Dinosaur Bones

We ended up being in Wyoming -- Glendo and then Rawlins for 4 days waiting for rain to let up.  While we were in Rawlins we took a drive and saw the Devil's Gate.  Its where the Oregon, Mormon and California wagon trails come together.  The Devil's Gate was just a rock formation that could be seen for miles and was a good landmark.  We then drove down past the Flaming Gorge to the dam and across it and then up, up and up to 8500 ft as we traveled to Vernal, UT.  We saw some beautiful fall colors up that high but then we had to travel down hill to Vernal.  The road had 10 switchbacks over several miles with an 8% grade -- downhill.  We are not only pulling the 5th wheel but also have the boat hooked on behind the 5th wheel so we were glad that the truck has exhaust brakes, the 5th wheel has hydraulic brakes and the boat has electric brakes to slow us down. 

We got to Vernal and stayed there several days so we could enjoy Dinosaur National Monument.  The Utah side of the monument has a quarry site that is open to visitors.  There they have preserved a wall of dinosaur bones just as they were discovered.  They think the dinosaurs gathered by the last water during a drought and got caught in a flash flood and were covered in the mud and died.   There were 10 different kinds of dinosaurs preserved in the wall of mud.    We also checked out the Dinosaur Museum in Vernal where they had several dinosaurs on display that were found in the area including the stegosaurus in the photo.

We are now in Moab, UT enjoying Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. 

Custer State Park

We spent 6 days in the Black Hills area.   The wildlife loop in Custer State Park is still our favorite drive in the Black Hills.   They were getting ready to do the buffalo roundup so the buffalo were being encouraged to herd up down by the corrals.  It was neat to see hundreds of buffalo in one large area.  We got pictures of them rolling in the dust giving themselves dust baths and lots of pictures of them on the move.  I'm not sure why I could only get one picture to load this time.

We spent the first two days in Spearfish, SD and drove through Spearfish canyon.  We found a few tiny patches of snow that hadn't melted from the 7 inch snowfall they had before we got there.   We moved to a campground south of Rapid City for the rest of our stay.  We drove every road and saw just about every kind of wildlife you can see.  Buffalo, wild donkeys, wild turkeys, fox, elk, prairie dogs, big horn sheep and pronghorn antelope. 

We left South Dakota and headed to Wyoming.  We spent one night in Glendo by the Glendo reservoir.  Guys were cleaning some nice walleye in the RV park that they had caught in the lake.  They told us the water in the reservoir was being drawn down so that work could be done on the dam.  It normally is 50% full of water now but with the draw down it was down to 17%.  You would think that would make the fishing easier but they said it had been a little tough. 

We are now in Rawlins, WY waiting for the rain to stop in northeast Utah where we are headed to Vernal.  Can't wait to see dinosaur bones!

Teddy Roosevelt National Park

We left Indian Hills and stopped for a few days in Dickinson, ND.  We took a drive to Teddy Roosevelt National Park.  Its actually two different units, north and south.  We ended up going to see both units even though they are about 80 miles apart from one another.  Since the park is in the western part of the state you run into the oil boom traffic.  We saw lots of oil wells and lots of truck traffic servicing them.  We felt like we were back in Midland, TX.

The south unit of the park is right off of interstate 94.  Its got pretty scenery and lots of buffalo herds to see and prairie dog towns full of dogs running and squeaking.  The north unit is up closer to Williston so even closer to the oil boom.  It has great views.  The picture with the Little Missouri River running through the hills is one of the most photographed sites in North Dakota.  We were very lucky during our stay in North Dakota.  We got to see the prettiest parts of the state.

Npw we are in Spearfish, SD -- missed the snow and will head to Hermosa, SD tomorrow south of Rapid City to enjoy more of the Black Hills.

Parting Shots

We will end up staying a week longer than we planned to here at the resort.  Jim agreed to help the owner move bales of hay.  Those great big round bales  -- they use machinery -- so its not physically challenging like it used to be.  Jim was driving a little bobcat/skidsteer to move bales and the thing died when he had a bale in its clutches.  So the arms of the bobcat blocked the door.  It took him over an hour to figure out how to get out of the thing.  The emergency hatch was behind him and there isn't any room to really turn your body around inside the thing but he finally managed to get out.

I took some pictures of our campsite for the summer.  It was a very nice site -- very long so everything fit and a beautiful side yard between us and the road.  It was a very pretty place to stay for the summer but now its time to hit the road.  We plan to go through Teddy Roosevelt National Park and then spend some time in the Black Hills.  If the weather holds up we will zip through Wyoming and then down the east side of Flaming Gorge and down the east side of Utah.  We want to hit Arches and Canyonlands National Park and then Monument Valley.  Hit Flagstaff, AZ and go south from there stopping to visit friends along the way to Yuma. 

So Old and Peaceful

About 10 miles north of the resort, out in the middle of fields, is this old church and graveyard.  I went with some other ladies to check it out.  There is nothing left inside but bare walls and floors (covered in mouse/rat/ bat scat).  The view out the old windows was wonderful.  You can see all the way to the water -- more of Lake Sakakawea --   The graveyard next to the church is still in use.  There were a few fresh graves.  The graves are somewhat in rows and go back to the mid 1850's.

The gravestone in this picture is of a native called White Face who according to the grave marker was a US Army Scout.  He died in 1925.  There were many natives buried in this graveyard.  It is a very beautiful place with the Lake far in the background.  The grass grows pretty high here -- obviously no one actually tends the graveyard.  We wore boots to avoid getting bitten by a stray rattlesnake.    Always an adventure!