SEEING NATURAL WONDERS

September 30 - October 4 

Harry and I were able to take a drive through some of the beautiful areas of the world that are, ...as Jake would say, ..."in our own backyard."   After dropping off the payroll checks in Hagerman, we headed to Arco, Idaho and did some hiking at Craters of the Moon.  The lava fields of the park speak of geological events that are hard to imagine.  It is a landscape that is both beautiful and eerie.

Before the day was over, we arrived at Yellowstone National Park, where we had a room at the historic Old Faithful Inn.  At dusk we were able to watch the geyser "Old Faithful" erupt from the comfot of the balcony of the hotel.

 

We spent the next two days doing a pretty thorough exploration of the park.  It was a great time of year to visit, because the leaves on the trees were just beginning to show beautiful fall colors, and the park was not crowded at all!  We saw hundreds of buffalo, a few deer, a wolf, trumpeter swans, and more.

 

We saw geysers, lakes, meadows, green forests, charred forests, canyons, streams, and waterfalls.

We left the park in the northeast corner and worked our way to Cody Wyoming, where we toured the Buffalo Bill Historic Center, a museum with five wings featuring 

1)the life of Buffalo Bill, 

2)exhibits outlining the story of the Plains Indians, 

3)exhibits featuring the wildlife and plants of the region, 

4)display of guns, guns, and MORE guns, 

5)a collection of western art. 

Harry really liked seeing all the guns.  I liked seeing the artwork the most.

The next day we re-entered Yellowstone from the East and drove through the park, 

heading west, then south to exit the park and to enter the Grand Teton National Park.  

More Beauty!

Our final stop was Jackson Hole Wyoming.  Harry had been there before, but this was my first time in Jackson Hole, even though it is not too far from home.  We realized how close we were to home when we ran into the local vet, Patrick Jones, and his family there!

We really enjoyed this trip!  Most of our recent travel plans have taken us out of the country on much more elaborate and complicated adventures.  But we learned that truly beautiful things are conveniently close-by.

Before signing off on this post, I want to share this photo of my previous trip to Yellowstone National Park.

The family looks a little different back in 1978!!!