Monthly Archives: January 2012
Chicken Chili and Mountain Oysters . . .
Today was pretty boring.
After lunch at Jason’s Deli (love their Southwest Chicken Chili!), we did a Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club run and few more things before finally heading home, picking up Chicken Tortilla Soup and Queso & Chips from Monterey’s Little Mexico for dinner later tonight.
Since I posted yesterday about the Top Ten Scenic Drives in the United States, I thought I’d repost our trip along one of them – The Beartooth Highway.
——————————————————————————————————————–
The last time I was at 11,000 feet, I was on a plane . . .
Originally posted on July 31, 2011
We picked up Al and Adrienne about 9 am and then headed down the street to Peter’s Coffee for traveling food, coffee and muffins.
Hitting the road again, our trip took us back up into Montana on SR72 to Belfry (Yes, they have two belfries in town and the football team is called ‘The Bats’) about 50 miles north of Cody.
This was the route we came into Cody on a week or so ago, but luckily today we didn’t have to go far enough north to hit the 11 miles of one lane, gravel road construction we had to go through then.
At Belfry we took a left onto SR308 heading to Red Lodge, MT about 12 miles away. On the way we passed through the small town of Bearcreek, home of the worst coal mine disaster in Montana history.
On February 27, 1943, seventy-seven miners went down into the Smith Coal Mine. After an explosion later that morning, only three came out alive. And beside ending these seventy-four lives, the explosion also ended the local coal mining industry in Bearcreek.
Getting into Red Lodge, we took a bathroom break at the Visitors Center, and then did some shopping along the nice Main St. area.
On one corner was this old bank that’s now a ladies boutique. Waiting for Jan I took a moment to read the plaque on the wall in front.
And, lo and behold, this was a famous bank. On September 18, 1897, the Sundance Kid, Kid Curry, and others of the Wild Bunch attempted “to make an unauthorized withdrawal from the Carbon County Bank.” The “withdrawal” went bad, and after an 80 mile chase, they were captured and returned to Deadwood, SD, where they later escaped again.
Leaving town and heading south on the Beartooth Highway we came across this store selling furniture and art made from juniper trees,
including this neat elk, and even a moose.
Really very nice work.
It didn’t take long for us start encountering the fantastic scenery and multiple switchbacks that the Beartooth is famous for.
This map picture shows just one of many switchback sections that takes you from about 5000 feet to just over 11,000 feet.
WOW!
The higher we got the more snow we saw. And looking at one of the snow fields I thought I saw movement, so zooming in with my camera I saw
this herd of Big Horn Sheep crossing the snow. This was above 9000 feet.
And we just kept getting higher and higher.
When we would think we couldn’t go any higher, we’d look up and see more switchbacks above us.
At one of the pullouts where we stopped to take in the view, we did see this marmot sunning himself on a rock.
Although they kind of look like a beaver or a big guinea pig, they’re actually a type of large ground squirrel.
Cute, though I hear they can be mean.
The views just kept getting better and better.
Finally we reached the namesake of the Beartooth Highway, the beartooth.
See it, it’s right at the tip of the red arrow.
Maybe this close up will help.
We came across a lot of pretty flowers along the way, some of which only grow at high altitudes,
like this Sky Pilot Flower, that only grows above 10,000 feet, and also has a slightly ‘skunky’ smell.
Reaching our 11,000 foot peak, we started back down, with of course, more switchbacks and hairpin turns.
After our 50 mile journey on the Beartooth, we reached SR296 and took a left onto the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway.
This 45 mile section had its own set of switchbacks, although we didn’t get near as high as on the Beartooth.
Finally we merged back into SR120, about 17 miles north of Cody, and headed home, getting back about 4:30.
After dropping Al and Adrienne off at their rig, we all met back at Proud Cut Saloon and Steakhouse for dinner about 5:30.
The steaks were delicious, but more important Jan and I had our first chance to try Rocky Mountain Oysters when Al ordered them as an appetizer. If you don’t know what they are, don’t ask.
First off, they were good, nothing like real fried oysters, which Jan and I love (raw oysters, too). More like fried slices of roast beef.
Actually I think they just prove the old adage that pretty much anything battered and deep fried will taste good.
After a great meal, Al and Adrienne came back to the rig to check out Jan’s Amish rug, and then we talked a while.
Finally, after saying our goodbyes and getting in our last hugs, they headed back to their rig. Tomorrow we leave for Billings and we probably won’t see them again until next March at Nick Russell’s Gypsy Rally in Yuma.
After they left, I walked next door to visit with Jack Allen and Nell Dahl, who we had met before at Nick’s rally.
They wanted to say hi, and find out more about using South Dakota as a residency. I had a great time getting to know them better, and talking about our travels. They plan on being at Nick’s Gypsy Journal Rally in Celina, OH in September so I’m sure we’ll see them then.
——————————————————————————————————————–
Thought for the Day:
The Tripolitan Wars (The Barbary Pirates) taught our young republic vital lessons, among them: tyrants cannot be appeased, peace cannot be purchased and there is no substitute for victory.
asdf
How Many Have You Done?
or Rockin’ and Rollin’.
Today was a lot like Tuesday, but without the rain or occasional tornado. But what we had was 40 mph winds with gusts to over 60, which really kept the rig rockin’ and rollin’. And the offshore wind, combined with a low tide, turned our beautiful water view into a mudflat all the way out to the channel.
I didn’t have any clients scheduled today so it became a DIY chore day around the rig. My first thought was to install my new power window motor system, but I was afraid my tools would blow away.
So I started in on my list, first repairing the retaining latch on one of the pull-out pantries. The screw had pulled out, and although I had fixed it once before, there just wasn’t enough wood left to hold. So I moved it to a new location and was able to use bigger screws. Coming back to Houston in November the pantry slid open as we drove and a bottle of expensive vanilla fell out and broke. Don’t want that to happen again.
Next up was to install a retaining bolt on our dining room table. Unlike some I’ve seen, there is no latch on our table and occasionally it will slide out while we travel. So I drilled a hole through the slide and inserted a bolt. This will keep the table in place, but the bolt can be easily removed if we need to put the table extension in place.
Last up were our folding closet doors. In damp weather they stick and bind, and are hard to open and close. So the other day I bought a rotary sanding pad at Home Depot that chucks in my drill to use in sanding down the bottom and top of the door opening where it binds.
After finishing the sanding, I rubbed the surfaces with an old piece of candle for lubrication. This works well and isn’t greasy so it won’t get on the clothes.
Then after all this hard work it was time for a nap, which lasted until it was time to head up to Webster to meet Chris, Linda, and Piper for supper at Cheddar’s.
And yeah, we just went there last night with Brandi, Lowell, and Landon, but we all like the place, and it wasn’t like we had to order the same thing we got last night.
Piper cut her hair and it really looks great. It’s the first time we’ve seen her with the new style.
One thing great about having dinner with Piper is that I don’t have to keep picking things up that she’s thrown on the floor like I do with Landon. She’s a little neater.
——————————————————-
On another note, I came across a website today that listed the 10 most scenic drives in the United States.
Top Ten Scenic Drives in the United States
1. Anchorage AK to Seward AK
2. Highway 1 from Monterey CA to Morro Bay CA
3. Beartooth Highway north of Cody WY
4. St. George UT to Zion National Park
5. Custer Scenic Highway in the Black Hills of South Dakota
6. North Shore Drive from Duluth MN to Grand Portage along Lake Superior
7. Houma LA along the Gulf Coast to Breaux Bridge LA
8. Route 100 from Wilmington VT to Stowe VT along the Green Mountains
9. Blue Ridge Parkway in the Smokey Mountains
10. Jekyll Island GA north through the Low Country to Savannah GA
—————————————————–
I was happy to see that we’ve done 6 of them.
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, & 9.
7, the Louisiana drive, we did in the mid 90’s, before we started RV’ing, coming back to Houston after a weekend in New Orleans. All the rest we’ve done since the beginning of 2008.
8 and 10, we’ve been in the area, but didn’t take the drive specifically.
So it looks like we’ve got 4 more to go.
How many have you done?
Or do you think they’ve left one off the list?
——————————————————————————————————————–
Thought for the Day:
“I aim to misbehave” – Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, captain of the Serenity
dfadfd
