Doggie Sick Day

Date: Friday, July 30th
Day: 76
RV Miles: 6,514
Location: Rapid City, South Dakota
Elevation: 3,217

This is Larry and I wanted to let everyone know that Max couldn’t make his blog entry for Friday because he and Sasha were sick. Max was tossing his cookies and Sasha had the runs. Marsha and I are guessing that it has something to do with the doggie day care.

To let the dogs have a quiet lazy day to get back up on their feet Marsha and I decided to do nothing and change our plans a little bit for Saturday. Marsha spent the day reading and I started the task of organizing the almost 3000 pictures we took.

It is Saturday AM right now and the dogs seem fine. We didn’t get to bed till late so we won’t see Marsha until about noon. Once she gets up we are going to take the dogs to Deadwood and do a drive-through on Sturgis.

Tomorrow we are headed to a place I am sure everyone has always wanted to go: Bayard, Nebraska.

The Badlands

B1-B Bomber at the Air and Space Museum



B52 on display



A prairie dog at the Prairie Homestead



Marsha inside the pioneer sod home



Marsha checking out the outhouse



This and the rest of the pictures of the Badlands speak for themselves




















Date: Thursday, July 29th
Day: 75
RV Miles: 6,514
Location: Rapid City, South Dakota
Elevation: 3,217

After the i-phone alarm clock fiasco yesterday, Larry, who wanted to get up at 6AM, set the i-phone alarm for 7AM. Guess what, it went off at 6AM but the phone said it was 7AM. And the black-out curtains in the bedroom worked. Sasha let everyone sleep. Larry was so happy he got to sleep in till 6AM. He told me he couldn’t remember the last time he was allowed to get up AFTER sunrise.

Even this late in the vacation we are still scoring firsts. Last night was the first time since we left Indianapolis that we did not have to turn the furnace on at night, and it was the first time we had to let the air conditioner run all night. We scored a photographic first today, but more on that later.

Well not much to say about today. Sasha and I went to doggie day care . . . Again. Larry and Marsha went off to see some pretty neat stuff.

Their first stop was Ellis Air Force Base, which is only about 5 miles from here. They have an Air and Space Museum along with a Minute Man Missile Silo Tour. Next they went to Wall to see Wall Drug and for some reason they both forgot to get some pictures. That’s the photographic first I was talking about. So far they have taken 2,892 pictures. Is it possible they are starting to suffer from some physical malady such as “shutter finger” or “chronic photo fatigue syndrome?”

After Wall Drug they headed for the badlands and stumbled across two attractions they didn’t expect. First was the National Minuteman Memorial and second was a Prairie Homestead which is listed as a National historic site.

The homestead was pretty neat with a preserved pioneer sod home dug into the side of a hill that was build in 1854 and used continuously until after 1909 . I saw the pictures and Larry said they had hundreds of prairie dogs around that place. I told him Sasha and I could clean that up in a day or two but he told me that that wasn’t necessary. Drats. And, finally they got to the Badlands.

Tomorrow will be the town of Deadwood, more Black Hills and possibly a visit to Sturgis. (The motorcycle rally starts Sunday.)

Mt. Rushmore

Marsha at Mt. Rushmore



Crazy Horse Monument



Marsha at the "Eye of the Needle." Note the body language, "Larry you are getting all dirty. The picture is not that important. Get up, you are embarssing me."



Larry at the Iron Mountain Summit



Larry at the summit trying to figure how the heck to get down.

Date: Wednesday, July 28th
Day: 75
RV Miles: 6,514
Location: Rapid City, South Dakota
Elevation: 3,217

As planned we drove from Garryowen to Rapid City on Monday. It was a fairly uneventful trip that I mostly napped through. I woke up every so often and each time I did the scenery had changed. In Montana is was rolling hills. One time I woke up and it was desert, another time mountains, then pine forest then rocky hills then wooded hills. Seemed like lots of changes for a 300 mile drive.

In general, Tuesday was another non-event, a vacation-from-the-vacation day, with the humans doing chores like laundry, shopping and stuff like that. Sasha and I put the day to good use catching up on our nap time. I say non-event even though Sasha stepped in “it” twice, just like I was in the doghouse Sunday for my roadrunner race, Sasha drew unfavorable attention to herself on two counts.

First, I think Sasha finally pushed Larry over the edge when she woke him up at 5AM sharp. I say this because after Larry and Marsha returned from shopping they had some special curtains that block 100% of the sunlight and hung them in the bedroom. I think they are hoping that if Sasha can’t see the sunrise maybe she will let Larry sleep. Let me tell you that bedroom is darker than the bottom of a coalmine at midnight now. Marsha seems pretty happy with this, so Marsha may have been the brains behind this not Larry. Marsha does seem to hate sunlight in the morning. Perhaps that is a reason she liked Forks, Washington so much.

Well they didn’t get a chance to test the new curtains this morning thanks to AT&T. Larry and Marsha have taken to telling time by looking at the time on their cell phones and everything was alright until they went to bed. Larry knew that today was going to be a busy day and wanted to leave camp by 8AM, so he used his I-phone as an alarm clock setting the alarm for 5:30. (That would give him 2 hours to fix breakfast, feed Shasha and me, go on patrol, wash the dishes, pack a cooler and wake Marsha up.

It seems that the time signal from AT&T got messed up in the night and slipped an hour. When Larry got up he was surprised to find that the sun had not come up, but he persevered with his morning routine even when Sasha and I protested about being woke up so early while it was still dark. The plans for the day included dropping Sasha and I off at doggie day care and when we got their Larry thought it should have been about 8:30 AM, but instead it was 7:30.

So let me summarize this. In order to prevent Sasha from waking Larry up at 5:00 (so he could sleep in) they bought and hung curtains. Then for the first time on the vacation Larry sets an alarm (because he thinks he has thwarted Sasha) he gets up at 4:30AM. Isn’t he brilliant? Now, tell me who is the dumb animal?

Doggie day care was great. We met a lot of nice dogs and we played and talked all day and boy am I pooped. Sasha has already crashed on the couch and as soon as I get this posted I’m gonna join her.

The second Sasha incident occurred after dinner. Larry and Marsha had a nice dinner of grilled steaks and a bottle of wine. I think the wine got the humans because they didn’t clear the table right away. But, the smell of the steak got Sasha. She finally figured out that if she jumps up on the dinette seat after the humans get up she can lick the plates. She only got a half a plate licked before she got caught. Nonetheless she was so full of herself for figuring that out she was insufferable the rest of the night. I told her that she wouldn’t be able to fool Larry or Marsha more than once or twice and she didn’t believe me.

Well this morning right after breakfast, Larry headed back to the kitchen counter to get another cup of coffee and lickety-split Sasha was on the dinette seat headed for Larry’s plate. As I suspected, Larry saw her move and quickly spirited the plate away. I wish I knew how to use a camera because the look on her face was worth a million doggie treats. She was not a happy camper.

As for the humans’ day they, in order: went to Mt. Rushmore, drove up Iron Mountain Road, drove the Needle’s Highway and finished up by seeing the Crazy Horse Monument. Over dinner I did hear them discussing one incident at the summit of Iron Mountain.

At the summit, they have a scenic overlook, but the overlook really isn’t at the summit. The overlook is about 40 feet short of the summit with the last 40 feet requiring a moderately complex climb up a pile of rocks. Larry, immediately climbed the pile of rocks. Larry said he “scrambled up,” Marsha said he “teetered his way up.” Larry said Marsha gave him her best ninety-eight-dollar-your gonna-hurt-yourself-look. Marsha said she was just watching. Larry said the felt it was best if he crabbed his way down. Marsha said he crawled down. (See Picture). I will let you be the judge as to what happened.

Tomorrow Sasha and I get to go to doggie day care again while the humans head off to the badland.

Little Bighorn Memorial

The monument atop "Last Stand Hill" marking the mass grave of over 200 of Custer's men.



Part of the memorial to the Indians who died in the battle.



View of Last Stand Hill marking the place where the last 43 soldiers, including Custer fell.



The marker showing the place where General Custer fell



The family on a evening stroll across the prairie

Date: Sunday July 25th
Day: 72
RV Miles: 6,244
Location: Garryowen, MT
Elevation: 3,242

Today was a non-event for Sasha and I and that’s probably a good thing. The humidity was about 50% and it was 95 degrees in the sun and if you stood in the sun it would burn you to a crisp in about 10 minutes. Sasha and I decided to say in the air conditioned RV while the humans went to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield Memorial.

Larry told me he had been there about 15 years ago but didn’t get a chance to see much. At the time he asked one of the rangers where was the memorial for the Indians. The ranger said he didn’t know. Well they now have an Indian memorial at the battlefield, after all it was the Indians who were attacked and Custer was attacking the women and children. Larry said he was surprised by the size of the battlefield and that the battle was a running battle that covered over five miles of prairie and lasted two days.

While they were walking around in the sweltering heat us dogs relaxed in air conditioned comfort. Now, tell me again who is the dumb animal?

On another front, Sasha’s love life seems to be totally OK. I was sure Cooper was playing her. Since we left Gardiner, Sasha hasn’t lost a beat and I asked her about Cooper and all she said was, “Who?” Well it looks like she was just playing the game, flirting and leading Cooper on. Bitch!

I also think I am in Larry’s doghouse right now. Each morning when Sasha wakes Larry up at 5AM the first thing he has to do is to take Sasha and me outside so we can make sure no one is lurking around the RV. We usually use this time to go potty. This is different than going on patrol. On patrol, Larry keeps us on six-foot leads and we march three abreast with me on the left and Larry in the middle. However, for the first go-outside of the morning, Larry puts us on variable length leases. Mine goes all the way out to 35 feet. This morning on our first go-outside I spotted a road runner. Larry was looking the other way and didn’t see the rascal. Well I did what every self-respecting bird dog – lab mix would do - I challenged the road runner to a race and I was doing really good for the first 35 feet. Well it looks like my fifty pound weight running at road-runner speed is more than Larry’s 180 pounds can handle. I spun him around, dropped him to his butt and drug him a few feet before he stopped me and the road runner got away. Since there may be ladies reading this blog, I will not repeat what he said.

Tomorrow we head East again to Rapid City, South Dakota. Larry is a little sad about that since this will be the end to the scenic mountains and wide-open spaces. I think he got addicted to scenery out west. I asked Larry what he planned to do in Rapid City and he just said, “Wall, Deadwood, the Badlands, and Rushmore.” Looks like we will be there for a few days.

Note: Sorry I didn’t get this posted earlier, but we had company that kept us up till 11PM and then we had to break camp early and head for Rapid City. This post was completed in Rapid City about 6:30 Rapid City time.

Garryowen

Date: Thursday, July 24th
Day: 71
RV Miles: 6,244
Location: Garryowen, MT
Elevation: 3,242

We left Gardiner about 9:30 and after a 230 mile drive arrived in Garryowen, Montana. So it seems I had the question wrong. It was not who is Garry Owen, but where is Garryowen? Here is where it gets complicated. Garryowen, Montana is located about 4 miles South of the main battlefield where Custer and the 7th Cavalry met their fate on the Little Bighorn River.

The town of GarryOwen was named after an Irish pub song, Garry Owen. General Custer heard some of his Irish soldiers singing / playing the song and he liked it so much he made it the official regimental song. The song / tune is still the official song of the 7th Cavalry Regiment (they are air cavalry now). I think you will immediately recognize the tune.

This link will take you to a youtube video clip that plays the tune that I think most humans would recognize. (Double-lick on the link to listen/watch. When you double-click on the link it will replace this window. Use the "Back" button to return to the blog.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htmyaOYu8wA

This link will take you to a youtube video clip from the movie “They Died with Their Boots On” that sorta tells the story of how it became the official song of the 7th Cavalry. (Double-click on the link to listen/watch. When you double-click on the link it will replace this window. Use the "Back" button to return to the blog.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m7RPjQxjmA&feature=related

I think the humans are going to visit the Little Bighorn Battle Memorial tomorrow. Sasha and I will probably not get to go, but we can hope.

Tower Falls

Tower Falls




Sasha and Cooper doing kissy-face. (Cooper is on the left)




This is the top of the Lower Falls. They didn't know where to go so they wound up at the overlook at the top of the falls rather than the overlook where they could see the falls. They really needed my help.



Larry and one other unidentified vet, lowering the flag at the Yellowstone Museum.



Larry and Marsha saying goodbye to Yellowstone.

Date: Thursday, July 23rd
Day: 70
RV Miles: 6,009
Location: Gardiner, Montana (about 600 feet from the Roosevelt Arch)
Elevation: 5,403

Well today’s report is about same as yesterday’s. Sasha and I were relegated to staying in the RV all day while Marsha and Larry went out and had a great day looking around Yellowstone. Their mission was to see Tower, Upper and Lower falls. Without my supervision they didn’t have a chance of making it and they didn’t.

Larry said by the time they got to Upper falls time was running out. He didn’t seem to know why, but after reviewing all of the pictures, I can tell you they spent most of the time lolly-gagging and rubber-necking on the great scenery on the eastern side of Yellowstone. If you stop at every place that looks pretty in Yellowstone it will take you a week to get anywhere and that is about what they did.

Marsha told me that on the way back they stopped by the Yellowstone Museum and by chance it was about the time they take down the flag. They have a tradition here that they always ask two visiting veterans to take down the flag and Larry got “drafted.” Marsha thought it was so cool.

Sasha and Cooper really have a thing going now. Every time we get to go for a walk, Sasha heads for the door of Cooper’s RV. I heard Larry talking to Cooper’s humans and they said every time they take Cooper for a walk, Cooper heads for the door on our RV. Puppy love – its worse than all that Twilight stuff up in Forks.

Sasha doesn’t know it yet but her “date” with Cooper was the last time she will see him. Tomorrow we are on the road headed east. Larry said something about going to visit Gary Owen. Who the heck is Gary Owen?

Old Faithful

The "Old Faithful" Show



An Elk spending a lazy afternoon watching the tourists watch the elk.




Good thing we stayed home. When Sasha saw the picture she said, "Grrrrr, let me at him, I can take him in a hearbeat."



Lewis Falls



A waterfall near Goldengate







The "Golden Gate" trestle. Originally built from timber in 1888, this tressel cut the travel time to the inner park by over a half day.

Date: Thursday, July 22nd
Day: 69
RV Miles: 6,009
Location: Gardiner, Montana (about 600 feet from the Roosevelt Arch)
Elevation: 5,403

Not much news today. Larry and Marsha headed for the park and left us in the RV – bummer. Although it wasn’t too bad; some guy came around every two hours to walk us and give us dog treats. Since Sasha was kept in her crate, she couldn’t bug me so I could catch up on my nap time.

Larry told me his primary objective for the day was to get to see Old Faithful do its thing and they apparently did that. After I looked at the pictures they brought back, I am sorta getting the impression that Larry and/or Marsha has a fixation with waterfalls. That seems to be the vacation theme. Larry said they covered about 160 miles looking hither, thither and yon and just enjoying the park.

If you are keeping track, so far they have seen a black bear, a grizzly bear, antelope, bison, mountain goats, deer and today they saw their first elk. Marsha really wants to see a moose so Larry found out where to go to see moose. Unfortunately it would mean that Marsha has to get up at 5AM. With that news she gave up on Yellowstone Moose and told Larry, “Take me to the zoo one day.”

As a side note, in the RV next to us are two King Charles Spaniels just like Sasha. One was a rescue and is still a bit shy and skittish but the other one, named Cooper, is 5 days younger than Sasha. Lets just say they hit it off. Sasha started flirting and it was all over from there. Sheesh! For the last two nights Sasha has gone over to Coopers to play for about an hour. I told her not to get her heart too involved because I just know Cooper is a love ‘em, Leave ‘em type of guy, but she won’t listen to me.

Larry said tomorrow will be a quest to see Tower, Upper and Lower falls. See what I mean with the waterfall thing.

Beartooth Pass

Date: Tuesday, July 20th
Day: 67
RV Miles: 6,009
Location: Gardiner, Montana (about 600 feet from the Roosevelt Arch)
Elevation: 5,403

For pictures go to:
http://www.facebook.com/larrylaswell#!/photo.php?pid=30741898&id=1495071726

First thing this morning I had an avuncular discussion with Larry. I know he didn’t want to drive a 300 mile loop but Marsha was really firm in her position. I tried to explain to him that it was suicide to stand in front of the inevitable. He wouldn’t budge, so I told him he better have a plan “C” or plan to sleep under the RV tonight.

While on patrol, Larry visited with a few local people about Beartooth Pass and found that the unanimous opinion was that all the scenery was on the West side of the pass and all of the really bad roads were on the East side of the pass. As I explained to Larry, “Therein is the seed to plan ‘C.’ Drive to the summit, then turn around and come back. No matter what you do you will have to drive up and down a mountain. Why not drive down the side of the mountain with the scenery that you are already familiar with and avoid the really bad road on the East side of the pass that you don’t know.” Larry caught on right away.

As we were leaving camp for trip, Larry proposed the compromise to Marsha. She still would not commit except to say, “We will decide when we reach the summit.” Notice the use of the regal “We.” At Cooke City (the beginning point of the ascent, we stopped for some snacks and Larry bribed Marsha with an ice cream cone while selling plan “C” with all the grace of a snake-oil salesman. Marsha ate the ice cream but held her ground.

Believe it or not, it took us almost 6 hours to cover the 96 miles to the summit. This is 20 miles short of Red Lodge, 16 miles of which is nothing but switchbacks. The road up was not bad. Yes, as advertised, it had 25MPH hairpin turns, no guardrails, no shoulder and steep drop-offs and was barely wide enough for two compact cars. Oddly enough, it never had more than two of those things at the same time. The drive wasn’t that bad.

In the end, plan “C” won the day and we turned around and headed back the way we came. The return trip took about four hours. The travel times to someone who had never been there may seem extreme but we had several factors that made the going slow: This is a mountain road with a speed limit of, at most, 35 MP; There was road construction; The scenery was breathtaking and the scenery was non-stop; Every turn presented a new photo-op.

Larry was left speechless except to say, “If i had a bucket-list this drive would be number one.” Both Larry and Marsha agree that the scenic views along the way were over-the-top and that the drive was the most beautiful drives they had ever taken. Bear in mind that these are the two people who had raved about the Grand Canyon, Zion, Yosemite, Crater Lake, Mt. Rainier, the Olympic Peninsula forests and shoreline as well as the desert. They both agreed that none of those sights could hold a candle to Beartooth Pass.

Let me try to help you understand. The Beartooth range is the largest land area in the lower 48 states with elevations above 10,000 feet and the scenery is non-stop. Once you leave Roosevelt-Tower in Yellowstone, you enter the Lamar Valley. From there to the summit, every mile is filled with new and fresh vistas that takes your breath away: the scenery is an ever changing kaleidoscope of stunning beauty. This is not the type of scenic drive where you go and look at something like Crater Lake or drive along some scenic feature like the Crimson Cliffs in Utah. Each and every mile is a destination in itself. The beauty is stunning and its continuity and diversity is overwhelming.

During the ascent, you find thermal lakes above 8,000 feet, plateaus, high mountain meadows. You gaze down into cliff-bound canyons 3 and 4 thousand feet deep. You gaze across green lush valleys equally deep that are five, ten, twenty miles wide. Everywhere you look, sharp stony snow-draped peaks reach up to touch the clouds. At eye level, storm clouds formed in the Northwest and devoured peak after peak as they rolled across the range toward us.

There isn’t much more to say.

Tomorrow is going to be devoted to logistics. Larry has to get the oil changed in the car and in the RV. Marsha has to do laundry. We need to move the RV to another spot here in the park and Larry and Marsha have to go grocery shopping. Sasha and I need to catch up on our naptime. Thursday they will be back in Yellowstone. I think Sasha and I will be in day-care.

The Yellowstone Grand Loop

Yellowstone





Smoke from the fire



A helicopter just after getting a load of water from Yellowstone Lake



Marsha at Mammoth Hot Springs



Sasha and I watching the buffalo



Larry looking at a bubbling hot spring



Black Bear



Shasha wanted to know, "Is that bambi?"



Yeah, just another buffalo.




Grizzly Bear


Date: Monday, July 19th
Day: 66
RV Miles: 6,009
Location: Gardiner, Montana (about 600 feet from the Roosevelt Arch)
Elevation: 5,403

It was a long but interesting day; we completed the circuit all the way around the outside of the Yellowstone “figure-eight.” A total of about 160 miles that took us about eight and a half hours. On the way we saw a grizzly bear, a black bear and dozens of buffalo. Before we left, I warned Sasha about the wildlife here: It’s big, it’s mean, and it’s fast – so no barking. As a result, Sasha and I sat quietly in the back seat the entire trip. Sasha did bark at another dog once but that was it. Nonetheless, I think Sasha and I landed in the doghouse for the day.

We were at Old Faithful and while Larry and Marsha were getting Sasha and me hooked up just enough craziness ensued for us to miss the Old Faithful gusher. Larry seemed a bit miffed and was not about to wait another 90 minutes for next “show.” I have a sneaky suspicion that for the remaining trips to Yellowstone, us dogs will be sentenced to doggie-day-care.

Much of Yellowstone appears to be recovering from past forest fires and as we made our way around the loop we got a bit worried about smoke we were seeing from time to time. Once on the Southeastern portion of the loop near Yellowstone Lake we could see the smoke clearly. Then we saw a helicopter dipping for water and later we saw fixed wing aircraft bombing the fire. I think they had it under control. I do believe that also means that the fire was started by some human, since the policy is to let natural fires take their course unless the fire is endangering human life or property.

Tomorrow, we are going to go to the “Top of the World” over Beartooth Pass to the town of Red Lodge. From here, Red Lodge is about 116 miles. Marsha did some research on Beartooth Pass. What she learned is that the ascent and decent over the pass was about 30 to 40 miles of 6% to 8% grade, on a narrow road with no guardrails and constant 20 MPH hairpin turns around hairpin swithbacks. This seemed to dampen her enthusiasm a bit.

Larry wants to go directly to Red Lodge, turn around, and come back over the pass. This makes the round trip about 230 miles. Marsha has taken a firm stance that she does not want to go over that pass twice. (She has a lot of spunk and is game for about anything, but I guess she has her limits especially when it comes to roads with no shoulders, no guardrails and huge drop-offs. I think she may have some issues with heights.)

Anyway, what Marsha wants to do is make a loop and drive 60 miles north to I90 and head back that way. That makes the entire trip about 360 miles. Both Larry and Marsha have taken firm immovable positions on this. Let me give you a hint: don’t bet on Larry. Larry hasn’t learned yet: he isn’t going to win, he never has and he never will. Stay tuned, I let you know what happened tomorrow.

Arrival at Gardiner, MT

The Roosevelt Arch - Original entrance to Yellowstone Park, built in 1903 at a cost of $10,000



Picture taken from our campsite. The fence is the boundary of the campground.



For only the second time on this vacation we had rain (the prior rain was on the 4th of July in Forks). Our reward was a rainbow.



More local residents coming up to the campground.


Date: Sunday, July 18th
Day: 65
RV Miles: 6,009
Location: Gardiner, Montana (about 600 feet from the Roosevelt Arch)
Elevation: 5,403

We left Missoula, Montana about 9AM and arrived here in the early afternoon. Gardiner is the Northwest entrance to Yellowstone and originally was the only entrance to Yellowstone. The Roosevelt Arch guards this entrance to the park. The Arch got its name because President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone in 1903 and later that year he returned for the dedication of the arch.

Larry tells me that the roads in Yellowstone are set in a figure-eight pattern and tomorrow we will do the lower loop and see the geysers and bubbling pots.

On the trip here, Larry and Marsha chatted extensively about the trip. Larry is feeling road-weary, but Marsha isn’t. Marsha put things in perspective as she usually does. The remaining stops on the trip are here at Yellowstone and then it’s the Black Hills. Larry has been to both, so they hold no anticipation for him, but to Marsha they are still fresh and new; hence the difference.

They spent the afternoon and evening looking for things Larry has never seen at these two destinations and succeeded in making a list or points to visit that Larry has never seen. Looks like they will be doing some hiking in Yellowstone to get to points such as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Falls and a few other places. (I think doggie day-care is going to be in Sasha and my future.) In addition, a road trip to the “top of the world,” considered by some including Charles Kuralt as the most beautiful drive in the United States and trips to Deadwood, South Dakota are now on the docket.

The Beartooth highway to “the top of the world” was described by Charles Kuralt as, ” This legendary section of road, part of U.S. Highway 212, connects the tiny Montana towns of Cooke City and Red Lodge. In between is Wyoming/Montana wilderness as vast and beautiful as anyone could imagine.”

That got Larry’s blood pumping again.