A day Of Rest -- For the Driver at Least

Woke up to the beautiful blue Colorado spring sky this morning and I hope that it stays that way for the day.

Well--I have just learnt the beauty on the working online and all that you did is lost--this is my second attempt as the only bit that was saved was the top line -- grrrr.

Ok so here is the jist  of what was a pretty ordinary day for these travellers.

First stop yesterday was the \Mall and we all pretty much got what we were after with the exception of white shorts for Lynda, but I guess there will be another outlet somewhere for her on the trip.

The drive from Cheyenne was only eventful for the number of times that we crossed Pershing Avenue of Missile Drive--yeah, only in America----for those of you that do not know there was a General Pershing and there were missiles called Pershing.

The I-25 is a pretty boring interstate and the most significant thing has to be the downpours of rain that we had and watching / praying that the clouds would break--which they have appeared to have done this morning.

Just need time to chill out by the pool for a couple of hours of sun--not too much to ask.

Staying at the Quality Inn on Garden of the Gods Road--pretty good hotel and a great restaurant nearby to take care of the hunger last night. We finally found a way to combat the American propensity for overfill plates at every sitting---we order food from the Senior Citizens menu which turns out to be about as much as we can handle back home.

Ok so have spent a few hours around the pool, not always sunny, but nice and relaxing.

Unfortunately i think the Laptop is going crazy and certainly not letting me on line since i was on first thing around 7am this morning, so i am writing this from the hotel computer. Not sure what i will do if i get no fix next time i log on But tomorrow we head for Rainbow trout Ranch in Antonito, Colorado and don't even know if they have WIFI, but i will make a decision then.

I think a new laptop is definitely on the cards although i might see if i can get a lead to be hard wired instead of wifi.

Please keep popping in as i will by hook or by crook get back into full swing. Happy day's eh.

The Morning After

OK

So things do not seam quite so bad as they did last night.

Yes of course the computer screen is broken-- but you know what, it's amazing what a  piece of sellotape can do.

I will not say any more at the present as we have to now see how it travels.
So tape job done , insurance company notified, and now we just have to see how it goes.

So for yesterday--well it was another lengthy drive but it was interspersed with one or two stops, or at least drive by's.

After breakfast in The Bullock hotel in Deadwood City-- man I like writing that-- we  went to find the graveyard that is home to Wild Bill and Calamity Jane.

It is on a hill looking down on the town and in amongst the pine tree's is a really peaceful place and the residents have the best view in the area.

The trip including a graveyard seams to becoming a regular event-- Frank Sinatra in palm Springs, lots of Bad Guys in Tombstone, and now this one.

From Deadwood we drove south around fifty miles to Mount Rushmoor. It is in another staggering location with eerie feelings as to why someone would commission for these 4 presidents to be recognised but no one else--strange. Even so, how can anyone do anything else except marvel at the sheer audacity to carve these faces in the middle of a wilderness in the 1930's, with no modern day access equipment, or tools to undertake this work.

Sorry about the off centre of the picture but this was strictly a drive-by shot as we needed to move on to get to Cheyenne on our route to the Ranch for Wednesday. this was one of those situations where as we had not pre-booked a hotel, and we could not find any of the state hotel free books that we normally get from gas stations , I was getting a little jittery, when we were driving around looking for a place to stay.

Can anyone imagine what it would have been like for 4 old folk like us cramped into the SUV to sleep there for the night, with the boot full of cases and no where to change, wash or anything--that would have been scary.

So today has shopping at its centre, boots for Rod---I had to persuade him that the |Harley Davidson black biker boots he was trying the other day were not gonna be great for him--new trainers for me, the ones I came out in have split and have had it, and also a pair of  good quality well fitted jeans for me before we get to the ranch---and the girls--well I don't know what they are looking for (woops, I do know it is a long dress for Ann) but a good nose around an American Mall is always a good interlude.
We just love the service manners of the shopping staff--even if they are thinking that the stupid old folk should sort themselves out--but they do it all with a smile and a lot of thank you's.

After the shopping we head for Colorado Springs and we booked the hotel in advance for 2 nights last night that has an outside pool for chill out and --god willing -- some sun.

Right , breakfast is beckoning so later's people.
Carefree.

Slight Hic-up from Cheyenne

Well folks,

Arrived in Cheyenne and booked in to the Holiday Inn and got to room to get set up with the computer to surf for a hotel for the next 3 nights and found my laptop screen smashed in the corner.

Just had a beer to calm down and am gonna go up to try to get back on but I may be doing it from hotel machines or I will get a new computer.

But it will be carry on regardless.

I will be in touch

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Wild Bill Hicock did not die last night.

They say that the Bullock Hotel in Deadwood, South Dakota, is haunted by the original owner, Seth Bullock, but the only vision I saw last  night was my dollars being swallowed by the machines downstairs.

That said it was a bit of fun.

So here we are in the City that was illegal for all of its original years and was above the law for many years, and was just about destroyed in the 50's by fire. right now it's about tourists, gambling and for being a  real part of the WILD mid west of the 19 century.

Lynda has found something to do a little later that includes money and machines, -- now if we can just find the secret of how these things work when you want to win it will be ok.

 

It was about 350mile drive yesterday from Cody across to Deadwood and some pretty spectacular views on the way.

This is just one but we are forever going from 4000 ft above  sea to 9000+ and from flat plains to forests and mountains.

Saw a few of the cast that re-inact scenes from the Buffalo Bill and Calamity |Jane days in a bar before dinner and Lynda got kissed by a guy who I think was Buffalo Bills father.

Nice steak dinner and a decent Merlot, but shame about the cold Blueberry pie--the American folk have a real problem heating things up like coffee and desert pies.

Oh , and  of course Wild Bill Hickok was supposed to die between 7 and 7.30pm last night -- as he does every night -- but due to the Rodeo being in town, he was reprieved until tomorrow night.

So today we go to see the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane before mosying on to Mount Rushmoor and then to Cheyenne. I can feel some therapeutic shopping coming on.

Now what did we do with Lynda's glasses-------

I wanna be a Rodeo Star when i Grow up

That's it---finally seen our first proper Rodeo last night at the Cody Stampede Stadium with Rod and Ann  and I am hooked.

We sat in the stand that overlooks the pens where you see the riders coming out with the bucking bronco's or the bull riding and we could see everything in real close up.

Thank you to the people of the stadium for putting on such a fantastic family evening of entertainment.

And I suggest that the British Government go to one of these and get the feeling that pervades the whole stadium when they have the 8 girls riding in on horseback carrying their national flags , singing their anthem and generally showing their patriotism -- we cant even have a union jack at the town hall.

See piccies below---

These are just a quick selection
The fourth one is where they get all the kids under 12 onto the arena to chase 2 small cows to try to pull off the 2 ribbons -- talk about audience participation -- it was wonderful.

The bottom picture is a decent close up of the riders roping cows and it was right around then that I worked out how to really use the zoom and stuff on the camera.

Great night by all and we now are packing to leave Cody for Deadwood via Little Big Horn, see where Custer had his last stand---looking at the history of Custer and the like of Annie Oakley I should be interesting.

Enjoy the weekend back home folks.
Happy Trails

Post Pool Post

Back in from the pool, well, when you are joined by at least twenty screaming kids, no matter what age you are , it is time to go.

So been playing with the photos and I think I can now put on here the ones that Lynda took of the Buffalo-------

How impressive is he then--we found him by chance and to be honest he was a Billy No Mates--but non the less beautiful.

Other critters seen in the Park were a squirrel/ chipmunk type little critter than ran from under the girls feet, what looked like a goldeny brown hawk of some kind that swooped down in front of us and grabbed his dinner of some kind and while I realise that I am the only one, I am convinced that I could see a bear that a bunch of other folk were stopped and looking at a bit away wandering towards the woods.

All in all very special!!!

Another one of the Bucket List

Thanks very much for letting me get onto the internet with no problems this morning-- ok so touching wood as I say that. So this post is for yesterday --25/07/13 or 07/25/13 if you are American.

Yesterday was a real Wow day and a definite tick off the bucket list.

We left the hotel at around  9am and went to the place below---

So we started by taking a completely different route into the park via the North East entrance with some great views even before we got to the  gate.

This view shows a valley that we have to go down and through and out the other side. It is significant as it was where there were battles and wars fought between the soldiers and the Shoshone  Indians with the following ---

Expand the picture but in essence the Nez Perce Indian group escaped  a large body of soldiers--Google it and you will find a great story.

Now one of the main things that we  really wanted to not go away without seeing were the buffalo, that were so randomly slaughtered to the point of extinction  but have been nurtured back to the point where there are many herds in America today. I remember seeing a documentary a good while ago that was about a financial billionaire, who owned about a million acres--I think in Montana--who was breeding the Buffalo and had huge herds  that could  roam free, albeit managed properly.

It appears that in this day of looking to reduce the Carbon footprint, cows are one of the worlds worst polluters with harmful gases when they fart. It appears that Buffalo do not emit harmful gases to pollute the atmosphere. So there has to be a lobby for eating regulated Buffalo meat and getting rid of cows-- just a thought.

Any way , we saw them in herds---

And it made me feel good about one little aspect of life.

While I can probably wax lyrical--if I knew what that meant-- about the continuous views as we drove through the park , around every corner we turned , and trust me , in a million acres they were everywhere and  amazing--the other main reason for coming to Yellowstone was to see this little baby blow off some steam-----

Here is the old geyser I was on about the other day--Old Faithful-- and right on clock work when we arrived at it off it went . It apparently let's off steam at around every45 minutes , so thanks to whoever controls the valve that lets it off. There must have been a couple of thousand people sitting around watching and guess what--they applauded at the end of it, crazy or what---it's a force of freaking nature , not a cabaret act ---ok so I will concede that it is entertainment of some kind.

This is one of the other Old Geezers--who will be hoping to get a little more colour today.

In that one area there must have been around 5000 people, and this group are constantly changing so a  nice bit of business.

In all we did around 300 miles and got back to  Cody at around 7 pm so we had a good old  burger king for dinner--well gotta be done now and then, went back to our cabins and played cards, and had a glass of wine or two. The girls won and were very in yer face about it afterwards, - trying to be nice but inside gloating--- but in truth Rod and I were thumped.

Lazy day by the pool today and another one on my list to be done is tonight when we are going to a Rodeo--now I wonder if I can sneak in to the enclosure to get on one of those bulls---------definitely will tick another off the list.

Hoping to see some of the Chelsea games in the States in the next few weeks/days--carefree--might have to get a Chelsea top on tonight---Yea Ha  !

Chill out at Pool and dinner with Buffalo Bill

I am going to start this with the fact that I am all out of sinc today. When we  went to bed last night I got everything set up for this morning as we wanted to hit the road early and what happens--absolutely sweet fanny adams--no network connection. I tried to re-boot or in the words of our wonderful IT guys at M+W, turn it off and turn it on again-- anyway whatever I tried failed miserably.
So I was worrying all day if there was something serious but managed to log straight in to the wifi here in the hotel---happy day's.

So right then, back to yesterday, so we had a great day by the pool, the water according to Ann was freezing but trust me it was beautiful.

Did a good bit of reading done as well which for me is a great relaxant.
As a team at midday we sat together to plan our routes for today and for what comes after and we all agreed to the plan---that always helps when you are travelling as a group.

There was a bit of larking around from a bunch of college kids but they were fine.

After we had showered a changed we did a run to Walmart--the girls favourite easy , and cheap shopping--just a few nik naks.


Then back up to main street to park up to find a restaurant. Find one we did called Irma's, which turned out to be a shrine to Buffalo Bill Cody--same name as the town you see--and it was stepping back in time.

It included a gun fight and live country band in the main street---


Below are some of the shots from not only the inside of the restaurant but also of the food we were served up --- everything is bigger in the USA and we had forgotten that to the cost of ending up stuffed.

 Us boy's with the Sam Adams and the Heiniken and the girls with some pretty good Zinfandel.

 Ann and Rod with the Teriyaki Salmon--not as good as it looked but still ok.

 Lynda with her Cow pie-- even desperate dan would have had a problem.

So the Girls found the most important fella in the place and he agreed to the shot with them.

So it finished with a final shop next to the restaurant and here below is a shot of Rod trying to emulate the one that Ward Bond wore in the John Wayne film where he is tracking his neice - I think it was Commancheros--there is a cold beer for someone who reminds me of the name.

Smooth fella
So that was yesterday -- we had a wine and played Mr & Mrs for an hour before bed.

Tomorrow I will try to get back on track with writing todays epic trip.

Ta Ta all.

Distances not Quite what They Seem

Ok.
The first mistake was thinking that the 300 miles --or there or there abouts-- was straight. Wrong!

Well we got to Yellowstone Park in pretty good time and the group decided that we would do a bit of drive around it , maybe see the \Geezer--sorry Geyser--and toddle off to the hotel for a dip in the pool, well it was getting up around the 90 + mark---Wrong!.

For a start the speed limit in the park is 45 mph.
Then you get stuck behind the site seers who slow down every couple of minutes.
Then you get more twist and turns than a Poirot movie.
Then you get the ups and down -- from 4000 feet to 8,500 feet in easy moves.

Of course and then, in the  middle of the wilderness, you have to be prepared for the children wanting to take a bathroom break --but this is definitely not over Epsom Common---there are Bears in these woods, so squatting behind a tree is not the first choice for sorting the problem.

We eventually got to the Hotel in Cody, Wyoming at around 4.30pm and found that we are in these quaint little log cabins--pictures later.

Now---Having said all of that-- the scenery we have seen has been some of the most spectacular I or the others have ever seen and the drive through the park, while not as quick as we thought, was absolutely staggering and cant wait to see more.

This is not old faithful but gives an idea of how close you get to something that one day may well blow north America into a new dimension.

Today we plan on having a quiet day by the pool and maybe see some of the sites around Cody--there is a Rodeo every evening so we may go down there, although I am not sure how well |Rod's wrist will hold up to the Bull Riding--they do wrap that rope round the hand pretty tightly.

Some more shots below of the views but only a taster for tomorrow.

 Standard views up and around the hills in the park.

 This is Yellowstone Lake--it's huge.

 This is the lake that feeds into Buffalo Bill Dam. 

 So many great places to trout fish.

 These are the areas where some of the Geysers are.

Not sure what the sign is yet--we were trying to get the one for yellowstone and Cody.

So the pictures below are from the cabins we are in and of the old Geezers--yes this is the right spelling this time.

 

So after dinner in the nearest restaurant and bar, we were all pretty tired so we came back to the cabins and  got the furniture out for a glass of wine and cards-- the boys won--again.

So that's it , we have driven around  a  1000 miles from Portland and have seen the stunning places in the Mid-West and are planning to see a whole lot more tomorrow---but first, breakfast , pool , sun and relaxation in that order. Gonna be hot, hot , hot. :-)

Into a Time Zone

These 3 lovely ladies sharing one last embrace and photo before we hit the road yesterday. The Kosmas team also sent us on our way with bags of goodies -- which I will come to later.

So fully loaded we set of through Portland and onto the I - 84 for our next leg of the trip to Yellowstone Park. This is a long trip--about 900 miles or there about's and we managed to cover around 600 miles to end up in a new time zone and a place called Twin Falls, in Idaho.

We had the first experience of this great system in America with magazines you can get in Gas Stations, that have all the towns in the state in that have hotels in and the hotels have details of their facility showing you a discount that you can get if you present the coupon-- we saved 40 dollars on each room with the Quality inn that we stayed in last night.

Back to the drive and I think I can speak for everyone that it was amazing -- through the Rockies with some endless stunning views. The changes also in temperature and vista. we followed alongside the Columbia River for about 200  miles that has 3 hydroelectric damson now that is harnessing the environment for energy. we went from Pine Forests to vast plains of fields and back to forests again and over gorges up mountains , and that constant blue sky, with temperatures outside of around 95 degrees.

Up in these areas you get these strange fences that are not actually fences at all--they are wind diverters, slats that when the wind blows it gets diverted upwards and stops the wind from eroding the ground soil--clever stuff.

Those are just some random shots from the trip--and I was not the photographer--it was my one handed pal Rodney, so I forgive him the bottom one. I will get round to loading more that Lynda has taken in time but we are rushing a little.

I suppose that I had better get it over with -- Congratulations William and Kate on the birth of your son--cant remember getting a message from your Mum when kids were born.

So after we booked in to the hotel we tried unsuccessfully to find a bar so we bought wine and went back to the room and had a great snack of smoked Salmon-- not like in the packs in the UK-- white beans, dolmathas and bread with Philly on as well as the wine-- it was a feats so many thanks to Anna and Souli.

Right got my ear being bashed --need to get in the bathroom and sort myself out for going for breakfast and then setting off for the 300 miles to Cody in Wyoming I think and an afternoon by the pool--well, as the driver I have earnt it.

Carefree--and if you have a read how about leaving a message. :-)

Head em up Move em out.

So this is both exiting and sad day today-exiting cause we head off towards Yellowstone Park and sad to be leaving our wonderful friends Souli, Anna and family, so mixed feelings.

This below is what we are travelling around in , which is ok--

Not exactly slumming it though is it.

It is a Ford Edge and it drives really well.

So today we  will be seeing how far we can get towards Yellowstone Park.

We have picked the route on the I- 84 down to and through a town called Boise, in Idaho, which is around 450 miles but we may be able to make somewhere like Idaho Falls, I don't have any issue to drive to there-- about 650miles.


So yesterday we woke up to light rain in Seaside , a real shame that we could not see it in its glory with great sun but it is a real special place and sleeping with the window open which lets you hear the pacific waves rolling in is a bit special.

On the way back to Portland , there were 2accidents , 1 with a motorcycle and a deer and the other with 2 cars that were totalled. We still believe that the reason it took so long for the traffic jamb to clear was that the fire truck guys were carving up the deer and sharing the meat. It was a good reminder to us to take care and be prepared for the unexpected.

A big thank you for the hospitality of Fotis , Jill  and Pantelis yesterday, this is Souli's brother, whose house we went around to in the afternoon and evening for a  wonderful meal in the garden.
Not sure what it is but we do not seam to have stopped eating since we got to Portland --  although I guess this is normal and we have just forgotten how hospitable this family are.

I did not capture Fotis and Jill, so I apologise for that and will upload something from Lyndas camera later.

Am definitely not sure about Pondo's choice of golfing attire-- he has golf shoes that match that shirt--only the Americans could get away with that --not sure what the London Cabbies down at the Oaks would say to anyone turning up in those colours.

It is really great to see the likes of Fotis and Jill who have now retired and are so happy--not bored and now no pressure from work --we all hope you have the best retirement and we will let you know what Yellowstone  was like.

To Eva and Christina, we are sorry that we  missed you as we are with Brooklyn , Payton, Nick and Bailey--Pondo and Lori's children.
We hope that Nick enjoys his European adventure--be careful with the coffee bars in Amsterdam Nick-- those are not ordinary cigarettes they are selling.

How  cool is that, just Skyped with Charlotte in here work--she was on a break and saw I was on-line, so called me from her IPhone. So she is leaving for Greece Wednesday this week and will be at our house by Thursday. There are Clare and Jason going as well. Jason is a great lad who is in the airforce fire  department so he is a pretty smart guy--or so you would think. Anyone who takes a surf board to Greece in the height of summer from England definitely wants his bumps felt--Jason , the water is like a mill pond-- but hey , a Newcastle supporter, so no more words needed. Enjoy the holiday guys and say hi to everyone there--especially our Greek family--you can tell them that you spoke to Souli and Anna  this morning and that they send their love to the family.

So when we got back from Fotis house yesterday evening, Lynda finally got to try out Souli's hospital bed --she had been dying to do that since  we first saw it .

We just need to make sure that she doesn't need to do this for Real.

We have 2 wonderful little girls with us this morning with Chris and Kims children, Nina  and Anna, who bunk down for the day with their YaYa and Papoose.

Another example of where the USA folk are so like the Brits with grandmas and granddads helping out the children with the taking care of the Grandchildren.

Bellow are these two wonderful children .

 



Papoose and Nina doing some map reading.

Here is Anna
doing her reading.

 

Ok , so I am going to go now to have a conversation with Anna about whether Aliens exist--she is just drawing me a picture of an Alien and we are talking about Morgan Freeman, who she remembers in a TV series which had Aliens in -- such a clever girl.

 

Then we have to hit the road---again.