Estes Park, Colorado-Part II-The Elk

Our experience with elk during our time in Estes Park was the best part of our visit there! We happened to be in the area during the rutting season. Elk seemed to be everywhere, and the bulls were all competing for female favors!

Besides seeing elk at our campground and in Rocky Mtn National Park, we also saw elk in neighborhoods and while biking around Estes Lake, not far from the main town! As we were going to the lake, we saw a bull with his harem of about 15 females and some babies. They were grazing and resting in the side yard of a home in a residential neighborhood! The bull was protecting his harem and chasing off lone bulls! During the bike ride we spotted an elk swimming in the lake and standing on some sandbars in the middle of the water!

On our last evening in Estes Park we went to the golf course next to Estes Lake. We heard from a reliable source that the elk were congregating there! Sure enough, there was a herd of elk grazing in the middle of the course with some golfers still golfing! Again, there was one bull with about 20 females and babies. All around the course were stray bulls and the leader of the herd spent all his time chasing the other bulls away! At times, we were within 10 ft of some of the elk! The bulls were making their bugle sounds and calling to the herd and the main bull was warning the other bulls to stay clear! We spent 2 hours watching! It was great entertainment!!!

Estes Park, Colorado-Part I

Estes Park is a beautiful town mostly surrounded by Rocky Mountain National Park. To get there, we had to leave I-25 and go 34 miles up narrow curving roads increasing in elevation! We've traveled these type of roads before with the truck, but this time we had the 5th wheel behind us! Art did well driving, but it was a little disconcerting!!!!!

Our campground had a spectacular view of the Rocky Mountains! We were, in fact, less than a mile from the entrance of the park! The first night we were there we had mule deer and elk visit the campground! To say the least, we were very excited!!!!!

Trail Ridge Road is the main road through Rocky Mtn Nat Park. It is said to be the highest continuous paved road in the nation! We got up early one day and drove the 38 miles from Estes Park to Grand Lake. It took a couple of hours due to the switchbacks and narrow roads! I made Art drive again! Poor guy! He had to concentrate on the road and didn't get to see as much! At times, the elevations were 12,000 ft! To be honest, I had trouble looking down!!!! The views were indescribable! On the drive, we passed across the continental divide, which separates the water flow from the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. As you can see by the picture, Art was truly divided!!

The Stanley Hotel is a big attraction in Estes Park. This hotel was Stephen King's inspiration for "The Shining". Apparently, he visited the hotel and had some paranormal experiences, which gave him his ideas for his book. We went on a tour and learned the movie was not shot at the hotel, because there wasn't enough snow in Estes Park! The hotel was built by F.O. Stanley, the inventor of the Stanley Steamer, as a private hotel for his vacationing friends and family. Stanley had a lot to do with the building of Estes Park. Fortunately, Art and I had no ghost sightings during our tour!!!

Cody, Wyoming

Cody is a small western town in Wyoming, about 60 miles east of Yellowstone Nat Park. It was founded by "Buffalo Bill" (BB) Cody in 1897 in the hopes of enticing tourists to Cody and also to Yellowstone. The town has a great BB and western influence and was one of our favorite stops so far! We were only going to stay 3 days, but there was so much to do there, we stayed a week!

Our first adventure was a sightseeing trolley ride around Cody. They gave us a hundred year history of the town in one hour. It started and stopped at the Irma Hotel which was built by BB in 1902, and named after his youngest daughter. The Irma has many original features, including a redwood bar given to BB as a gift from Queen Victoria. It was valued at $100,000 way back then, and is exquisite with hand-carved features, including a bison! Each evening there is a gunslinger show in front of the hotel, which we attended. A little corny, but fun!

One of the main attractions of Cody is the BB Historical Center. It is 5 museums in 1, including the BB, Plains Indian, Draper Natural HX, Gertrude Whitney Western Art, and Gun museums. We were there 2 days and still didn't see it all! It was really worth the time!!

I know I didn't mention beautiful scenery yet, but we did take the BB Cody scenic drive towards Yellowstone! It was indeed scenic and we stopped at Pahaska Tepee, where BB built a lodge closer to Yellowstone, where people could drive and stay near the park. It's hard to believe people really drove that far on bad roads 100 years ago! The original lodge is still there, and although you couldn't go in, you could peek through the windows. Pahaska, by the way, means "long-haired man".

Cody is suppose to be the rodeo capital of the world. Although the summer rodeo was over, we were able to catch a college rodeo! It had bareback bronco riding, bull riding, barrel racing, and goat tying. Yes I said goat! We had great seats and lots of fun!

The weather has been beautiful for most of our trip so far! We have been very lucky! Next stop is Estes Park, Colorado. Will talk to you soon!

Billings, Montana

Our drive into Montana was beautiful! We passed through the National Grasslands, and went from barren hills to hills with pine trees! We stayed in Billings, MT for a week. It is a town of about 90,000 people and is in the Yellowstone Valley where the Yellowstone River flows. There was a nice downtown area that seemed very clean and safe, and had lots of activities, including a "Burn the Point" classic car parade that we were able to see.

We decided to tackle the "Beartooth Mountain Scenic Hwy" which is suppose to be one of the most beautiful drives in America! It was beautiful, but also a white knuckle ride!!! Luckily for me, Art was driving! The road was a series of switchbacks and narrow areas that eventually went up about 11,000 ft! What we didn't know was they were doing constuction on the road! At the top, Art had a close encounter with a large steam roller! We had no place to go and closed our eyes as it passed! On the way home we traveled the "Chief Joseph Scenic Hwy". Not quite as scary, but also gorgeous! We ran into a group of cowboys with a small herd of cattle and a cattle dog going up the road! What a neat, but unexpected experience!

Billings was also close to "The Little Bighorn National Monument". The site is on Crow Indian property, but the Crows allow visitors. We went on a small bus tour with a guide, and as he explained things and we saw the actual sites, it made sense why Custer lost! We also visited the "Pictograph Caves" which have ancient indian cave pictures. It was interesting, but we had to walk up steep hills to get there and it was in the 90s! How did our ancestors live without air conditioning?????

As it happened, Mich State was playing the Montana State Bobcats while we were in Billings! The game was televised at Hooligans, an area sports bar. We met some Bobcat fans and cowboys and had a good time!

Medora, North Dakota-Part II

Two of the big attractions at Medora are the "Pitchfork Fondue" and the "Medora Musical". Both events are held outside, about 1 mile up a curvy rode on the top of a butte. The view was spectacular, overlooking a colorful canyon! Steaks were cooked on pitchforks in huge pots of sunflower oil. Art was hoping the pitchforks were cleaned before use! Ha Ha! The musical was a western extravaganza, complete with horses, stage coaches, singers, and dancers! There was also a special performance by the "Peking Acrobats". The Burning Hills Amphitheater is carved right into the hill, and you watch the performance with the stars and moon overhead!

Visiting the Theodore Roosevelt National Park was a great experience! We explored the south and north units which are about 50 miles apart. Not only was the scenery beautiful, but we had many encounters with animals-bison, wild horses, mule deer, antelope, and more prairie dogs! The bison and wild horses were actually walking down the road! What a thrill!!!!!!

Medora, North Dakota-Part I

Medora is a small western town towards the western border of ND. It was started by the Marquis De Mores in the 1880s, after the railroad was extended to ND. He named the town after his wife. His plan was to become rich, even though he was rich already, shipping beef back to the east, via refrigerated rail cars. His plan failed and he left after 3 years, but the town is still there and a major tourist stop. The town also borders the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

I know you are all sick of hearing about scenery, but the drive to Medora was fantastic! We went from rolling plains to the Badlands, which are indescribable in their beauty! Large hills and buttes of colorful mineral deposits and rock formations that go on for miles and miles!

We stayed in a neat campground about a mile from town. Each morning there were elk grazing on a butte in front of the campground. It was also a short walk to a prairie dog town. Watching the prairie dogs squeak and fly back into their holes as we walked by was a riot! Unfortunately, there were no TV signals at this campground. Art went through withdrawal-6 days without TV!!!!! We did meet lots of nice people in the campground, however-John and Louise from Houston, Terry and Teresa from Ontario, and Merlin and Sue from Minnesota.

Part II of our experiences in Medora will be coming up in the next blog.