(NOTE: View a larger picture by clicking on the photo(s) above.)
I am aware that you don’t know what plan “B” is. You don’t even know what plan “A” is. So let me explain.
Plan A is what we developed to get to where we wished to be by creating scheduled stops and making reservations where we wish to camp. Plan B, on the other hand, is to run like the dickens to get away from bad and dangerous weather! Forget reservations and scheduled stops, just get out of the way of what is coming. We are in Plan B,….. but let me back up and let you know how things have been working to this point.
We kept checking the Yellowstone hotline to see if the roads would open. We had almost lost hope of getting to the Park. Saturday night the message was that the roads were still closed. I checked again on Sunday morning, just in case it had changed. Ya Hoo! The roads were open without restriction. Since Sunday was to be our last scheduled day in the area, it was now or never. We quickly took off for Yellowstone.
The trip from Livingston, MT, to Yellowstone is 52 miles. From the Park gate to Old Faithful is another 56 miles. Our “day trip” turned into 223 miles, but we were there. Yellowstone, as you may know, is not only full of hot springs and geysers, but also many wild animals; buffalo, bear, elk the Proghorn antelope among others.
We did see Old Faithful blow its top. But, somehow, standing on cold snow banks waiting for the eruption was a little bit of a letdown. We waited around a little more than an hour just to witness the event. When the geyser died down after about three minutes, we hear one gentleman in the crowd comment to his wife, “We drove all this way just for that?” I suspect the weather took a little of the excitement away.
The first picture above is of Old Faithful. It now goes off about every 90 minutes, lasts for between 1 ½ to 4 minutes and shoots into the air from 106 feet to 180 feet. It is not the only geyser in the basin (sunken area) which is actually the inside of an active volcano, but it is the largest.
The second picture will give you an idea of the weather conditions on that day. Carolyn is standing in the walkway from the parking lot to the Visitor Center that had been cleared. As you can tell, the snow is higher than her head. The snow is not just “piled up,” it was that high all around.
We were able to see many of the wild animals wandering the Park, except for the bears. We took the time to walk some of the trails that had been cleared around Old Faithful. Some were closed due to bear activity. They were just awakening from hibernation and getting frisky, rolling down the hills, etc., so said the Ranger. We certainly didn’t want to encounter any bears on the path.
The third picture is a close-up of the buffalo that truly roamed the roads, without regard to traffic. There were sixteen of them holding up traffic on our drive in the Park. You can see how close they come to the vehicles. The picture was taken through my windshield.
The fourth picture is of a Proghorn Antelope feeding in a section by the road. The Pronghorn Antelope is the only animal in the world with branched horns (not antlers) and the only animal in the world to shed its horns, as if they were antlers. It is the fastest animal in the western hemisphere, running in 20-foot bounds at up to 60 miles per hour, and can run for hours at quite a fast pace. It is also called the Prongbuck, Pronghorned Antelope and American Antelope. Pronghorn can survive a temperature range of 180 degrees, from 130 in the deserts to 50 below zero.
On Monday morning (April 28) we were getting ready to leave Livingston to overnight (we had planed two days) in Sheridan, Wyoming then on to Rapid City, South Dakota the next day. We had a conversation with our neighbors, also preparing to leave, who were from Alaska. They asked which way we were going. When we said East, the wife said, “You had better get through South Dakota as fast as you can.” We weren't quit sure what she meant, but we were to find out.
We arrived at our campground in Black Hawk, South Dakota, six miles West of Rapid City, planning to stay for three or four days. We paid for three days and found our campsite. It was from here that we were to embark for Mount Rushmore. We had planned to do that the next day after an evening of rest from the drive. We checked the weather forecast and discovered that bad weather may be on the way. We decided to go to Rushmore right away that afternoon. It was a pretty day, so we did.
We gazed at the faces on the mountain, watched movies of it’s history and the wildlife on the mountain, visited the museum and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. The last picture is my “take” of the mountain. We found no information on how Mount Rushmore got it’s name. We consulted then Internet and found the following information.
"In 1883, a tin mine, the Etta, was opened, which caused excitement among Eastern investors, Shortly after, James Wilson, a New York mining promoter, engaged Professor Gilbert E. Bailey, state geologist of Wyoming, to examine mining claims in the area where Keystone was later located. In need of talent, as well as geological advice, Wilson hired Charles E. Rushmore, a young but able New York attorney, to check the titles to properties on which Bailey reported favorably. Although an Easterner, Rushmore quickly made friends among the miners and prospectors. One day he was returning to headquarters of the Harney Peak Consolidated Tin Co., Ltd., located at Pine Camp, which was north of the great granite peak soon to bear his name. With him were a local business man, and William W. Challis, a prospector and guide. As they neared this spectacular mountain, Rushmore turned to Challis and asked its name, Challis jestingly replied: "Never had any but it has now - we'll call the damn thing Rushmore". Thus in 1885, the chance remark of a rough miner to a visiting lawyer, fastened a permanent name to the mountain. The United States Board of Geographic Names officially recognized the name "Mount Rushmore" in June 1930." Forty years later, Charles E. Rushmore donated $5000 towards Gutzon Borglum's sculpture of the four presidents' heads on the mountain - the largest single contribution. The Memorial was dedicated by President Coolidge on August 10th, 1927." - "Mount Rushmore", by Gilbert C. Fite, 1952, University of Oklahoma Press.
The next morning we checked the weather forecast and decided it was ominous. We felt we needed to leave right away. Six to seven inches of snow was predicted overnight. Since we had already paid for three days, we were not sure if we could get a refund. Most campgrounds give nothing back if you leave early. We were lucky. We got a full refund, and in one hour we had gotten ready and pulled out headed to Oacoma, SD, some 210 miles ahead of the bad weather.
So here we are in the middle of Plan B. It is now Friday, May 2nd. We have been here now for three days, paying one day at a time. The place we had left is now covered with more than 12 inches of snow, and a blizzard is raging there as I write. The Interstate is closed. We left just in time. Here, it is raining and the wind is howling with gusts to 50 miles per hour. The trailer is rocking. We are the only ones left in the RV Park. Everyone else has left going somewhere. Not a good day for travel. Tomorrow, it is suppose to be sunny. We plan to leave for Sioux Falls, SD in the morning. We were waiting to move forward because Sioux Falls was having heavy thunder storms and tornadoes yesterday. We are in the relatively quite middle of the state.
Looking ahead, we have made new reservations in new locations and canceled others. We plan a couple days in Sioux Falls (the weather forecast is favorable), then on to Minnesota and Wisconsin. We are either running ahead of or behind the storm fronts as they, and we, move East. This time next week we plan to be in the Chicago area. We’ll see!
Plan A is what we developed to get to where we wished to be by creating scheduled stops and making reservations where we wish to camp. Plan B, on the other hand, is to run like the dickens to get away from bad and dangerous weather! Forget reservations and scheduled stops, just get out of the way of what is coming. We are in Plan B,….. but let me back up and let you know how things have been working to this point.
We kept checking the Yellowstone hotline to see if the roads would open. We had almost lost hope of getting to the Park. Saturday night the message was that the roads were still closed. I checked again on Sunday morning, just in case it had changed. Ya Hoo! The roads were open without restriction. Since Sunday was to be our last scheduled day in the area, it was now or never. We quickly took off for Yellowstone.
The trip from Livingston, MT, to Yellowstone is 52 miles. From the Park gate to Old Faithful is another 56 miles. Our “day trip” turned into 223 miles, but we were there. Yellowstone, as you may know, is not only full of hot springs and geysers, but also many wild animals; buffalo, bear, elk the Proghorn antelope among others.
We did see Old Faithful blow its top. But, somehow, standing on cold snow banks waiting for the eruption was a little bit of a letdown. We waited around a little more than an hour just to witness the event. When the geyser died down after about three minutes, we hear one gentleman in the crowd comment to his wife, “We drove all this way just for that?” I suspect the weather took a little of the excitement away.
The first picture above is of Old Faithful. It now goes off about every 90 minutes, lasts for between 1 ½ to 4 minutes and shoots into the air from 106 feet to 180 feet. It is not the only geyser in the basin (sunken area) which is actually the inside of an active volcano, but it is the largest.
The second picture will give you an idea of the weather conditions on that day. Carolyn is standing in the walkway from the parking lot to the Visitor Center that had been cleared. As you can tell, the snow is higher than her head. The snow is not just “piled up,” it was that high all around.
We were able to see many of the wild animals wandering the Park, except for the bears. We took the time to walk some of the trails that had been cleared around Old Faithful. Some were closed due to bear activity. They were just awakening from hibernation and getting frisky, rolling down the hills, etc., so said the Ranger. We certainly didn’t want to encounter any bears on the path.
The third picture is a close-up of the buffalo that truly roamed the roads, without regard to traffic. There were sixteen of them holding up traffic on our drive in the Park. You can see how close they come to the vehicles. The picture was taken through my windshield.
The fourth picture is of a Proghorn Antelope feeding in a section by the road. The Pronghorn Antelope is the only animal in the world with branched horns (not antlers) and the only animal in the world to shed its horns, as if they were antlers. It is the fastest animal in the western hemisphere, running in 20-foot bounds at up to 60 miles per hour, and can run for hours at quite a fast pace. It is also called the Prongbuck, Pronghorned Antelope and American Antelope. Pronghorn can survive a temperature range of 180 degrees, from 130 in the deserts to 50 below zero.
On Monday morning (April 28) we were getting ready to leave Livingston to overnight (we had planed two days) in Sheridan, Wyoming then on to Rapid City, South Dakota the next day. We had a conversation with our neighbors, also preparing to leave, who were from Alaska. They asked which way we were going. When we said East, the wife said, “You had better get through South Dakota as fast as you can.” We weren't quit sure what she meant, but we were to find out.
We arrived at our campground in Black Hawk, South Dakota, six miles West of Rapid City, planning to stay for three or four days. We paid for three days and found our campsite. It was from here that we were to embark for Mount Rushmore. We had planned to do that the next day after an evening of rest from the drive. We checked the weather forecast and discovered that bad weather may be on the way. We decided to go to Rushmore right away that afternoon. It was a pretty day, so we did.
We gazed at the faces on the mountain, watched movies of it’s history and the wildlife on the mountain, visited the museum and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. The last picture is my “take” of the mountain. We found no information on how Mount Rushmore got it’s name. We consulted then Internet and found the following information.
"In 1883, a tin mine, the Etta, was opened, which caused excitement among Eastern investors, Shortly after, James Wilson, a New York mining promoter, engaged Professor Gilbert E. Bailey, state geologist of Wyoming, to examine mining claims in the area where Keystone was later located. In need of talent, as well as geological advice, Wilson hired Charles E. Rushmore, a young but able New York attorney, to check the titles to properties on which Bailey reported favorably. Although an Easterner, Rushmore quickly made friends among the miners and prospectors. One day he was returning to headquarters of the Harney Peak Consolidated Tin Co., Ltd., located at Pine Camp, which was north of the great granite peak soon to bear his name. With him were a local business man, and William W. Challis, a prospector and guide. As they neared this spectacular mountain, Rushmore turned to Challis and asked its name, Challis jestingly replied: "Never had any but it has now - we'll call the damn thing Rushmore". Thus in 1885, the chance remark of a rough miner to a visiting lawyer, fastened a permanent name to the mountain. The United States Board of Geographic Names officially recognized the name "Mount Rushmore" in June 1930." Forty years later, Charles E. Rushmore donated $5000 towards Gutzon Borglum's sculpture of the four presidents' heads on the mountain - the largest single contribution. The Memorial was dedicated by President Coolidge on August 10th, 1927." - "Mount Rushmore", by Gilbert C. Fite, 1952, University of Oklahoma Press.
The next morning we checked the weather forecast and decided it was ominous. We felt we needed to leave right away. Six to seven inches of snow was predicted overnight. Since we had already paid for three days, we were not sure if we could get a refund. Most campgrounds give nothing back if you leave early. We were lucky. We got a full refund, and in one hour we had gotten ready and pulled out headed to Oacoma, SD, some 210 miles ahead of the bad weather.
So here we are in the middle of Plan B. It is now Friday, May 2nd. We have been here now for three days, paying one day at a time. The place we had left is now covered with more than 12 inches of snow, and a blizzard is raging there as I write. The Interstate is closed. We left just in time. Here, it is raining and the wind is howling with gusts to 50 miles per hour. The trailer is rocking. We are the only ones left in the RV Park. Everyone else has left going somewhere. Not a good day for travel. Tomorrow, it is suppose to be sunny. We plan to leave for Sioux Falls, SD in the morning. We were waiting to move forward because Sioux Falls was having heavy thunder storms and tornadoes yesterday. We are in the relatively quite middle of the state.
Looking ahead, we have made new reservations in new locations and canceled others. We plan a couple days in Sioux Falls (the weather forecast is favorable), then on to Minnesota and Wisconsin. We are either running ahead of or behind the storm fronts as they, and we, move East. This time next week we plan to be in the Chicago area. We’ll see!
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