Adventures to Oregon: Day 4 Yellowstone Part III

As we left the Mud Volcano and drove, along the way, we spotted a very large herd of Buffalo on our way to Upper and Lower Falls, and the rare treat, we got about 5 feet from a Buffalo crossing the Road… the kids loved the fact that we were so close to it. As we arrived at Upper Falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, I don’t know what it is that makes us so “in awe”of water… especially waterfalls… is it the sound? Or, is it the sheer power of that much water falling at such a fast pace? Yes and Yes! I could have sat there all day and just listened to the roar of the water falling off the cliff…. Just the sound is so beautiful… the relaxation it provided was heavenly! The height of the Upper falls is 109ft, and the crest is approx. 80 ft. (Remember, you can view each photo in a larger size if you click on them, it should open it in a new window.) as we got on the road, driving from Upper Falls to the Lower Geyser Basin, we stop along the way, and see more bison, and this time, some calves… they are so cute, much more cow like than the adult Bison. The stop at the Fountain Paint Pots was really neat, we walked along the wooden walkways and could see bubbling mud pots, and geysers, which weren’t as predictable, or as active. Then, Taylor and Emma notice that there are Buffalo footprints in some of the mud pots around the Firehole area and as we were walking along the walkways, we happen to come along a geologist who was leading a tour of the area. He was talking and said that in the winter, when the temperature gets below freezing, that the bison like to come up to the Firehole area to take warm mud baths in the mud pots, because the mud was only about 110 degrees, and was comfortably warm. But as you look at the landscape of the geyser basins in the firehole area, you can see that it looks like desert, largely in part because the soil is so hot and has no nutrients so, nothing will grow, in fact when you look at the trees that are there, they look charred and white near the base of the trees. These photos are of the Firehole Lake Drive area of Yellowstone. The day we went through here it was cloudy and rainy, but still warm and humid. The steam in the above photo is from the Great Fountain Geyser, this geyser only erupts every 8-12 hours, so, it is unlikely that most people will see an eruption, but when it does erupt, it shoots about 100ft. into the air. Next we stop at the Grand Prismatic Spring, and several other hot springs. Out of all the incredible things in Yellowstone to see, this is the one thing that you can’t REALLY see except by helicopter or plane. (below, you will find an aerial photo of the Grand Prismatic Spring… which I did not take, but found on the internet) The following gives details about the spring, and tells more about why the colors are so very amazing: There is no doubt that many Native American people were aware of the Grand Prismatic Spring long before Europeans first saw it, but the first records of the spring are from early explorers and surveyors. In 1839, a group of fur trappers from the American Fur Company crossed the Midland Geyser Basin and made note of a “boiling lake”, most likely the Grand Prismatic Spring[2], with a diameter of 300 feet (91 m).
In 1870, the Washburn Party, led by General Henry D. Washburn, visited the spring, noting a 50-foot (15-meter) geyser nearby (later named Excelsior[3]).[4] The vivid colors in the spring are the result of pigmented bacteria in the microbial mats that grow around the edges of the mineral-rich water. The bacteria produce colors ranging from green to red; the amount of color in the microbial mats depends on the ratio of chlorophyll to carotenoids. In the summer, the mats tend to be orange and red, whereas in the winter the mats are usually dark green.[5] The center of the pool is sterile due to extreme heat.
The deep blue color of the water in the center of the pool results from a light-absorbing overtone of the hydroxy stretch of water [6]. Though this effect is responsible for making all large bodies of water blue, it is particularly intense in Grand Prismatic Spring because of the high purity and depth of the water in the middle of the spring. The spring is approximately 250 by 300 feet (75 by 91 m) in size and is 160 feet (49 meters) deep. The spring discharges an estimated 560 gallons (2000 litres) of 160°F (71°C) water per minute.[7] (The above was taken from Wikipedia.)

These photos I took, were of the bacteria mats, which are kind of “rusty and slimy” in appearance, and are surrounding the Grand Prismatic, along with some other smaller springs nearby. There is the Largest Geyser-Crater, called Excelsior, which is approximately 100-150 feet from the Grand prismatic Spring. Excelsior used to erupt, and in the 19th century was the largest known geyser, it erupted at a height of 300 feet. It had, since 1885, laid dormant but for a 2 day eruption period in 1985. During that eruption, it is believed that debri clogged the underground geyser system, and caused it to become dormant. Excelsior now is a hot spring which expels a tremendous amount of water…(4,000-4,500 gallons per minute) and flows into the Firehole River. We are still on our way to Old Faithful, in the Lower Geyser Basin, which Taylor and Em have been waiting all day to see. We are hoping to arrive right before the next eruption, and not just after an eruption, which could cause us to be sitting and waiting for a long time. Here is some information on Old Faithful, in the 2nd photo, if you look closely, or, click it to enlarge, you can see how many people we shared this moment in time with. The place was packed, and HOT. The sun was so very bright, and Taylor was getting impatient!The following are photos of our last couple hours in Yellowstone. There is a photo of Yellowstone Lake from the West side…. early this morning, we were in the mountains in the distance, viewing the dead trees and the east side of Yellowstone Lake. We have spent the entire day traveling approximately 35 miles. In the foreground of the photos, you can see all of the dead trees as a result of fires…. but under the dead trees you can see LIFE…. all of the new forest that the fire helped to produce. Second, reflections of clouds on Lewis Lake, in southern Yellowstone. Third, the edge of Lewis Lake and Finally, the EXHAUSTED Palmer family at our last stop in Yellowstone, Lewis Falls, and the meadow following Lewis River headed South on the road to Grand Tetons National Park, which we will cover in the next post.

Adventures to Oregon: Day 4 Yellowstone Part II

Ok, here we go, I think we had just entered Yellowstone in the last post…. so, after we stopped to view the dead tree forest and Yellowstone Lake, we were on our way to Fishing Bridge, when we saw cars stopped on the sides of the road ahead of us. When you are in Yellowstone, this usually means there are animals of some kind to look at, so, we stopped, and amazingly enough, we saw a herd of Bison grazing and resting on this meadow area just accross the road from the lake. Not onlyh was there Bison, but something we noticed was that the air stunk of sulphur, and there were steam vents spouting steam near the inlet to the lake. I knew that Yellowstone was a very large volcanic area, but didn’t expect to see steam vents that soon.

As we continued to drive, we came to Fishing Bridge…. very cool. I really loved this spot. Here is a little history I found on the internet about Fishing Bridge: The original bridge was built in 1902. It was a rough-hewn corduroy log bridge with a slightly different alignment than the current bridge. The existing bridge was built in 1937. The Fishing Bridge was historically a tremendously popular place to fish. Angling from the bridge was quite good, due to the fact that it was a major spawning area for cutthroat trout. However, because of the decline of the cutthroat population (in part, a result of this practice), the bridge was closed to fishing in 1973. Since that time, it has become a popular place to observe fish. It is at the location where the Yellowstone River emerges from Yellowstone Lake. it was neat to read the history and why no one is allowed to fish from fishing bridge….which stinks because it would be a really great place to fish. The bridge is also a great place to take photos of the lake…. the day we were there, I got some great shots of the lake, it was so calm, the water was like glass.

Of course, now that we are in Yellowstone, there was Murphy’s Law….my camera must have known that I really wanted to take some great pictures, and immediately started acting up…. as a result, some pictures seem really foggy and overexposed. (sorry) But apparently, this is an intermittent problem, because after a lens change a little later in the day, it stopped acting up. But, in the meantime…. we were dealing with it. So, here are some pictures of the bridge, from the bridge and of Tim, Taylor, Em and Maddie on the bridge. From the bridge you can see lots of Cuthroat Trout just resting in the water.

After Fishing Bridge, we are now on our way to see the Mud Volcano, and on our way there, we stop to see the LeHardy rapids on the Yellowstone River. It was so beautiful walking through the tall pines on the way to the rivers edge. Maddie had the best seat in the house as we took the short hike through the woods…makes me want to be a kid again. Taylor loves the water, he even put his hand in the river….. ICY COLD!!!

Here is some more information about our next stop, along with pictures. I am wishing that I could post the smell that came along with the sights at the mud volcano…..SULPHURIC ACID…. what a smell, I have been wondering since, why God would have a need to create such an offensive odor. It was a hundred times worse than the smell of the shower in Whispering Pines campground…. those of you from Michigan know what I am talking about! Anyway, I promised you that I would post some more info about the mud volcano, and here it is: Temperature 184°F Dimensions 27×36 feet. Depth 17 feet. The 1871 Hayden Expedition named this thermal feature. At that time Mud Volcano was a very active mud spring with bellowing and exploding mud. In later years since its discovery it has not shown the same forcefulness. However, minor earthquake tremors during 1979 increased heat and water activity and Mud Volcano began bursting from the crater, spilling mud across the boardwalks. This activity decreased shortly thereafter and it has since been a quiet caldron with occasional churning caused by rising gases.

The Dragon’s Mouth was another of the many little Mud pots… or Mud volcanoes that we saw near Sulphur Springs. As we were standing on the wooden walkways, which they tell you to stay on, because you could damage the landscape… or fall into the steaming hot earth, and get burned, I was thinking to myself… while reading the information board, …”the mud volcano has not had an eruption in many years, but it is unpredictable as to when the next explosion might take place” And I am the idiot along with all of these other idiots standing out here watching this MUD VOLCANO bubble and shoot hot mud from this big hole in the ground, on a WOOD walkway, about 15 feet from the actual hole….how crazy is that? I am definitely not too smart, but I have to say, it was SOOOOOO awesome to watch these thick mud holes bubble and growl and steam. The sound was like the Ocean crashing against rock cliffs. A photo below of the Dragon’s Mouth and some info about it: Temperature 170.2°F Dimensions 18×30 feet. Depth 16 feet. Dragon’s Mouth is a turbulent hot spring with a cavernous mouth. Water sloshes rhythmically in and out of the cavern giving the impression of a large overflow; however, the actual discharge is quite small. Much of the activity and energy is located within the cavern. As hot water rises to the surface, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and water vapor gases expand creating a pressure explosion in the cavern. The resulting activity is sloshing, belching, and steaming.



I feel like I am hosting a TV show…. “Tune in next time to see spectacular waterfalls, geysers, hot springs, and beautiful mountain ranges, as we explore Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, with the Palmer family.” There is still so much more to see, we will show you more in the next post!

Adventures to Oregon: Day 4

Well, today we are starting to get a little antsy to just be there…..in Oregon. And I thought that the trip was going to be really hard, especially on Maddie…. but, suprisingly she has been really great… especially since we have driven so long each day. Last night, as we were driving from Ranchester, WY to Cody, WY we had to go over some really steep mountain grades, and when I say steep, I mean STEEP! the highest Peak we went over last night was in the Bighorn Mountain Range, called Cloud Peak, it is 13,175 ft. Not such a big deal when you are driving a car, but with the trailer…… that was a different story. So, we did pretty good going up, as it was starting to get dark. As we were driving up the mountain, I called Tim’s good friend Steve, who lives in San Diego, and I think I spoke to him for about 2 minutes, and lost sigal completely. So, the real story begins while we are driving down the other side. Because it had been such a beautiful day, and it was a clear night, we pulled over in the mountain range, and had the kids get out and look at the sky, we have never seen so many stars… with no cities for miles, there were no city lights to pollute the view. They loved it! While we were looking at the sky, and smelling the smoke of burning brakes, Tim decided to look under the tires to see the brakes…. and….. they were glowing red. GLOWING!!! I think the descent grade was approx. 12% ! Because we had such a heavy load, we were being pushed downhill by the trailer, even though Tim was driving in 1st gear most of the way. Me, I was mostly wishing that we could hurry up and get out of the mountains in the pitch dark.

After a good night sleep, we are ready to go to Yellowstone for the day! Driving out of the driveway, we notice, on the hill behind our hotel, this large Log structure. There is a story behind this house, it was in our room on the dresser, but, so far, I haven’t been able to find ANY information about it. So, here is the picture, check back later for the story. Today, we are going to make the loop in Yellowstone, but before we do, here are some photos of the scenery between Wapiti and the East entrance of the park.

This Rock that Emma and I spotted at a rest stop pull out, was cool, we both thought it looked like a giant eagle looking over its shoulder….what do you think?

Well, as you can see in the photo above, the landscape dramatically changes, the closer you get to Yellowstone. Tim and I were really amazed by how quickly that happened, and before we noticed, we were at the entrance of the park. There were Waterfalls all along the side of the road leading into Yellowstone, Taylor and Emma counted them, but I don’t think she wrote down how many we saw. There was road construction too. We sat, and we waited, and waited, and waited for what seemed like forever. But, now, finally on our way, we are all so excited to see lots of great things… and it doesn’t take long. Once we get up the hill leading into the park, we see a pull out overlooking Yellowstone Lake, which, from what I read in the Map guide that the park ranger gave us, is the largest Mountainous lake in North America. Not only do we see Yellowstone Lake, but acres and acres of towering white and black dead trees, the result of recent fires in the park. You can see in the background, behind Taylor and Emma, the forest of dead trees.

Because today is such a big day, in a big place, I have LOTS of pictures, so, I am splitting this day into 3 separate entries. See you in the next post.

Adventures to Oregon: Day 3

Well, we have 3 days down and 3 days to go. We have driven approx. 1300 miles and on day 3 we are in Rapid City, South Dakota… Home of Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse National Monuments. After driving mostly all of day one and day two, we are ready for some sightseeing. Emma has been looking and searching for Bison, which have been scarce thus far and Taylor has been keeping count of train cars, which have been plentiful… I am not sure of his counting though, I think once we got to 60 something, he kind of started to lose track a little.

So, as we are driving up the mountain to Rushmore, we happen to see “Bear Country USA” which is a tourist trap if I ever saw one….but we took the bait and went anyway….so glad we did. It was a stay-in-your-car-and-keep-your-windows-rolled-up because the wildlife are roaming free park. It was about a 45-60 minute distraction for the kids to look at some really cool animals….. they had Timber Wolves, Elk, Mountain Goats, Bighorn sheep, Reindeer, Black bears, Brown bears, mountain Lions, Bison, and they even had a Grizzly Bear, as well as other small forest animals.After we left the Wildlife Preserve, we set out on our way to see Rushmore. Tim and I were both looking forward to seeing Mt. Rushmore, neither of us had ever been there, and we were excited! When, from the back seat, we hear, “I SEE IT, THERE IT IS, THERE IT IS, George Washington!” Sure enough, Taylor had spotted it as we were driving up to the parking garage in the monument park. He was so proud of himself that he was the one to spy it first. I was so excited to see it, but I don’t think I realized what an affect it would have on me when I saw it in person. HOW AMAZING…. I began to have that patriotic feeling you get when the National Anthem is played, and the Goose Bumps…. well, it was all there, even tears begin to well in your eyes, mostly just because it is so GRAND! I think I realized, it was no longer just the history that you read about and study about in school, it was MY history, the history of MY country, of MY ancestors….OUR history came alive… it was so awesome! And the best part of it, was that we got to experience that together as a family. So, here is a little background on Mt Rushmore, most of which I didn’t know before I went there. The mountain itself was originally named after Charles E. Rushmore, a New York lawyer investigating mining claims in the Black Hills in 1885. Gutzon Borglum chose this mountain due to its height (5700′ above sea level), the soft grainy consistency of the granite, and the fact that it catches the sun for the greatest part of the day. The presidents were selected on the basis of what each symbolized. George Washington represents the struggle for independence, Thomas Jefferson the idea of government by the people. Abraham Lincoln for his ideas on equality and the permanent union of the states, and Theodore Roosevelt for the 20th century role of the United States in world affairs. The carving of Mt. Rushmore actually began on August 10, 1927, and spanned a length of 14 years. Only about six and a half years were spent actually carving the mountain, with the rest of the time being spent on weather delays and Borglum’s greatest enemy – the lack of funding. The total cost of the project was $900,000. Work continued on the project until the death of Gutzon Borglum in 1941. No carving has been done on the mountain since that time and none is planned in the future. Ok, so, once I saw Rushmore for the first time, I thought that nothing could outdo that….. until Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse is 8 miles from Mt. Rushmore, but it is so much BIGGER than I thought! I believe I read, when its completed, it will be the largest carved sculpture in the world. They have been working on it since 1948…. and only the head and face has been carved to this point. I think it really had an effect when I saw this picture in the museum, it shows the actual sizes, in feet, of each part of the sculpture. It was really neat. Taylor and Emma each used a dollar and purchased a piece of the granite that has been removed from the mountain. And since it is all privately funded, the 2 dollars helped to support the carving… in a small way. Here is a small bit about Crazy Horse: It was begun in 1948 by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who had worked on Mt. Rushmore under Gutzon Borglum. In 1939, Mr. Ziolkowski received a letter from Chief Henry Standing Bear, which stated in part “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know that the red man has great heroes, too.”[1] The sculpture portrays the warrior Crazy Horse, who led the Lakota at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.
As a non-profit undertaking, the memorial receives no federal or state funding. Ziolkowski was offered $10 million from the federal government on two occasions, but he turned the offers down. Mr. Ziolkowski felt the project was more than just a mountain carving, and he feared that his plans for the broader educational and cultural goals for the memorial would be left behind with federal involvement.[2]
The Foundation sponsors Native-American cultural events and educational programs. Annually in June, the Memorial hosts a Volksmarch, which is the only time that the public is permitted onto the mountain. Attendance has grown to as many as 15,000. The Memorial began its first national fund drive in October 2006.[3] Crazy Horse resisted being photographed, and was deliberately buried where his grave would not be found. Ziolkowski, however, envisioned the monument as a metaphoric tribute to the spirit of Crazy Horse and Native Americans. “My lands are where my dead lie buried,” supposedly said by Crazy Horse, is the intended interpretation of the monument’s expansive gesture.[1] Crazy Horse resisted being photographed, and was deliberately buried where his grave would not be found. Ziolkowski, however, envisioned the monument as a metaphoric tribute to the spirit of Crazy Horse and Native Americans. “My lands are where my dead lie buried,” supposedly said by Crazy Horse, is the intended interpretation of the monument’s expansive gesture.[1]

We got to see a lot of really great things today, and this afternoon and evening we are driving from Rapid City, SD to Wapiti, WY. We are staying at the Green Creek Inn, just about 40 Min. from the East entrance of Yellowstone National Park. If you enjoyed Day 3 just wait for day 4!

pictures from top: (Remember, you can click on the smaller pics to enlarge them) Taylor, Em and Maddie @ Bear Country USA, the Plaza at Mt. Rushmore National Monument, a first glimpse of the 4, Washington, Jefferson and Roosevelt close up, a picture from the State Flag walkway, detail of Roosevelt and Lincoln. Crazy Horse Schematic drawing with the actual sizes of each part of the sculpture, to give you an idea of how big this thing really is…. the face from chin to head is 87 feet, the extended arm will be 263 feet in length, the horse’s head will be 219 feet tall, the actual carving area is 563 feet tall x 641 feet wide. The Washington Monument is 555 feet tall, and the Pyramid of Gizah is 481 feet tall, Rushmore is only 285 feet tall. A view of the mountain behind the small sculpture from inside the Native American Learing Center. A drawing of what the Sculpture will look like on the mountain, The sculpture next to the mountain, this is 1:34 scale .

Adventures to Oregon: Day 2

Ok, so now that we had one day under our belt, Day 2 ought to be a cinch…. maybe…..? On our second day we travel from Rochester, MN to Rapid City, SD in our hopes to see Mt. Rushmore lit at night. After driving through parts of Michigan, Indiana (only the NW corner), Illinois, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota on Day 1, it seems like we have an easy day today…. drive the rest of the way accross Minnesota, and all of South Dakota into Rapid City, and be there by 9pm. Well, that’s all fine, and seems easy when you see it on the map, but with 3 kids and too much stuff in a van, towing a Uhaul trailer….I don’t think I need to say much more.
We did see some cool things along the way. We we pulled over into the gas station, we saw this really cool car…. on the license plate it said 4D1 WDY. I thought it was cool, so, the owner was nice to let me snap a picture.

As we were driving accross South Dakota, we kept seeing signs for the ‘Corn Palace’ in Mitchell, South Dakota, Tim called it the biggest waste of 2 hours on our entire trip. I thought it was good to get out of the car for awhile…. even if it was 97 and humid. So, the Corn Palace was a community center with the outside decorated entirely out of corn…or pieces and parts of corn, corn stalks, silks, cobs, seeds, you name it, they used it. And the kicker… they have been decorating the outside of this building for 100 years. Every year they create a new design and they have photos of every year since 1907 hanging inside the walls

of the Mitchell Corn Palace. And then came ‘Zeke’… the Man….nequin that sits outside the trading post. Maddie was very unsure about having her picture taken with him.

Several hours earlier, before we stopped in Mitchell, we began seeing signs for WALL Drug, in Wall, South Dakota. Wall Drug began as just a drug store in 1931, and has developed into a family attraction…. they have a fountain that shoots from the ground, and is controlled by old country standards that they play on a loud speaker, they have an animatronic T-rex, which comes to life every 15 minutes, he roars, moves his head and his eyes turn red. And from behind the fence, smoke appears. It is quite the sight! They also have the largest privately owned collection of western art… paintings, sculptures, etc. hanging on the walls of their Cafeteria. Upon leaving Wall Drug, we came upon this very interesting motorcycle/volkswagon/thing….. This guy made this Motorcycle with a volkswagon bug trailer on it. He has spent 3 years traveling accross the country, visiting all 50 states, and sleeps in the Volkswagon. You can visit his website worldfamoustrike.com Needless to say, we did not make it in time to see Mt Rushmore @ night. By the time we got to our hotel, the kids were so tired of traveling, we didn’t want to subject them to another 80 minutes of driving to Rushmore and back to the hotel. Would have been great to see it lit up at night! Maybe next time. Photos from top to bottom: The 1941 Woody we saw at a gas station in Minnesota; The side of the Mitchell Corn Palace where the design is made entirely of different colored corn cobs; The Mitchell Corn Palace from the front corner, which shows both decorated sides of the building; Taylor, Emma and Maddie with ‘Zeke’ the Man….nequin; Emma , scared silly of the T-Rex @ Wall Drug; World Famous Trike in Wall, SD. If you want to see the photos close up, click on them, it should open a larger version for you.

Adventures to Oregon: Day 1

After saying our goodbyes to a place that has been our home for eight years, we set out on July 25, 2007 on our trip from Muskegon, Michigan to Monmouth, Oregon. Tim and I were wanting this to be an adventure for all of our kids, especially Taylor and Emma. So, we planned our trip around some of the most spectacular, scenic areas of the US. Our first Day took us from Muskegon to Rochester, MN. Not much to see, but rolling fields, with gigantic rolls of hay and straw bales dotting the landscape. Not much to see that is, until we got to the Mississippi River, in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. We stopped here to see their Historic Riverfront park, where you can cruise the Mississippi on an authentic steamboat, which we didn’t because the cost was astronomical. The pictures are of Taylor Emma and Maddie @ the fountain in Riverfront Park, LaCrosse, WI, and the entire Palmer Fam next to the Steamboat, “Julia Belle Swain”