2009 07 31 Lake Washington and the Blue Angels

Justin and Peyton waiting on the Blue Angels to appear!
















The Blue Angels in flight
















We headed to Lake Washington to watch the Blue Angels practice for an air show that will be going on in the city this weekend. The weather was sunny and plenty warm, the atmosphere was festive and the Blue Angels were exciting to watch. It was the first time for Justin and Peyton to see them in action and they were impressed.

2009 07 29 Seattle City Center and the Space Needle

Justin and Peyton cooling off in the fountain at Seattle City Center Park

















Justin and Peyton inside the Seattle Space Needle

2009 07 28 Mount St. Helens, Silverlake, Washington

Mount St. Helens looks closer on the map than it is from Seattle. This road trip made for a very long and tiring day. On top of that it was hot and I'm not sure the boys really appreciated all they were seeing....I think they wanted to see lava oozing as well as an ash plume. I tried to explain the eruption happened 29 years ago, and they enjoyed the visitor center and the movie about the eruption, but as for all the hours in the car, they would have preferred to spend the time in a swimming pool somewhere. Oh well, they can say they've been to Mount St. Helens....

2009 07 24 Hiking with the family

Heather, Justin and Peyton with Lisa
















Peyton Carroll Studt





















Justin Michael Studt





















We're really enjoying our time in Washington. It's so nice to spend time with the kids and grands! Today was a short drive to the country for a nice walk. The forest and falls are really gorgeous. The trail was busy and lots of folks were taking in the scenery. The boys really enjoyed crawling around on rocks and logs - and while there were a few whines as we made our way up the trail, it was a great way to spend the day together

2009 07 22 Deception Falls, Washington

2009 07 18 Hiking with Lisa and Eimhin

Lisa and Eimhin - don't ask me how they got up there, I couldn't watch.....

2009 07 14 Glacier National Park, Montana

The drive from Polson to the park made for an especially long day in the car, but as we've said many times if there is "National Park" in the title - it's a must see. Weather didn't cooperate as much as we had hoped, but driving the Going to the Sun Road is an incredible experience, it is a very beautiful track. Initially we experienced heavy cloud cover, then rain, and as you might expect in higher elevations, fog. It completely surrounded us as we made our way through a bit of construction in the area. Waterfalls and rivers really put on a show. The park is lovely any time you can visit and we enjoyed soaking in all its beauty.

2009 07 13 The Flathead Valley

The day started with heavy cloud cover and intermittent rain. It was cooler and we donned long sleeves to knockc off the chill. We're not complaining as we opt for a bit of cloud cover over glaring sun and super heat!

We left the RV Park to explore the region known as the Flathead Valley. I suppose our drive took us around 100 miles round trip. We drove through the Pablo and Ninepipe Wildlife Refuges, and the Natioal Bison Range. The Bison range was established in 1908 to protect one of the most important remaining herds of American Buffalo. It is 19,000 acres of natural grassland and it is spectacular. Literature we received suggested there was a heard numbering approximately 400 on the range, but we only saw 1 lonley male. The remaining heard must have been hiding out in the pines on the mountain. We did see some antelope and a Doe and her fawn (it still had spots on its hindside,) but that all the wildlife we saw. I am sure the weather had something to do with it. The scenery, however, made up for the shortage of wildlife. The region is gorgeous, mountains, grassy meadows, rivers, and of course, the lake.

As we left the wildlife refuge we drove to Ravalli and St. Ignatius to view the St. Ignatius Mission. The church is very beautiful and was constructed in the early 1890s. The church has 58 original murals by Brother Joseph Carignano, an untrained Jesuit brother who served in the mission's kitchen.

The weather didn't improve and the cloud cover intensified, as did the rain. It was time to go back to the bus and settle in for a quiet afternoon and evening. Ahhhh, tomorrow will be a new opportunity.

Bison Facts

While true buffalo are the Cape buffalo of Africa or the water buffalo of Asia, the American Bison has been called 'Buffalo" for so long we now use the names interchangeably in the US. The only other Bison in the world is called the Wisent, and survives in small numbers on reserves in Europe.

Bison are well adapted to life on open grasslands. Heavy coasts protect them from both summer sun and winter wind. Their coat is so well insulated that snow can lay on their backs without melting.

Bison are unpredictable and can be very dangerous. They appear slow and docile, but are quite agile and can run as fast as a horse. Bison bulls weigh around 2,000 pounds and have heavy horns. A large hump of muscle supports their enormous head and thick skull. A mass of fur on their heads and a heavy cape of fur even in summer. This makes them appear larger and protects them when fighting. They are especially ill-tempered during breeding season (mid-July through August.) Bison cows weigh about half as much as bulls. Their horns are narrower and they have smaller hump, and a smoother summer coat. Bison Calves are born in mid-April and May and are a bright red color for the first two months. Cows are very protective of their young and can be even more dangerous than a bull.

2009 07 09, 10 & 11 Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone is an incredible place to visit - it is indescribably beautiful, and wildlife appears and disappears in an instant. Of course there are majestic and massive Bison and graceful Elk. Impressive Osprey and Eagle, and countless other birds too. Yesterday we saw 5 Bear; a young Black Bear (all alone,) several miles further on we spotted a female Black Bear with her two Cubs (awesome!) a bit further on, and far away, a large Grizzly in a valley meadow. We weren't close enough to snap a picture, but we could clearly see him through the binoculars. From the naked eye, on the distant hillside, he looked like a moving rock or a bush. Once he was in the lense, wow! was he big!

This afternoon we rounded a curve and saw a gorgeous male Elk resting beside a tree. Joe was able to get pretty close to capture a couple of pics! And this morning, traffic was held up for a mile or so as folks gazed at an Eagle soaking up the morning sun. Yellowstone is such a remarkable place.

Female Black Bear and her two Cubs














Male Elk resting beside a Pine Tree














Lone Black Bear
















Bald Eagle

2009 07 08 Housekeeping Day

Boring, Boring, Boring - but someone's gotta do it! Today I spent the day doing laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, scrubbing the tile throughout the bus, then to top it all off polished all the cabinetry and paneling. After all that (and a quick shower) it was time to hit the grocery (yuck! not my favorite). Joe worked on the outside of the bus and the car. So, while definitely not exciting - we got a lot accomplished. Tomorrow we head for Yellowstone National Park, Yippee!

2009 07 07 Cody, Wyoming

Old Trail Town













The Irma Hotel













The Buffalo Bill Historical Center















The 6 O'Clock Shoot-Out!













Dan Miller's Cowboy Music Review














The Town of Cody was founded by Colonel William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. As you drive through the city today you can certainly see these folks are proud of their hero. There are remarkable stories of the Pony Express, Buffalo hunts, Pioneer Families, Indian Wars and more. If you have an interest learning more about how the West was won - come to Cody! This place is exciting and peaceful, perfect for families with kids.

We started our day sorting out the best of Cody. Our first stop was walking through Old Trail Town. Constructed in the Spring of 1967, Wyoming native, Bob Edgar, realized that old historical buidlings were rapidly disappearing from the Wyoming Landscape. He began to gather the historic buildings and relics to be displayed on the west side of Cody, in an area Buffalo Bill and his associates had chosen for the first town site of "Cody City" in 1895. Many of the buildings were completely taken apart and reassembled in the new Old Trail Town. Buildings date from 1879 to 1901. There is over one hundred horse drawn vehicles, an extensive collection of memorabilia from the Wyoming frontier and authentic Indian artifacts. Old Trail Town has three buildings used by the "Hole in the Wall Gang." The Hole In The Wall Cabin was the famous hideout for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Several infamous icons of the Wild West have been re-interned here, Jeremiah "Liver-Eating" Johnson, Jim White "Buffalo Hunter", Phillip Vetter, trapper - killed by a grizzly bear, and Belle Drewry, the famous "Lady in Blue" murdered at Arland.

After touring Old Town we took a peek at the Irma, Colonel Cody's elegant hotel that opened on November 1st, 1901. The Cherrywood Bar was a gift from Queen Victoria to Buffalo Bill in gratitude for an amazing Command Performance in England in the 1900s. The bar was made in France, shipped to New York by steamer, then shipped by rail to Red Lodge Montana, then by horse drawn freight wagon to Cody. The bar has survived remarkably well and is very beautiful. It even has a bullet hole from a gunfight that took place in the bar.

Next it was time for a Cody Trolley Tour. Their slogan is "Give us an Hour, We'll give you 100 years" and they do. These folks are clever and informative. It is interesting and provides a good overview of the town, and why it's laid-out the way it is. One tid-bit I found interesting is the reason the streets here are so wide. We can thank Buffalo Bill - he travelled extensively in Europe and always complained about the narrow streets - he couldn't turn his wagon around very easily. He wanted to make sure this wouldn't happen in Cody City - he insisted all the streets be very, very wide.

Soon after our tour we were off the visit the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. It houses a Plains Indian Museum, The Buffalo Bill Museum, the Draper Museum of Natural History, The Whitney Gallery of Western Art, and the Cody Firearms Museum. There is also the Cashman Greever Garden, the Coe Auditorium and the McCracken Research Library. You can spend several days here and is a must see.

Of course we had to take in the Shoot-Out that goes on every day at 6 p.m. Yes, it's really corny, but it's for the kiddos. After all the shootin' stopped we had dinner at the Irma - Buffalo Ribeye Steak. We ended the evening with Dan Miller's Cowboy Music Review. We enjoyed a beautiful day, fun and interesting.

2009 07 06 Travel Day

We enjoyed a wonderful week in South Dakota. The diverse landscape is incredibly beautiful and rugged. Sights not to be missed. Historical events of our ancestors forever changed an ancient culture. The Indian Nation is made up of proud people eager to preserve and share their amazing culture.

We continued our westward journey to Cody, Wyoming. Man! what a day! We were on the road for almost 8 hours and we were certainly happy to get the bus parked and hooked up. It wasn't so much the distance, more the time behind the wheel. Our route took us West on Highway 90, then onto Highway 14 into Cody. Spectacular vistas abounded. The contrasting landscape is difficult to describe. We climbed higher and higher through mountain passes with remnants of Winter snow clinging to the cliffs. We were in the awesome Bighorn Mountains. Granite masses and spires, red and cream colored limestone vistas, every shade of gray and green imaginable. Tufts of grasses, mosses, lichens, and lupens abound. You could see for great distances - it felt as though you could see for hundreds of miles.

A summer storm brewed on the horizon. Dark skies and lightning strikes along the horizon in front of us. Wind gusts kicked-up dust, pelting us as we traveled along. As we made it to the top of the pass it was time to go down. Signs warned us to be in a low gear and to test our brakes. I confess I had sweaty palms as we made our way down grades of 10 percent that went on for 10 miles, let me add that we had to round dozens of hairpin curves. I hated to leave the beauty, but I was glad to be through the pass.

2009 07 05 Badlands National Park, South Dakota

When you open the National Park Service brochure it reads "For centuries humans have viewed South Dakota's Badlands with a mix of dread and fascination." Today I can tell you there is absolutely no dread in coming here and we are absolutely fascinated by the majesty that abounds. Wild and untouched, the landscape is incredibly diverse - absolutely magical to witness. Contrast between the sky and clouds and the land is stunning and spectacular. At mid-day with the sun bearing down on the peaks, gullies, buttes and prairies it presents an immense challenge for those who plan to cross, yet it attracts both interest and praise of its visitors. This place is a feast for our eyes and our imaginations. Clearly the Badlands are a spiritual place, especially to the Lakota Indian Nation.