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My Journal - October 1999 |
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October, Friday 1, ’99 Yellowstone National Park
First thing in the morning we saw elk! Two male elk were bluff charging each other over a small herd of doe and first year babies. After a while the stranger elk went away and we went on our way. We didn’t get too far until we stopped again. This time we stopped at a bunch of hot springs. It was very cool: we got a million pictures! We stayed for an hour and walked on little paths along the cliffs and hot springs. When we were done we drove on. We found a cliff
with yellow, green, red, orange, and brown rocks in it. Next we found the scene of the forest fire of ’88. Then we found both a smoking cliff and another hot springs. Then we saw two streams, one was jade green, the other was bubbling! Then we saw a "smoking valley." The forest fire was down here too, (the fire burned 36% of Yellowstone National Park!!) At Norris Geyser Basin we went on a very long hike. We saw at least 100 caves, springs, lakes, streams, and puddles. About 5 of the geysers erupted right before our eyes. One geyser (the second one we saw erupt.) was called Echinus and it erupts every 30 to 90 minutes. We walked in just in time because we sat down and it erupted! It was so cool. And the women next to us said it was better than Old Faithful! The Echinus is the largest acid spout in the world, acid geysers are very rare and most of them are found in Norris Geyser Basin! We took another million pictures and one thing that I really liked was a sky blue pool right next to a red one! We tested the water in two of the non-acid water and found it warm. At Yellowstone’s Canyon we saw two deer about 10 feet away! One looked like future Bear food. You could count its ribs and everything. We took a few pictures of the Canyon, looked cool with multicolored rocks on its walls and greenish-blue river, when we came back a deer (the healthy one) was standing 3 ft or so away from a park visitor and just stared it didn’t bolt or anything then it walked away and we drove on. We stopped in the Canyon town and dad took a nap for about an hour and me and mom went on a little hike down the Canyon (a mile walk) we ended up right over the lower waterfalls and we couldn’t get a good picture but we tried. The long climb up was hard but we made it fortunately and hit the road once more. Soon we saw some dark brown spots on a hill and pulled over, they turned out to be buffalo there where 48 to be exact. We soon moved on. We found a "mud volcano" and walked around for a bit. We left and went in the direction of Lake Village. We soon got there and asked a ranger were they’re where open campgrounds? There were 3 one we had been at before and were near the entrance, out of the question. So we went to the one at the other entrance. (or exit depending on the way your going) we were on the road to our campsite when we saw a lone buffalo right by the side of the road! It was a beautiful young male with only half his coat we took a picture and moved on. We went though a construction area and right when we reached pavement again, a buffalo crossed the road in front of the car in front of us! We saw another hot spring and moved on. We finally found a campsite and I did my homework again that included typing this and went to bed.
The Beginning.
We woke up and immediately after we took showers did the laundry then went on our way. We past the continental divide, Elevation: 8391. This continental divide flows in 2 directions, one goes to the east (the Gulf of Mexico) and the other goes to the west (the Pacific) we saw a male deer who ran into the woods the minute he saw us. We went to Old Faithful next, we had a wonderful time and there were a lot more geyser, and pools then just Old Faithful! There were so many, we took a million pictures and saw three buffalo about 10 ft away! We unfortunately had to leave right after Old Faithful erupted. My favorite part of the trip was when riverside geyser erupted! It was so cool! The water went about 50 ft in the air! And it went on for 15 minutes or so! We soon came to a
Small area of springs and pools we walked around and drove on. We found another area looked and drove on. We were on our way to Tetonns National Park when we saw an Antelope! It was cool. unfortunately we couldn’t stop. So we moved on. We found a campground did homework and went to sleep.
We got a late start, and in the evening we stopped at Jackson Hole and walked around and I got two new beanies, (honks and spangle) a duck and a bear with the colors of our flag. We camped in St. Charles Idaho right next to some horses! We ate outside and took showers. We did some star gazing and saw Venus, the Milky Way, the Big Dipper, and about a billion other stars, (I’m not kidding about the billion stars part! And went to bed after about 15 minutes.
First thing in the morning we mailed at least 50lb. of stuff home plus some post cards and other things. When that was done we drove on. Then a little while later, we saw a whole herd of Antelope! We stopped at the fossil monument visitor’s center and had lunch. We went on. I quizzed mom and dad on the United States of America for two hours and moved on. We found a campsite and camped. Dad and me climbed a hill that had cacti! I got pricked twice! The second time I couldn’t get all the thistles out, and climbed on in discomfort. I fell into the river up to my knees and the current was in my face! We ate did homework and went to bed.
This morning we went through the Sheep Creek Canyon Geological Loop! We saw all kinds of sandstone and other rock cliffs. Then we saw some Antelope! Next we went inside the Flaming Gorge Dam, where they make electricity and provide irrigation water for farmers! There were fish that were called lunkers but we know as trout! We learned they eat anything the turbines chew up! Then in the afternoon we saw real dinosaur bones buried in rock cliffs! Then we took a little walk saw a lizard and found a campsite. We saw a skunk! It walked within 10 ft of us! We did homework, and went to bed!
This morning, we went to a dinosaur museum/visitor’s center! It was very cool! They had a wall of dinosaur bones embedded in the rock of the wall! The building had one wall that was slanted and made of the rock of the hill it was sitting against! The wall had lots of dinosaur bones in it the archeologists hadn’t removed! Soon we had to leave but it was fun. We drove to a site that had petrogilifs! Dad and me climbed the cliff and saw a ground squirrel at the top and chased it. It was a cool climb and we found out that we had climbed 432 ft in the air. Then we went to this winery and mom got some wine. Drove on and found an expensive RV Park! We did homework took much needed showers and went to bed!
We sent more in the mail and started out. We found a cool waterfall and ate lunch there. In the same town we found a hot spring pool! It was so nice! I met some girls and we played tag. Two hours later we set out and went to another town. By then it was 5 o’clock and we had to find a campsite soon. We walked around the town and went over perhaps the highest past we will ever go on in this trip! It was 10,288 ft! It didn’t feel high but it was! Soon after we saw a campground but it was bond to be expensive! So we went on. We soon found another campsite, it was expensive to but o well so we moved in did homework and went to sleep!
We saw a cattle drive right in the middle of the road! (That was in Dolores.) Next we saw some old Pueblo ruins! They were very cool! Soon we left and got Dairy Queen ice cream! We got train tickets to an exciting new train ride from Durango to Silverton! We found an RV park that had a pool and some horses, plus miniature horses and baby’s! We fed the horses grass and apples, they loved them! We fed them till late, did the usual routine and fell asleep.
On Sunday morning we went on a train from Durango C.O. to Silverton C.O.! It was fun! We got to sit in the outside car, there was a good and a bad situation: the good part was we got to touch rocks and tree limes as we whizzed by! The bad part was that cinders and soot were getting into my eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and hair! We got ice cream at Silverton and had lunch. We got back in time for a shower and sleep!
We woke up and drove south again. At lunch we drove into a park called Mesa Verde National Park! It had all sorts of Pueblo ruins! We took two guided tours of "Cliff Palace" and "Balcony House"! Cliff Palace was a special community that had 23 kivas, (kivas are rooms that are mostly round and are under ground, to the Pueblo people it was like a church) over 100 rooms, and had about 3 towers, it was also the biggest city in the canyon! When we got home we read some and went to sleep.
In the morning we hung out. But in the afternoon we visited a lot I mean a lot of sites!! All of them were cool! But I personally liked the "Sun Temple" best! We hung out a little bit and ate dinner, after that we went back to the same campsite as before. Did homework read and went to bed.
This afternoon we went to the Lowry Ruins had lunch and went to Cortez, Colorado and saw a livestock Action! It was cool, and cruel and cute, because we saw some piglets. Soon we found a campsite and settled down by doing the usual routine, dinner, homework, and sleep.
This morning we went to Hovenweep National Monument! We saw a pueblo castle! We went on a 2-mile hike and saw all sorts of ruins, my favorite was the building that had been under a rock, but the rock was free standing! After that we went back into Utah and drove into Arches National Park, they have 2000 natural arches there! We saw about five of them and found a campsite for the night, we did the routine but dad fell asleep right after dinner! Sleep soon followed till noon the next day.
There we saw the valley and climbed a couple of rock hills and climbed to the base of Delicate Arch into the bowl of the canyon and on the way back up we went through an Arch! (The hike was 3 miles.) Then we went to Devils Garden, where we saw 5 Arches and took a little climb. One Arch was called Double O Arch! The Arches were stacked on top of each other! Soon after we left the park and found a RV park with SHOWERS! Our skin was all salted and sweaty from 8 miles of hiking in the hot sun! We took showers, did laundry, played cards and went to sleep!
We spent most of the morning getting supplies and cleaning, but we did a hike in the afternoon called slick rock in Canyonlands National Park! In Canyonlands I got my third Junior Ranger Badge! In each park they have some activities! Like picking up trash and stuff like that! We found a campsite and went to sleep!
Today we went to Natural Bridges National Monument and stayed for the day. We saw three natural bridges and hiked to the oldest of the three, Owachomo Bridge! I became a Junior Ranger again and we found a campsite outside in Bluff. We looked at the horses that are kept there and went to sleep.
This morning we took showers, a long day of driving at
Lake Powel, I went swimming in the lake! After that we drove into Navajo National Monument but the ruins were closed! We reached the Grand Canyon at 4:33! We saw the walls of the canyon but we couldn’t see the river! Camped there, played a game and went to sleep!
We hiked the Grand Canyon today!! It was fun except for when we were going back up! That was hard, there was a bridge and right above it was a tunnel! I hiked up it without stopping; did I mention the sun? Well, that whole stretch was in the sun, and it was about a mile long! I carried a pack the whole time, up and down the pack weighed about 5 or 6 pounds! I know it doesn’t sound like much, but on that stretch it felt like 100 lbs! We had eaten lunch at the bottom, in roaring springs. Coming down was easy but as I said before going up was near impossible! We got back to the car after 6 hours of hiking, from 8:20 to 2:20, and after that we needed showers! So we found a RV park and went to sleep!
This morning to this afternoon we spent browsing around Kanab, we got our mail but I got absolutely nothing out of a boxfull of stuff! We looked around town, got groceries and stuff like that. After Kanab we drove to Bryce National Park, I got some erasable crayons. We looked at 3 viewpoints of the Canyon, and found a campsite. I got out of homework because it was so late and when it was dark we went to the nearest view point and looked at the canyon in the moon light, then to you know what!
We signed up for horseback riding! At 12:45 we went to the horse/mule yard and got pared up with horses and mules! Me and mama got mules and dad got a horse, my mules name was Crazy Alice, mamas mules name was Barbara and dads horse was named Smoking Joe! Only, Alice wasn’t crazy at all, she was really nice! Barbara and Alice were inseparable! When Alice went faster, Barbara went faster. (Alice and me were in the front of the line behind the guide) We went on a half-day ride! When we were done our knees and butts hurt to the touch! We found a RV park took warm showers and went to sleep!
Today we browsed around in a little suburb where we has slept the night before. Around noon we left for a little side trip at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park! We climbed up one of the slopes of unique sand of sandstone! Me and mama took off our shoes and socks and felt fine grains sift through our toes then ran down the dune four times! We had lunch there and drove to Zion National Park and reserve a campsite at an RV park then went into the park to go to two tunnels: one was a mile long and skinny, the other was short and fat! The visitor center happened to be 11 miles into the park, so I got a stamp and a few Christmas presents for friends, then left, to sleep!
This morning we spent in Zion National Park. First we walked down a paved trail called Riverside trail! At the end if you want to go farther you have to cross the river! That was fun, but we couldn’t stay long too bad! We went Zion’s lodge and mama got out for a four-mile hike, dad and me stayed behind. When mama came back we got frozen yogurt, yeah! Then we drove through the park to a town called Springdale! It was quiet! Mama and me went for a walk and got Christmas presents for people and went to sleep, (the RV Park has a pool and I’m going swimming tomorrow!)
We drove most of the day and went to Hoover Dam! That was very cool, we took a tour of the dam that went all the way to the bottom! 112 people died building this thing and it has 3 purposes, 1. Flood control, 2. Electricity, 3. Irrigation water! (That was why Boulder City was built, for the workers and their families!) The sun went down as we left, and we found a campsite for the night at a campground with over 1000 spaces! Then went to sleep!
This morning w went back to Hoover Dam and stayed the after lunch we got ice cream and left. We drove to Las Vegas! We went to the base there and reserved a space at their campground, and wondered to some of the hotels: Excalibur, the Pyramid, MGM Grand, (MGM had two live male Lions!) but we didn’t find the Lake, shucks! We soon had to go but it was fun! (We visited all of these at night so when we left we where leaving to sleep!)
This morning we hung out for a while, then we did errands! We finished at 4:00 and walked around some more, the hotels we went to this time where: New York New York, Ceasers Palace, Circus Circus, the Mirage, Treasure Island, and Circus Circus had games for kids so played some then watched two shows then left, at the Mirage they had White Tigers! They weren’t very active but that’s OK! We had Mckdonalds ice cream and Gelato for dinner! (I got two post cards and a T-shirt!) We went to sleep happy!
Today we went to Wheeler RV sales and repairs were we got our pump and other things replaced they had a billion RVs which I looked at during 3 in a half long hours of waiting! We had lunch at 1:30! Then we drove to the bases freezing pool! After we froze our tootsies off I went back to the gym for another class. That got dome at 8:00! We went out to dinner and then went to a show at Treasure Island! First we watched a short show outside! It was between Pirates and Britain’s! First it looked like the British where winning then the pirates struck back and sunk the British ship! Then we went inside to watch the show we had come to see it was the coolest thing I had ever seen! My favorite parts where when 2 guys came on stage and did gymnastics strength things like one guy would lift the other up in a handstand with his feet! The other funny thing was when a really really fat baby (that was really a man) got a woman in the front row to be his "Mommy!" the show ended at 12:00! We got to bed at 1:00! I conked immediately, but it was really cool!
Today we got lost doing errands so ended up leaving at 3:30! When we did get on the road we stayed on it for a couple of hours before we set up camp all by ourselves and star gazed for a while then went to sleep!
Dad climbed a 1000-ft hill today! We hit the road for a long day of driving of which mom and dad tasted natural salt! We went through Death Valley and camped in Yosemite! We went to sleep soon after!
Today we pretty much drove and hiked. We did a total of 4 hikes! We hiked 6-7 miles too! My favorite was Sentinel Dome! We climbed the short way up the Dome all the way to the top where the view was spectacular! When we found a campsite it wasn’t in a town, bummer! But we did have candy and we did have a spooky stories book that mama read from, but it sure didn’t beat trick or treating! We soon retired to bed!
Happy Halloween!
