Oh give me a home… where Jim and Joy roam...

Aloha once more, as we continue our road trip through four western states and back home to Alberta. When last I blogged we had reached Lead, South Dakota. And now we turn west.

Buffalo, Wyoming

As we drove west from the Black Hills the scenery changed abruptly from treed and pleasant hills to a landscape of vast stretches of dry basins and treeless plains. Plenty of antelope but no livestock, no farms, no towns, and very few signs of habitation. The craggy hills offered visual relief in the form of sandstone hoodoos and eroded columns. Eagles, hawks and turkey vultures soared in the hot and never-ending desert wind. We were happy to find our next stopover, the town of Buffalo. And it really was just a one-night stop with little time to explore.

The following morning we left early going west on Highway 16 and discovered our brand of heaven. The road climbed quickly to the 9665-foot Powder River Pass and if yesterday was a trial of hot winds and sifting sand, today was our reward. The mountain at the top of the pass has been dated at 3 billion years old; the shale tumbles down from the heights revealing the area’s ancient history. Stunted pines dot the rocky terrain and brilliant moss and lichens cover granite boulders scattered like jacks from a giant’s hand. We hiked up a hillside to the nearest collection of rocks and discovered open views for miles around.

High above the Powder River Pass

This day of discovery wasn’t over. A few minutes later, as we drove down the west side of the pass we spotted a structure high on a promontory off to the south. A small sign directed us to the St. Christopher Chapel so we turned off the highway, crossed a cattle guard and slowly made our way along a dirt trail. It was soon obvious that the building we saw wasn’t the chapel; another trail led off to the right. So we continued along, over another cattle guard and followed the steadily climbing trail through a herd of cows and calves and slowly approached the cliffs on the top of which our goal perched. We found a small parking area at the head of a hiking trail and a sign describing the CCC fire spotting station above. The hike was moderately easy, the trail winding through a forest of pine trees and boulders as it ascended 300 feet. And there it was – a simple wooden building, built in the 1930s with a 360º view, a walkway all around, and air as fresh and clear as the top of Haleakala. It was magnificent.

Open-air St. Christopher Chapel

Back at the bottom of the mountain we turned onto the dirt road leading to the chapel and, after a short walk we discovered a lovely open-air sanctuary with rough-hewn logs for pews, a clever jack fence to keep out the deer, and a stone pulpit. A doe and fawn joined us for a peaceful meditation under the pines.

Thermopolis, WY

The great attraction for me to visit this town was the dinosaur museum. I was curious to see how it compared to the Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, and I wasn’t disappointed. Although much smaller in size, the Thermopolis display seemed more complete, with fossils of every critter from every corner of the world and descriptions to boot. We spent a couple of hours in the museum, then another couple of hours walking the thermal springs boardwalk nearby, and another couple of hours enjoying the monthly Art Walk downtown. I would say we made the most of our day in Thermopolis.

Fossils

Legend Rock petroglyphs

Legend Rock is about five miles off the road from Thermopolis to Cody, and about 500 years away from today. The vivid petroglyphs are outstanding. Just watch out for the rattlesnakes.

The next morning we were headed to Lovell with a stop in Cody. By this time we were about museumed-out, especially museums filled with the utensils and artifacts of yesteryear; you know, the things we still use at the ranch! So we bypassed the Buffalo Bill museum and headed straight to the Buffalo Bill Dam where – as chance would have it – the once-a-year Dam Day was in full swing. The public was invited to go through the gates and down the narrow road to the canyon below where the Shoshone River flowed from the 100-plus year-old dam. This is where the word “awesome” truly fits. Towering cliffs guard this narrow gorge; we were glad it was late afternoon by the time we reached the bottom and the sun was disappearing behind the cliffs. Volunteers from the Cody community had stations set up to hand out iced bottled water and give cart rides back to the top; I took advantage of both!

The gorge below Buffalo Bill Dam, Cody WY

Lovell, WY

Another stop along our route to Billings. We had little time to explore the town, opting for one of our “bed picnics” for supper and getting an early night after a full day of adventure. Lovell is the sugar beet capitol of the area and sports a huge multi-cylinder storage tower at the sugar beet co-operative.

Billings, Montana

Yes, we’ve been to Billings many times before. No, we have no clue how to get around in the maze of streets, one-ways, railroad tracks, interstate highway, overpasses and cloverleafs. In one place, six roads converge under a bridge and only one road escapes on the other side! It isn’t Minot, but it’s close.

As I was checking into the motel Jim phoned his daughter Gillan who was due in from Boston that morning with our granddaughters. They had just landed, picked up their rental car and met us for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. It was a fine reunion. They left for their home on the Lazy EL ranch, where we joined them a couple of days later.

Jim enjoys the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings; I enjoy the Marketplace – a 40,000 square-foot antique mall with dozens of individual stalls. During our second day in Billings we parted ways and spent several hours doing our things before meeting for lunch. And we were happy to get out of town the next day.

The Lazy EL Ranch, MT

Michael’s family has owned this sprawling ranch for more than 100 years. It lies in the rolling grasslands just north of Yellowstone and has magnificent views of the northern ranges of the park’s mountains. Charlie Russell was a regular visitor to the ranch in the early 1900s and one of the cabins is named for him and contains many of his paintings, tools and personal items.

View from the living room window, Lazy EL Ranch

We enjoyed one perfect day at the ranch and then the smoke from wildfires in Washington, Idaho and western Montana crept it, hiding the mountains and triggering my asthma. I ventured out occasionally but the breathing was difficult and the view was nil. The day Michael arrived from Boston the three of us drove back to Billings to pick him up and drop off the rental car. The following day the air cleared a little so we ventured out in the truck for a picnic on the West Rosebud.

Great Falls, Montana

Now THIS is a great town, easy to figure out, drive in, locate places and it offers a casino on every corner. We spent two nights in a funky little motel on 10^th Avenue South (the main thoroughfare from points east, north and south) and made several trips around the town, including a drive along the Missouri River.

Did you know the “great falls” of Great Falls was really a series of five falls, none of them large but all of them an impediment to river travel. 

Lethbridge, Alberta

It’s always a relief to be back in Canada. Of course, it’s always wonderful to be back home on Maui as well. I guess it’s the border crossings that give me the willies. At any rate, we left Great Falls early in the morning and by noon we were crossing into Canada at Coutts. About an hour later we were checking into the Quality Inn in Lethbridge. Now, if you ever have reason to overnight in this southern Alberta city, I recommend you stay at the Quality Inn. It wasn’t just the fine buffet breakfast included in the price, or the proximity to the casino, or even the iced bottled water in the lobby. But when the gal told Jim she was serving chocolate cake and cookies in the lobby at 7:30 that did it – they have us hooked for life.

Yes, the mountains have had their first covering of snow.
This is the view from our house at the Webster Ranch.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

All good trips come to an end. We had a great time, meandering through the West, crossing the Lewis & Clark trail many times, visiting the haunts of Custer and Crazy Horse, discovering ancient sites and historic places. We had no schedule and no set route. Try it; you’ll like it.

We have another couple of weeks in Alberta before flying home to Maui. The past three months of summer have disappeared into memories of fishing, travelling, reunions and family gatherings. There’s more to come and I’ll make one more entry at the end of our trip.