Tag Archives: driving

North America, USA, Yellowstone

Wyoming: The Road Kill State

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I don’t even know where to start with this entry. Maybe with some photos…

After we had driven through miles and miles of corn fields in Montana, the scenery in Wyoming was a welcomed change. Luckily, we managed to take the scenic route to Devil’s Tower which made a lot of difference. Most of these shots were taken from a moving vehicle, so don’t be too sad if they’re off kilter.

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We drive major highways all the time. Every day. Hwy 1, Hwy 5, Hwy 16, Hwy 97, etc etc. Even including all the driving in other countries, the number of times I’ve seen road kill prior to this trip is probably less than 20. In Wyoming, that number is probably about 1500, and I’m not exaggerating. Why the hell is there so much road kill on the I-90? So disheartening.

Bet you really wanted to know this—in many States and Provinces it is legal to collect and eat road kill. Seriously. Animals are collected (if they’re not too smashed up) and distributed to churches, soup kitchens etc to make meals. People can keep the meat they find; different rules apply in different areas though. I suppose it makes sense? At least you know how and where the road kill happened to be if you’re the one who hits it? Is it really different than hunting game? The animal is still being killed, just with a vehicle, not a conventional weapon? But somehow I don’t think I’ll be trying roadkill stew any time soon.

Wikipedia even has a nutritional values chart. Yummy.

North America, USA, Yellowstone

Yellowstone to Cody

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Yellowstone SunsetEarly evening on day 3 of the trip we left Yellowstone through the East Entrance. We drove through the Shoshone National Forrest and ended up in Cody, WY for the night.

Cody is a small place just under 10 square miles (25km²) with a population of almost 9000. AND, the Walmart is open 24/7. How is this physically possible? We have more than 10 times the population and Walmart still closes at 10pm. I guess the demand just isn’t happening here!

How is this even necessary?!
How is this even necessary?!

And, the other difference, try not to vomit, you read that correctly. FIFTY! Who needs 50 McNuggets?!? (FYI: I’m willing to bet a 10 piece meal here is almost that much.)

Walmart and Nuggets aside, I really enjoyed Cody. It was an immaculate little town–so clean and beautifully landscaped. Before we shipped off to our next destination we went to the Buffalo Bill Historical Centre. (Not the “It rubs the lotion on its skin” Buffalo Bill, just so we’re clear!)

Cody is actually named after William Frederick Cody aka Buffalo Bill. Wild West history isn’t really something I’m into or very well informed of, but Buffalo Bill seems like a hip dude for his day. He worked for the Pony Express. He was against slavery, he was for women’s suffrage, he fought for the rights of American Indians. He also wanted equal pay for equal work. He fought in the Civil War. And though he hunted buffalo, (that’s how he got his famous nickname) he also supported conservation. That’s pretty forward thinking for the times I’d say.

I for one say let us give our women absolute freedom and then it will do for us to talk about freeing other nations…I believe in Women Suffrage…I’m not one of the kind that think that God made woman to do nothing but sit at home in the ashes and tend to babies…if a woman can do the same work that a man can do and do it just as well she should have the same pay.
                                                                                                    —W.F. Cody

Buffalo Bill Historical Centre Cody WyomingThe Historical Centre is actually 5 museums in one. In addition to Yellowstone history, Plains Indians history, Western Art and Buffalo Bill history, there is a huge fire arms exhibit. I’ve never seen so many guns in my entire life.

Stay tuned for Devil’s Tower…
Happy Travels,
~j
ps: Cody has a Dug Up Gun Museum. That’s just crazy. No, we didn’t visit.
North America, USA, Yellowstone

Roosevelt Arch & Mammoth Hot Springs

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Roosevelt ArchThe night before our first day in Yellowstone we stayed in Gardiner, MT. In the morning, we entered through the Roosevelt Arch at the North Entrance. President Roosevelt laid the corner stone in 1903. The inscription is a quote from the Organic Act of 1872 that basically states the park cannot be sold, settled or occupied, and that it is set aside as a public space for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. Once through the gate we were in Wyoming, and ready for our Yellowstone adventure.

Yellowstone National ParkPresident Grant signed the bill declaring Yellowstone as America’s first ever National Park in 1872. The army served as park administration until a National Park Service was established in 1916. The NPS are still managing the conservation and preservation of the park. There are still army barracks in the park and several museums to celebrate the park’s history. Really, we weren’t too keen on the museums. Some of them are kind of ridiculous. Who needs to see a museum of the Park Ranger? (I imagine exhibits like in 1920 they wore green hats, and in 1940 they switched to beige. Seriously, we didn’t check it out.)

From prior research, I knew Yellowstone was going to be geothermal insanity, I just didn’t realize exactly how much we would see. Obviously everyone thinks “Old Faithful” when they hear Yellowstone, but there are more than 10,000 features in the park. There are steam vents, fumaroles, bubbling mud pots, hot springs, and lots of geysers. An astounding half of the earth’s geothermal features are in Yellowstone. We took loads of photos that don’t necessarily do the park justice. Sure the colours are beautiful, but if you can’t smell the stench of sulphur, or hear the water hissing out of the ground you won’t receive the full effect. (Be happy you can’t smell the sulphur!)

We covered all of the parks roadways making our way from the North Entrance down through Norris and Madison to Grant Village on day one. The first feature we saw was Mammoth Hot Springs. The natural terraces are formed by mineral deposits left behind by the flowing water. There trail is limited to wooden walkways that are built to protect the structures created by the hot springs, but also to protect the visitors. Some places in the park there is a very thin crust over scalding hot water, and people can be scalded or even boiled to death if they stray off the walkways.

Here are some photos from our stop at Mammoth Hot Springs.
Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone
Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone
Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone
Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone
Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone
Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone
North America, USA

Montana: The Heathen State

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i90logoMontana has some weird stuff going on. If you drive through Montana on the I-90 you’ll notice that there are a bunch of liquor stores, gun stores, pawn shops, porn shops, and casinos. The road-side billboards are all advertising those same things.  Apparently the license plate slogan should be “The Heathen State” not “The Treasure State.”  Who knew?

In Butte, the billboards aren’t any better than the establishments because they’re all about Meth. I suppose this is all fairly typical of a mining community, or any other small town that is highly independent on one industry (oil, lumber, coal, etc). Apparently the anti-meth campaign has been extremely successful though. The billboards definitely have an impact; I’m a few thousand km away and still thinking about them. My favourite one we saw: “Before Meth I had a daughter, now I have a prostitute.” Billboards and Montanan pass times aside, there were some great finds…

Evel Knievel DaysLike Evel Knievel Days! Who knew that Evel Knievel was from Butte, Montana?!? I’m only sad we weren’t there in July when all the stunts were going down. That would have been classic. There were helium stars and stripes balloons lining the street along with placards hanging from lamp posts to honour this home town hero. At some point in his career Evel Knievel wanted to jump his motorbike across the Grand Canyon, but never did. He did jump 13 Pepsi Trucks though. FYI: His bike is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. Don’t think I’ll be making a special trip there to see it, but if I happen to be in the neighbourhood you never know.

Our Lady of the RockiesThe other find, not much of a symbol of Americana, but also in Butte–Our Lady of the Rockies. (ps: I don’t know how we manage to find so much Catholic iconography on our travels, but we do.) The statue caught our eye from when we were checking out the historic district. Now, thanks to google, I know what it is all about. Here’s a little recap: Our Lady of the Rockies is almost as tall as the Statue of Liberty. Bill O’Bob built the statue for his wife after he promised the Virgin Mary he would build a statue if his wife recovered from her battle with cancer. When she recovered, and the statue was built to honour women everywhere. Another interesting fact–Our Lady of the Rockies sits atop the Continental Divide which we crossed several times during the trip. Stay tuned for the next entry of our exciting I-90 adventure.

Happy Travels,
~j

 

North America, USA

Half Mast

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Our first actual day in the US was September 11th.

Not that I wouldn’t have remembered the sombre significant day had I been in Canada, it just had more impact actually seeing the actions of the people. There were flags everywhere–which isn’t unusual for Americans to display, but I mean they were EVERYWHERE! 99% of them were at half mast. Businesses had messages on their communication boards. Homes had flags and messages in windows or on fences. Service men and women were hanging banners and flags on over passes. All of these things really acknowledged a shared sense of grief.

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing during the 9-11 attacks, as I’m sure all of you do too. I was working at the resort, and we found out during morning check-in for rafting. There was no radio, no news paper, no TV, no nothing, just panicked phone calls asking if we were o.k. We were in the middle of nowhere in BC along a major river/transportation route, and there was a 3rd plane missing. Looking back, I think it is odd that people, random people at that, thought we would be in any danger at all.  A super tiny Canadian village or the Pentagon, there is no contest really, but that is how panicked everyone was.

I didn’t see the actual footage until later that evening. Thinking of it now is still upsetting.

US Flags line the street
We Remember
North America, USA, Yellowstone

Finally!

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I’ve finally finished the Peru/Mexico entries as far as I can tell, and can move onto Yellowstone. Luckily we just got back yesterday. We made the 5175km (3215 mile) round trip in 7 days. First I have to say that I’m lucky that we’re not a couple that turn into ragers when in a vehicle. We have compatible, not identical, music preferences, and using a GPS saves a lot of map frustration! The little camperized van we took for the trip was awesome. My only advice to you is not to sit on the South side of the vehicle if you’re constantly driving East. My right arm is slightly charred.

In the seven days we visited a lot of places along the way. We stopped a lot, for the most part in Grand Coulee Dam, Spokane, Butte, Bozeman, Livingston, Gardiner, Yellowstone National Park, Cody, Devil’s Tower National Monument, Thermopolis, and Grand Teton National Park. And now we’re home in one piece. I’ll start with the photo entries soon.

ps: I heart my new camera so much it isn’t even funny!

 

British Columbia, Canada, North America

Zippy Zip

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Beautiful British ColumbiaFor something to do at the end of August, we went to Whistler for Ziptrek. We’d been talking about going for a while, and then finally had the opportunity. Ziptrek was AWESOME! I took some video, but can’t find the memory card; when I do, I’ll post it.

I hadn’t been to Whistler for a couple years, so seeing the changes that were made for the Olympic village was kind of sweet. There was some construction going on in the main village, and the fence/screen was all photos from the Olympics, which reminded me of how fun Vancouver was for those couple weeks.

The campground we stayed at was great. The outhouses looked like normal outhouses, but had flush toilets, sinks with running water and hand soap in them which was rather posh compared to most campgrounds–not that I’m complaining! We stopped at some Provincial Parks and did some short trails along the way. We ended up visiting Nairn Falls and Brandywine Falls. Both were super pretty. On the way home we drove through Squamish on the Sea to Sky (which I also hadn’t seen since the Olympic improvements). All in all a fun weekend. Gotta love spontaneous weekend road trips.

Happy Travels,
~j

Mexico, North America

Is my forehead red?

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At the airport waiting for the flight home. Should be back in Vancouver in 11 hours and home in about 15 or 16. Today we took the metro to the historic center of Mexico City. (ps: the Mexican Metro is set up the same as the French Metro. Easy peasy!). We visited an archaeological site that basically shows 7 different evolutions of the buildings and the people that lived in them.

It is kinda crazy when you can see what the modern day buildings are built on top of. Yesterday we ended up taking a bus to Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan is an interesting place but most of it is scorched earth with no shade. (kind of like The Kumsheen Resort in the pre-pool/pre-air conditioning days) Not a good day to forget the sunscreen! Oops!

I would have enjoyed the site a lot more if there weren’t so many touts and chatzski sellers trying to sell their crappy crap to me every second step.  So annoying!

The bus ride on the way there should have been a good indication of what to expect. For the hour long drive there the driver kept picking up people selling ice cream, candy, cold drinks etc. And then he picked up Mexican Stevie Wonder who serenaded us for about 20 minutes. Jon took some good video. (NB: Video to be added after we get home. I’m not that technologically advanced when we’re on the road!)

The bus ride home was 2/3 the price of the one there and I’m guessing there was some sort of deal for standing room only.  We are still alive, so no worries. Maybe Greyhound should look into new pricing policies?

More on the bus system later friends, must go find Squatzi some more clothes.
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Peru, South America

Where to begin?

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It seems like we have been on vacation for way longer than 11 days! That might sound like a bad thing, but we’ve just done so much in a short period of time. Right now we are sitting on the top floor of a super plush Cruz del Sur bus on the way back to Lima. There is some silly movie playing and the bus steward is offering us Inca Kola and Coca Cola. We are pretty much sitting in recliners and watching TV. But outside the window is either ocean or one tiny little super poor village after another.

Peru has been very odd that way. The contrast between city and village and have and have not is huge. Don’t get me wrong; this country is amazing. The sense of pride the people have here is incredible. The little kids we’ve seen practically run to school (and some on horribly treacherous roads!) And, they’re all in perfect little uniforms too! As if kids are that happy to go to school in Canada, let alone take care of their things as well!

It definitely gets you thinking about what to appreciate.

So in no particular order:

1. Safe, clean water (hot or cold) right out of a tap. There were people carrying water jugs in Cusco. Cusco is a huge city.

2. Bob Barker. There is something to be said for spaying and neutering pets. Cusco was FULL of dogs. Dogs barking all night. Dogs everywhere. Dogs dogs and more dogs.

3. The ability to flush toilet paper. Putting toilet paper in the garbage can beside the toilet is just weird.

4. Food Safe & Refrigeration. I am sure we are anal in Canada, but I can’t get over eggs and meat just being out in the air. Seriously there were eggs on display in the super market register lane yesterday. Like sitting out with the gum and chocolate bars.

5. Building codes and inspectors. Mike Holmes would explode here. There is a tax loop hole here that basically makes you tax exempt if you DON’T finish your house. Nothing is finished on the outside. Imagine all the homes in your neighborhood without siding or stucko or gyprock.

Things that are over rated. (Again in no particular order.)

1. Walk signs. Just cross when there is space. Cars will stop?!?

2. Wet floor signs and orange caution cones. People should be more aware of their surroundings. Here if there is a bump on the side walk there isn’t a watch your step sign, and you can bet that if you fell and hurt yourself you’d get laughed at rather than legally compensated.

3. Pennies. The have ’em here but don’t use them. My change at the supermarket was .08 today and they gave me .10. Yay for rounding!

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Peru, South America

Dio mio!

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Finally on board the train to Machu Picchu and have some down time to actually make an update.

Yesterday was pretty rough, (but not as bad as today.) It was our first day in Cusco and seemed like it was going to be a good weather day. Oh no…it turned to torrential down pour, and then it turned to hail. Bad weather makes for a tough time taking photos and walking around. And, that makes Jon crabby!!

Today we ended up at the Pisac Ruins and wandered around forever. And then the place closed and there were no people to follow around. And then we were lost in some ancient Incan maze of ruins that all look the same. That makes Jill crabby! Jon says it was like a multi-player level gone bad. Long story short a taxi driver saved us from a 15km hike down a treacherous road that was half blocked with an old mudslide.

More on the taxi driver later, Amigos!

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