Hampton Suites Pinedale

... risk a possible accident with wildlife. Unforunately they were delayed many times and never left before 1:30 that afternoon.

Chris and Lori and their children Tyler and Jodi arrived the next day after staying overnight in Salt Lake City, Utah. Then Annemarie and John along with Alex and Jessica arrived late that night after a difficult night ride over roads that could have all kinds of wildlife runout in ...

Pinedale, WY is the home of the American Mountain Man Rendezvous on 7/9 through 7/12.

We drove from Moab, UT to Pinedale yesterday crossing some beautiful and wide open spaces.

There were mountains, high desert, hills, valleys mountain passes with very curvy roads and severe drop-offs, the 455 foot high Green River dam in Flaming Gorge National Recreational Area ...

... 6,000 years ago.

The Green River Rendevous site is an area where trappers and natives did their trading. Its first year, 1837, had one day of trading. Over the next 15 years, it turned into a market and Mardi Gras all in one - quite a wild and extended period of work and play. The bluff over the river was our viewing post, but it was accessible only by a long, narrow, switchback dirt road. Our ...

Sept. 10 Saddly leaving the Grand Tetons we head out for new adventures. Along the road we see this (see pic) amazing building up on the hill so....U turn and in we go.....a truly amazing and excellent museum with old and new art. I could see on our good old Rand McNally map that there is a State Park with camping in Pinedale, Wyoming. We pull into the General Store and immediately realize we are in the heart of a hunting community. So...we pick ...

... holding signs encouraging people to go to church and the like. It was wild to see such as act but I made it through there without being harassed by anyone. Once I left from Ft. Collins, the road narrowed down back to a 2 lane. The speed limit increased to 65 again so I knew that I was coming up on some wide open, desolate country. Turned out I was right, the country side had some hills and you could see for miles at the top. It was a perfect day for a drive; it ...

... to get outside into the cold. Since the weather was once again clear we couldn't waste the day. Headed into Jackson to drive through the Elk Refuge- we missed out doing that the day before....didn't really see many elk- think they were hiding! Checked out some shops and galleries in town, had to go from shop to shop just to stay slightly warm! I thought my face was going to freeze off! Saw some great art and photos of the area ...

Time to head home. We were not looking forward to the three days of driving that it would take. The worst part of a road trip out of Chicago westward is that you have to drive through the Prairie States before you get to the Mountains. The highways are good ...

Monday, July 8 We thoroughly enjoyed Gering this morning. Our first stop was out at the Scottsbluff National Park where we toured another excellent Visitor's Center and view a show on the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail, both of which came right through the pass not far from the Center. We then drove to the top of the bluff where the view of the prairie in all directions was magnificent. I didn't see and Indians but I did see two covered ...

Ashamed of my California license plates, Jeff and I will arrive in the place formally known as the best place in the whole wide world (my previous dubbing of Lander although Wyoming maintains this lofty title) this afternoon. I'm only ceding Lander's placement in the event that I'm not able to return there...but Wyoming is an uncontested display ...

... my legs after peanuts).

There was a tremendous lot to see and after I saw the Terrace Nature Trail I went east on the Grand Loop Road. I saw Undine Falls and then stopped at the Calcite Springs Over Look. Heading south on the loop I saw Tower Falls which I have a photo of (I actually broke down and took a number of photos while I was here). Next it was the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone-Inspiration ...