Saturday - Trip Date Time 20090620 2:52PM MST - We have returned from our errands in Cody, including updating the blog, we have gotten our ice cream treat, again, I have now finished putting captions on the multitude of scenic drive pictures so I can upload them next time I have access to the associated Web Album and mountain man Bruce has succeeded in cutting more wood for the fire that he now has burning merrily (although I must say that looking out the window indicates we may be in for quite a rain storm soon). Tonight's couture cuisine will take us to the Far East - Thai Green Curry with Chicken and I hope to end the evening with a video or book or maybe get out the machine because I did get myself a kit that could be completed very quickly. It is all cut, the edges are already ragged and even the batting is ready- so all I have to do is - Do It!! What a novel idea- finishing something I start. The best part about this one is no binding, no backing, no quilting after; it is all finished when you sew everything together. Yea! If, and that is a pretty big if, I get started with it tonight, pictures will be forthcoming as soon as it is done. Uh oh, here comes the rain, better get up and get the windows shut and the chairs under the awning. Poor fire, I doubt very much you will survive this onslaught.
OK , it is now Thursday - Trip Date Time 20090625 8:09PM MDT - and guess what, no I did not start that quilt so of course I didn't finish it either. We are in ARCO, ID , drove today thru Yellowstone and then down to ARCO which is 66 mi west of Idaho Falls, ID on US 20. The drive was lovely, we left very early this morning, went to Buffalo Bill State Park to dump are tanks and then hit the road for Yellowstone. Based on the time it took us to get into the park and even just see some of the sites on Wednesday, we knew we would have problems if we didn't leave early. It still took us over 3 hours to do the 95 miles from the east gate to the west gate of Yellowstone at a maximum speed of 45 mph- but much of the time we were going much slower. And of course the animals have priority so if there is a herd of bison in the road- too bad- and we had to stop several times and just wait as people stopped in the middle of the road to take pictures. On Wednesday we spent the day in Yellowstone- and I want you to know- there were way too many people for us. Just to try to see the sights at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone was a disaster. They have opened a new road on the north rim, and it was mobbed- so my pictures are few and far between. I can tell you - I want that park all to myself- so we will never be here again in the summer or even the near summer.
So what have we been doing all this time since Saturday, well- we enjoyed Sunday at the camp, we moved The Beast to a new site on Monday and Tuesday we did laundry and had lunch at Zappatos, a New Mexican Mexican place. Then we rode out to Valley along the South Fork (of the Shoshone I think) and enjoyed the wonderful scenery in the area. Wednesday was Yellowstone and today- well you now know where we are today. I don't think I have done all my pronunciation here either- Shoshone is 2 long o's and the last e is silent (boy have I been saying it wrong) - but I think that is the river and maybe some of the park info- the Indian tribe pronunciation is with the long e on the end. Wapiti has the emphasis on the Wap (with a short a), with the first I short and sounding like "it" and the final I sounding like a long e so it would be Wop'- it - e. It means Elk in Cree. Here is something really interesting- did you know that in Europe the animal called an Elk is similar to the North American moose. The North American moose is the largest in the family of deer and the Wapiti or North American Elk is the second largest.
So you ask, what is in ARCO. Well, one of the reasons we are here is that it is on the way to Craters of the Moon National Monument. Additionally, right outside of the Idaho National Laboratory where EBR-1 is located. EBR-1 (Experimental Breeder Reactor) is a decommissioned (1964) research reactor and was the first nuclear power plant to produce electricity in 1951. It is now a National Historical Landmark. We intend to tour it tomorrow or Saturday and then have a go at Crater of the Moons National Monument and walk the trails, if it doesn't get to awfully hot. This time we are staying in a private campground- Mountain View RV Park. It is very nice, affordable and includes 2 fee breakfast each day of coffee, pancakes and eggs. Can't beat that with a stick- I don't have to cook and we can say it is part of the cost of the campgrounds when I detail how we spent our money. We have a nice, partly shady spot, with picnic table, trees for shade and a grill (which we will never use). It has water, electricity, sewer, free Wi-Fi, nice bathrooms with private showers, a laundry room, miniature golf and other things I am sure. Who knows- we may stay longer than our 3 nights.
Well - I will post this as our update and then add some pictures tomorrow so come back and catch up with all of the pics once I get them on the web
