August 2015

Five years ago, I had been first exposed to the good storytelling from the TV show 'Bonanza'. Later, on a trip to Lake Tahoe, we went to Virginia City, Nevada (the town from Bonanza) for a night.

As this cross-country road trip is coming to an end, we decided to revisit Virginia City today on our drive through Nevada. It's such a charming town with its original buildings and history. As we strolled the wood plank sidewalks, a cowboy invited us to the 'Gunfight' at 1pm.

The ticket to the show includes a dollar off a drink at the Washoe Club across the street, which happens to be where we got engaged. We got a cocktail and found a seat on the bleachers. The Gunfight was a half hour of humor, audience participation, and shootouts. We both had a great time.

We even took selfies with the actors.

Here are few pics from this afternoon, including a Hoss Cartwright sighting.

We officially crossed into California....and will be resting in Lake Tahoe over the weekend before heading to the warmth of sister Sylvia.

p.s. Happy 55th Anniversary Mom & Dad! xoxo

p.p.s As I write this blog, the movie 'Casablanca' is on the TV. A scene in the casino shows Rick 'Humphrey Bogart) helping a young couple out by letting them win at Roulette. The ball falls on #22, the very same lucky number in the pic with George above. Time to head to the casino!

Here are some scenes from the road and rest stops in Wyoming:

Today we drove through Utah and stopped at the Salt Flats.

Here's famed Native American 'Running Fool' attempting (once again) to break the land speed record.

We crossed the Pacific Time Zone and drove into Nevada.
This vehicle is probably on its way to Burning Man.

We are driving through Nevada with a stop in Reno, and maybe Virginia City to see Hoss and Little Joe
then making our way back to California to see family. What a ride!

On Monday we drove around Grand Teton National Park. It has a different landscape than Yellowstone. We stopped a few times along the Teton Park Road.

We spent most of the day at Jenny Lake where we had lunch, and did the Hidden Falls hike, about 3 miles.

Another gorgeous day in a beautiful national park.

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike." ~John Muir

Somewhere around 37 years ago, my summer vacation took place in a family-camper-van we borrowed from my Uncle Sol, and my dad drove it from Los Angeles to Yellowstone National Park. All I remember is: 1) Old Faithful geyser, and the rotten-egg smell of sulfur. 2) Stopping at the Great Salt Lake, and the Donny and Marie Osmond studio in Utah (my sister and I were big fans then). 3) Staying a night at Circus Circus in Las Vegas, Nevada. But I digress, the destination and my subject is Yellowstone.

George and I spent a day driving in Yellowstone National Park.

We were immediately welcomed by bison in the middle of the road.

We stopped at various points of interest and walked around different thermal pool areas.

We walked our lunch off at the' Artists Paint-pots' area.

This was my favorite stop. The pools were were unique and beautiful bubbling 'paint' colors, unlike other pools we'd seen.

Of course we drove to see Old Faithful in all its glory. It's the biggest attraction with the biggest parking lot and visitor area. There are designated walking paths around Old Faithful, and other geysers, and thermal pools. There are rows of benches to view the Old Faithful performance. This is all new since my last visit as a kid.

We waited for about twenty minutes, and then Old Faithful erupted.

There is too much too see in only one day in this massive park. It is well-maintained, there is a lot of wildlife (no, we didn't see any bears), and the preserved national parks are of the best things about America.

We left Sheridan early in the morning and took highway 14 towards Cody, our stop for the night. This takes us through some of the most incredible country I've seen on our trip. Quickly we enter Bighorn National Forest.
Per Wikipedia "Bighorn National Forest is located in northern Wyoming, United States and consists of over 1.1 million acres (4,500 km²). Created as a US Forest Reserve in 1897, it is one of the oldest government-protected forest lands in the U.S. The forest is well east of the continental divide and extends from the Montana border for a distance of 80 miles (130 km) along the spine of the Big Horn Mountains, an outlying mountain range separated from the rest of the Rocky Mountains by Bighorn Basin."

It was a beautiful day and very little traffic perhaps because everyone was returning to their regular lives and schools. But the thing most striking about driving through Bighorn is how pristine and natural everything looks. There is very little evidence of residential or commercial impact anywhere in this beautiful mountain park. The roads were excellent too. I'd guess they weren't older than five years or so.

We didn't know anything about the forest except we that we had to drive through it to get to Cody and then Yellowstone. But now this forest is perhaps one of my favorite places to drive through, filled with incredible visual splendor and glorious light and nature. There was a family of moose just off the road and we also stopped at Shell Falls and took in the breathtaking scenery. Here are some pics to entice you to come here some day.


After a long day, we enjoyed some Chinese food and watched the sunset in Cody.