Living Our Dream

While the thermal features are certainly striking, they aren't the only thing in Yellowstone to get excited about. Yellowstone is also known for its abundant wildlife and beautiful scenery.

The national park is located on the Yellowstone Plateau, which is part of the Rocky Mountains. With an area of over 3,000 square miles, there is a great deal of diversity in the topography and scenery in this national park. Yellowstone has mountains, forests, meadows, canyons, rivers, waterfalls, and lakes.

Most of the park is at an elevation of approximately 7,000 feet, but the mountains to the east can go to about 10,000 feet. The climate throughout the park is cool because of the elevation. Temperatures were in the high 60s and low 70s during the day and in the 40s at night when we were there. One morning when we woke up, our outside thermometer read 30 degrees. We were glad we took our plants in!

Yellowstone Lake has an area of over 130 square miles and is almost 400 feet deep. It is the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 feet in altitude in North America. The Yellowstone River flows northward out of Yellowstone Lake. Along the river is Hayden Valley, which is a good place to spot wildlife, especially in the morning and evening.

A little farther downstream (north) on the Yellowstone River are the Upper and Lower Falls. The most beautiful scenery in Yellowstone in our opinion is in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone right below the Lower Falls. Here the 300+ foot high Lower Falls sits at the head of the canyon whose walls of yellow gave Yellowstone its name.

 

The walls of the canyon are dotted with hot springs, which stain the rock with minerals and provide a kaleidoscope of color.

You can sometimes see puffs of steam from some of the springs. The steam is a little hard to see in the photo below. It is flowing the same direction as the river, but the steam is a little darker gray.

The Upper Falls, surrounded by pine trees, are only 109' high and have a much different appearance than the Lower Falls. The Upper Falls are often overlooked because of its close proximity to Lower Falls, but Upper Falls are beautiful in their own right. There is an overlook right at the brink of the falls where you can stand and hear the water roar and feel the mist on your face.

There is an exposed lava flow farther down the canyon. This lava flow formed cracks as it cooled, which formed columns; and although it is a lot shorter and wider, it is reminiscent of Devils Tower.

Yellowstone National Park has five major rivers. The presence of all the rivers also means Yellowstone is a fly fisherman's paradise. No matter where we went, we always passed people with waders fishing in the cold waters.

The changes in elevation in the park also mean there are many waterfalls. Yellowstone has over 275 waterfalls and cascades with a height of greater than 15 feet. One that is easily accessible is Gibbon Falls on the Gibbon River, which flows south between Norris and Madison on the western side of the park. The falls tumble about 80' where the Gibbon River flows over the escarpment into the Yellowstone Caldera.

 

Traveling up the Gibbon River from Gibbon Falls, we passed Norris and began following the Gardiner River, which flows north. On our way to the North Entrance, we passed a marker for the 45th Parallel, which is the latitude that is half way between the Equator and the North Pole. It was a good reminder that since we have passed the summer solstice, the sun was heading south; and it was time to start thinking about planning our path to follow the sun for winter. :)

The climate in the area around the North Entrance is actually a little warmer than the rest of the park, because it is at a somewhat lower elevation. The North Entrance is the only one of the five entrances that is open in winter.

Roosevelt Arch is located at the North Entrance. This 50' high stone arch was built in 1903. At that time, most visitors arrived by train and the arch faced the train station. Although we couldn't get a good picture because the other side of the arch was in shadow, a stone plaque at the top is engraved "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People."

The landscape around the North Entrance has a different appearance than most of the rest of the park. Gone are the pine forests, replaced instead by sparse trees, grass, and sagebrush.

Paul took the photo below because of the elk (more about wildlife later), but the picture does a good job of showing the grass and sagebrush landscape.

Along the northern edge of the park near Tower, there is evidence from the past of a warmer Yellowstone. The petrified redwood in the photo below is genetically the same as present-day redwoods in California. The tree was buried by volcanic ash and landslides. Then silica in the volcanic ash filled the cells of the tree creating a trunk of stone. There were originally three petrified trunks standing in this area before souvenir hunters many years ago chipped away the other two. The remaining tree is now protected by a fence.

On the way back from the North Entrance, along the eastern side of the park, we stopped for lunch and enjoyed the view toward the Absakora Mountains to the east.

In addition to thermal features and beautiful scenery, Yellowstone has abundant wildlife. One needs to be a little careful driving in Yellowstone because wildlife is just that - wild. The animals don't look both ways when crossing, and they think nothing of taking a walk right down the road. When someone in a car spots wildlife, they slow down to look, sometimes stopping on the road. These slow-downs are referred to as bear jams (or bison jams, or whatever).

When we think of wildlife at Yellowstone, we think first of Bison. Bison are in the same family as cattle; and although they are sometimes also called buffalo, this is a misnomer. They are not related to Asian and African buffalo.

Bison are unpredictable. They may appear docile and slow, but they can turn and charge without warning. Bison can outrun and out maneuver all but the fastest horse and an adult bison can weigh up to a ton. Therefore, all our bison photos were taken either from a distance or from inside the car. We were surprised to learn that they lose their fur every year. Does that mean your buffalo blanket is only good for one year before it sheds all its fur? :)

Elk are even more plentiful than bison in Yellowstone. There are 15,000 to 22,000 elk that live in the park in summer. Adult bulls weigh around 700 pounds while females weigh around 500 pounds. A herd of elk apparently lives by the Madison River which flows along the road by which we entered and exited the park every day. We saw females and calves almost every time we passed, but we were thrilled one morning to see several bulls with their new, velvet-covered antlers.

Also along the same road was a bald eagle nest. Cars were prohibited from stopping and walking along this stretch of road was banned, so it was hard to get a clear shot of the eagles in the treetops from a moving car. We did see the parents most days and even saw one of the eaglets standing on a branch near the end of our stay. It's a little difficult to see, but the photo below is one of the bald eagle parents standing on the branch of a tree adjacent to their nest.

We also saw numerous smaller birds, but didn't get a good enough look at most of them to be able to identify them. However, this raven did come right up and sit on the wall alongside the pullout where we had stopped to photograph Gibbon Falls.

While we're on the subject of birds, there is a creek in Yellowstone named Pelican Creek and for good reason. There were numerous white pelicans there both times we passed by. We were used to seeing brown pelicans in Myrtle Beach and Florida, but had never seen white pelicans. White pelicans are larger (9' wingspan vs. 6 1/2' for brown) and white pelicans do not dive below the surface from the air to feed like brown pelicans. White pelicans feed while swimming. The photo below shows a group of white pelicans resting on a log in Pelican Creek.

Yellowstone is also well known for its bears. All trash receptacles in Yellowstone as well as the dumpsters in the campground had bear-proof latches on the lids. Despite all the precautions and warnings about bears, we didn't see any. Wolves are also an elusive resident we didn't see. They probably stay deeper in the woods or in the more remote parts of northeastern Yellowstone. Wolves were reintroduced to the park in 1995, and they are thriving. At last count, there were 170 individuals in the park living in 11 packs.

Coyotes are also somewhat elusive, but fairly plentiful. We did see one trotting down the road. By the time we did get close enough for a photo, he had jumped up on the bank and was making his way off through the wildflowers. You can just see his ears and backside toward the right of the picture.

Speaking of wildflowers, there was a patch at least a quarter of a mile long along the road from the East Entrance near Yellowstone Lake. We didn't see it in time to get the camera ready and get a photo on our way in with the motor home; and, of course, there's no easy way to turn around with the motor home. Therefore, we went back to get a better look and to photograph the flowers one day we were near that area.

The majority of the trees in Yellowstone are Lodgepole pines, which grow straight and tall to 75'. Native Americans used them for poles and frames for tepees and lodges, hence the name. There are also Engleman spruce, subalpine fir, and whitebark pine.

Aspen trees are making a comeback because of the wolves. The elk, which had no real enemies in the park, had been overgrazing young Aspen shoots for many years. Now that wolves have been reintroduced to the park, the elk are moving about more; and the Aspens are again beginning to thrive.

Back in 1988, the U. S. experienced one of the driest years on record. Barge traffic on the Mississippi was restricted by low water. These drought conditions greatly contributed to numerous fires in Yellowstone and throughout the west that year. In 1988, wildfires touched almost half the area of the park. Even Old Faithful Lodge which is shown in the photo below, was threatened.

Throughout many areas of Yellowstone evidence of fire can be seen. There are tall, bare trunks standing and many fallen trunks strewn about on the ground. Many of the trunks have charred areas. Smaller pines about 12 to 15' tall are growing among the fallen and standing dead trees.

Fires have always been part of the history of Yellowstone and of forests everywhere. Many plant species can survive fires and some, like the Lodgepole pines so plentiful in Yellowstone, actually depend on fire to reproduce. The seeds of the Lodgepole pines are only released from the pine cones by intense heat.

Signs of recovery from the 1988 Yellowstone fires were almost immediate with new growth beginning in some areas within a matter of days. The most noticeable and longest lasting effect of the fire has been the loss of large trees. The policy of the National Park Service is to not intervene in the natural order of things so no attempt was made to reseed or replant. As you can see in the photo below, the growth of new trees is abundant. These trees represent 20 years growth so it will be some time before tall trees once again fill the park, but they have a good start.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Yellowstone. It is such a large and diverse park that changes constantly so there will always be more to see. We look forward to returning someday soon.

Several months ago when we decided to go to Yellowstone this year, we tried to get reservations in Fishing Village RV Campground which is the only campground right in Yellowstone that has electrical hookups. Unfortunately, we couldn't get in for as many days as we wanted to stay at the time we wanted to be there. Even though we could have dry camped at one of the several other campgrounds in the park, those sites are limited as to the size RV they can accommodate. Therefore, we made reservations at Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone, MT.

Staying in West Yellowstone would require us to drive all the way through the park to reach our destination on the west side. In the photo below, we are in the motor home waiting our turn to enter the park, which coincidentally was the two-year anniversary of our full-timing.

The drive through Yellowstone in the motor home was a little slow since there are a few steep climbs on the eastern side, but we took our time and pulled off on some of the numerous pullouts to let other traffic pass. Eventually we made it to the campground by early afternoon. We chose Grizzly because it is only about a half mile outside the west entrance to the park and because of the good reviews it received on rvparkreviews.com, which is a resource we use quite often.

Grizzly RV Park is a very well-maintained RV park with wide, paved roads, gravel pads with concrete edging, and paved patios. There is nice landscaping in the campground and good space between the sites. Grass is watered every night, so don't leave anything out that you don't want to get wet. The photo below shows our site at Grizzly.

West Yellowstone is a nice resort town with a steady stream of RVs coming and going as it is the major route to Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. There are a couple of grocery stores, quite a number of restaurants, many stores specializing in fishing gear, souvenir shops full of all things Yellowstone, gas stations with gas a little cheaper than in the park, and motels. We were surprised to find that West Yellowstone had a better selection of T-shirts than the in-park gift shops. In every shop that had felt cowboy hats, Paul tried them on, but alas, he's more enamored with the IDEA of wearing a hat than actually doing it. It's a shame since he looks soooo good in a hat. :) West Yellowstone also has a museum which we, unfortunately, did not have time to visit AND they had a Dairy Queen.

Yellowstone National Park is the oldest of our national parks having been established in 1872. It covers 3,468 square miles, mostly in Wyoming, but a little of it also extends into Montana and Idaho. The southern part of Yellowstone sits in the caldera, or crater, of a supervolcano. Although the volcano has not erupted for thousands of years, it is considered to be still active. The magma chamber is relatively close to the surface, and this is part of the reason for all the geothermal activity.

The most spectacular way the geothermal activity can manifest itself is through geysers, but conditions must be just right for geysers to occur. There are only about 1000 known, active geysers in the world and over half of them are located in Yellowstone National Park. Three things are necessary to make a geyser: water, heat, and the proper "plumbing" within the rock, and they must be present in the proper proportions. Water and heat are easy to find, but it's the rock that is the key factor. The explanation of the rock "plumbing" is somewhat complicated; but it basically has to do with just the right kind and amount of porosity. Geysers also need somewhat of a restriction near the surface so the steam pressure below can build up and expand to expel water above. For more information on geysers and how they work, check out the link to About Geysers by Alan Glennon.

Undoubtedly, the most famous geyser is Old Faithful. The reason it is so famous is that it is fairly predictable, it erupts relatively frequently at approximate 90 minute intervals, and it is relatively tall at an average height of 130 feet or so.

There are geysers in Yellowstone that are taller than Old Faithful, but they are not as frequent or as predictable. Although it can have minor eruptions of only 15 or 20 feet, Steamboat Geyser, which is the tallest active geyser in the world, has major eruptions of over 300 feet. However, Steamboat Geyser's last eruption was in 2005; and no one can predict when the next one will be.

Beehive Geyser is one of the tallest, regularly active geysers erupting once or twice a day to a height of up to 200 feet. Just as we arrived at the visitor center to check out expected eruption times for Old Faithful, they were announcing that a ranger had seen signs Beehive was going to erupt in the next 15 minutes. Since Beehive is very close to Old Faithful, we were able to hustle over just in time to see it.

Some geysers erupt much more often than Old Faithful. Rusty Geyser, named for the color of the small basin surrounding the geyser, erupts every few minutes; but it is only 1 to 6 feet tall.

Clepsydra Geyser erupts almost continuously to heights of up to 45 feet high. The photo below is a view of the boardwalk approaching Clepsydra Geyser.

This is a closer view of Clepsydra with little Spasm Geyser in the foreground.

Another type of geothermal activity are steam vents or fumeroles. Steam vents occur in conditions similar to those required for geysers, but there isn't quite enough water present to create the periodic eruptions of a geyser. Steam vents don't have the restrictions in the plumbing that geysers have, and they frequently occur on hillsides above the level of more abundant water. The photo below shows Black Growler Steam Vent in the Norris Geyser Basin at Yellowstone. The name is very appropriate.

Roaring Mountain is in the northern part of Yellowstone and is a hillside with numerous steam vents. The number of fumeroles has decreased since the beginning of the 20th century, and Hissing Mountain would probably be a more appropriate name today.

The most common geothermal feature found in Yellowstone is the hot spring. These can range from a small, steaming seep from the ground to pools of various sizes, or to large, steaming lakes. Hot springs occur when there is an abundance of water, but where there are no restrictions in the underground plumbing like there are for geysers. The lack of restriction allows the water to circulate freely and be heated rather than to be periodically forcefully expelled the way it is with a geyser.

One of the most famous and beautiful hot springs is Morning Glory Pool. The photo below shows Margery at the start of our 2-mile, round-trip hike to the pool. She decided to use the walking sticks since this was the longest walk since her knee surgery, and we were doing it after walking almost a mile round trip from the car to Beehive and Old Faithful Geysers.

On the way to Morning Glory Pool, we stopped for a photo of Paul in front of Gem Pool.

Morning Glory Pool got its name from the deep blue color at the center of the pool. The blue color is caused by sunlight being scattered by fine particles suspended in the water. Over the years, thoughtless visitors have tossed coins, rocks, trash, and sticks into the pool clogging the vent and causing the flow of water to decrease. This has caused the water to cool which has allowed some of the heat-loving microorganisms (called thermophiles) that cause the yellow and orange color around the edge of the pool to grow in the center turning the color to green. In the photo below, Margery is sitting on the boardwalk admiring Morning Glory Pool.

On the way to Morning Glory, we spotted the pool in the photo below.

On the walk back to the car, however, we discovered it wasn't just a pool, but it was Artemesia Geyser. Artemesia only erupts once or twice a day. On our way to Morning Glory there were three people reading or napping to bide their time waiting for an eruption.  We were blessed to catch the eruption it in progress.

Incidentally, Margery made the 2-mile, round-trip walk to Morning Glory Pool (on top of previously walking almost a mile to Old Faithful and Beehive Geysers) with no problem.

Paul's favorite hot spring was Great Prismatic Spring. The deep blue color of the center of the spring (again caused by sunlight being scattered by fine particles suspended in the water similar to Morning Glory) and the bright orange and red color in the perimeter caused by thermophiles are so intense they are reflected in the steam floating over the pool.

 Norris Basin is the hottest and most changeable thermal area in Yellowstone. It is the home of Steamboat Geyser, the world's tallest active geyser. Unfortunately, Steamboat's eruptions are very seldom and quite unpredictable, so it was quiet when we were there. Norris Basin also has numerous hot springs including this one with green and yellow thermophiles in the runoff.

 

 

In the photo below, we are standing in front of Porcelain Springs in Norris Basin.

At the northern edge of the park is Mammoth Hot Springs which has some of Yellowstone's most spectacular hot springs. Here, as ground water seeps down through thick layers of sedimentary limestone, it comes in contact with hot gasses containing carbon dioxide from the magma chamber below. The carbon dioxide readily dissolves in the hot water forming a weak acid. The hot, acidic water dissolves some of the limestone and carries it to the surface. When exposed to the air, the carbon dioxide escapes; and the water can no longer contain the dissolved limestone so the limestone forms a solid mineral deposit called travertine.

At Mammoth Hot Springs, some of the mineral deposits form terraces down the hillside such as these at Canary Spring.

Some of the hot springs form mounds such as Orange Spring Mound.

Liberty Cap (named for the peaked caps worn during the French Revolution - this area was originally explored by French trappers) is the mound of an extinct spring that must have had very high pressure and must have been active for quite a long time (several hundred years) to produce such a tall mound.

The photo below shows a closeup of Palette Spring which can be seen behind Liberty Cap in the photo above. Palette Spring has an orange, active section to the left; a white, inactive section to the right; and the cone of an extinct spring in the center.

A mud pot is a type of hot spring except with a little less water. Also, the water needs to be acidic so it can dissolve some of the surrounding volcanic rock into clay which mixes with the water to form the mud. The amount of water determines if the mud is thick or thin and watery. In summer, some mud pots dry up altogether. The photo below is the Fountain Paint Pot. You can see the gas bubbles coming to the surface of the mud, which is about the consistency of latex wall paint.

Near the Fountain Paint Pot is Red Spouter. You can see by the splashes on the left side, this mud is thinner. In late summer, the mud dries; and Red Spouter becomes a hissing fumerole.

The thermal features of Yellowstone aren't located very many other places on earth, and they are exciting. But stay tuned for some other features of Yellowstone that aren't as hot, but are equally thrilling.

Before we get started with this latest post on the Beartooth Mountains, we would like to introduce our readers to a new feature. If you scroll down the page and look on the right-hand side, we now have a list of categories that are set up by state. You can cross reference various subjects such as campgrounds, sightseeing, state parks, food, museums, and more. We are hoping this will help you find specific information that might be of interest to you in our past posts.

While staying in Cody, WY, we also wanted to visit the Beartooth Mountains to the north. The Beartooth Mountains are the highest range in Montana with elevations exceeding 12,000 feet.

The Beartooth Highway begins in Red Lodge, MT and continues back down into Wyoming and goes all the way to Yellowstone. We drove from Cody to the beginning of the highway in Red Lodge, drove about 50 miles of the highway, then we exited the Beartooth Highway as it began its descent and we headed back to Cody by way of Chief Joseph Scenic Highway.

Red Lodge is quaint, historic mountain town that calls itself the gateway to Yellowstone. The photo below shows the picturesque downtown area.

We took a little break in Red Lodge and let Molly stretch her legs along Rock Creek. You can see from the way Molly's ears are sailing it was a little windy. :-)

As we began the ascent from about 5,600 feet in Red Lodge to the highest point along the highway of almost 11,000 feet, we were glad we were in the car and not in the motor home. Maybe the brave souls in the 5th wheel in front of us were going to stop at one of the campgrounds in the Custer National Forest before the road got steeper and narrower. We don't know, because we passed them before we got very much farther. :-)

In spite of long climbs up 6 and 7% grades, we came across several bicyclists.

We took another break for lunch at a rest stop at nearly 10,000 feet in altitude.

The views were spectacular.

Even at these high altitudes with severe winter temperatures and a short growing season, wildflowers grow from cracks in the rocks and bloom with amazing beauty.

Paul is checking out how the harsh conditions have created so much character in this tree growing on top of a rock.

After lunch we drove on a little farther and stopped at an overlook above Twin Lakes.

Continuing on, now at an altitude of about 11,000 feet, we came to a huge snow field that extended all the way to a parking area by the road. We couldn't resist getting out of the car to let Molly play in the snow. In the photo below, she is just about to catch a snowball.

The Beartooth Mountains get up to 30 feet of snow in the winter! Where the snow had melted around the base of several large boulders, we could see there was at least 4 or 5 feet remaining in the snow field in the photo above in the middle of July. In a nearby area, the snow drift at the side of the road was higher than the roof of the Hummer that happened to be passing by.

Shortly after we began to descend, we saw fishermen on the shore of Long Lake.

 

A little farther along was Beartooth Lake with Beartooth Butte in the background.

The nice lady who took the above picture was on a motorcycle trip with her husband and another couple from Missouri headed for Washington, Oregon, and down the California coast. We were thinking...what a nice 2-month trip. Noooo, that was a 2-WEEK itinerary. Motorcycling is very, very big in the west. Many travel that way...and many have gray hair...baby boomers en mass! :-)

Below is a view from the end of Beartooth Lake where it drains into Beartooth Creek.

Along the Beartooth Highway there were a number of waterfalls...

... and around every bend there seemed to be Kodak moment.

As we said earlier, Beartooth Highway continues on to Yellowstone's northeast entrance; but for now, it was getting late in the day, and we wanted to return to our rig. We turned off the Beartooth Highway a little past Beartooth Lake and headed back to Cody. We would be heading to Yellowstone soon enough, but in the motor home and by a little easier route.

From Gillette, we drove about 6 hours west to Cody, WY. It was a little farther distance than we usually like to drive, but we there were some things we wanted to see in Cody. On the way,we drove over the Bighorn Mountains. This was our first glimpse of them.

 

On the way, we pulled off at this overlook to enjoy the view.

In Cody, we stayed at Absaroka Bay RV Park. The sites are a little narrow and most of the back-in sites are very short. The pull-throughs are also a kind of short, but they have provided a little extra gravel along sides of the roads so we were able to park our toad sideways. The campground has paved interior roads, gravel sites, and grass between sites.

Cody, WY was named for William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and lies in the Bighorn Basin among the Bighorn Mountains to the east, the Absakora Range to the west, and the Beartooth Mountains to the north. William Cody first entered the Bighorn Basin in the 1870s. Its beautiful scenery, rich soil, and abundance of fish and game prompted his return in the 1890s with several friends for the purpose of land development.

The original site of the town was at the east end of the Shoshone Canyon, but was later moved a little farther to the east to its present site. Cody's fellow developers insisted the town be named Cody. The town was incorporated in 1902.

William Cody was instrumental in getting the Burlington Railroad to build a spur to the new town. He talked his friend, President Teddy Roosevelt, to establish the Bureau of Reclamation and build the Shoshone Dam and Reservoir (later renamed the Buffalo Bill Dam and Reservoir) west of town. These developments greatly added to the success of the town.

Cody also used his own money to build a hotel in town he named after his youngest daughter, Irma. Every evening in the summer, there is a gunfight re-enactment on the street outside the hotel. Chairs are rented for $1 and posters are sold with proceeds going to charity. The dialogue was a little corny, but the characters were interesting. The characters circulate among the crowd before the show signing autographs and posing for photos. In this bar scene during the show, Buffalo Bill is wearing the buckskin jacket and Wild Bill Hickok is seated in front of the dance hall girl in blue. Although a little shorter (Buffalo Bill was a little over 6' tall), the character looks amazingly like Buffalo Bill.

Museum of the Old West at Old Trail Town lies on the original town site. Old Trail Town is a collection of buildings, wagons, and other artifacts from the late 1800s. The buildings were collected from various locations in Wyoming and Montana, moved to Old Trail Town, and reconstructed.

The buildings include a saloon and two cabins used by Butch Cassidy.

The cabin in the photo below was originally located on Buffalo Creek west of Kaycee, WY. It is where Butch and the "Hole in the Wall Gang" planned some of their robberies.

The main attraction of Cody, WY is probably the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. This is not only a comprehensive museum of the history of Buffalo Bill himself, but of the entire area. The museum has five buildings - one for Buffalo Bill, one for the natural history of the area including geology and wild life, one for the history of the Native Americans of the plains, one for western art, and one for American firearms.

The western art museum has paintings and sculpture by Fredric Remington, Charles M. Russell, and other well-known artists who portrayed western history and myth. In addition to numerous sculptures and paintings by the various artists, the museum includes a reproduction of Fredric Remington's studio.

The Plains Indians Museum portrays the history, traditions, and culture of the Native Americans of the plains. The museum contains examples of their art, weapons, homes, and costumes.

Margery was intrigued with the "on-board" travel accommodations for babies. Note the cradle board beside mom's leg.

All the other museums were very informative, bur our main interest was learning about Buffalo Bill himself. We first met up with William Cody in Le Claire, IA, which was his birthplace. The house he lived in as a child has been moved from the Le Claire area to the grounds of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody. Actually, the story we heard back at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Le Claire was that the house stood vacant and for sale for a long time with no interest. The residents of Le Claire were dismayed to learn that the eventual buyer would be moving the house to Wyoming. Sometimes you have to lose something before you know it's value.

Buffalo Bill was a very interesting character. He was a gold prospector, a pony express rider, a Civil War soldier, an Army scout, and a buffalo hunter. He earned his nickname while hunting buffalo for the Kansas Pacific Railroad to supply meat for the railroad workers.

But he is best known as a showman because of "Buffalo Bill's Wild West." Although we usually hear it called "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show," the word "Show" was never part of the title. In 1893, the name was changed to "Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World," which was quite a mouthful.

The museum follows Cody's adult life and understandably puts a heavy emphasis on his show. Cody created what was to become Buffalo Bill's Wild West in 1883 and the show would continue in one form or another for about 30 years. The photo below shows a buffalo hide coat with beaver trim worn by Cody. Behind the coat is a photo of Cody wearing the actual coat on display and holding the rifle on display.

The show usually began with a parade of the performers wearing their finest attire. During the show, there were staged races, shooting demonstrations, feats of skill, and re-enactments of stagecoach robberies and Indian attacks. The show typically ended with re-enactment of Custer's battle of the Little Bighorn with Cody himself playing General Custer.

Many famous personalities were also part of the show. Sitting Bull, who was a Lakota Sioux who took part in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, appeared in Buffalo Bill's Wild West. The famed sharpshooter Annie Oakley joined the show in 1885. The photo below shows one of the dresses she wore in the show.

In 1887, Cody took the Wild West to England and performed for Queen Victoria as well as other European royalty. In 1889, the show toured Europe. Cody became the most recognizable American in the world.

The museum also contains displays of many of Cody's furnishings and belongings. The photo below shows some of the contents of his ranch.

Buffalo Bill died in Denver in 1917. Contrary to popular belief, he did not die penniless, although his considerable fortune had dwindled significantly.

We learned a lot about Buffalo Bill while in Cody. The Historical Center is a fantastic resource for information on Buffalo Bill and on the history of that area of the west.

July 10 marks our second anniversary of full-time RVing. From the start, we had made a minimum two-year commitment to the lifestyle. That has been a good decision. We've been able to discuss our feelings about the ups and downs of such a drastic change without the other person feeling threatened. Now that two years have passed, what do we want to do?

Last year, we wrote about some of the adjustments we made with being retired and on the road in our blog entry titled "A Year in Review - 1st Anniversary of Full-Timing." We both felt a little guilty for not being productive, and we had a little trouble adapting to being both retired AND being on the road full-time. As we complete our second year, we find that we are much more comfortable with full-timing than we were the first year. We both now find it easier to relax. One thing that may contribute to that is the fact that we have made the shift away from "vacation mode."

Many of the books and blogs we read said to slow down and not try to see everything the first year. But we couldn't help ourselves. Excitement took over, and we just had so many things on our list we wanted to see and do. We actually PLANNED to see as much as we could that first year. During that time, the longest we ever stayed in one place was a month in the Rio Grande Valley. Most of the rest of the time, staying a week was rare and usually we moved to a new area every few days. We did see a lot the first year, but there were also some things in a given area we didn't take the time to see.

Then toward the end of last summer, we started to slow down. We still have some one or two-night stays when we are moving from one location to another, but we try to stay at least a week or two at most of our stops. Last winter, we stayed almost 4 months in Florida. The longer stops not only allow us to experience each location more fully, they allow us time to relax.

Although not the original intention, the longer stays also saved us money as fuel prices started to rise last fall. With prices continuing to go up with no end in sight, the longer stays are now more of a necessity. The RV industry is facing a lot of uncertainty for the foreseeable future, and we don't know how our lifestyle might have to change. However, one of the keys to successful full-timing is remaining flexible and that's what we plan to do. Flexibility has not always been one of Paul's stronger suits, but he is doing well at learning that skill.

You might ask, "Knowing what you know now about the way fuel prices have risen, would you still go on the road if you had it to do over?" Well, we're not sure. We are pretty conservative; and if we had known about the high fuel prices, we might not have gone on the road. But we're glad we didn't know; because now that we ARE on the road, we're glad we took the plunge. The high prices may slow our travels, but they won't stop us, at least not in the near future. The bottom line is we would not have been able to afford to stay in our house and travel extensively at the same time. The things we've seen and learned about our country, its people, and ourselves are totally worth it. That kind of reminds us of the ad: motor home - $100,000; tank full of gas - $300; camping for a month - $500; learning and personal growth - PRICELESS.

One of the things we learned about ourselves in the first year is that we like it when things are familiar. We like the excitement of seeing and learning new things, but we also like the comfort of familiar surroundings and doing familiar things. This is a little bit of a quandary for us because this lifestyle inherently involves change. But we know we need to stretch ourselves and embrace new things. Staying in the same location a little longer does build familiarity and adds to our comfort. Also, since we have already taken one "lap" around the U. S., we have been able to add to our list of places that are familiar.

For Margery, the third quarter of the second year of full-timing (actually the first quarter of calendar year 2008) was the most difficult. Although the two partial knee replacements have been a blessing, she wasn't prepared for the physical and emotional toll of two major surgeries which made recuperation more difficult than she anticipated. Homesickness was an unexpected result of the surgery, but spending major parts of April and May on our home turf and with family was a good antidote. Now as we approach our two-year anniversary, she's hitting her stride once again and embracing and enjoying the variety and adventure of the full-time lifestyle.

Speaking of Margery's surgery, she has recovered quite well and can walk fairly long distances and stand for fairly long periods of time. She still has a muscle ache here and there, but the surgery has made a remarkable difference. Paul is delighted to have his "go-fer" back when "someone" needs to make a quick run into a store.

We've gotten spoiled. There's just no better way to travel than by RV. Having all that you need on board is ideal. Kitchen, healthy food, bathroom, your own bed, clothes to match the weather. How do we love RVing? Let us count the ways. You never have to worry about forgetting something. Once we pull into a site, it takes about a half hour to level the motor home with the jacks, put the slides out, put out the lamps and coffee pot, and Molly's tie-out chain, and we're home! It can't get much better than this.

We continue to enjoy the simplicity of the lifestyle. Doing a load of wash every couple of days in our onboard washer/dryer combination works great. Being able to hang them out to dry on the laundry rack attached to the ladder on the back of the motor home is perfect. Having to keep the clutter at a minimum makes cleaning a one-hour weekly project. All this to say that we really don't miss our 'stick and bricks' abode (except the workshop, of course). Life has its ups and downs whether you live in an RV or in stick and bricks. We enjoy the advantages of the change of scenery and discovering little gems of interest at our stops.

Someday, we will probably want to settle down in one location again, at least for part of the year. However, we have not yet found that one place, so we'll just have to keep researching. :-) For Margery, she misses building deeper relationships with other women. For Paul, he still misses his workshop and doing some gardening. Ahhh, if only Pittsburgh didn't have winter. So far, our favorite places all experience that dreaded season so we expect our eventual partial-year residency will have to be in the south.

We both agree that our enjoyment of "being on the road" is enhanced by having our rooftop internet satellite. We are constantly using the internet to research future travel stops, campground accommodations, things to see and do, hair salons, vets, and keeping in touch with friends and loved ones. The real pioneers for full-timing are those who did it without internet and before cell phones. I'm not sure how long we would have lasted with those limitations.

We continue to pray about ministry opportunities as we travel. With Margery no longer disabled by her knees, there are many more options to consider, and we look forward to seeing what doors the Lord will open for us.

So we plan to continue our travels for the foreseeable future. We'll always have an eye out for some future place to put down roots, even if it is only for part of the year; but for now, we'll continue to be "living our dream."