Welcome to Mostly Musing - My Travel Blog

This blog is about our travels to Baja California, Mexico in our Classic 1976 GMC Motorhome. We have traveled there since 2005. I hope any readers enjoy the blog and I appreciate any comments.

This years travels to Baja begin from our Victoria driveway the end of October 23rd, 2013.










Monday, December 22, 2008

Some photos of our Cross Canada Trip 2008


With any luck this will take you to my web albums

http://picasaweb.google.com/camasmtn

OOPS - forgot to post these....

We did actually make it home. In fact, it is almost Christmas and nearing time to leave for Baja. While getting organized I noticed I didn't post my last entries upon our return home. So, better late than never I guess....

September 22 Thermopolis
On the way to Yellowstone, we decide to take highway 16 and noticed a place called Thermopolis in Hot Springs National Park. They claim to have the largest hot springs in the world! So, we decide to check them out and after spending the night in Buffalo Wyoming (where there were wild turkeys and peacocks) we head out for the 99 mile journey. We have to go over a 10,000 foot pass called “The Powder Peak Pass”. Our journey takes us on a 2 lane road called “The Cloud Peak Skyway”. It’s slow going for our little GMC who goes 100 km max on the flat, lots of gearing down and pulling over for those who go faster than us up this high pass, that would be everyone else.

It’s amazing how quickly the landscape changes. We were in the mountains (Precambrian) with lots of Douglas fir, birch, red rock canyons, and now that we have come down off the pass into Tensleep Wyoming it looks like the high desert. Lots of sagebrush and yellow sparse grass with a few trees around the occasional pond. It’s quite desolate, with the occasional interesting red patches of soil. Like much of Wyoming, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to own a few sections of this desolate land and plant a few donkey engines to pump up a bit of oil, or charge the oil companies a paltry fee to lay some pipe across our land. Don’t see any houses at all but there sure are lots of those donkey engines. Truly, the land around here looks dead! Much more like a desert than the Baja desert, only no cactus that I can see!

I found Saskatchewan to be quite beautiful and interesting, so many complain about how it car flat and boring it is – well they should visit this spot. It may be hilly and twisty but ….

We’ve been seeing lots of prong horn antelope along the way, especially in farmers hay fields! They are such beautiful animals. I’m not so sure the farmers think so – we just saw some in a big field of sugar beets, ripping them right out of the ground!

Thermopolis
Wow! We had a wonderful soak in the free public baths in the State Park. Lorne actually went willingly into a public bathing facility and it wasn’t even a shower!! This facility claims that it has a constant water exchange that is complete every 24 hours. It was a very nice facility; the indoor and outdoor pools were pristine and very well maintained. There are also 2 commercial venues that looked a bit run down at the same site but we only went to the free public soaking tubs. The government purchased the land for a state park (with the hot springs) from the Shoshone and Arapaho Indian Tribes for $60,000 112 years ago. As part of a treaty agreement the government had to promise that the healing waters of the hot springs would be available to the public for free. Quite forward thinking!

There were no State Park campgrounds so we lucked out on finding the amazing Fountain of Youth RV Park; for $30 we had all the connections plus free wireless, and best of all – a huge outdoor hot spring pool. They claim to have the third largest pool in the world and the largest in the state. It was absolutely beautiful, much nicer than the public bath which was nice in itself. The water completely exchanges every 24 hours so it was very clean, plus there were hardly any people there. Those that were there had been coming for many years, some for 30 years. Hence Lorne was in the water again! In the evening the owner entertained us singing and playing his guitar and welcomed any one else to join him on stage. There were about 10 people soaking and listening to him. He was very good. I was in the pool so didn’t leap out to get my guitar…

The original owners of this property were drilling for oil and struck hot springs!! Their hopes were dashed I guess.

September 23 the Grand Tetons National Park
On our way to the Tetons we go through the Wind River Canyon along the Big Horn River, absolutely beautiful. It opens out to the Boysen Reservoir and the Boysen State Park. There were dozens of great campsites right along the water and we would like to stay awhile. Looks to us like a great place to come for September, good camping, warm, good fishing and very beautiful, plus close to the hot springs.

We cross the Continental Divide 8,000 feet; being sea level creatures we are both feeling a little sick from the altitude.

We were both relatively unimpressed with the few peaks that make up the Teatons. I guess we are jaded having magnificent mountains and pristine forests in our own neck of the woods. It made me nostalgic for the Banff/Jasper area and how much we enjoyed our brief visit there this trip. I would like to return and spend more time hiking and biking in the Banff/Canmore area that’s for sure.

September 24 – 25 Yellowstone
We were able to visit the sites we missed last time we were here. The weather was spectacular and all the roads and passes remained open. Last time we were here we entered by the only pass open due to the snow and had to leave in a blizzard! We found a beautiful spot to swim in the Firehole River, however, it was almost sunset, past dinner, plus it wasn’t warm enough for Lorne so we passed. Next time though! It was pristine and not another person swimming.

Yellowstone is truly an incredible place to visit. Being able to safely observe these mud pots, hot springs and geysers is truly an amazing opportunity. The huge park is so beautiful and offers such great hiking opportunities as well, over 950 miles of trails.

Reflection
I realize now – Lorne has been trying to get me engaged in the market since before I retired – his latest technique: encapsulate me inside the motor home and play Sirius radio – his choice of stations: Bloomberg, CNBC the whole time he’s driving, and in the evening too. I listened to my MP3 player at first but now I’m listening to Sirius. The presidential race and debates, the analysis of the market particularly in light of the collapse of so many financial institutions, the proposal to resolve the state of the US economy; all very interesting. Our discussions about what’s going on in the US and how it affects Canada and us have also been very stimulating. I guess his plan is working….