Jackson Hole, WY–Oregon Trail–Mormon Tabernacle–Salt Lake City Utah–June 8-9, 2015

Today we departed The Virginian at 8:00 AM after a very good breakfast.  All of the breakfasts were included on this tour and I would be hard pressed to pick which was my favorite.  We headed South through the Bridger-Teton National Forest.  We then entered Idaho and traveled along the route of the original “Oregon Trail.”  Stopped to visit the National Oregon/California Trail Center Museum, a Authentic indoor living history adventure.
The NATIONAL OREGON/CALIFORNIA TRAIL CENTER, located in MONTPELIER, IDAHO, offered a unique and entertaining interpretive indoor adventure; simulating an actual wagon train experience of the 1850s. Re-enacted entirely, this interpretive experience featured historically accurate interpretive areas and live actors.  Patrons will go back in time to visit a gun shop, mercantile, ride in a covered wagon and spend time around the evening encircled wagon train at the Clover Creek Encampment.  It is located on the historic Oregon/California Trail, mid-way between Jackson/Yellowstone and Salt Lake City.   Our group became members of a simulated wagon train headed west guided by a live cast of pioneers whose dialogue and stories will made the adventure come alive!     After our one hour tour, we were treated to coffee and pastries before continuing on to Lava Hot Springs where we’ll have some time on our own to wander around and have lunch.

Oregon! – The very word evoked visions of paradise.  Towering trees, lush valleys with rich soil.  Land of unlimited opportunity.  Between 1840 and 1869 those visions lured over 500,000 pioneers west to fulfill their dreams and a nations destiny.  Their 2,000 mile route is known today as the Oregon Trail.  In early 1841 the first emigrant wagon train set out from Independence, Mo.  The party of about 80 men, women and children joined guide Thomas Fitzpatrick.   He led them up the Little Blue River across north-eastern Kansas, following the old fur trace along the Platte River.  On the Sweetwater River they passed by Independence Rock and the cleft called Devil’s Gate, finally starting up a long, wide, gentle grade, the South Pass.   
In the first decade of Oregon Trail travel, relationships between Indians and emigrants were generally cooperative.  Tribes provided fresh meat, guided travelers across rivers, and helped search for lost livestock.  But tensions grew when the stream of wagons increased in 1849 in response to the California gold strikes.  Relations deteriorated in the late 1850’s and Indians killed travelers and emigrants killed Indians.  Indian resistance persisted into the 1880’s.  By then the Indians had suffered military defeats, settlers had claimed their most productive lands, treaties were made and broken, and most tribes were forced into reservations.      American landscape was changed forever.
After our stop here, we boarded the coach and headed to Lava Hot Springs.
Lava Hot Springs is a city in Bannock County, Idaho.  The population was 407 at the 2010 census, down from 521 in 2000. Located in the mountainous valley of the Portneuf River on the old route of the  Oregon Trail and California Trail, the city has become a popular resort location, noted for its numerous hot springs amenable to bathing and a turbulent inner tube run through part of the town.   We had a nice lunch in the town before we made our final trek to Salt Lake City, Utah.
We arrived at Temple Square with it’s spacious gardens and fountains mid afternoon.  Once again, the weather was glorious.  Early June is definitely the time of year to visit this area.  We had a tour of the Mormon Tabernacle by four missionary young ladies.  It was extremely interesting to hear how the Mormon’s live and what their beliefs are.  SLC was founded by the Mormons in 1847.  Like many earlier American settlers,  the Mormon’s traveled across the country in search of a place where they could practice their religion without persecution.  As these Mormon pioneers approached the Salt Lake Valley for the first tie, their leader, Brigham Young, proclaimed, “This is the right place.”
Currently, more than half of the population of Salt Lake City is Mormon, a decrease over the past 10 years.

After our tour, Jim and Keven picked us up (after dropping our luggage off at the Hilton and we had a little time to rest before we went to our Farewell Dinner at the hotel.   We originally planned to spend an extra night in Salt Lake City, but changed our mind because our new little pup, Lily was in a boarding facility and we really wanted to get home.   So, we packed our suitcases in anticipation of an early morning flight that would get us home in time to pick up Lily.  Our Farewell Dinner was very nice.  There were 43 people in our group from all over the country. 
Final Day – June 9th – We awoke early to find out that our flight was delayed 4 hours so we would most likely miss our connection (once again) in Denver and not get home in time to pick up Lily. 
Final thoughts – Love, love, love the guided tour.  Saw so much that we would not have ever seen if we were on our own.  Economically, so worth it!  Stayed in top hotels.   Learned more than I could have imagined.  Will definitely do another tour in the Spring.  ***Important…..always have a toothbrush and a change of underwear in your carryon bag. 

Billings, Montana–Yellowstone National Park– June 4–6, 2015

Days 4 – 6 – After an outstanding breakfast at the hotel, we boarded the coach for our 8:00 AM departure.  Today we will travel 223 miles to Yellowstone.  We are more and more grateful to be on a tour.  We could have never managed to see everything we’ve seen so far without an organized itinerary with a driver and a guide.  We will do this again!  So we drove alongside the Yellowstone River going south thru Paradise Valley into Yellowstone National Park.  Established in 1872, Yellowstone became the first national park in the world.  Now over 90 countries have national parks.  This 2,219,766 acre park contains almost 300 geysers and over 10,000 hot springs, fumaroles and mud pots.   We will be visiting both the upper an lower loop in our 3 day stay here.   Elevation at Old Faithful is 7,365 feet.   On our way to the hotel we saw bison, moose, elk and bears.  There are wolves here as well, but we did not see any.  Our guide warned us to be very cautious and not to approach wildlife.  While they may appear docile, they are unpredictable and known to charge without warning.  The week before we arrived, 2 guests were gored by bison and had to be airlifted out of the park.  Before going to our hotel, we made a stop at Mammoth Hot Springs.

Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park adjacent to Fort Yellowstone and the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (over two tons flow into Mammoth each day in a solution). Because of the huge amount of geothermal vents, travertine flourishes. 

The hot water that feeds Mammoth comes from Norris Geyser Basin after traveling underground via a fault line that runs through limestone and roughly parallel to the Norris-to-Mammoth road. The limestone from rock formations along the fault is the source of the calcium carbonate. Shallow circulation along this corridor allows Norris' superheated water to slightly cool before surfacing at Mammoth, generally at about 170 °F. Algae living in the warm pools have tinted the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green.
We had lunch on our own in the café on the grounds, before leaving for our hotel, The Old Faithful Inn. 

Lots of Elk just laying around the grounds.  We kept our distance, of course.  This shot taken with the zoom lens.   LOL
As we were told, the weather can be quite unpredictable here.  It could be warm and sunny one minute and change to cold and wet the next.  We experienced this first hand.  We arrived at our hotel in a hail storm.

Above is the view out of our hotel window.  Ground is covered with hail.   Earlier today we were in t-shirts.

The Old Faithful Inn is a hotel located in Yellowstone National Park,  with a clear view of the renowned Old Faithful Geyser. The Inn features a multi-story log lobby, flanked by long frame wings containing guest rooms.
With its spectacular log and limb lobby and massive (500-ton, 85-foot) stone fireplace, the inn is a prime example of the "Golden Age" of rustic resort architecture, a style which is also known as National Park Service Rustic. It is also unique in that it is one of the few log hotels still standing in the United States. It was the first of the great park lodges of the American west.
Initial construction was carried out over the winter of 1903-1904, largely using locally obtained materials including lodgepole pine and rhyolite stone. When the Old Faithful Inn first opened in the spring of 1904, it boasted electric lights and steam heat.
In 2007 the American Institute of Architects conducted a survey to determine the 150 favorite buildings in America; the Old Faithful Inn ranked 36. The Inn, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, is itself part of the Old Faithful Historic District.
The hotel offers tours several times a day which we did on the last day.  The original wing did not have bathrooms in the room….they were down the hall.  If you wanted to stay in one of the original rooms, the cost today is $108 a night.  The rooms are tiny, but charming.  We stayed in the West Wing which was built in 1924.  These rooms did have bathrooms.  Today the rate is about $200 a night double occupancy.  Below is some photo’s of our room.


We enjoyed dinner in the Old Faithful Dining Room on both nights that we stayed.  Very good and not too $$$$.


First night’s dinner – bison bratwurst and pheasant sausage.  Yum.  Second night we treated ourselves to the dinner buffet.  Excellent.   There were quite a few breakfast/lunch café’s on the property.  Nothing to write home about.   Our breakfast was included daily in the dining room.  Buffet.  Very good.

The Old Faithful Geyser was right across from the hotel.   It went off about every 90 minutes or so, so we were able to see it several times.  Always amazing.

On the second day at Yellowstone we explored the lower loop of Yellowstone Park.  Mike, our enthusiastic guide from Yellowstone was also a retired teacher that had been working at Yellowstone over 30 years.  He actually met his wife there and married there.  We visited Norris Geyser Basin, the Yellowstone Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Falls which is twice the height of Niagara Falls.  

Bison were everywhere.  We had one outside our hotel window the first night.  That morning he was in the parking lot.  It was common to see them on the roadways.  Although they look docile, we were told that they can run 35 miles per hour, so keep your distance.  We saw some ignorant people taking photos at very close range.  Those are the people who they will charge at.  By the way, we ate Bison almost daily.  We had bison chili, bison hot dogs, bison hamburgers, bison bratwurst.  You know what they say,  “when in Rome!”
Day 3 of Yellowstone, we left the hotel at 7:30 AM after breakfast to head to Grand Titon National Park for our Snake River Float trip and then on to Jackson Hole. 

The Teton Range peaks over 12,000 feet.  Scenes from the movie “Shane” were filmed here.  Stopped for photo’s at Jenny Lake.  Today, lunch was provided on the bus.  Normally on this tour a picnic lunch is provided, but because of a detour, we had time limitations.  So, a brown bag lunch on the bus was just fine.  We arrived at Moose, Wyoming for our 90 minute float trip down the Snake River.  We had awesome weather so we were able to do the trip. 

Kos got this shot of the bald eagle!  Awesome!

We arrived in Jackson Hole late afternoon and had a little time to walk around the town.  Of course, we had to stop at the famous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar!  Fun Fact.....During the 1940's and 1950's, gambling was prevalent in Jackson Hole.  It was illegal, statewide, but Jackson's location and the relative isolation of the valley combined with its distance from Cheyenne, made law enforcement a token effort.  the only deterrent was the occasional raid, and eve then, there was usually plenty of advance warning.  Slot machines and crap tables mysteriously disappeared into tunnels beneath the Cowboy and Wort Hotel, and reappeared as soon as the heat was off!    In the summer of 1980, the movie "Any Which Way You Can" starring Clint Eastwood, was filmed on the interior and exterior of the bar.







Arrived at our hotel for the night….The Virginian….an authentic Cowboy Hotel/Bar/Campground.  Not a Hilton, but charming nevertheless.    Especially the bar. It was a Sunday night, so things were quiet but our guide told us that during the week it’s a “happening” place!   All of our hotels during this trip were located in area’s where you could easily walk to stores or restaurants.  Very convenient.  Tonight we decided to splurge at one of the nicer places.  The Gun Barrel!

Above was the courtyard of the Virginian.  Pleasant, but like I said…..not the Hilton!