Trip Report - OUT WEST (In the end 'I Did It My Way')

Sounds like you are off to a great start....

This will be a fun report to read. Continue.......

...We headed out bright and early the next morning. It had quit snowing and I really hated to leave. We tood Hwy. 34 through Big Thompson Canyon - another wonderful drive. I had already found out one thing - I LOVED THE ROCKIES! Our plan was to drive halfway to Jackson, Wy., stop somewhere along the way for the night. The total trip to Jackson was around 500 miles (our longest in between travel). We got into the flat lands of Wyoming and I got sleepy so I layed back for a nap. When I woke up we were already through Rock Springs and were still going. The drive was so peacful my husband decided to drive on into Jackson (perhaps it was because I was sleeping and not wanting to stop to take pictures every mile or so!) It was snowing again and boy were we in for a ride. The further we drove the harder it snowed, the more it snowed, the less populated it was. We came through Dubois (sp) and I thought it was a good stopping place. Not so, hubby had it in his mind to get to Jackson - so be plowed on! We later hearned that Togwotee Pass that we had driven through sometimes gets at much as 25 feet of snow in the winter. I believe it was well on it's way. After we passed Dubois, there was no stopping. Had it not been for the car in front of us, you couldn't have seen anything. Oh well, we wanted adventure and had a 4x4. Again my camera came out and I clicked away (except for the few times I layed back and covered my head so I wouldn't see us go off down the mountain.

Finally we saw a light at the end of the tunnel and came out at Moran Pass. Whew - what a drive. I did a lot of praying on Hwy. 26, but it was so beautiful and the Lord saw us through it. Headed into Jackson. Can't wait for tomorrow!

Love your title!

I've driven that road though in slightly better weather (snowing lightly). Please tell you husband for me 'You're freakin' nutZ!'

Great trip report too...thanks!

Ok, i'm ready to hear about Tetons and Yellowstone!!!

Great start! I'm in too...

Wow! You've got me hooked, even though I usually hate snow...

Sounds like a great adventure so far.

OK, so we made it to Jackson after dark, after our GPS tried to take us in thru Antelope Flats and Morman Row! After turning on Morman Row my husband said "NO WAY", so we turned around and continued on main road. We were exhausted (well anyhow hubby was - I'd had a good nap). We checked out a remodeled Motel 6 and it was great. No sauna and rippling brook out the back door. But it did have a big screen tv, very clean and the basics we needed (Trying to recoup a little on our fab. place at Estes Park!) Went next door for some hot chili from Wendy's and settled in for the night, after checking out weather report - OH MY! Temp. was expected to dip to 8 degs. and top the record from 1940 something with more snow on the way. I wanted to start singing Christmas carols!! Tetons - here we come!

Up and out early ready for our next adventure - headed into the Tetons via Teton Village and up into Moose. Our main goal for the day was to see a moose (hopefully more than one). At Moose we needed to drop something in the mail and the postman told my husband some good spots to spot the moose. It was so beautiful in the park, in spite of a lot of the roads being closed, I loved it. The postman told us to head over to Antelope Flats and we should see some moose. They weren't there, but we saw a hugh herd of buffalo, probably several hundred. We watched them for a while and of course took many pics, then tried out the Morman Row Road only to find it closed also. Headed back towards town for a bite to eat and then went down Hwy. 22 toward Targhee (sp)National Forest. Ended up driving into Idaho on Hwy 33. Got some beautiful pics of the Snake River and finally we got out of the snow and into some absolutely stunning Aspen, drove thru Driggs to Palisades Lake - another beautiful sight. It was so strange to be in 40 deg. weather and now snow!! Late afternoon we headed back to Antelope Flats when we saw our first moose on Hwy 89. I got so excited I exited the car in my socks (in the snow), then couldn't get my camera to focus (the camera I've had for several years!) Thank goodness, once again my husband had me covered, as he was out snapping lots of shots of the moose with the new camera! I was so excited. Went on to the end (I think) of Antelope Flats, saw another moose and the buffalo. Forgot where we ate that night, but it was very good.

Another wonderful day. God is so great-seeing His creations is just absolutely breathtaking.

Consider yourself very fortunate to see a moose on your first try. It took us 10 years of visiting many different places to see our first moose. Since then we have seen lots -- but depends lots of time on the time of year and right place, right time. Still enjoying your trip report BTW.

I am glad you mention God in your thoughts of wonderful places, as I always feel much the same way.

After 2 nights in Jackson and seeing some of the sights of the surrounding area, it was time to move on. After all, I had waited a lifetime to go 'out west' so I may not get to travel this way again - so we headed out, this time going to Yellowstone - another big adventure awaited us!! We traveled thru the Tetons (on whatever road takes you directly to the south entrance of Yellowstone. Had a lovely drive, but it was snowing the whole way. Several inches had fallen by the time we got to the entrance to Yellowstone. I had made reservations at the cabins at Old Faithful, but they only had one night available. Started into the park, ranger advised snow tires or 4x4 or chains. Since we had a 4x4 thought we would be fine, so we headed on. I don't know how long this road was but to my dear husband, I am sure it seemed like eternity. The road was getting worse and worse. There was very little traffic, so that was a plus!! Felt pretty good about the situation until an ambulance passed us. We went a few more miles and saw the car off the side of the mtn. and found out the road behind us had been closed. The ranger was stopping people trying to come out the way we were going in, and was turning them around. NOthing to do but to do it - so we continued! I think this road was more harier for hubby than the other pass. Maybe it was because we met three more ambulances other than the one that had passed us! I don't know where in the world they came from to get there. Yellowstone must have an ambulance station in the woods is all I could figure.

Finally we got the ranger station at Old Faithful just in time to see Old Faithful do her thing, which was awesome. We were prepared for the cold but I could hardly stand up it was so slick.

We had a decision to make - we only had reservations for one night (thats all I could get). Most roads in the park were closed and they were calling for more snow. It was not exactly what we had wanted to do, because we had planned on staying in the area for 3 nights, but finally my poor humble husband HAD HAD ENOUGH! He wanted out of the snow and wanted to head SOUTH! We spent the day in Yellowstone and saw what we could see. Saw some of the hot springs, mud pots, etc and lots of animals. My husband checked at the ranger station once again, all exits were closed except for the West and they were calling for lots more snow. What a day it had been. I spent some more time praying as we drove along that road into the park, sometimes not wanting to look at where we were going, but had to because it was so beautiful. Reluctantly we cancelled our reservation for the night and headed out the west exit, saw buffalo, coyotes and elk on the way out.

Drove to West Yellowston, stayed at a lovely hotel with bears climbing on the post, had a wonderful meal at "The Outpost", finished it off with rubarb and strawberry pie and ice cream and turned in for the night. We had actually only driven 140 miles that day, but to my dear husband, I'm sure it seemed like 500!! This vacation was all I could have wanted for and dreamed of, and got the snow to boot. I wish we could have spent more time in Yellowstone, but hey, we had more adventure awaiting us any direction we went! God is so awesome, he protected us, and at the same time allowed us to see more of His great beauty. to be cont.

Wow, what an adventure! I didn't notice when you made your trip, but we were in Durango the first week of October and they already had snow in the highter elevations (Silverton, Ouray). It was my understanding that it was early, even for the Rockies.

Looking forward to more!

Many years ago I use to live in Wyoming and always enjoy reading trip reports from people visiting the area. Your report is fun to read; glad you enjoyed it

As you will notice my title "I did it my way". We had two options. We had a route to take to the north and if the weather got to bad we'd head south, so we'll have to save Glacier NP, Mt. Rushmore and Badlands for another time, We knew what we wanted to see in both areas. The northern route would have been less driving, but as I said earlier, my husband loves to drive, so he didn't mind.

We left out of West Yellowstone and headed south. This was our second longest day of driving - we drove all the way to Salt Lake City. We were out of the snow, my husband was SO HAPPY, I had mixed emotions - I loved it!! We stayed at a Best Western that was new and very, very nice. Ate dinner at Candlelight Dinner & Pancakes - great food. This was the least favorite place we visited. I did not care for this city at all, was glad to get out of there. After SLC we headed to the Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats. I've been to a lot of places and seen a lot, but this was really interesting to me. As far as the eye could see nothing but salt. You could see where people had been driving on it and I tried to get hubby to try it. He said probably not only was it illegal, it looked to much like snow. We did walk around on it - I wrote our names with stones. We visited the speedway area. Wasn't much to see or do at Wendover, since we're not gamblers, but hubby had always wanted to see the Speedway, so it was well worth the trip. The next morning we checked out the World War II museum where the Enola Gay was stationed. We spent a couple of hours there. We both really liked it. Some of the original buildings from when it was an air force base. We saw two salt piles, one of them Morton's that looked like mountains. God has indeed blessed us with a great country and we were enjoying see more of His great handiwork.

I'll try to finish this trip report up with another post or two. Sorry it is so long!!!! It was just so much fun, I had to share it!!

Don't be sorry, jfawp. We are all truly enjoying your trip report. Sounds like quite an adventure. Can't wait to hear about your time in southern Utah.

No dilly-dallaying around today, our goal was to get to Zion, with speed limits being 75 and 80 that wasn't hard to do! We got to Kolob Canyon Road around 4:00 and spent the rest of the afternoon in the park from this entrance. We saw the Hurrican Cliffs and Finger Canyons. The aspen were in full fall splendor. It was just truly amazing. The sun setting on the red rock cliffs was just about more than I could stand. I stood amazed. After the sun had set we drove on into Hurrican and stayed at a Travelodge for $44.00 - wow! Hubby walked next door and got us a pizza - yummy! Next morning it was off to Zion for the day after a hearty breakfast (left over pizza for hubby, an orange and apple juice for me!) We did our devotions in the car so we would be surrounded by God's splendor. Having Him as our co-pilot, what more could we need or want! We did the shuttle in the park where you could get off and on. Another awesome day.

Next stop on our journey was Coral Pink Sand Dunes. I loved playing on them!! I'd never seen pink sand before. Checked into a Comfort Inn in Kanab, dinner at Houston's Trail End - great food. Spent 2 nights in Kalab and being only 80 miles from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, I bet you know what we did! Yep, drove there, enjoyed hiking (stolling) along the rim, took a thousand (or seemed like) pics. Would like to stay there sometime, it was so beautiful with all them yellow leaves!!
After 2 nights in Kanab we headed for Byrce Canyon, via Johnson Canyon, saw the site where some of Gunsmoke was filmed, to bad the buildings are in a sad way, hope the owner fixes them up soon! Drove thru parts of Grand Staircase-Escalantie. The dirt road was horrid. Spent 2 days in Bryce, so far my favorite park. We had a little over a week to go and a lot of ground to cover - awesome trip so far!

Keep reporting, glad you're having a great trip and enjoying this fantastic country.

I'm enjoying your lively report but am a little
baffled by you reaction to SLC. I foun it to be
one of the cleanest, well mannered cities I've
visited and I'm not much of a city fan. What was
it that 'turned you off'?

I know we weren't there long enough to explore it like it should be explored, but I had picked up some brochures on coming into the city (or before we got there, can't remember), but it was really full of ads vor bars and clubs, etc, it just wasn't my cup of tea. Around Morman Square and the capitol were beautiful and other areas just didn't appeal to me. I guess going to San Francisco and New York City several times just spoiled me to, or maybe I was just into things of nature this trip I just felt like we were wasting our time there! I was hoping the MTC would be practicing while we were there, but they weren't, would love to experience that.

OK, I know you all are probably tried of reading this 'book', so I'll try to finish up. We visited the other four parks in Utah, spent a day to a day and half in each of them. Did some small hikes and just tried to soak in the beauty of each of them. Took way to many pics, but just couldn't stop. Thank goodness for digital now!

Our next main goal was to see Mesa Verde which we did, after a short visit to 4 corners and the Great Sand Dunes. Saw lots of wildlife going into the sand dunes.

Absoultely loved Mesa Verde. Took the ranger guided trip to Cliff Palace dwellings. Me being 60+, plumb and a desk sitter ALL DAY, wasn't sure I could master that trip, but hubby convienced me I could. It was GREAT. So glad I did it. We worked our way back to Denver, ran into more snow, saw a little more wildlife. Durango was a nice town, enjoyed it. Our next to lasta day we did the Royal Gorge thing, it was fun for a change. It was really cold down in the gorge!

I really wasn't ready to be back in civilization yet, back to the hustle and bustle of lots of cars, and traffic and work, but all good things must come to an end, so our vacation was over.

All in all, we drove 4,000 miles, loved every minute of it. I know this is not a vacation for everyone, but it was just perfect for the two of us. Did we miss a lot, absoultely. Did we see a lot, absolutely. Would we do it again? Over and over, given the chance!! Each vacation has to be suited to the individual planning/going on the trip. By going when we did, we missed the busiest season, got cheaper rates at hotels, missed a lot in the parks because of closures, but we got snow along with our vacation. We had a GREAT TIME. Sorry this report was soooooooo long. I'll try to get a few pics on line later. Maybe our next trip will just be a week at the beach or NYC so the report won't be so long! Signing off now - Jean!

Thanks for the report Jean...no need to apologize for the length...remember we can read it much faster than you can write it. Now that you've been, you can plan a trip to focus on the areas that appealed to you most.

Now is time to plan your next adventure and give us a report on it, this was great. So where will you wander next????

Thanks so much!!!

LCBoniti, forgot to tell you, we were in the worst snow (or best, ever how you look at it) from Oct. 7 to 9th.

This is a great report! Wish you had not shortened it after the Coral Pink Sand Dunes! We armchair travellers are a bit sad!

thanks so much for sharing!

Jean, this was a wonderful report. Greatly enjoyed your descriptions. Thanks for sharing!

You may be experiencing the time crunch of getting back home, but if you ever have the time come back and flesh out the last few stops, I would also love to read them.

O.K., O.K., just thought by now everyone would be tired of me! Coral Pink Sand Dunes, so we had read, is the only place in the world that has this type (color) of sand. I was again amazed at the beauty of it. Our sand dunes on the North Carolina coast are just 'regular' sand, and here were these beautiful coral sand dunes and nowhere near the ocean. How utterly amazing. I hadn't taken a baggie with me on our hike so I couldn't scoop up any. My grandkids will just have to believe the pictures!

We checked into a Comfort Inn in Kanab and spent two nights here. Had dinner at Houston's Trail End.

I was so worried about seeing the Aspen when we first arrived, but we saw so many beautiful Aspen in this area. I just wanted to lay down under the trees and soak up the leaves and the sun, it was just marvelous. We have beautiful fall foliage in N.C., but this was so different, it was so YELLOW! I loved it.

We enjoyed the little town of Kanab, had a lot of history with western movies. Stumbled upon a 'dinner theater' that was using the people eating as the 'stars'. They were having a lot of fun, watched it for a while, just enjoyed town for a while, strolling, looking, did a little shopping. to be cont.

As we headed out of Kanab, as I said earlier, we went thru Johnson Canyon and into the Grand Staircase-Escalantie. The dirt road was horrid, long, bumpy, not very scenic and hubby was getting pretty weirded out by the time we got to civilization again. (We had had a pretty bad experience in L.A. a couple of years ago with such a drive, but that's a whole other story!)

All I can saw about Bryce is "WOW". I thought we had seen beauty already on our trip. It was absoultely breath-taking - the hoodoos (don't ask me, I didn't name them!!) were everywhere, in every size and shape. The sun setting and/or rising put different glows on the rocks. It was just simply awe-inspiring.

We spend the night in Tropic and stayed in this sweet little motel called "Byee's Stepping Stone Motel". It only had 9 rooms, but was so comfy and clean. Spent our second day in Bryce, sent on some of the trails and of course took many, many pics.

We left Bryce via Hwy 12, which as we learned is classified as "an all American Highway". It was amazing to see how the teraine changed from mile to mile. At one point we were at 9,100 feet elevation. The drive to Torrey was simply beautiful, passed a lot of Aspen groves, saw deer and wild turkey along the way. Another great day of viewing God's magnificant earth, couldn't wait for Capitol Reef.

I think after Bryce, I thought I might be disappointed in anything else we might see. WRONG! Capitol Reef was just as lovely. Again many, many rock formations. Each one distinctly different from the one before, and yet so close together. We visited the Gilford farm house, heard about some of the history of this family, saw some cliff writings and drawings, that really amazed us, as these were the first we had seen, etched into the red stone. We only spent one FULL day at Capitol Reef, could have stayed much longer in all of the parks, but we were on a mission!! Next in line - Arches National Park.

I love your trip report! Reading your description of driving Highway 26 is EXACTLY how I felt driving Highway 550 from Durango to Ouray two Christmases ago. Hubby and I were on the winding mountain road at night with snow blowing up the side of the mountain and over our truck. SCARY!!! We never actually made it into Ouray - the road had been closed due to an avalanche TWO WEEKS before - so our final stop on that route was Silverton. Never have I been so glad to see a town's lights! But I agree with you - the joy is in the adventure. As trecherous a drive as we made, I can look back on it fondly.

Your right, mikes girl - adventurous trips make for many fond memories! Arches National Park was equally beautiful with over 2,000 natural arches, I guess one could spend a week here and not see them all. We saw many and walked to several of them and of course pictures, pictures and more pictures. We also saw some mines here. Walked to them,but they had bars across the front so you couldn't go in.

We stayed in Moab at another Motel 6, hoping to find another one as nice as the one in Jackson, but no such luck. on checking in, 'unpacking' and resting for a bit, we found out the toilet was stopped up. Front desk offered hubby a plunger or another room!! He looked so funny coming up the hall with a plunger in his hand' We ate at Moab Diner that night for dinner. Wasn't anything to write home about, even though I had found in on line at Trip Advisor. By the time this day was over hubby said he had 'seen all the rocks' he wanted to see. Me, I had rock fever!!

A good night's rest cured him of his previous evenings statement and he was ready to go bright and early back into Arches. We were hoping to see some big horn sheep, but none were out and about'

Our next stop was Canyonland National Park. The road going into the park was as pretty as the park itself. We stopped at Newspaper Rock with lots of Indian drawings. That was very moving for me to see.

This was our first bad day of weather with lots of rain. We really couldn't do anything in the park it was raining so hard. We did sit a couple of times and I tried to get a picture of the lightening to no avail.

With Canyonlands we had visited all five National Parks in Utah - wow is all I can say. Utah is one more beautiful state, from the salt flats to the hoodoos to the arches, it just couldn't get much better, but it was time to leave and head back into Colorado. Mesa Verde - here we come!

Wonderful report! Thanks so much for sharing.

Hope you do get to go back and write another great report!!! Maybe you will get to do up Canyonlands a bit more since the rain stopped your adventure.

Thanks so much

Ah, wonderful! Thanks so much for coming back!

Some of us are avid travellers and if we can't be on the road ourselves, we just like to ride along with actual travellers like yourself.

Thanks again!

Mesa Verde - wow what an adventure! The museum here was very informative and we enjoyed it quite a bit. We were both amazed at what the Indians did with what they had to work with. What an inspiration. Now to the fun part. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when we got to Mesa Verde. I hadn't researched it any because our original plans were to go north from Denver,but here we were. The dwellings were beautiful (from a distance) We decided to do one of the ranger tours. The only one still open was the Palace Dwellings, which is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. We signed up for the tour (me with a little hesitation), viewed some more of the park until it was time to meet the ranger. By the time we got to the platform where we were to meet the ranger, I'm thinking "I can't do this!" We were looking waaaaaaaay down at where the dwelling was. I snapping pics of course but all the time I'm thinking, 'self, your over 60 and over weight are you sure you want to do this?' Of course, having a love of adventure, I plunged on. I do not know how many steps we went down, how many cliffs we went around or how many ladders we climbed up and/or down, but we finally were in the dwelling. Absolutely astounishing. How did they do it? This dwelling had 150 rooms. Of course we didn't get to roam freely in them, but to be there. It may have been the high light of our trip. Well, I don't know, everywhere we went was a high light!

We exited a different way and of course it was all up. We climbed 3 or 4 wooden ladders made from poles, plus some steps. My knees were quite weak by the time we got out. Would I ever do that again? You bet'ya bottom dollar I would. It was great.

While it Cortez I discovered we were only 38 miles from Four Corners, so of course we had to go. It's one of those places you go just to say you've been. Other than the drive out being pretty there wasn't much to see. Of course I got my picture standing on the corners of four states. We didn't go on down into New Mexico, will have to save that for another trip!

Our next stop was Durango, wow a town again! It was a nice little town, did a little shopping. Was going to do the railroad trip, but we had missed it. I had read about 2 railroads, one which had 2 trips a day, but this one only had one and it had already left. We ate that night at Fiesta Mexicana. Hubby thought it was great, I never know what to order in a Mexican Restaurant, but it was ok. NExt stop - Great Sand Dunes

I'm enjoying your report. Thanks for continuing with it.

Our trip today started on Hwy. 160. Another beautiful drive. Usually when we travel, I get a lot of naps in, but almost everywhere we drove it was just to pretty to nap, so no nap today. We debated all the way there whether to stop at the Great Sand Dunes and as we neared the turn-off I heard the signal light blinking. Yipee! We saw so many mule deer going out I was afraid we'd never get there, but we did. It was another of God's great creations. We saw someone way, way over on top of the dunes, it must have taken them most of the day to get there. We didn't have that much time, but enjoyed them for quite some time before it was time to head out again, seeing more mule deer and this time an antelope and some elk. I was so glad we made that stop.

It was getting dark by the time we headed out, but decided to drive to Pueblo before stopping for the night. We went through another mountain pass and it was snowing again. It had been a couple of weeks since we'd had snow and I was thrilled to see it again.

By now the Aspen were beginning to fade, but oh, how I had enjoyed them. I must have 100 or more pics of Aspen. I just couldn't get enough. If this report wasn't so long I'd tell you a funny story about some dreams I've had on this trip about the Aspen. . . .

Our next stop was Royal Gorge. I thought this was going to be a short stop, but we ended up spending most of the day here. The gorge was beautiful. We walked the bridge, saw the film, road the tram and the other thing that went across the gorge. It was so cold down in the gorge we didn't tarry long. Hubby was a little nervous as we rode over the gorge, but I was just happy to be there!

We got into Colorado Springs to late in the evening to go to Pike's Peak or 7 Falls, they were both closed. Oh well, maybe we'll pass this way again.

We spent our last night in Denver. I know it is a wonderful city, but I was a little homesick for the hills and wildlife. I think we'll have to come back and just spend some time in Denver and Colorado Springs. I was really disappointed in the Mall on 16th St, but after the trip we had just had, I just wasn't into shopping.

We spent our last night going to an IMax theater to see "Where the Wild Things Are".

And that's my trip report (finally)

It was an absolutely amazing and wonderful vacation. This vacation made me stop and think a lot. People (including me) whine and complain about life, hardships, ups and downs, health, wealth and anything and everything else. I think God made our earth so beutiful so sometimes we can just step back and forget all our worries and woes and focus on Him and His creation. We certainly saw God's handiwork in every aspect of our trip, but we can see that same handiwork out our own back door if we only take the time.

That's my trip report. I'll start a new post soon to get some advise on where to start looking for my next trip!! Thanks for all the great comments. Jean

Great report, so glad you had a fantastic trip and can look to making plans for your next trip, return in a different season and hit some of the fantastic places in New Mexico too.

Thanks

This is such a great trip report! I got a bit dizzy trying to follow you zigzagging across the Mountain States! (Just kidding!).

You've inspired me to revisit places long tucked away in memory or places never been to before.

Pictures soon?

Thanks again for sharing!

Just started uploading some of the pics thru Snap Fish. These first ones are of Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. I've never used Snap Fish before. If this works - I'll get some more on here ASAP.

http://www5.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=580534026/a=1214589026_1214589026/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Let me know if you were able to view them. Jean

Wow! GREAT PICTURES!

Got through fine on Snapfish. Had to sign up, but it said that the sharing is free, so no problems there.

Was that the snowstorm you had to drive through?

Waiting for more!