Day 64 / Last Day of Spring Road Trip 2012

The Columbia River Gorge

Home at last.
We departed Arlington, OR around 10:00 am and after a short stop in Portland for Starbucks and  Krispy Kreme donuts (a last fling I guess) we arrived home at 1500 hours.
I am so happy to be home, but it was a great trip, don't tell them I said that though.
We were gone 64 days and drove around 8000 miles. We were able to visit with some friends and with family. We even met some other nice people along the way.  We also got to see some great ballparks and eat a whole bunch of hot dogs, peanuts and cracker jacks.  Dad was able to add seven more ballpark pennants to his collection and Mom got to add seven more jerseys to her closet. They also got to cross something off their bucket list (seeing all 50 states).
Here are some of my observations and remember I'm just a cat.

Favorite State: Tennessee (same as last year)
Favorite Military Campground: Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs 
Favorite Civilian Campground: West Yellowstone, MT
Best Roads: Minnesota and Oregon
Worst Roads: Michigan
Favorite Attraction: St Louis Arch
Favorite Ballpark: Comerica Park, Home of the Detroit Tigers (love those big cats)
       a close second goes to Wrigley Field in Chicago just because it's Wrigley
Favorite Baseball Town: Denver, Colorado
Favorite Ballgame:  Cincinnati Reds over the Washington Nationals, walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth  (even though it took 10 hours)
Least Favorite Ballpark:  US Cellular Field, Home of the Chicago White Sox   (I mean Mom   
         didn't even buy a jersey)
Best Weather: Detroit, MI
Worst Weather: St Louis, MO   ( golf ball size hail and a tornado evacuation, what do they expect?)


Cost of Fuel : $2800
Cost of campgrounds : $1250
Cost of ballpark tickets :   Dads not talking
Cost of Moms jerseys : Priceless

Well that's it for me until these people I live with drag me off on another one of their adventures 
Meow

The RLB Happy Face

My Happy Face

Day 63 / Spring Road Trip 2012

Only 500 miles away from home. Actually 534 but if I get that close I'll walk the rest of the way if I have to.
We said goodbye to our friends Klaus and Char and departed Garden Valley, ID at 10:00. Dad had wanted to leave at 0900 but Mom and Char were still talking (no surprise there) so we got a late start.
The goal was to make it to Pendleton, OR and stay at the Wild Horse Casino. Mom wanted another shot at hitting the big one.
We drove along the Payette River which is beautiful and a great place to do white water rafting. We also went by the Black Canyon area. Before I knew it we were in Oregon. Somewhere along the way we found one of those hours we lost on our way out so that is when I finally had to put my paw down.
Time to suck it up, put the pedal to the metal and keep driving.
We ended up in Arlington, OR. which is where Dad used to tie up on the Bluebell. Nice place but he forgot to tell us about the trains that go by and blow their horns almost hourly all night long. It could be payback for that long drive but it is worth it because we will be home tomorrow one day sooner than planned.
I'll catch up on my sleep then.

Along side the Payette River

Black Canyon Dam



The Columbia River at last

Campsite at Arlington, Or (train central)

Day 62 / Spring Road Trip 2012

Today was a day of rest and boy did I need it.
Dad went golfing with Klaus, his coast guard friend, and he even got the got the highest score. Mom spent the day chatting with Char. I didn't know people could talk that much. It made me tired just listening to them. Mom and Char went shopping in Crouch (yeah that is really the name of a town). They only have one store there but Mom managed to find something to buy.  So what else is new?
This place is really nice. It is up in the mountains of Idaho and it is so peaceful. Mom took me on at least four walks and I smelled every blade of grass.  She was very patient with me. There were deer and quail running around everywhere. It was great. I love it up here.

Mom and Char

Klaus and Char

Day 60 & 61/ Spring Road Trip 2012

The last state till home 

Idaho, land of the famous Idaho Potato.
We departed West Yellowstone at 0930 en route to somewhere in Idaho. Dad didn't have a plan on where we were headed but as long as it was west then I wasn't going to complain. We were just vagabonds on the road going where the wind blows us. As it turns out it practically blew us back to Montana. We had wind and rain most of the day until we finally set anchor in Twin Falls, Idaho. We stayed at Rock Creek State Park and I'm not kidding when I say we were the only ones there. Maybe they knew something we didn't like the fact that there were marmots running around all over the place and some of them were bigger than a Tennganese Booney Cat.
The next morning we headed up to the Garden Valley area of Idaho to visit with some old Coast Guard buddies of Mom and Dads. We are going to spend a couple of nights there so they can swap sea stories.
They really are dragging this vacation (?) out.

The long road out of Idaho

Maury the Marmot

Following the Snake River

The Payette River

Somewhere around Garden Valley

Day 58 & 59 / Spring Road Trip 2012

Montana, Big Sky Country. Land of cowboys, cattle and horses. Time to giddyup.
We left Billings, heading west to Bozeman then south on Hwy 191 to West Yellowstone. To get here we drove through the Gallatin National Forest and also Yellowstone National Park for a short while. There were signs warning us about bison on the roadway but unless they were driving in a car there weren't any. Bummer. Dad said he wanted to pet one and I would have liked to have seen that.

Dad and me on a walk

We are setting up camp just outside of town at a place on Hebgan Lake at the base of the Gravelly Mountains. Nice campsite but no bison here either.
West Yellowstone is right on the Montana/Wyoming border and is at the west entrance into Yellowstone Park, which is as close to the Park that I got. At least I got a picture of the sign. We then drove into town and checked it out and finally found bison. Of course they were all made of fiberglass or metal. Oh well,  back to camp and marshmallow roasting and the placing of the final state sticker.

The Crazy Mountains

The Gallatin River

Our campsite

As close as I got



Bison at last

  

Day 57 / Spring Road Trip 2012

Wyoming

Wyoming, The Equality State.  All things being equal I like this part of Wyoming way better than I liked the southern part. What a difference. Beautiful mountains, lots of lakes and a bazillion trees.
We broke camp and saddled up just after sunrise ( to be honest it was really around 9:00 am). We headed west for awhile and then went northwest with great views of the Bighorn Mountains all along the way.  We stopped for grub at a little outpost called Starbucks in Sheridan, WY. After that it was a short ride into Montana. This is Crow Country, but I didn't see a single crow.
We went by the Little Bighorn Battlefield where Col. George Armstrong Custer  fought the Cheyenne, Sioux and Lakota Indians in what in now known as Custers Last Stand. He lost.
We laid our bedrolls down in Billings, Mt where we found another chuckwagon for chow called Famous Daves Bar B Que. I love this western stuff.   

The Bighorn Mountains



Fort Custer



The Little Bighorn River

Day 56 / Spring Road Trip 2012

Sundance, Wyoming

The Kid

This morning we toured downtown Sundance. It didn't take us long although Dad did manage to find a museum to drag us through. Harry Longabaugh aka The Sundance Kid spent 18 months in jail here. I must say Harry is no Robert Redford if you know what I mean. After our Sundance tour we drove 28 miles to Devils Tower.
Devils Tower was proclaimed our nations first national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. That makes Wyoming the home of our first national park (Yellowstone) and our first national monument. The Tower rises 867 feet from its base. Dad wanted to climb it because after all he is an accomplished rock climber since his trip to Rock City but fortunately Mom was able to talk him out of it (when she quit laughing that is). It has been around for about 50 million years and I must say it is pretty impressive to see. On our way out of the park we saw hundreds of prairie dogs but not a single prairie cat anywhere.
We then drove to a little town called Aladdin, population 15, where we had lunch. Well Dad had lunch Mom had a hot fudge sundae.  Must have worked up an appetite on that one mile walk around the Tower.

The Sundance jail

Mom and The Sundance Kid

Devils Tower

Mom playing squaw

My friend the Prairie Dog

The Devils Tower