{"id":57,"date":"2010-08-30T18:32:01","date_gmt":"2010-08-30T18:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=57"},"modified":"2010-08-30T18:32:01","modified_gmt":"2010-08-30T18:32:01","slug":"saw-more-of-the-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=57","title":{"rendered":"Saw More of the West"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After visiting Mount Rushmore and Devil’s Tower we headed across the Rocky Mountains to Yellowstone National Park.\u00a0 The first night we stayed in the Mammoth Springs Lodge.\u00a0 The room was VERY small and had a bathroom down the hall.\u00a0 The Mammoth springs were very fascinating.\u00a0 As the steam and water push their way to the surface, they bring various minerals with them that form interesting terraced structures or form multi-colored pools.\u00a0 Below is a picture of one of the multi-colored pools.\u00a0 You can see all the steam rising up from the nearly-boiling water.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"Steam<\/a>
One of Many Multi-Colored Pools at Geyser Basin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of course we saw Old Faithful Geyser.\u00a0 Old Faithful is not as clock-like reliable as it once was because of an earthquake in the 80’s that changed the underground “plumbing” of the geyser area.\u00a0 Still, if goes off every 90 minutes or so.\u00a0 Not far from Old Faithful, however, is a much more impressive geyser, the Grand Geyser, which blows about every 11 hours.\u00a0 We were lucky enough to catch the 15-minute, 40-feet tall event.\u00a0 Tremendous!<\/p>\n

The next two nights we stayed in one of the cabins in Old Faithful Lodge.\u00a0 These too were quite small.\u00a0 Bathrooms and showers were in another building.\u00a0 It was fun going to the bathroom in the middle of the night with a flashlight hoping to not run into a bear or moose.\u00a0 In the evenings we gathered in Old Faithful Lodge at a small table in the common area.\u00a0 From there we had a picture-window view of the gyser.\u00a0 Since it was cold in the evenings, it was good to be inside.\u00a0 We had bought a brick of cheese and a box of crackers and played dominoes all evening while watching the occasional geyser eruption.<\/p>\n

\"Dominoes<\/a>
Each Evening We Gathered in Old Faithful Lodge for Cheese and Crackers, Dominoes, and a Great View of Old Faithful<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0One of the best things we did at Yellowstone was get off the beaten path.\u00a0 We took a three-mile hike to find the Fern Cascades.\u00a0 The trail head was not well marked, but the trail was.\u00a0 We saw no other people for three hours as we hiked through the woods and found the “falls.”\u00a0 In fact it was so quiet, the kids and I started singing Kingston Trio songs to ensure we didn’t surprise a bear.\u00a0 We left Yellowstone after three days in the park.\u00a0 On the way out the South gate toward the Grand Tetons, we passed by the waterfall shown below.\u00a0 There was a lot of dead-fall stretching two thirds of the way across the river below the falls, so of course, the kids had to climb out on it.<\/p>\n

\"Buck<\/a>
This is Me in Front of a Waterfall Not Far from the South Entrance to Yellowstone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0We saw elk, deer, beaver, sheep, bison, and bear in Yellowstone, but we didn’t see any moose.\u00a0 Finally on our second day in the Grand Teton National Park we saw a moose during our float trip down the Snake River.\u00a0 We also saw three bald eagles perched in trees.\u00a0 The views in the Grand Tetons were superb.<\/p>\n

\"Moose<\/a>
Moose Seen from Float Trip Down the Snake River in the Grand Tetons National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0After visiting Candy’s brother in Boise, ID, we headed to the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.\u00a0 We only had a day and a half there, which was about a day too short.\u00a0 This place was probably the most scenic of any of our stops during the trip.\u00a0 Incredible views and hikes.<\/p>\n

\"Surdu's<\/a>
Surdu Family in Rocky Mountain National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0On the hike, Candy and I kept a leisurely pace while the kids rushed ahead and climbed rocks.\u00a0\u00a0 Below is a picture of a hiding place that Sam occupied at one point.\u00a0 The four-mile hike began at about 9500 feet and climbed to over 10,000 feet.<\/p>\n

\"Sam\"<\/a>
Sam Found a Hidey Hole During our Hike in the Rocky Mountain National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0From the four-mile hike we took another three-mile hike to a waterfall.\u00a0 The picture below shows Candy near the base of the falls.\u00a0 She and I stopped to take some pictures.\u00a0 The kids kept climbing.\u00a0 We looked up to see Sam dancing on a cliff just over the top of the falls — on the other side of the river.\u00a0 It was too late to do anything about it.\u00a0 We didn’t know how they got across, and they couldn’t have overheard me over the water if I had tried to call them down.\u00a0 On the way back, however, Sam slipped on a rock and fell up to her chest in ice-cold mountain water.\u00a0 Fortunately the water was only a foot deep there, so she didn’t get swept over the falls.\u00a0 You can imagine the conversation with Tommy about poor choices that followed.\u00a0 We let Sam stay in here ice cold, wet clothes until we made it back to the parking lot; we figured she’d remember the lesson better that way.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"Candy\"<\/a>
Candy Near the Base of the Waterfall Where Sam Took an Accidental Swim<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0From Rocky Mountain National Park we stopped in Ft. Leavenworth, KS, and then spent half a day in Hannibal, MO, learning about Mark Twain’s boyhood and seeing many of the sites that inspired Tom Sawyer.\u00a0 The trip through the caves was intersting.\u00a0 We also spent a couple of hours at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.\u00a0 The next day we stopped at a truck stop for gas and drinks.\u00a0 A man in the truck stop had just won a prize from the claw machine.\u00a0 Since his kid didn’t want it, he gave the chicken hat (seen below) to Tommy.\u00a0 He wore it all the way home, including trips into gas stations and restaurants.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>
Tom with His Prized Chicken Hat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was a great trip.\u00a0 We have lots of photos and memories.\u00a0 It was great quality time.\u00a0 The trip home felt rushed, because I needed to get back to work.\u00a0 While the trip was already 17 days long, another three days would have made it feel more leisurely, and we would have arrived more rested.<\/p>\n