9-1 thru 9-4, 2014 at Jean and Bills

We routed thru Yellowstone Park from the east end -- looping north and out the west end and on to daughter Jean and Bill's home near Ennis, MT.  We had never been there and finally can envision all that she had been describing to us. Their place is beautiful, much larger than we had expected.  Beautiful mountains everywhere and a development here is like 6-10 acre plots or much more, nothing like the city. 

They have pigs named Breakfast, Lunch and supper. Hmmmmm? There's chickens too, but none named that I know of except I heard reference to Henpecked. 

The Madison River meanders all around here and is Nationally known for fly fishing, but I just don't get the idea of catch and release. I'd rather catch and eat. 

We had supper at the Blue Moon Restaurant 2 nights and I can attest to some of the best macaroni and cheese ever and fantastic ribs. Mexican is great too!  Their salsa is ALMOST as good as Homer's and the best of any restaurant made ever. 

Homer and I browsed Virginia and Nevada City on Tues. A very interesting and historic area that I would highly recommend if you're in the area.  The first ever female black woman owned a utility company - or water company at Virginia City. She originally had been a slave and came west after the Civil War. She ended up owning a building where 5 "alleged" criminals previously were hung on her rafter.  I like how they used the word alleged. :-(

We took the "adventurous" 2 track road back to Jean's. I wanted Homer to turn around at one point, but we kept going and made it.  There had been some rain days previous and the washboard and potholes were nasty in spots, but beautiful scenery everywhere. 

On Wednesday we visited the Earthquake Lake Visitor Center near Gallatin Nat'l Forest and saw a short movie about the history of how 28 people lost their lives on Aug. 17th of 1959 when an earthquake made the earth crack and drop and made part of the mountain avalanche on top of campers below. The wind gust was 100 mph due to the dropping of land and air pressure and is said to have ripped the clothes off many survivors. Just can't imagine this. It also created the lake. There are several good books on this and I'd like to read up on it. 

Check this link:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quake_Lake

Below is a picture of part of the earth avalanche.  I believe the quake was 7 plus on the Richter Scale. Huge boulders had dropped on many tents and cars and campers near this area and the roads were ripped to shreds. Helicopters had to come to the rescue the next day. 

The survivors were injured and confused and made it up to a high point now known as Refuge Point, as they were told the dam burst - but luckily it held. This is where Jean took Homer and I for a hike - 2.4 miles and I did the whole thing as it was not steep or Rocky. 

Jean gave me training on bear spray as we were both prepared. Homer was not obliging so we would have protected him I'm sure. Ha!  See my spray canister hanging on my belt. 

Then returning home, of course we snaked around and went past some talc mines, or is it talcum?  Think twice next time you powder your nose (or feet) or it's used in a myriad of other concoctions. 

En route home we saw three Golden Eagles. Sooo cool, but my phone wouldn't pick them up, but Jean had her telescopic lens - so I hope she got some good ones. 

I hate heights and wouldn't back up any further!

There's free roaming cattle everywhere. and we hear that cattle rustling is gaining popularity with the price of meat. So sad. 

As of now, we 're camped at Wally World (Walmart) in Rock Springs, Wyoming and I always sleep great in their lots. We can't remember seeing so many campers at a Walmart.  I always amaze Homer that I can sleep thru the rumbling of engines and refrig systems, but can 't tolerate a fly buzzing or a clock ticking.  Excuse typos as spell check can make up some crazy words. Night!