National Parks Wonders | FindPenguins

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Trip start
September 8, 2017
National Parks Wonders Traveler
Salt Lake City Sounds of Music
September 7, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 79 °F
We began our tour of some of our country's national wonders in Salt Lake City. We were able to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal tonight. Quite a treat.
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National Parks Wonders Traveler
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Imagining life on the Oregon Trail
September 8, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 55 °F
We traveled north from Salt Lake City to Bear Lake where mountain men used to meet annually for the big rendezvous on the beach. Recent wild fires made for a hazy view of the lake. Then on to Montpelier, Idaho. This was the location of the first bank robbery by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Had a great lunch and living history lesson at the National Oregon/California Trail Center. In the afternoon we drove to Jackson Hole and took the Tram to the top of Rendezvous Mountain at 10,450 feet in the Grand Tetons. In spite of some haze we had a spectacular view of the valley and mountains. Dinner tonight with the Shawnee crowd at the Gun Barrel Steakhouse. Ron tried the elk and really enjoyed it. We covered a lot of ground today. More of Jackson tomorrow.Read more
Traveler I just realized that you sat under "cover" of Conestoga.
9/25/17Reply
Traveler Great shot of the group!
9/25/17Reply
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National Parks Wonders Traveler
Gorgeous Grand Tetons
September 9, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F
The haze cleared and the skies were blue for our float trip on the Snake River. There were a dozen of us in the raft with our excellent guide, Chris. He manoeuvred us down river expertly. We had fantastic views of the Tetons with sightings of bald eagles, blue birds, an osprey diving for fish and evidence of beaver construction. What beautiful country! This was one of my favorite parts of the trip.Read more
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Jackson, Wyoming
September 9, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
Back in Jackson, we lunched at a fusion restaurant and bar called Local. Very tasty. We strolled the streets of the town square for a while stopping at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar to check out the authentic saddle bar stools. The Silver Dollar Bar and Grill was worth a stop too. It incorporates silver dollars into its decor. Lots of cute shops and charm in Jackson.

Our evening's entertainment was provided by the Bar-T-5 Covered Wagon Cookout. We loaded into covered wagons and traveled up along Cache Creek Canyon to a hilltop for a "genuine" cowboy-style dinner that included tender toast beef in gravy, BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, baked beans and more. A few singing cowboys and some audience participation made for a fun evening. It was time to head back to the bunkhouse, otherwise known as The Lodge at Jackson Hole.Read more
Traveler I love this arch...and with a little cowboy music to boot!
9/25/17Reply
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National Parks Wonders Traveler
Lake Jenny, Oxbow Bend & Lake Jackson
September 10, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
As we drove north through Grand Tetons National Park, we stopped at the tiny log Chapel of the Transfiguration. On this Sunday morning we were able to drop in before Episcopal services for the magnificent views through the window behind the altar. What a beautiful spot to worship! God's glory revealed in nature here.
We made several more scenic stops including Lake Jenny, named after the Shoshone wife of a trapper. Very picturesque. Next we stopped at Oxbow Bend on the Snake River. With Mount Moran in the background and reflected in the river, it is one of the most photographed spots in the park. Finally we stopped at Jackson Lake Lodge which was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2005. It was developed by John D. Rockefeller to make the park accessible to all Americans. As we had lunch in one of the restaurants we enjoyed our last panoramic views of the Grand Tetons.Read more
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Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
September 10, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
Yellowstone is not very far from the Tetons but the landscape changes from heavenly to hellish. The Lewis Falls were very pretty. Then we stopped at the West Thumb Geyser Basin on Lake Yellowstone where the scenery was otherworldly. We walked along a large boardwalk with four types of hydro-thermal features: hot springs, geysers, mud-pots and fumaroles. We were standing in a volcano crater! Old Faithful Inn was our lodging for the next two nights. It is pretty impressive. Build in 1903-04 with local lodge-pole pine and rhyolite stone, it is the largest log hotel in the world. We did have to rough it a bit with no phone service or Internet and a fan for air conditioning. With Old Faithful just a few hundred feet away it was definitely worth it.Read more
Traveler What an amazing structure. I forgot how magnificent it is!
10/1/17Reply
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National Parks Wonders Traveler
Mammoth Springs Yellowstone, Wyoming
September 11, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F
With hot coffee in hand on a cold, sunny morning we waited for old Faithful to erupt. What a sight! It lived up to the hype. Definitely a highlight of the trip. Later we hopped on our coach to tour other parts of the park. First stop was the Fountain Paint Pots in the Lower Geyser Basin. This area gets its name from the reds, browns and yellows of the mud caused by oxidation of the iron. Walking along the half-mile trail we saw many hot springs, geysers and mud-pots. We then stopped at Artist Point for a great view of the Lower Falls of Yellowstone. The falls are part of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The present canyon is 10,000 to14,000 years old. Now I know why the park is called Yellowstone! The color comes from the iron in the rock. As we traveled north we got our first good look at a herd of buffalo from the coach. We stopped for lunch at Mammoth Hot Springs. The step-like terraces made of travertine are beautiful. The Liberty Cap is a hot spring cone formed when mineral deposits built up over an active geyser. Mammoth Hots Springs is the Park headquarters and contains some of the oldest buildings in the park. In fact the army used to manage the park. The army is gone but the elk are comfortable here and we saw them up close enjoying a shady spot. We arrived back at our hotel in late afternoon in time for a guided walking tour of Geyser Hill near Old Faithful. Yellowstone National Park is large and grand. We loved seeing so many parts of it, including two more eruptions of Old Faithful.Read more
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National Parks Wonders Traveler
Cody, Wyoming
September 12, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F
Before leaving Yellowstone we visited the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, the oldest operating hotel in the park. Built in 1891 it's been renovated over the years and looks quite posh. There are beautiful views of the Lake, naturally. Then we began our trek across Wyoming. It's like driving across Kansas, but with the Bighorn Mountains to enjoy. At noon we stopped in Cody, named after Buffalo Bill who helped create the town. We spent a couple of hours at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. This facility has five fantastic museums under one roof. We had time to visit the Plains Indian Museum, the Cody Firearms Museum and the Whitney Western Art Museum. If we ever come back here we will check out the Draper Natural History and Buffalo Bill Museums as well. After another couple of hours on the road (with a stop for delicious pie at the Elk View Inn) we arrived in Sheridan. We had a good down-home dinner in the PO News & Flagstaff Cafe.Read more
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National Parks Wonders Traveler
Deadwood, South Dakota
September 13, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F
From Sheridan we drove to Devils Tower National Monument. I have wanted to see this amazing geologic feature since the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and it was as impressive as I imagined. Teddy Roosevelt designated it as our first national monument in 1906. The Butte is considered sacred by many Northern Plains tribes. They call it Bear Lodge or Tipi because it looks like a giant bear clawed the tower. After a picnic lunch our coach drove us to the base of the summit. From there we walked around the entire perimeter. It was quite a hike! We observed several climbers scaling to the top. The views looking up and looking out were amazing. We didn't spot any aliens, unless they were disguised as tourists.

Our next stop was Deadwood, South Dakota. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills, miners discovered a gulch full of dead trees and gold and the town was born. Wild Bill Hickock was shot and killed here holding his aces and eights and Calamity Jane is buried next to him. We toured the town in a rickety old bus with a very colorful driver and guide. He would just stop the bus in the middle of traffic to point something out and literally scraped by a couple of signs. We were all glad to get back on our nice Trafalgar coach with excellent driver, Ken.

After checking in at our Rapid City hotel, The Rushmore, we attended a nighttime ceremony at Mount Rushmore. Despite a brief rain shower the monument looked spectacular lit up.Read more
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National Parks Wonders Traveler
Mount Rushmore
September 14, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
We spent the last morning of our tour visiting two man-made features: Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore. Crazy Horse was an important Oglala Dakota warrior who fought against encroachment by white settlers on the Dakota territories and way of life in the 19th century. In 1947 Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota Chief and elder statesman invited Korczak Ziokawski (who had worked on Mount Rushmore) to carve a mountain memorial to Crazy Horse and all Native Americans. Only the head is completed thus far. The entire sculpture is intended to be 641 feet long and 563 feet high! The finished project will be amazing to see one day. Apparently Crazy Horse was a modest, unassuming man. One wonders what he would have thought of this huge memorial.
I found Mount Rushmore National Memorial more impressive by daylight. Gutzon Borglum created the design and oversaw the carving from 1927-1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln. The sculptures of the heads of Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln are 60 feet high. We enjoyed lunch on a terrace with the memorial in the background and had time to explore and view the faces from several angles. We were glad to be some of the two million annual visitors.Read more
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National Parks Wonders Traveler
Badlands, South Dakota
September 14, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F
On our way to the Badlands we stopped in the town of Wall to visit the famous Wall Drug. What started in the 1930s as a pharmacy that gave away free ice water has turned into a huge shopping mall on the prairie that includes a drug store, restaurant, gift shop and even a traveler's chapel. Coffee is five cents and they still give away free water. I decided on a tasty ice cream cone.
Badlands National Park was amazing. It felt like we were on a different planet. What fantastic formations. Native Americans used these lands as hunting grounds. They found many fossils and concluded that the region was once under water. We stopped near the Door, Window, and Notch Trails and also at the White River Valley Overlook which allowed us to experience the territory and get some great pictures. It is both bleak and beautiful.
Our farewell dinner in Rapid City included a talk by Stephen Yellowhawk. He is passionate about his Native American culture and shares his story around the world through dance. We enjoyed his performance.
It's been a great Trafalgar trip with our tour guide, JP, and our driver, Ken. And traveling with seven good friends made it even more memorable.Read more
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Trip end
September 15, 2017