Ely Trip Report June 2012

During our ‘long road trip’ to Vegas we made two casinos stops… the second was a very quick casino visit in Ely, NV.

We didn’t intend on gambling in Ely, however, MrSlotNoodles had read that the Jailhouse casino and motel had a unique restaurant which involves you having your meal in a jail cell!!  We stayed in a motel up the road from the Jailhouse and walked a few blocks arriving at 4pm but the restaurant didn’t open until 5pm… so we had an hour to kill… the Jailhouse’s slot selection was not very good so we popped across the road to the Hotel Nevada to see what they had to offer.

Amazingly they had a lot of the releases from the last year, including titles such as Ghostbusters and some machines we had not played before.  I found myself gravitating towards Ribbet and we played it until we hit the bonus…

We played a couple other titles… including Outback Jack (which I found really boring) and after a $8 bonus we moved on to play IGT’s Red Hot Fusion and hit the bonus pretty quickly…

By this time it was getting close to 5pm, so we max betted on Jaws at $3 a spin… with no bonus and no TITO to show for it at the end!!

It time to cross the road again…

And we had what turned out to be a very average meal in the Jailhouse restaurant!!

… however, the couple of hours spent in Ely were good fun if not at all profitable!!

Swinomish Casino Trip Report June 2012

During our ‘long road trip’ to Vegas we made two casinos stops… the first was at the Swinomish Casino, Anacortes, WA.

We arrived in the afternoon and checked into our room…

Spent a couple of hours updating our blog and then popped on down to the casino floor to see what this small casino had to offer.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a decent selection of WMS, IGT, Bally and other manufacturers’ slot machines (some manufacturers we hadn’t seen before).

I started the evening by slipping $20 into a Whale Song slot and that $20 disappeared with no sign of a bonus!  MrSlotNoodles reminded me that we were supposed to be having a meal before we started playing and dragged me away to the sports bar for a meal.

I wolfed down my sandwich and fries and we were soon back on the casino floor.  I sat at a machine that I didn’t note the name of.  The man next to me was smoking and apologised to me, I told him that I knew that he was smoking when I sat down and for him not to worry, but he put it out anyway (what a nice guy!)  I slipped in $20 and on my first spin I hit the bonus winning $46.50.  The guy next to me congratulated me and I told him to light up again as I was moving on.

I found myself on an oldie but new to me, Xerxes.  Turned my $66.20 TITO into a $119.46 TITO.

I cashed the TITO and then we played a few different machines winning a bit here and losing bit there…

…MrSlotNoodles had lost his $100 and I was $100 up when I decided we would play IGT’s Puppy Stampede.

We started with a 30 cent bet…

Moved up to a $1.50 bet…

Down to 60 cent…

Back up to $1.50…

And finally up to $3.00…

After this nice win MrSlotNoodles wanted to play a few other machines which quickly ate the ‘up’ money and we finished the night even.

Our final thoughts on the casino… to begin with it was quite overwhelming with smoke, but we soon got used to it.  It was busy enough to have a good atmosphere but not too busy that it caused any problems with playing the machines we wanted to play.  The hotel room was modern, clean and well-appointed.  Should we find ourselves in Anacortes again, we would definitely stay and play there again.

Long Road Trip to Vegas Days 18 to 22

Day 18 More Birds, Bison, Bears…….oh and some wolves…and some…..

Today was a long day, with an early start and a lot of miles in Yellowstone National Park. We woke at 04.30am and were on the road before 05.30 to see what early morning wildlife was on show.

The Mammoth Elk herd were out and about early, and as we drove east towards Lamar Valley we got caught in a large Bison jam, well lots of large Bison if not too many cars, near Wraith Falls. We continued on to Tower Falls to see if the Black Bear from yesterday was still in the area, and right enough she was getting some early morning grazing in. We and some other early starters took a few shots and then backtracked into Lamar Valley.

We saw a stack of vehicles and scopes at a turnout east of the YAI buildings and on parking could see many wolves on a Bison kill (or carcass) across the river. Some of the regular wolf watchers confirmed it was the Molly pack and we saw around nine wolves either eating or resting, although it was some distance in terms of photography. I did get some video by asking to use someone’s scope (I won’t be uploading any video until I get home).

We had a lot of ground to cover, so set off towards Cooke City, and soon saw a Black Bear a mile or so north of Ice Box canyon. Again, a good distance away.

We drove through Silver City, stopped for some pictures of a Mule Deer near to the road…

…and then through Cooke City and out of the east entrance, with a sigh of relief as the sign said Beartooth was open (it still said closed at Mammoth!).

It was far less snowy through the start if the drive than it was last year and as we started to ascend after the Cody junction the snow returned and we stopped just short of the summit on the Wyoming side for some landscape shots and some of a couple of cute Marmots.

Past the temporary ski resort that was still doing business and into Montana. We Eventually stopped at Rock Creek Vista Point, elev. 9190 feet at about 09.30. We took a few photos of the Montana switchbacks and the begging Chipmunks, and then headed back towards Yellowstone.

 

We had hoped to see Mountain Goats, but had seen no sight of them on the way up. I had resigned myself to no goats, when just as we took the hairpins towards the ski resort we saw a group of them below the road. Luckily, the nearest overrun on the bend had no deep snow, so we parked up, jumped over the barrier and watched as they crunched on the ice and looked for grazing. If we had been in a car we would not have seen them so the SUV higher position saved the day.

…then back down and on towards the east entrance. We disturbed a female Moose, near to where we saw them last year about 2 miles west of the junction to Cody, who was looking to cross the road, and she ran in front of us but luckily far enough away not to be a problem. By the time we drew level she had disappeared from view into the undergrowth.

We continued on towards Lamar Valley, and saw a Cinnamon Black Bear, quite close to the road between Ice Box Canyon and the Trout Lake trailhead.

We cruised along Lamar Valley, but the wolves were gone, just a lot of ravens picking what was left of the carcass bare. Some people were hanging on, hoping for bears, but we decided to head south.

No bears at Tower Falls, but a Coyote with a convoy of cars in tow, following him down the road. We drove on, over Dunraven Pass, past Canyon and into Hayden Valley. We have never had much luck in wildlife spotting in Hayden Valley and apart from a few Bison, water birds and the odd Elk, we had a nice drive but no photo stops. We turned at Fishing Bridge, after a fruitless check for Otters (one day!) and returned to Canyon, where we spent an hours rest, had a couple of drinks and edited the pictures on the data cards.

After that it was back to Gardiner, via Norris and Mammoth to a very busy hotel and overloaded wifi.

Day 19 Yet more Birds, Bison and two firsts for our Yellowstone visits

After yesterday’s early start, today was a much more sedate 07.30 start. We decided to tour Lamar Valley again, hoping the wolves or a Grizzly or two would be in evidence.

However, not far after Black-tail Deer Creek trailhead we had an unexpected pleasure. A lot of photographers, what can they see? Badgers!! A sett, with four Badgers!! We have only ever seen one American badger very briefly (near Bear Lake, UT). We have badgers living in the woods near where we live and have only seen them four times in 12 years and always at night time. We stopped to take what seemed like a million photos, before well pleased, we headed back to our car.

A guy pulled up, half on half off the road on a blind bend! I politely suggested he might like to move, but he wanted to know what is was first.

‘It’s a Badger sett, with Badgers’ MrSlotNoodles answered. ‘Pardon’ came the reply. ‘Badgers’ he again responded. ‘Hey?’ came the reply. I have less of an accent so I gave it a try and said ‘Its Badgers!’ ….’What’ came the reply again, ….‘You know, squat animals, black and white striped faces, live in holes in the ground, Badgers!!!’ ……‘Oh, Baaaaaaaaadgers‘ he drawled, as the penny dropped, ‘Its only Baaaaaaagers’ and he turned and got back in his car and drove off… perhaps we don’t speak English anymore!

We then toured the Lamar Valley/Tower Falls area for a few hours but nothing was on show other than lots of Bison and Pronghorn, not that we don’t like Bison and Pronghorn, but we were on a Bear mission.

I had heard that over the last week some Grizzlies had been spotted around the Bridge Bay marina so we headed back to Hayden Valley, through a heavy rain storm across Dunraven Pass. Again, not too much around, until we got to Trout Creek where the whole world and his wife were watching a Mother Grizzly and her two yearling cubs some distance away over the river (another first for us at Yellowstone, we’ve seen lots of Grizzlies but no sows with cubs). We watched for a short while before they moved into a gully and we lost sight of them.

We continued to the marina, and I asked the Ranger on duty who said that no bears had been seen for a few days (perhaps the mother and cubs in the valley were the ones spotted at the marina) although he did confirm that they do often frequent the meadow to the west of the marina (so a future location to try).

We stopped on the way back to take a few shots of Yellowstone Lake… it is usually still frozen during our May visits, so it was interesting to see it look more like a rough sea in the strong wind!!

Day 20 Another Beary Wolvederful day!

After a not very good nights sleep, we were already awake around 4am, so we showered and packed as we were moving location… finally leaving around 6.30am. The ladies of the Mammoth Elk herd were again in evidence around the town and campsites and we then headed again for Lamar Valley. No badgers out this morning.

Just east of Phantom Lake, which at present is not quite a phantom, we came across a young black bear. It was not a good place for stopping, no pullouts and a steep verge, and fortunately the bear moved off before too much traffic arrived, given the first cars there had just stopped in the road.

We continued on until we saw a ranger and a few vehicles and scopes/lenses just west of Petrified Tree. Another Black Bear, but some distance off and in an area of new growth pines. We watched through our binoculars until it went to ground and then continued towards Tower.

We talked on route that the sow Black Bear could not be there again? Well, yes she was! We spotted her on the way back down from a quick restroom stop at Tower Falls.

Again, some of the driver behaviour was not so good, and a special mention must be made of the complete prize pillock parked full on the road, facing on-coming traffic, who sounded his horn to try and make her turn, which just made her move more into the trees… it seems a pre-trip lobotomy is a requirement for some visitors!

We then headed into Lamer Valley and were a bit surprised by the large numbers of morning visitors with scopes trained on the area a little west of the previous kill. We could see a fresh kill, covered in ravens but lots of suspect dots which we and the people we spoke too could not identify as wolves.

Then there was a bit of chatter, and a Wolf ran behind us parallel with the road, as we struggled with camera settings, it crossed just to the right of us (our closest ever sighting of a wild wolf) and then set off on a zig zag route through the many Bison, who were not pleased to see him or her.

It made towards the kill, stopped, and then two of the dots turned into animated objects and all three moved off up the valley. Fantastic!!

We chatted to a few people, swapped a few tips, and then headed towards Pebble Creek campground to turn round. Whilst there we noticed some white dots on the cliffs to the west, which turned out to be two mountain goats and a kid, when viewed through the binoculars. Seriously thinking about renting a scope (and a 600mm lens) next time.

We headed west back through Lamar valley, but with so many animals in view, if you checked out every dot, light or dark patch, you would find one I’m sure.

No bears at tower, but on the ascent to Dunraven Pass, we came across a Coyote, who was enjoying the remains of a packet of chips someone had dropped. We took some photos and video, and as he had dropped the packet, we picked it up along with the other trash left by careless visitors, as we didn’t think Lays Originals are really a good diet for a Coyote. So another first, a hand full of coyote drool!

 

Once we bagged the chip bag etc we made sure we sanitized our hands and we moved on. Btw, just what are the symptoms of distemper?!

We drove on, headed for West Yellowstone, but decided to drive through Hayden Valley, (lots of animals, several scopes were out looking far into the distance but there was only Bison near the road), West Thumb and then passed the thermal features in the geyser basins, such as Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic; We have never seen them so busy!! Cars parked on the road verges as the parking areas were full.

We continued on to Madison Junction, then west to West Yellowstone. Not too much wildlife on show along Madison River, a few Elk and lots of fishermen.

We checked in a had a late lunch and did some gift shopping before we head towards Las Vegas.

Day 21 Start of the (Logan’s) run to Vegas

We woke, took breakfast quickly and checked out. We headed west on US20, crossed the border into Idaho, and continued to Ashton, where we turned onto the ID32 and headed for the ID33 and Driggs, with great views of the Tetons to the east. We passed the large model potato at the Driggs drive-in movie theatre, and then took the 31 to Swan Valley.

This area is rich in bird life, especially water birds, and as we drove alongside palisades reservoir towards Alpine, Wyoming, we saw American Pelicans and many Osprey nesting on telegraph poles. We pulled into a camp site along a dirt track to try and get some photos, but as MrSlotNoodles went to open the door I yelled ‘No!!- look!’. We were surrounded by a cloud of Mossies that looked bigger than the Pelicans! MrSlotNoodles is particularly tasty to US mossies, so he chickened out and we drove on. Fortunately, just south of Alpine there is a wildlife viewing area that was mossie free, so we eventually got some shots.

At Alpine we had joined the US 89, which heads south to Utah, or north to Jackson. We continued south to Montpelier ID (you do a lot of State hopping on this route) and then continued on the US89 to Paris, at the north end of Bear Lake.

Here, we diverted on to a gravel road to visit the Bear Lake NWR, which again is rich in water birds, raptors and such.

We continued around Bear Lake, until we reached Garden City (did not stop for a famous Raspberry Shake as the queue was long), and turned west, still on 89 towards Logan, UT. We ascended the Bear lake pass, Elv. 7810 feet. and then through the very scenic Logan Canyon until we reached Logan, our stop for the night.

Logan is a busy University town (Go Aggies apparently!) and the Mormon Tabernacle and architecture are worth a look. We ate at the Beehive Grill, which was very good and MrSlotNoodles had 25oz. Moab Brewery ales, which he have enjoyed in Moab and did here too, for only $4.00.

Day 22 To Nevada via a rocket(s) and a surprise look at Jupiter!

MrSlotNoodles had not decided on a route for this leg of the trip, other than we would finish in Ely, Nevada. So, was it Antelope Island, and the Salt Lake to Wendover or Golden Spike NM. We had never been to Golden Spike, and as we wanted to avoid the Interstate on this trip as much as possible, we headed for there.

So onto the UT30 headed west, and eventually picked up the brown signs for the NM. On the way in we spotted lots of raptors and snapped a lot of pictures.

Once we arrived at the NM we got a pleasant surprise… Golden Spike NM marks the location where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads met in May 1869, and so completed the first transcontinental railroad, opening up the west to more settlement and trade. We were aware that each May 10th there is a re-enactment, but the NM staff said each Saturday during the summer there is one as well!

So we stayed to see the replica locomotive, the Jupiter, steam up the tracks and pull up to the golden spike location (the last rail spikes driven into the sleepers were symbolically made of gold). We did not stay for the second loco, No 119 or the re-enactment as that was an hour later, but drove some of the auto tour along the old formation through cuttings and across embankments before heading back to the highway.

We then passed the ATK rocket testing/manufacturing facility, which is huge, and took a few photos of the samples in their display, including the Shuttles boosters and Patriot missiles.

Then onto I-84, until we rejoined the UT30/NV233 for a long and lonely drive across range and desert to meet I-80 at Oasis (we could not find the Cobre Ghost Town; it must have been spirited away!).

We left I-80 at Wells, gassed up and then headed south, over 130 miles to El yfor the night, an old Nevada gambling town. We visited the historic and quirky Nevada hotel, and ate in the Jailhouse casino. Yes, we did have a small flutter and no, we did not end up winners! I’ll write up a mini trip report when we get back home.

Tomorrow, the last leg to our final destination Las Vegas… and no more blog updates until we get home 😉

Long Road Trip to Vegas Days 12 to 17

The long road trip continues…

Day 11 Half way to Vegas, so it must be time for slots!

We awoke around 5.30am, could see no early morning wildlife around Lake Crescent, so packed, checked out and headed for Port Angeles to find breakfast. We stopped at Joshua’s, the car park was full of pick-ups, usually a good sign.  However this was for some sort of meeting, not a mass approval of the fare on offer! Luckily it was fine and less than half the cost at the Lodge.

We then drove up Hurricane Ridge Road to an elevation of around 5,700 ft for a great view of……………nothing but 10 feet in front of us in the fog, snow and below zero temperatures at the top.

Drove back down, but the weather was not kind for good views over the Strait of Juan de Fuca (no sniggering at the back!), or of the mountains. Then back on the 101 and a quick divert to Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and Dungeness Spit. The spit is 5 miles in length, but after about the first half mile, and due consideration of a combination of poor choice of attire on MrSlotNoodles’s part, a stiff sea breeze and no sign of any harbour seals or any birds but gulls, we turned and headed back.

Back into the car and the heavens opened as we drove past Sequim and onto the Wa20 to the Quimper Peninsular to Port Townsend where the rain abated.

We originally planned to stay in Port Townsend, but ferry cancellations next day would not be helpful for our journey on to the San Juan Islands, so we decided on Anacortes for an overnight.

We had a reservation on the 4.30 pm Port Townsend to Coupeville (Whidbey Island) ferry, but we managed to sneak onto the 12.45pm one.

A 30 minute crossing later and we on Whidbey island. Then north on the 20, past Coupeville which is some distance north of the port, watched a few F16’s (I think) fly low across us as we drove past the Oak Harbor Naval air base and then stopped at Deception Pass.

Then continued north to Anacortes for our overnight. We had passed a large number of NA Casinos, more than we remember from our last visit this way, and when I learnt that one had just opened a new hotel in April…….well it would have been rude not to!…………and they have cheap gas!……. and it looked nice……..and free coffee……..and free wi-fi…. and…..!!  We had a great time and the full results will be the subject of another blog 🙂

Day 12 Voyage to the San Juans, ‘wot, no whales?’

We left the Swinomish casino and lodge having fought an honourable draw after a late comeback on the ‘Puppy Stampede’ slot with a $168 hit.

We drove the 8 miles to Anacortes ferry terminal and caught the 08.30am ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, which is an international sailing which goes on to Sydney, Canada (Vancouver Island).

The voyage took an hour and is a dedicated Washington Scenic Byway, justifiably so.

We drove off the ferry and decided, given the clear weather today and rain and wind for tomorrow, to book an extra whale watching trip with western Prince, to leave at 12 noon. Then we checked in to our hotel and walked back down to town grabbed a pizza each from the Chinese restaurant and were ready for 11.45 boarding.

The trip was very enjoyable, gorgeous scenery, and we saw eagles, Stellar Sea-lions, Harbour seals and Harbour Porpoises but no Orcas. The resident pods were not currently in residence, must be a rent or lease dispute or just the price of fish. So we were looking for Transient whales, who do not travel in large pods, hunt seals and are harder to find.

 

After three and a half hours we returned to port (no boats saw whales that day or for the previous 4 days) and had a early meal at the Cask and Schooner, Lamb burger and Shepherds Pie, then returned to our hotel for the evening.

Day 13 Captain Jim and the search for Orca

We awoke, early as usual, took the comp hotel breakfast and headed out to explore some of San Juan Island before our booked Orca trip at 12 noon. We drove down to the southern tip of the Island in windy drizzle, and when we could go no further, drove back stopping at each location.

First up was Cattle Point, where we thought we saw an Orca, but it was a porpoise on closer inspection through the binoculars, but no pictures as it was soon gone. A couple of Bald Eagles were using the wind to swoop over the bay and look for food.

We then stopped at south beach, but no red foxes or other animals on view, then drove on to the National Park Service American Camp site (more on this later), a pretty bleak and windswept location from the 1850’s Pig War.

San Juan island is about 15 miles long by 6 miles wide so it really does not take too long to get anywhere. We then headed north and after a quick look at False Bay, we pulled into Lime Kiln Point State Park, which is the only dedicated whale watching park in the US. We spent a couple of hours on the trails, watching a harbour seal and various birds but no whales in the Haro Strait.

That’s me all wrapped up 😉

We then headed for our trip, which was booked with Maya’s Western Charters which has good reviews. Capt. Jim Maya, who owns the Peregrine which takes six passengers max, was on hand and unfortunately our trip was cancelled, seas too heavy and no whales. His 3 pm trip was full, but as consolation he said if he saw whales on the 3pm trip he would ring us and take us out later. It’s a cash on delivery trip so we said ok and set off for some more exploration.

We continued north on West Side Road to English Camp NPS site. As I said earlier, this location dates back to a territorial dispute between Britain and the US over ownership of the San Juan Island, which reached a head over the killing of a pig (I kid you not!) in 1859, and resulted in armed garrisons being established by each nation. The US barracks on the south of the island were spartan, but us Brits, as the Dick van Dyke in ‘Mary Poppins’ style narration of the film in the visitors center would say……..

‘Cor Blimey me old china, us Brits know how to fight a war! Whilst those Yanks are freezing their ‘Alberts’ off down south, we are just sat here on our ‘arris’ whiling away the day, or enjoying tea dances, parties, gardening, or time in the ‘rub-a-dub-dub’….luvlee!’

After MrSlotNoodles told the lady in the office that Kaiser Wilhelm 1st got it wrong in 1871, (arbitrated in favour of US) and she should ‘get off his land’ , which she did not seem to appreciate, we moved on, due to lack of reinforcements, to Roche Harbor. Very nice, and very quaint, owned by the company that once made all the Lime on the islands. We had a quick lunch, then drove around the rest of the island, then headed back to Lime Kiln Point.

We asked at the information centre about Orcas, and the lady there said that they had been spotted off Victoria BC, and were headed this way so two hours maybe. We spent two hours with more birds, seals and waves, asked again and got the same answer!

So, about 5pm, we headed back to our hotel, thinking our chance was over. We had not been back 5 minutes when the phone rang, it was Capt. Jim. No, not Klingons, but Orcas, he had followed them in and we could go out at 6pm.

We drove to Snug Harbor, joined three others and set off on our sailing. It was fantastic!………….. We saw J Pod, the residents were back after their Canada vacation, and whilst they are a challenge to photograph (very sneaky, they swim fast and are good at appearing behind you!) from a small boat, we saw seven different individuals, some interesting weather, a Peregrine Falcon, lots of other birds and really enjoyed Jim’s wit and knowledge.

We got back to port just before 9pm, and returned back to our hotel tired but very happy.

Day 14 Goodbye to the Ocean and we head east to the mountains

We awoke at 04.00am so we could catch the 05.50 sailing back to Anacortes. The ferry was not that busy and we docked on time at 07.15 and set off on US20 to drive to Spokane, via North Cascades NP.

We got to the Newhalem visitors centre just as they opened at 9am, and unlike our previous visit, although it was cloudy, we could actually see something as we drove through the park.

We stopped at various sites, including Gorge Creek Falls, Diablo Lake, and Washington Pass (5477 feet) as the weather alternated between sun and showers.

We then dropped down, passed through Winthrop, which has a very western film set feeling to its architecture, rather than say that of Jackson, WY. Trying too hard to look like a cowboy town, even down to the gas station.

We then joined the 215 and 155 through Omak and the Colville Indian Reservation until we reached Grand Coulee Dam. It is a very impressive piece of civil engineering, but like the Three gorges on the Yangtze, is not very photogenic.

We then joined the US2 to Spokane, and the scenery changed from open range with sage bush and scrub to large expanses of agriculture. We eventually reached our hotel, after a drive in heavy rain on I-90 at 3pm, after 8 hours of driving plus ferry crossing.

Day 15 A long day drive through rainy Idaho to cold Montana

We checked out around 07.30am and hit the I-90 for a short 10 mile stretch to join the US95, just west of Coeur d’Alene and then headed south.

We eventually arrived at Moscow, and negotiated the thronging streets for the Saturday farmers market, well a few pedestrians thronging maybe. It had probably only just opened and looked to have plenty of fresh produce to buy although today we were on a tight schedule, over 500 miles, so no loitering allowed!

We continued along the 95, until we reached Lewiston, on the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, and stopped at an overlook for a couple of pictures before descending to the US12, which is known as the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway, part of the Lewis and Clark NHT.

It starts with signs which say winding road ‘next 99 miles’ and it is not joking! But, it is extremely scenic as it runs alongside the Clearwater River and ascends from a wide open canyon to narrow forested mountain canyons very popular with weekend white water rafting trips as far as we could tell.

It was even magnificent in driving rain, so wet that the rafters were probably drier in the river than on the banks! Not good for hikes or photography but we did get a couple of snaps between downpours. The road has a 55mph limit and was heavily policed in the congested area around the rapids. We saw three drivers pulled over and another cruiser on the prowl. Compared to previous trips, we had seen far more active enforcement of speed limits on this one in all the States that we had visited and we wondered if it was linked to poor safety records or pressure on local budgets?

As we climbed up to Lolo pass, elevation 5,235 ft, the rain turned to sleet, then we entered Montana, lost an hour and gained some sunshine.

We continued on the US12 until Missoula, then joined the I-90 again until we reached Drummond, and turned south onto Mt1, or the Pintler Veterans’ Memorial Scenic Highway.

This forms a 64 mile ‘L’ shaped divert off the I-90, rejoining at Anaconda, and gives some great views of the mountains, with a final climb up to Georgetown Lake, before the longest length of 35/25mph speed limit I can remember anywhere in rural USA around Anaconda.

We rejoined the I-90, then onto the I-15 and drove south to Dillon for our overnight, to explore the region northwest of Yellowstone the next day. If Idaho was wet, Montana was cold, with snow flurries and a sharp chill wind. The local forecast was for snow next day and a quick check of the Montana roads info website confirmed that NPS had closed Beartooth Highway at the Wyoming border.

Day 16 A change of plan and an extra day in slightly snowy Yellowstone

Originally we had planned to drive to Laurel in Montana today, to allow us to enter Yellowstone by the northeast entrance tomorrow and finally drive all the Beartooth Highway in one go. The closure led to a rethink over breakfast, and we cancelled the night in Laurel and added another night to our Gardiner reservation.

NPS info on the Beartooth in real-time is pretty poor on-line, but the info on the Montana roads site had not changed and the weather was worse for today in that area, so we decided there was no point going to Laurel and having to wait around or come another way in anyway.

So, we had a later start, and took the 41 out of Dillon towards Twin Bridges, seeing lots of raptors looking for their breakfasts in the sage grass and verges. We then joined the Mt 287 with a short stop at Nevada City ghost town; well sort of a still lived in ghost town, with a tourist train which today was not running.

Then through Virginia City, which appears to have held onto its western look by maintaining its old buildings (rather than building fake new ones) and looks much more authentic for it, than some others (I MrSlotNoodles’s HO).

 

The weather was a mixture of wind, sleet and light snow showers and at Ennis we joined US287, and headed south towards the Madison River Earthquake Area and visitors centre, near to Quake Lake and Hebgen Lake.

On August 17th 1959, a 7.5 Richter scale quake caused the mountain side to slip, blocking the Madison River with 80 million tons of rock, and killing 28 people, many just sleeping in the camp grounds. You can still see the scar on the mountainside and the lake created by the blockage.

We then headed into West Yellowstone, had lunch at Bullwinkle’s Bar, and then checked on the Beartooth. Closed until Monday ‘sometime‘, so the decision looked a good one and with an improving weather forecast we will drive it both ways later in the week.

We then drove into the park in snow/sleet flurries, saw a few baby Wapitis alongside the Madison River, the usual Bison alongside the roads, lots of wet tourists and steaming thermal features and a great view of an Osprey along the Yellowstone River, just south of Mammoth as we approached Gardiner.

The wildlife highlight of the trip starts here!

Day 17 Birds……………oh, and the usual few bears

We woke a little later and decided to take the hotel complimentary breakfast rather than an early start in the park. We recalled it was not that good, and unfortunately our memories did not deceive us, but suitably calorie laden for a day of wildlife spotting we set off about 7.30am.

Today’s wildlife highlights…

Golden Eagle

Black bear with her two cubs…

A bit of scenery…

We have another three days in Yellowstone before we start to head south to Las Vegas… I’ll do one final progress update (probably on Saturday).

Long Road Trip to Vegas Days 4 to 7

OK, so I should have explained a bit better in my first ‘long road trip to Vegas’ blog that MrSlotNoodles and I are on a three week long road trip to Vegas!!  If you read the first instalment you will have seen that the trip started in San Francisco.  We pick up here on Day 4…

Day 4 Exploring the Redwoods National and State Parks

Above… Trees of Mystery attraction. The Mystery, of what is actually mysterious about them, remains a mystery (as we did not pay to enter) although I reckon it’s a mystery how they get anyone to pay to see trees, thousands of which you can see for free! However, whilst I did not think much of his blue ox, as for Paul, well ‘He’s a lumberjack and he’s ok!’

Above… Whales seen from a coastal hike.  We watched them feeding in Klamath Bay.

Above… Osprey feeding along with the whales.

Above… View from inside a redwood 😉

Above… Elk

Above… Trinidad

Day 5 Onwards to Oregon

Above… Jedediah Smith State Park

Above… John Dellenback Dune Trailhead

Day 6 In search of sea lions and mountains

Above… Cooks Chasm

Above… Silver Falls State Park

Above… Really cool full circle rainbow around the sun (first one we have ever seen!!)

Above… Cute and friendly snake 😉 at Fish Lake off the 126

Day 7 From Sunny Sisters to Cloudy Portland

Above…  Cline Falls

Above… Smith Rock State Park

Above… Cove Palisades State Park

Long Road Trip to Vegas Days 1-3

Day 1 To the airport!

Due to us flying out of one terminal and back into another we started our trip a day earlier than normal with a drive down to Heathrow and an overnight stay near the airport.

Day 2 The long journey to Las Vegas begins!

We were up at 3am, and left at 4am to park our car at Terminal 5, and catch the Heathrow Express to Terminal 3. American Airlines check-in was pretty quiet and after a debate about our baggage allowance, which we won on evidence submitted, we proceeded through security, had a very average breakfast snack, and boarded our 777 to Chicago for the first leg.

The flight left on-time at 07.45am and was fine, looped films… but ok, food passable, and the passengers mostly Americans heading home after trips to Europe, which meant our quickest ever pass through immigration. It was 30 minutes from plane to security at ORD terminal 3.

We had a quick reconnaissance walk, as it’s over ten years since we were last there, and settled on lunch at Wolfgang-Pucks, which we have yet to sample in LV even after all these trips. Two very nice salads and a pint were consumed (pint by MrSlotNoodles) and some ‘food porn’ is provided below! Yes, that is a banana split 🙂

We then sat and waited as we had taken the 4 hr lay-over as the later flight only left 2 hrs and sky tracks is full of bad news on queues at ORD… well not on the Sunday of Memorial Weekend.

The 4 and a half hours flight went really quickly as I signed up for the Wi-Fi!!

On arrival at SFO, collected our bags and caught the sky train to the rental center, Dollar Express meant we jumped the queue and set off for Pacifica nice and quick.

We met Boots and her husband in the hotel bar, which has a stunning view of the ocean. We had a lovely chat and watched the sun set into the Pacific… then MrSlotNoodles and I turned into Zombies (we had been awake for getting on for 30 hours).

We were in bed and sleeping soundly by 9pm!!

Day 3 Through the land of the giants

Despite the fatigue I awoke at 1am, then 2am and again at 3am… finally MrSlotNoodles said it was time to get up at 4am.  So we got up… I unpacked everything and then repacked it all into the bags I wanted it all in (for our flights I always spread our clothes equally between the bags and ensure we both have clothing in each bag, that way if one or more of the bags goes missing during the flights we both have some of our clothes).

Yesterday, the Golden Gate bridge had been closed to celebrate its 75th Birthday with a fireworks display but it was now open and shrouded in mist as we drove across it and the drive out of San Francisco was nice and quiet on a holiday Monday. We stopped at Vista Point on the north shore for a few quick photos of the Bridge, Alcatraz and the Bay, then headed north up the 101.

MrSlotNoodles decided that with the lack of sleep and knowing how winding and slow it could be, that this trip we would not take the coastal route on Highway 1 via Mendocino (we have driven it all before) but instead stay on the 101 mostly all the way to Crescent City.

We passed through the wine region and eventually decided it was time for breakfast at Windsor, just north of Santa Rosa at 7.30 am. We were the only two customers as we tucked into our signature omelets at Omelette Express, which were excellent. Then back on the road until we reached Leggett, where we drove through one of the remaining drive through trees, the Chandelier Tree, $5 a go…

… and then continued to drive the Avenue of the Giants and took a few walks in Humbolt Redwoods State Park.

Finally we arrived at Crescent City, checked in, got provisions at Walgreens and tomorrow we will explore Redwoods NP and other areas to the south in a more relaxed mode.