Travels
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of bear teeth and beagle bladders I decided to take the Beartooth Highway, a scenic byway, out the northeast exit from Yellowstone and north toward I-90. Charles Kurault has called it the most beautiful highway in America.
And it is gorgeous! However … may I quote from the info on a postcard? Okay—"The Bear Tooth Highway connects Yellowstone Park with Red Lodge, Montana, by way of 10,940-foot Bear Tooth Pass. It makes 'getting there half the fun'—if by fun you mean the spine-tingling chills and breathtaking vistas served up by a spectacular series of sharp, steep switchbacks." And, from another postcard: "Scaling the Bear Tooth Plateau via the Bear Tooth Highway, alias US 212, means driving up one of the steepest cliffs ascended by any highway in America, gaining over a mile in altitude from the valley floor at Red Lodge, Montana, to the summit a few miles later at 10,947 feet, and taking in some breathtaking views—while negotiating some heart-stopping turns."
Do you see a pattern here? Breathtaking views and killer switchbacks—oh, my, YES! There is no other way to describe it, no way to share the feeling of those views and switchbacks—almost no way to drive the thing, in a 30-foot RV, for crying out loud! Pretty awful to do it, and absolutely wonderful to have done it!
Here's my notes along the way: Up—and up—hit a snowplow marker post and bent my mirror in—up and up—big rocks—up … snow—up ... what a view ... on up ... engine laboring ... second gear ... on up ... wow!
At West Summit, elevation 19,947 feet, I stopped to breathe and take pictures, which I'd done occasionally on the way while allowing impatient drivers behind me to pass. Trust me, I was nowhere near speed limit!
Coming down was almost worse—gravity kept coaxing the Moose to go faster. I managed to get a picture of the Bear Tooth at a "slow vehicle turnout.” I've wondered what it was about these mountains that reminded anyone of bear's teeth! But there it was, a perfectly formed canine tooth, framed in a pass through the mountains.
The manager of the Red Lodge KOA said, "I never send anyone longer than 24 feet over Bear Tooth!" Yeah, I understand that! Holy cow! What a view! What an amazing Creator! Oh, my!
Up most of the night with an ailing beagle, who soaked my bed three times and ended up sleeping on the floor. I slept fully clothed and under a beach towel, the only covering in the RV that was still dry.
So I spent the day visiting a vet in Billings. Lady has cystitis, and antibiotics to deal with it. What a blessing that it's not something worse! She sends wags of thanks to well-wishers.
Temperatures above 100° today--gork!
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Posts
on a rock, by the lake ...
Beagles and felines and me, oh, my!
RV Saga
Choosing
Look at my map!
“Yo ho ho, the wind blows free” in Mystic, CT
God’s whales
Ed Mathieu, moose whisperer
Trust …
Pooh Sticks in Kansas
Moose plans!
CCWC 2013
The Moose is loose!
“angels unaware”
Sacramento train station … yawn!
Pay attention to my accounts!
one last camping trip!
A Delightful Trip
Going on a bat?
My friend Shannie
morning fun!
Buffalo Wesleyan Church
Cascades National Park, homeward
“wherever I lodge”
the view
Cascades National Park
Guardian beagle?
Lewis and Clark Caverns
Beware!
Let’s get this show on the road!
Happy camper!
Israel Miracles
He is not here!
Camel riding
jet lag
Meditation
Garden of Gethsemane
Where …
The Great I AM
Abraham’s Tent
Wednesday—Jordan River
Caesarea, Zippori, Nazareth, Megiddo …
Israel—1st day
Tomorrow … tomorrow!
Beautiful feet
Wings of the morning
Countdown …
Ah-whoo and sniff!
17 more days!
Pilgrims, Elephants, Buffalo—what is real?
Israel factoids
Traveling old lady
Going to Israel
fall color?
Small world!
Where Can I Go?
Mitchell, SD
Valentine, NE
Precision Repair in Big Timber, MT
Scenic byway
hideously horrible, absolutely wonderful writing conference!
the tire guy
Friends, Truman, and books
Rescuing angels
Brown County leaves!
tune: “Fairest Lord Jesus”
Synesthesia 3
Niagara Cave, Harmony, MN
Synesthesia 2
Synesthesia
I’ll show her!
A New Toy!
Popular doggie!
New friends from Alberta
Nevada morning
Use it and pack it
Going …
Friends along the way
Idle conversations …
I’ll rest content, when my trip is done!
De Smet, SD
Red River Zoo, Fargo, ND—nice!
Whether the weather …
Prairie Dog Central RR in Manitoba
An island, just for me?
Aaron Provincial Park, Ontario
A delightful day
Sing praise!
Unexpected kindness
Emus—ah-wooooof!!!
If I were a moose …
Okopogo
Trip reading
Drive-drive-drive
Our morning elk
CCWC in Estes Park
from the Meandering Moose
May!
Writing Away, Lavinia Spalding
Northwest haven
Office picnic
Memory lane?
Visiting Camp Lake Hubert
Dolphin the Dragon
Plum Creek
Corn Palace
Ready to go!
Oh, fun!
“anti-microbial”
Home {yawn}
KOA authors
Oregon Christian Writers poetry class
What a day!
Decorating tips
Dolphin’s comments
Authors
Music at the Mug!
Go, girl!
“Where Go the Boats?”
Campgrounds and trailer parks
Highway dangers
June!
Blowin’ in the wind
DABS
Bluebonnets
Of blizzards and barking
Home!
What I Did on My Summer Vacation
Group-think
A good conference
OCW: 1st day
OCW
Surprise!
Corps of Discovery
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Sea Lion Caves
American Flyer
a sandwich day …
Cirque de Soleil
My plans
t•i•r•e•d
Headin’ out
I’m off in the morning!
Why we’re glad to be home
Döppelganger?
Little moose feet
In a mirror?
Hero
pant … pant …
Hot and windy
Sun-scorched land
Writing conference
Vacation planning
Planning, planning …
just a little NE jaunt?
Trip plans …
Beginnings
… in a strange land …
Kansas
Ha!
Use it and pack it
Wait, I’m not ready!
Drive-by Church—God’s Plan
Not a Classy Author—But I Sure Do Have Fun!
Trials and Tribulations … Plus Mercy Galore!
Of Badlands and good lands and lands along the way …
of bear teeth and beagle bladders
First forest … first park … praise the Lord!
Ridin’ the trail in the hail
My Wolf Park family
2000+ miles of boring interstate, with bright spots!
Mitchell, Canada, and the failure of Dolphin’s plot
To Mitchell SD, with a supper stop on the way
hail, the mighty hunter!
Hello world!
Trust
Trust …
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