 miles. We spent the rest of the day reading.

Relaxing with a good book