TravelStream™ news feed for member carrieandbob on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/carrieandbob en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:44:41 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1224281760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1224281760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1224281760/tpod.html Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:44:41 -0500 The American dream tour

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Espanola, Taos, Bandelier, and Tent Rocks, New Mexico, United States

October 12 - 20, 2008New Mexico is a state that has a multitude of things to do for those who like the outdoors as well as a number of scenic drives. We spent some time camping in Espanola, using that as a base for motorcycle rides to a number of scenic areas. We took a day ride tour on State Road 68 along the Rio Grande, through BLM land to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, then circling back through the Carson Nation Forest, to the hot springs of Ojo Caliente and back to Espanola. Part of the ride took us on an unpaved national forest road (where we saw a real, live tarantula crossing the street!). The road leads up to the top of a mesa flanked on one side by the Rio Grande and the other, the Carson National Forest. Interestingly, there is a section of road atop the mesa near the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge where homesteaders can live in relative freedom from all of society's rules and regulations, called "Carson Estates." Along this road, there are wooden structures (shacks really), trailers, RVs, tents, and even some lovely modular homes. We struck up a conversation with an artisan selling her wares on the side of the road at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. She told us she bought a plot of land there over the internet and has lived there for about 10 years. She loves it, but said you need to be able to protect yourself, since there is no law enforcement to speak of, and no covenants or other restrictions on landowners in the community. A plot of land with incredible views for just $2500, but you have to want to live with no basic amenities (no phone, water, electric, or sewer, etc.). Talk about a simple life!We also spent a couple days in Taos and took a day trip called the Enchanted Circle. The Enchanted Circle is an 80 mile ride from Taos Pueblo around Wheeler Peak, through national forest land and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, across valley farmland, and through a number of small towns including Questa, Red River, Eagle Nest, and Angel Fire. Most of these small towns make their money on the ski crowds in the winter, and are beautiful to see any time of year. There was snow on Wheeler Peak-the highest mountain that lies smack dab in the middle of these towns. But the surrounding areas were still green and gold and red with autumn.From Taos, we headed south toward Los Alamos, and camped at Bandelier National Monument. Bandelier has ancient cliff dwellings that you can hike to right from the campground. We had great weather and really enjoyed hiking around Bandelier. Bandelier is on the other side of the caldera from the Jemez Mountains. Because of their volcanic history, these areas area great places for rock hounds. You can find obsidian (rocks that look like black glass), agates, quarts, and other minerals. And you might stumble across some pottery shards from the ancient peoples that used to inhabit these lands. Between Bandelier and Albuquerque there is a place called Tent Rocks-another volcanic phenomenon. These "rocks" are actually piles of volcanic ash that have hardened into "tuff." The hardened tuff then eroded in such a way as to create conical formations that look like-well, yes-tents. The erosion also created slot canyons between the rocks, which are fun to climb as you ascend to the overlook on the trail through Tent Rocks. Here we found more obsidian and something called Apache Tears-which are small partially formed pieces of obsidian that are shaped much like a teardrop. This area is very picturesque and dramatic. From the overlook point at the top of the steep trail you can see three mountain ranges, the Sandia, the Sangre de Cristo, and the Jemez. It is a geologist's dream!We spent a week exploring these places as we made our way south and east to that home of the most famous of all alien encounters-Roswell, NM. Stay tuned for our adventures to the UFO capital of the world!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223663160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223663160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223663160/tpod.html Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:29:20 -0500 The American dream tour

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Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Jemez National Forest and Albuquerque-October 6-11, 2008We left Fish Lake and headed for the annual International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico. On the way we drove the scenic route through the Jemez Mountains and national forest in northwestern New Mexico. What a beautiful ride! We camped for a couple nights at the Juniper Campground in the national forest. The Jemez Mountains are part of the mountains that surround a caldera basin. A caldera is essentially a volcano that blew its top many thousands of years ago, leaving a large basin surrounded by rough peaks. This makes for some beautiful country, with many peaks and canyons, and very interesting mineral and rock formations. Natural hot springs also are typical of a caldera area (parts of Yellowstone also exist in a caldera). We stopped at a place called Soda Rock just outside of the town of Jemez on the way up the mountains. This roadside attraction features a unique mineral formation and hot spring. It kind of looks like a cave that was formed from the inside out. A different day we hiked to a natural hot spring. The water was about 95 degrees! We sat in the springs and looked out over the forest and valley below. What a great experience!After a couple days we made our way down from the mountains to Albuquerque. We left at 5 am to try to get there for the morning ascension of the balloons. The sun rose as we drove toward the city. As we reached the outskirts of Albuquerque, we were greeted by these wonderful spots of color rising in the distance-the morning mass ascension of the balloons! Cars were pulled over on the interstate to watch as the balloons from the fiesta were filled with hot air and rising up to fill the skies over the city. A really neat experience! We stopped and got some great pictures! It was amazing how many different colors and shapes there were. Albuquerque is a neat city, and there is a lot to do there. We went to the balloon fiesta on Thursday, and stayed for the evening events, which included the "Glo-deo." The Glo-deo is when all the balloons are inflated and, after the sun sets, they all light up their fires simultaneously so that the balloons glow. The night ended with a great fireworks display. It was a lot of fun. We were very lucky in the timing of our arrival. This year, they had some really poor weather conditions. The first weekend had cool temperatures and rains and wind, which inhibited the ascensions. We arrived the Wednesday before the last weekend, and saw the ascension and went to the fiesta on Thursday--the two best days of the celebration. In fact, they ended up cancelling some of the events before and after due to weather, and on Friday, disaster struck as one of the balloons crashed into power lines and on balloonist was killed. That was really tragic. We had just seen the balloon that crashed the day before. Albuquerque is surrounded by the Sandia Mountains, and there is a tramway that will take you to the top of Sandia Peak, one of the highest peaks in the range. Unfortunately, due to the fiesta, the waiting time to take the tram was about 3 hours. We opted, instead, to take the scenic drive up to Sandia Peak and to hike up to the overlook. The road winds up through the Cibola National Forest, and at the top, there is a great view of the city n one direction, and other smaller towns on the scenic byway in the other. On the way down, we stopped at a place called Tinkertown. This is a place where a man just started collecting all kinds of antiques and memorabilia and has put together a museum with historical exhibits. He spent most of his life making art from trash, and creating miniature towns and various mechanical things. Tinkertown has an old wooden sailboat on exhibit, along with the history of the boats travels as it circumnavigated the entire globe. There are carnival exhibits, old west models, bits and pieces of history from all over. The level of detail was amazing. Tinkertown was quite a sight and clearly a labor of love. We spent another day in old town Albuquerque and checked out the small shops and galleries. One shop in particular was really interesting-it was a kaleidoscope shop. Nothing but kaleidoscopes, ranging in price from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars! Oh, but they were neat! We ended up spending about an hour in that store just looking at all the different kinds of scopes, and we bought a moderately priced one. We had lunch in a great restaurant, the High Noon Saloon. Bob and I are both good cooks, and are somewhat of food snobs. Not that we have expensive taste, but it is amazing how much you can pay for a mediocre meal in so many places. But this place ranks as one of our all time favorites on this trip! We met the owners and chatted with them, getting some of the history of the place and letting them know how much we enjoyed the food. We also had a surprise when we emerged from the Winnie in a parking lot in Old Town. There, right in from of us was a pretty large gopher snake! We included a picture of that too!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223244000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223244000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223244000/tpod.html Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:36:17 -0500 The American dream tour

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Fish Lake, Utah, United States

October 3-6, 2008We met up with our friend, Mike, from Las Vegas for a weekend of fun, sun, and fishing in Fish Lake, Utah. Well, we certainly had fun, but sun and fish were hard to come by. In fact, it snowed the first day! This was the first snow that Bob and I have seen on our trip! Actually, the light coat of snow contrasted with the golden and red aspens and the blue of Fish Lake made for quite a beautiful landscape, as you can see from the pictures. The area is part of the National Forest land, and once beyond the lake area, there are many forest roads leading to solitude and beautiful camping areas. And lots of free range cattle! Mike chauffeured us in his SUV around the area, through the mud and snow, to get a look at the countryside. Bob and Mike braved the cold one day to go fishing. I opted to keep the home fires burning in the RV (I like to fish, but not enough to do it in weather that requires longjohns. . . .). They came back with no fish--hmmm. . . But they did have some good stories about the ones that got away! It was great to see Mike again, and we had a great time even without the fish!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1222897320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1222897320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1222897320/tpod.html Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:46:23 -0500 The American dream tour

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Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, United States

October 1-2, 2008Mesa Verde National ParkWe had plans to see our friend Mike (from Las Vegas) in Fish Lake, Utah the first weekend in October. We stopped for a couple of days in southern Colorado on our way and camped in Mesa Verde National Park. This park is home to the popular Pueblo Cliff Dwellings, as well as some great scenery. Fall is a nice time to visit-the park is colorful and temperate. As we are so far behind in our blogs, I will not spend much time on narrative but let the pictures do the talking. The main scenic drive through Mesa Verde wanders to the top of a mesa and beyond. At the top, a short trail leads to great panoramas of the surrounding area-New Mexico to the south, Utah to the west, and Colorado to the north. Beyond the Visitor's Center, rangers lead tours to two of the most famous cliff dwellings of the ancient Pueblo-Cliff House and Balcony House. Other trails lead along the sides of the canyons to great views and petroglyphs. A fun park to visit!Although the sights at the park were great, the highlight of our trip to Mesa Verde was making new friends with Donna and Steve from Oregon. It just happened that we all were on the same tours of the cliff dwellings, and our idle conversation soon blossomed into a friendship as we discovered we had a lot in common. We ended up camping in the same campground, sharing meals, and watching the presidential debate together. By the end of the two days, we felt like old friends! It was hard to say goodbye. We definitely will stay in touch, and we will meet up again!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1222351140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1222351140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1222351140/tpod.html Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:00:57 -0500 The American dream tour

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Loveland, Colorado, United States

Rocky Mountain National Park September 23 -30, 2008There are beautiful mountain views throughout the United States, but the sight of the Rockies' highest peaks in autumn when the aspen are turning is unrivaled. The "fourteeners" (this is what they call mountains with peaks over 14 thousand feet) are a layered mosaic with their white snow caps fading to gray, black and brown of the alpine tundra, followed by the deep green pines, giving way to the golden aspen, looking like a wildfire without the smoke. The richness of the color palette is difficult to capture on film, but is indelible in memory.We spent about a week in Loveland, Colorado-about 30 miles outside of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). The weather was great and we put a lot of miles on the motorcycles in this lovely area. When we arrived in Loveland, the elk rutting season was in full swing. It was not uncommon, we were told, to see elk on in the area parks and streets, and to hear the bugling of the male elks for hours. Well, I don't know if you have ever heard an elk bugle-we had not, but I would say that "bugle" is a kind descriptor. It's more like a cross between a donkey bray and a child's scream! However, it is amazing to see so many of these creatures and to hear this call of the wild! The way to RMNP from our campground led through Big Thompson Canyon and along the Big Thompson River. The road twisted through the sheer rock walls of the canyon like a maze-rough-hewn cliffs on all sides but the road ahead, which itself disappeared around the next bend. After Big Thompson, the horizon opens up to Estes Park where the river dumps into a large lake surrounded by the aspens, which, at this time of year, look like gold leaf pressed into the edge of the valley and up the sides of the mountains that surround it. The main scenic road in RMNP is the Trail Ridge Road (aka Route 34), which is just under 50 miles long, climbs 4,800 feet, and cuts across the park. The first 25 miles winds up Trail Ridge peak to over 12,000 feet-this is the highest continuous paved highway in the world! After about 35 miles and across the continental divide, the park changes to valleys and grassland. We spent all day on this ride, and hiked at the top of Trail Ridge peak in the alpine tundra. The air is very thin (comparatively) in these elevations and the effect is unmistakable. We had to stop and catch our breath a few times in the short (1/4 mile) hike, and definitely felt a bit woozy! There is much truth to John Denver's song, "Rocky Mountain High." Of course this is part of the experience, but you would be breathless just looking at the views from atop the peak, surrounded as you are by white-topped mountains, alpine lakes, pines, tundra, sharp cliffs, rock formations, and aspen in gold and red. We also explored the southeastern part of the park. We rode to the Bear Lake trailhead and hike to Aurora Falls and Mills Lake. The 9-mile drive to Bear Lake was beautiful. The trail led through golden aspen gateways, through tall pines and along the water's edge to Aurora Falls. Another couple of hours through forests and up hillsides to Mills Lake-a large alpine lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Really lovely. We also too a road trip to Horsetooth Mountain and reservoir. This is a nice back road ride, north of RMNP, past a llama farm and lots of cattle and horses, small towns, and beautiful canyons. Bob saw a snake crossing the road and stopped to catch it-a bull snake that was about 5+ feet long. Check out the pics!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1221497640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1221497640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1221497640/tpod.html Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:56:57 -0400 The American dream tour

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Hot Springs, South Dakota, United States

One of the last days in the Hill City area we took an all day drive to the Badlands. Through miles and miles of hills and prairie (including the Buffalo National Grasslands) to Interior, South Dakota-gateway to the Badlands. On the way in, there is a prairie dog town. We had never seen prairie dogs in the wild, and as we drove, we kept noticing the little creatures scampering into their holes as we rode by. We stopped and sat for a while to get some pictures of them. It really is amazing how many there were-it reminded me of that game, Whack-a-mole. You would see a head pop out of the ground to your left, then to the right, then it would disappear and another would be ahead of you. Cute little things, those prairie dogs. And in constant communication with each other. You can hear them squeaking and chirping all around you. After miles of prairie, the landscape changes to dry, hard, cracked earth; baked so long in the sun that the ground looks almost like shards of dusty glass, and it crunches underfoot. Then the cliffs and jutting rocks of the Badlands come into view. It really looks otherworldly. A barren, dry land; a curiosity brimming with intrinsic beauty, different from anywhere that we humans usually associate with life. This would be a great place to camp for night sky uninterrupted, since there is really nothing around. If we were to come back, we would camp to enjoy the stars. We put a couple hundred miles on the bikes that day, up to and through the Badlands, to the highway through Wall-stopping at the world famous Wall Drug-and to circle back on Route 16. All in all a couple hundred miles. I need a better seat on my bike. . . . :)We moved on to Hot Springs-the very southern end of the Black Hills area. We found a fantastic place to dry camp-Cold Brook Reservoir, an Army Corps of Engineers campground right on a lake. This was the perfect spot for our trips to Wind Cave National Park and to the southern end of Custer State Park, as well as our visits to the town of Hot Springs. We took an underground tour at Wind Cave-this cave has more boxwork-a unique type of cave formation-than any other cave, and has hundreds of miles of trails. We also visited the Mammoth Site-a huge indoor archeological excavation that has uncovered the fossils of 55 mammoths and other creatures that fell into a sinkhole and became trapped 26,000 years ago. The site was discovered by a developer when groundbreaking a new housing development. Apparently his son who was studying paleontology saw the bones, and asked his father to stop progress until his professor could see them. They turned out to be wooly mammoth bones! The developer decided to donate the site and the dig began. A complex with museum and gift shop was built around it, and they are still finding bones! About 15 miles outside of Hot Springs is the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, where wild horses run free across the prairies. You can adopt a horse from the sanctuary for $650 and up. Unfortunately, we don't have room in the RV. . . !The Cold Brook Reservoir was a great place to hike, fish, and stargaze. We could see the Milky Way most nights and were there during the full moon, which bathed the lake in a mystical light. Each morning, we watched the osprey and the king fishers hunt as the mist rose up from the lake surface. Bob started feeding a couple of ducks soon after we set up camp. By the end of the week, he went from the two ducks to 20 ducks. They would show up every morning making noise to wake us up-ready for breakfast! Bob caught a couple rainbow trout and a small bass. We hiked around the reservoir canyon and along the rocky ledges in the evenings. If life could be this simple always, this would be a place to spend it. The weather was beautiful, the people were friendly, and we hated to leave. We really enjoyed the whole Black Hills area. It has lots of great scenic drives and motorcycle rides. Keystone is a fun town to visit for shopping and checking out Mt. Rushmore. Hill City's Main Street has good restaurants and little shops with souvenirs and local art, Deadwood is a must see for the old west town feel, the shootouts, and the gambling. And Custer State Park is really a phenomenal place-a state park with a national park feel to it-buffalo, deer, burros, and birds galore with a changing landscape. Southern Black Hills has a lot to offer with Wind Cave, Hot Springs, a more temperate climate than other nearby areas, and some beautiful countryside.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1222792980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1222792980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1222792980/tpod.html Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:48:38 -0400 The American dream tour

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Hill City, South Dakota, United States

Black Hills, South Dakota August 29 - September 23, 2008Part 1: Northern Black HillsWe left East Glacier disappointed that we weren't able to get out and experience much---the cold, rainy weather left us RV bound most of the time. We could see that snow had begun to fall up in the mountains, and the weather forecast made it clear that the cold season was coming early to Glacier, Montana this year. On the bright side, when we hit the road Winnie was clean. We spent a day washing it and the trailer in the drizzle. We headed southeast across Montana to South Dakota. An amazing frontier-long roads with mostly nothing on either side but prairies and rolling hills dotted with huge rolls of hay and snow fences, a couple of windmill farms, lots of cattle, pronghorn, and the occasional double-wide sitting next to a dilapidated barn or other out building. Much of the time, you have a view that is much the same for 360 degrees. We have never seen so much grassland or sky uninterrupted. The Black Hills area has much to offer for all kinds of tastes. Certainly if you are a motorcycle rider, we believe that the riding here is among the best. We camped in Spearfish for a few days at the Mountain View Campground, where we met a new friend, Bob. We took an all day drive on the scenic byway 14a through Spearfish Canyon, down to the junction with Route 16, through Deadwood and up to Sturgis and back to Spearfish one day. Spearfish Canyon is pretty, with lots of woods and streams cutting though the canyon walls. Bob got hold of a gopher snake that was trying to get across the road and we got some pictures. The prevalent rock is named after the area, Spearfish shale. But the Blackhills area is known for the incredible granite rock formations. These are more even evident south of Spearfish, toward Keystone, Custer, and Hill City. After lots of nice scenery on the way, we stopped for a spell in Deadwood. Deadwood is a neat little town. This is the town where Wild Bill Hickok was shot during the infamous poker game after he got "the dead man's hand" (aces and eights). They do re-enactments of the shooting a few times a day. Main Street is lined with souvenir shops and casinos mostly. We gambled a little and had breakfast and then moved on down the road. Sturgis was of less interest to us, but we can now say we have been. We didn't stay long, but to us, it was just a small town with a few huge drinking and eating establishments lining Main Street, some of which already were closed for the season, as the annual motorcycle rally that makes this place famous was over a few weeks before. Can't imagine how hard it would be to drive through there during the rally.After a few days in Spearfish in the northern part of the Black Hills, we drove south to the Mt. Rushmore area, which is right in the middle of the Black Hills. We found a great little campground just outside the northwest corner of Custer State Park called Horsethief Campground (the private one, not the one that's part of the national forest system). The owners are very friendly, and the campsites are reasonably priced. The location is great for access to Custer State Park as well as for Mt. Rushmore, Hill City, and Keystone. From here we rode the Needles Highway, a scenic road that goes through Custer State Park. This was one of the best motorcycle rides-the road follows along stream, river, lake at the canyon bottom, then works its way up the hills through a section of rock formations called the Needles because they stand like pointed pillars of granite. The Needles Highway has a number of one-lane tunnels cut right through the stone cliff walls, one no higher than 10 feet 7 inches and one no wider than 8 feet 4 inches. You can ride the Needles Highway through the park, then circle around and take another scenic route, Iron Mountain Road, to get to Keystone. That was our original plan. On our way up Iron Mountain, we ran into a herd of wild burros. Got some great pictures of one of the babies. We got about halfway up Iron Mountain before the skies got darker and darker ahead, with the occasional flash of lightning. We decided to head for home instead. We had just got home and the bikes in the trailer when the skies opened up! So, we didn't make it to Keystone that day. We did get to Keystone, but we took the 1881 steam train from Hill City instead of the motorcycles. This restored train runs twice a day between the two towns. It takes about 1 hour for the train to make the 10 mile trek one-way over the granite hills that separate the towns. Along the way you can see deer and wild turkeys, as well as some beautiful countryside, and Harney Peak-the highest point between the Swiss Alps and the Rocky Mountains. The route is the original train route laid down in the 1880s to service the mines and mills between Hill City and Keystone. The train itself has a restored steam engine and cars and has been filmed in episodes of Gunsmoke and Deadwood, was featured in a Big and Rich music video, and is occasionally used in movies. It's a fun, slow ride, with photographers that will insert your picture in a photo of Mt. Rushmore and of the train for a small fee. (We had them use our faces instead of Washington and Jefferson!) We shopped and had lunch in Keystone and found a great gift store that had a bunch of hats made out of animal pelts. Next to the hat display was a display of whacky glasses. Well, there was no stopping us from spending about a half hour trying on different combinations of hats and glasses and laughing until we cried. We really can have fun just about anywhere. After a few hours of fun in Keystone, we caught the train back to Hill City. Keystone is the town nearest Mt. Rushmore. We were surprised as we drove the Winnebago along Route 16 toward our new campsite to see the monument appear as we rounded a bend in the road. I guess we thought you had to drive to it to see it, but, no. There it was, clearly visible from the road. Of course, you aren't allowed to park roadside to photograph it. What you are supposed to do is pay $10 to park in the parking area that surrounds the monument-otherwise you can't "legally" get a full-face view of the monument or to visit the Visitor's Center. There is free parking on the profile side of the monument though. We took the bikes back there one day and decided to park down the road and take a hike up the side of the hill to get a closer view. After a nice hike and some serious rock climbing (check out the pictures) we found a great vantage point for viewing that gave us a ¾ view, (Roosevelt was obscured). We could also look down into the valley to see Keystone and miles of landscape. In the other direction, you could make out the Needles in the low hanging clouds that surrounded the area. We saw a couple rainbows too! Hopefully you can make them out in the pictures. We happened to be in the Mt. Rushmore area at the same time that they were undertaking the semi-annual blasting of the Crazy Horse Memorial. Whereas it took something like 14 years to complete Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial has been a work in progress for 60 years. It is funded from entry fees and private donations. They have built a whole complex here, with a museum and visitor' center where you can learn about Crazy Horse and other Native American heritage. Twice a year, they blast portions of the rock off the cliff of the partially completed sculpture. By sheer luck we were there for the September blast, and videotaped the explosions. It was really neat. The blast is really a series of blasts-successive charges of dynamite blow up outlining the cliff in silhouette and shadow. The ground shakes and the sky lights up like fireworks. After about 20-30 explosions the ground stops shaking and your ears are ringing and everyone claps.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223840820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223840820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223840820/tpod.html Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:27:49 -0400 The American dream tour

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Saint Mary, Montana, United States

Glacier-Waterton International Park, continuedGoing to the Sun RoadWe took the motorcycles across the park on GTTS Road and up north to spend a few days in Waterton Canada. There is no drive quite like GTTS. The road starts in the valley near John's Lake, with the first few miles of lovely road winding along the lake edge and through the thick pines on the landside. Then it starts to climb up and up along the mountainside, the edge sometimes protected by guardrails and stones, sometimes not. Little protection from the sheer drop, thousands of feet to the river that cuts the valley below. The temperature changes as you climb. The view is breathtaking, but keep your eyes on the road! On the way up, you get a bird's eye view of the valley and the river, huge waterfalls in the distance shimmer down the gulch green mountainsides. Giant white blotches of the glaciers provide a stark contrast. At the top, you can see the Continental Divide as you cross over Logan's Pass just over the halfway point of GTTS. Here is where the white mountain goats hang out. We watched a lost baby goat bound around the rock cliffs with stunning agility as it cried for its mother. They two had become separated, and the mother was down near the parking area-out of sight, but within hearing distance. A crowd had gathered to watch mother and baby call out to each other and jump and run along the cliff side like acrobatic dancers in their element. Applause and cheers broke out when they reunited and the baby started nursing. You can pretty much coast the rest of the way on GTTS down to St. Mary. Once you are down from Logan's pass there are some great views of glaciers and waterfalls. And you are bound to see deer and bighorns along the way. The landscape opens up to wide brown and gold fields, flanked by sheer high cliffs of rock-no longer the deep greens seen on the other side of the divide. We have hundreds of pictures from our traverse of GTTS Road. Here are a few for your to enjoy!Check out part 3 of our Glacier-Waterton adventure for pictures of the Canadian side of the park. . .
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223841360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223841360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1223841360/tpod.html Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:59:44 -0400 The American dream tour

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Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada

Glacier-Waterton International Park, continuedWaterton Lakes, CanadaIf you head north from St. Marys, the road leaves to the Chief Mountain International Highway-a scenic drive that leads to the Canadian entrance of the park. Waterton Lakes-the Canadian side of the international park-is beautiful and different from the US side of the park. Deer are everywhere in the town, grazing on yards and school grounds. There are a couple of scenic drives through the mountains, and a lot of glacial lakes to visit and hike around. Along the way you can see the first oil well in Canada, and the historic Prince of Whales Hotel, which looms above upper Waterton Lake on a huge rocky outcropping, as well as some incredible scenery. Prices to stay in this hotel range from a few hundred dollars a night to a few thousand. The lake is There is a hike in Glacier-Kootenai Lake-that you can only get to by backcountry or by ferry from the Waterton Marina in Canada. One of the days we were in Waterton, we took the hour-long ferry ride and the ranger guided hike. Everyone told us that seeing moose is pretty much guaranteed on this hike. We weren't disappointed! There was a big bull moose standing right at the water's edge when we arrived at Kootenai Lakes. We got some great pictures. Well worth the hour and a half trudging in the rain. The rain stayed with us on the way home from Canada. When we got back States' side, we moved to camp on the east side of Glacier. We had hoped to spend a few days hiking in the Two Medicine and Many Glacier areas, but, unfortunately, the weather turned cold and rainy. We waited a couple of days in hopes that it would clear, but with snow being predicted in the coming days, we cut out trip short and headed to South Dakota.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1218915660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1218915660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/carrieandbob/bobcarrie2007/1218915660/tpod.html Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:46:58 -0400 The American dream tour

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West Glacier, Montana, United States

Glacier National Park-Glacier, Montana and Waterton, Canada August 15 -25, 2008With all that we had seen until now, it was hard to believe that we could still be awestruck by this latest landscape in Glacier, Montana. Think Yosemite exponential-Huge, green, and full of lakes and waterfalls fed from the still-melting snows and glaciers that speckle these Northern Rocky mountaintops year-round. This park is huge and mostly undeveloped. The main road bisecting the park is the famous Going to the Sun (GTTS) Road-a fifty-mile road hewn into the sides of the mountains, thousands of feet above the valleys and gorges below, crossing the Continental Divide at Logan's Pass. It is also the United States' first international park-connecting with the Canadian Waterton Lakes National Park just across the US-Canada border. Glacier National Park is a treat for all the senses. Close your eyes and inhale-woody pine is strong, followed by a hint of fresh rain on hot rock, with a slight mustiness reminiscent of fresh cut grass. Open your eyes and absorb the three-dimensional greenery of West Glacier; colors so rich, they seem to pulse with life. Listen to the wind and water at the lower altitudes; feel the warmth of the earth rising to meet the sun, sandwiching the cool air at the top of Logan's pass. On the east side, toward St. Mary's, the wind blows warmer and drier and the rock cliffs dance with a mosaic of colors high above the grasslands. Over the border, at Waterton, the great lake spreads out like a vast sea between the foothills and mountains, surrounded by thick forests filled with moose, elk, deer, and the fearsome grizzly. It's hard to get spiritually closer to the link between earth and the heavens than you seem to be at Glacier-Waterton International Park. Hiking around West GlacierWe camped on the West Glacier side for about a week near John's lake. This is a great vantage for the areas on the west side of the park. However, with the motorcycles we were somewhat limited in where we could explore. We did some day hikes near the lake and the creeks feeding into it. The water here is incredibly clear-it is amazing to see the aqua and teal colors usually associated with the warm waters of the Caribbean here in the glacial streams, rivers, lakes and creeks. You can see the colors of the rocks on the bottom through the rushing waters. And wildlife is everywhere. We took an evening hike near fish creek and, as we were standing and admiring the colors of sunset, we heard a rustle in the woods behind us. Out from the trees came five deer to graze right near where we were standing! One day we set out to go to the Polebridge section of the park. After about 10 miles of paved road, the road turned to hard gravel and dirt, with about 15 miles left to Polebridge. We made our way slowly for a few miles on the unpaved road before deciding that it would be too much for the motorcycles. Those roads are hell on tires and suspension-mot to mention the dust and dirt that cakes into the frame. Instead, we stopped at a trailhead for a national forest trail that was part way down the dirt road. Well, we had no idea where the trail led to, but we parked the bikes and started up, up, up, through standing black tree trunks-the remnants of a forest fire-through new growth pines, and further to where the woods began again. Over the first ridge, and up to the next. All along the trail, we saw various paw prints and scat of deer, elk, coyote, raccoon and bear. It's hard to tell the age of prints, so we kept an eye out for bears. At one point a couple hours in, there was a huge pile of bear scat at a junction in the trail. We looked at each other and both said-"gee that looks pretty fresh!" We looked up the trail to the right and too the left and didn't see anything. Bob started on the trail to the right, while I stopped to take some pictures. As I started up behind him, all I heard was Bob calling out to me-"Hurry up!" Well, apparently the bear was up there! Bob had been walking along and looking ahead, when he came face-to-face with a bear that had been eating about 20 yards up the trail. Bob said they looked at each other for a second and then the bear took off up the trail. As Bob puts it, all he saw was "bear ass and paws" making tracks up the trail. By the time I caught up with him, the bear was out of sight, but Bob had that look of excitement, exhilaration and a touch of fear that is so common upon seeing wildlife in the wild with no barriers between you. The bear was BIG and Bob was amazed at how fast it was! A split second and he was gone. Your can't help but try to do the math and imagine what a different experience this would be if the bear headed down the path towards, rather than away from you. . . . The pictures on this blog entry are from our hikes around West Glacier. Check out the next two blogs for pictures of Going to the Sun Road and our travles to the Canadian side of this international park.
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