Taking Denver and Vicinity by Storm.

Without a doubt, the absolute number one, best part of living in the RV and exploring the country is finding out, firsthand, just how much there is to see and experience. Cities and towns, big and small, all have stories to tell. We approach each of our stops without any preconceived notions, with a wide eye, and a determination to see something new and noteworthy. We are discovering America slowly, one city at a time, and Denver, another place never visited before, just knocked our socks off. If I had known that Denver was going to be so amazing, I would have added another 4 days to the stop. Busy, ohh my yes, and I think having our #1 son, Josh, come visit, just made it all that more unforgettable. Josh flew in from Boston to spend about a week with us, and we were on the go the entire time. Admittedly, I’m not fond of a writing style that just mindlessly lists excursions or experiences like a travel brochure; however, for this Denver post, that’s exactly what I need to do to best describe just how much these RV’rs +1 did in Denver and the surrounding area. 

Big Foot Crossing on our way to Pikes Peak

Explored Downtown Denver on a Food Tour

A fabulous food tour combines all the best ingredients:

• Exposure to a mix of restaurants and menus that best illustrate the gastronomic attributes of the city.

• Recommending complimentary libation concoctions that enhance the food selections.

• A tour guide who can lead a group in an orderly fashion through the city streets whilst explaining 125 years of Denver culinary history.

We started by having pizza at Marco’s Coal Fired Pizza and we completed our journey with dessert at the Terminal Bar, located in the restored 1914 Union Station. One of the best 3 hour, 5 stop food tours I’ve ever joined, and we got a real sense of the downtown area.

Denver Food Tour stop at Marco's Coal Fired Pizza

Hung around our amazing campsite in Cherry Creek State Park

This was an absolutely fantastic state park campsite. So far, we have been really impressed with the quality of the site, the space allocated to each site, and the amenities provided by the park. And they’re usually ½ the cost per night when compared to a private RV park. First, Cherry Creek State Park is located in Aurora, which is close enough to Denver, the airport, and even Colorado Springs. Our site was on the far end of the last loop, way out in the 4,200-acre park.  Plenty of room and privacy, and some excellent shade from some well-placed and mature Cottonwood Trees. This was an excellent place to meet up with some extended family living in the Denver area. Yes, as some readers will attest, we have been known to plan camping stops in locations so that we may visit with friends and family.  We spent a very pleasant afternoon eating at our campsite picnic table, enjoying the warm breeze, and catching up with Cousins Deena and Pat.

 

Hanging out at the campsite with Deena & Pat

Took a guided Jeep tour to the top Pikes Peak 

Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The ultra-prominent 14,115-foot fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, 12 miles west of downtown Colorado Springs. We met our Jeep tour guide in the town of Manitou Springs which lies at the base of the Pikes Peak highway entrance, and before you know it, we were climbing the 8,000 some vertical feet to the top of one of the few 14,000-foot-tall mountains you can drive to. I’ll also add that I was so GLAD not to be driving, and that we were in a very comfortable jeep with a completely retractable roof. It was an amazing trip to the top. The scenery, the views, the rock formations are unlike anything I have ever seen before. I even got a little sensitive to the higher elevations. When you’re up at 14,000 feet of elevation, the air you breath has only about 60% of the oxygen as compared to sea level atmosphere. After years of experience, the National Forest Service has EMTs stationed at the top to aid tourists and guests and administer oxygen, if needed. None of us needed such attention. Josh, as usual, was ALWAYS TOO CLOSE to the edge, for my comfort level. I’ll let the pictures below tell the story of Josh climbing a rocky ledge over a 500-foot crevasse.

Perched Precariously on a ledge at the top of Pikes Peak.

Romantic Moment on Pikes Peak @ "Double Cut" Overlook 

Saw a Concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater

Known simply as Red Rocks, what an amazing open-air amphitheater. After driving about 10 miles towards the mountains from Denver, we followed signs to the parking lot. Following the crowd, we started our pilgrimage towards the enormous red sandstone monolith. We climbed a pedestrian bridge and approached the naturally formed amphitheater, perched between two massive red rock formations that cradle the stage and provide for the amazing acoustic properties. The concert venue holds just about 9,500 people sitting on wood and concrete benches. There really isn’t a bad seat in the house. We were close to the front, approximately 28 rows back, and center stage. What a special night. As we’re sitting there watching the crowd pulse into the amphitheater, Josh lets it be known that this is his first concert! Say what? Yes, come to find out that we were all together as Josh attended his very first concert at Red Rocks, seeing and listening to Glass Animals. Wow! Also, it appeared to us, that the band was as in awe of the red rock amphitheater as we were. The mother of the lead singer of the Glass Animals, Dave Bayley, was in attendance, and he occasionally turned on the house lights to see the entire amphitheater come to life. Of course, like any good venue, a 30-minute traffic jam ensued in the parking lots as concert goers made the mass exodus from the venue. We didn’t care, we were still buzzing from the show.

Red Rocks Amphitheatre to see Glass Animals

Rode Horses into Rocky Mountain National Park 

Riding a horse is a quintessential Colorado experience. Riding a horse in Rocky Mountain National Park is an unparalleled experience. We rode a trail amidst the grandeur of McGregor Mountain, Big Head Mountain, and Deer Horn Mountain, all standing over 10,000 feet above sea level. We went for a two-hour horseback ride being led by our adopted son (not really), Michael. A little back story is probably necessary. Our son, Josh, has been friends with Michael since the earliest days of elementary school. The boys must have played at least 8 years of soccer together, and both are avid skiers / snowboarders. We have spent more than a dozen weekends skiing with Michael over the years, and our families are close. So, we kind of consider Michael as our adopted son, and the same could probably be said for Josh around Michael’s family. For a second summer, Michael is a cowboy wrangler, leading tours on horseback from the National Gateway Stables through Rocky Mountain National Park. (Sounds like a great summer job, doesn’t it?) So, on Michael’s day off, we drove north from Denver to Estes Park, CO, where we met him bright and early for a wonderfully picturesque horseback ride, just the 4 of us. After the ride, we had a picnic lunch at the stables before heading into the very quaint small town of Estes Park. With Michael leading the way we returned to the National Park for more sight-seeing. One stop in particular had us exploring the “Alluvial Fan” and the beautiful cascade of water flowing down through a boulder field. I wish we could have spent more time together, but the day was slipping away, and Josh had to catch an evening flight back to Boston, so we dropped Michael off at the stables and headed back to Denver. 

Our Wrangler Guide, Michael, in Rocky Mountain National Park

Childhood Friends Hanging Out Together on Horses

When planning this Northern Rockies trip, Denver was an inevitable stop for a couple of reasons.  Probably the most important reason was the airport. Denver’s airport is a major hub, offering many direct flight opportunities to the rest of the country. After spending much of our trip in places without major airport connections, this was our first chance to fly non-stop directly to Florida to visit with Judy’s elderly parents. Similarly, we also found easy and convenient non-stop flights from Boston for Josh to fly out for a visit. After so many weeks on the road, Denver offered a chance to visit with friends and family. The geographical reality is that Denver sits on the eastern edge of the Rockies, and by the time we complete our stop here we have completed our Rocky Mountain journey. From now on our driving direction will be east. From here we head toward the great plains states of Kansas and Missouri. We still have another month’s worth of traveling and exploring, so please continue to follow along with us as we tell… the Rest of the Story.

Our First stop in Colorado has us visiting Glenwood Springs & Aspen.

With the intent of being completely transparent, we do not always stay exactly in the places we intend on visiting. Many of our stops, especially near the bigger metropolises, are in smaller towns “just outside” our true intended destination. For example, we didn’t stay in Duluth, MN, we camped in a town nearby called Cloquet. We did not stay in Charleston, SC, we camped in a town just 9 miles away called Mount Pleasant. Sometimes there are just no campgrounds in the area, and also, I’m not so excited about towing a 40-foot trailer through busy, downtown streets. Understandable?  I’ll cut to the meat of the matter. We did not stay in Glenwood Springs. We stayed in a small town just west of Glenwood Springs, CO called Silt. Each day we would drive the 19+ miles to Glenwood Springs, to explore a sight, to hike a trail, to attend a theatrical production, or do some shopping, and then return to the campsite. But what a magnificent ride it was each day as we followed the Colorado River along I-70 through Glenwood Canyon. Glenwood Canyon is a rugged, scenic 12.5-mile canyon with walls that climb as high as 1,300 feet above the Colorado River. Through this canyon runs Interstate 70, the Union Pacific's Central Corridor Railroad line, and a wonderful 16-mile walking / biking trail through the White River National Forest.  Just a lovely drive through some breathtaking landscapes.

As the title of this blog post suggests, our campsite in Silt, CO was within striking distance of Aspen, CO. Once the 5^th wheel is disconnected from the truck, we are free to visit places both near and far. It just so happens that Aspen was on the father side of that handy saying. Now 60 miles doesn’t seem like much, but when there is no direct interstate highway, and your route comprises traveling a 2-lane state route with many traffic lights, well then, that 60 miles can take over 90 minutes to complete. I’m sure ours is not a unique experience to be stuck in traffic trying to get into the resort town in the summer. It’s part of the overall experience and appeal. (Can you hear the dripping sarcasm?) On the other hand, to have traveled as far as we have, and visited as much as we have, and not taken advantage of visiting Aspen, no matter what the traffic conditions, would have been a mistake. So, we booked a 90-minute walking tour, called “Aspen Past and Present History Tour” through Trip Advisor.  We spent the day and had a really nice time. Here are some of the highlights:

A Picture with Rusty the Bear, Aspen, CO 

Mill Street Fountain, Aspen, CO

• We were doing some window shopping along the city blocks when we walked by a very square and white contemporary building with a glass frontage that just didn’t fit the Aspen motif; eventually, we figured out that the building was the Aspen Art Museum. The art exhibits in this museum were very abstract and conceptual. (I just wasn’t getting it). Had a very active rooftop café.

• We walked down to the John Denver Memorial Sanctuary.  It was lovely, and we paused for a moment for reflection, as we listened to John Denver songs on my phone, and read the rocks that had the lyrics engraved into the boulders. John Denver loved Aspen, and we loved John Denver, so it was kind of an emotional experience.

• We walked through Newbury Park and followed the Rio Grande Trail for a while as it wound its way around Roaring Forks River.  We got a bit caught up with ogling the dramatic residential houses in this area of Aspen. Dig this, the average selling price of a condominium in Aspen was 3.6 million. Who can afford that? Looks like I’ll be skiing in NH for another year. 

We spent a number of days exploring Glenwood Springs. There are real hot springs in Glenwood Springs. Hence the name. However, we did not don our bathing suits and head for the hot springs. Although very popular with the tourists, this was not an activity that appealed to us.  Glenwood Springs is situated in a rather small canyon carved out by the Colorado River over millions of years. Mountains occupy both the north & south, creating breathtaking vistas across the canyon. No place was this picturesque view more evident than from atop Iron Mountain and the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. Imagine, someone thought it was a good idea to put an amusement park, complete with thrilling amusement park rides, on top of a 7,000-foot mountain.  We took the gondola ride to the top of the mountain, in search of magnificent views, and found oh, so much more. Roller coasters and giant swings that propelled the occupants off the side of a mountain. No Thank You! We wanted to go underground and see the caverns.  There are actually two distinct caves, one called Fairy Cave and the other called Kings Row.  The caverns were discovered in the late 1800s by Charles W. Darrow. In 1895 Darrow opened the caves to the public, and in 897, Darrow was able to bring electric lights to the caverns with the help of the city's hydro-electric plant. Later that same year, a tunnel was blasted out to Glenwood Canyon with an observation deck, and it was named “Exclamation Point” (get it?).  Today, the Kings Row Cave Tour ends at the “Exclamation Point” and gives an amazing view of Glenwood Canyon. We completed our visit with a drink and a couple of photos out on the observation deck, before heading back to the gondola for a ride back down the mountain to the parking lot.

Judy Positively "Glowing" in Kings Row Cave, Glenwood Caverns.

Exclamation Point @ Kings Row Cavern, Overlooking Glenwood Canyon

• Walking the Glenwood Canyon Bike and Pedestrian Path down to the entrance of the White River National Forest, following the Colorado River and watching the Colorado River Rafting tours slowly make their way down the river. We logged over 15,000 steps on this walk.

• Attending local dinner theater at the Glenwood Vaudeville Revue where we were entertained by talented performers with a variety of comedy skits, jokes, high energy dance numbers, unique novelty songs, and original comedic presentations. It was an evening of delightful entertainment. 

Scene from Glenwood Vaudeville Review

• Climbing a pretty good-sized hill to the Linwood Cemetery. Here, we found the burial marker of the infamous old west outlaws, Doc Holliday and Kid Curry.   Grave marker aside, there are some questions about where Doc Holiday is exactly buried in the cemetery.  And, I’ll also add that this cemetery has the look and feel of the classic creepy “old west” kind of cemetery, perched upon a hill. 

Entrance to Linwood Cemetary, Glenwood Springs, 

And just like that, our 7-day stop in Silt, CO, just down the road from Glenwood Springs, is over. It was a busy 7-days of sightseeing. This blog post highlights some of the more interesting sights, but I never have a chance to tell you about everything we do.  For example, I didn’t get the chance to tell you about the fantastic meal we had in Silt at a restaurant started by a local chef, called the Miner's Claim Restaurant. We were picked up in a golf cart at our campsite and whisked off, across town, to the restaurant. Or the trip we made to the town of Rifle, to walk the Rifle River Trail along the banks of the Rifle River. Ooops, maybe I just did. The point is, we like to share our experiences with you as much as possible, and we hope you enjoy traveling along with us as we tell… the Rest of the Story.

Dinosaurs were the Hot Topic with our stop in Vernal, Utah

Driving the federal highway roads through the Rocky Mountains can be one of those “thrill every minute” types of rides. The route between Dubois, WY and Vernal, UT included the very scenic US Route 191.  I guess a brief explanation of the US roads system is needed. The Federal Highway System predates the Interstate Highway System and therefore doesn’t meet the same road building criteria. Frequently these roads are single lane with dashed lines for passing lanes, and sometimes a climbing lane for slower trucks. 

These highways can have steep hills, tight corners, traffic lights, and speed limits of 50 to 65 MPH. More importantly, these roads often have steep grades with slopes as much as 9%. Truck drivers and people who pull trailers that weigh 4-ton, much like our house on wheels, must pay close attention to these grades, and the downhill descent, for fear of going too fast, overheating the truck brakes, and losing control of the rig. It does happen. Let’s also admit that doing 60 MPH on a single lane road whilst overlooking a ledge which drops 300 feet into the canyon is both amazing and terrifying all at the same time. This was a challenging drive, especially across the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, where US Route 191 seemed to be literally cut into the canyon wall, where there were also a number of falling rock zones, and it was clear that rocks do fall into the roadway. For most of the 300-mile journey it felt like we were either going uphill over mountain passes, or downhill into canyons. The last 20 miles of the ride into Vernal, which is located in the Uintah Valley, included no less than 8 mountain road switchbacks that descend approximately 2,700 vertical feet. I’d like to tell you I saw the most amazing scenery as we passed over the mountains and through the canyons, but the truth is, I spent a ton of time and energy concentrating on the driving and not so much looking out the window. 

But once in Vernal, UT it was a smooth and comfortable ride to our campground in the heart of the small city of just over 10,000 people. Vernal is the county seat and largest city in Uintah County, and the city mascot must be the dinosaur. It has to be! As soon as we entered the city center, they were everywhere. On sidewalks, by driveways, they even have a “Dinah” dinosaur which is a 40-foot-tall pink fiberglass Brontosaurus with long lashes. She was built in 1958 for a motel, and when the motel was demolished, the statue was moved to the east entrance of town. Here are just a few of the sidewalk-type dinosaurs that we encountered on our many walking trips into town.

Dinosaur on Kid's Swim Canal in Vernal, UT

The 7-11 Ranch Restaurant, Oldest in Town

With dinosaurs as the theme for the week, it made sense to start our sightseeing excursions at Dinosaur National Monument, which is located just 24 miles southeast of our campsite and includes one of world’s richest known dinosaur fossil beds. These remains are from the Jurassic Period, some 150 million years ago. During a drought, many dinosaurs died near the river’s edge.  When the rain returned, floodwaters carried the jumbled bones of over 500 dinosaurs, representing 10 species, to this area. River sediment buried the bones, entombing them in the Morrison Formation sandstone until erosion exposed the fossils. These fossils were eventually discovered in 1909, when paleontologist Earl Douglass arrived on a mission from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History to find intact dinosaur bones and send them back to the museum for display. This national monument is a big place, so we started our tour at the Visitor’s Center, and walked the 1 ¹/₄-mile-long Fossil Discovery Trail up to the amazing Quarry Exhibition Hall. Here you can see dinosaur bones of all shapes, sizes, and configurations, still intact and only partially excavated from the sandstone in which they were entombed millions of years ago. After 15 years of excavating, Douglass proposed that the remains of the quarry be preserved as a site where "people can see the place where these ancient monsters have been entombed for ages.”  

Entrance to Dinosaur National Monument

Steven goofing around @ Quarry Exhibition Hall, Dinosaur National Monument

One of the benefits of traveling like we do is the ability to create our own agenda. Want to stay local and walk around the town, do some errands and have lunch at a local restaurant? We can do that.  Want to spend the day walking in a park to find a natural sandstone arch? We can do that as well.  Here is a short list of some of the “we did that” things we did:

• We ate lunch at the 7-11 Ranch Restaurant, the oldest existing restaurant in Vernal, established in 1933 by Warren Belcher. Warren and his wife, Daisy, operated the restaurant for their entire lives, and it is still owned by their youngest daughter, Connie.

• We hiked a 1 ¼ -mile long trail called Moonshine Arch Trail to Moonshine Arch. Supposedly a “hidden gem” of Vernal, Moonshine Arch is a naturally occurring sandstone formation that spans a length of 85 feet and rises to a height of 40 feet. It is tucked among the hills and buttes at the base of Red Mountain. Great out and back hike, and very popular, so I’m not sure the “gem” is really that “hidden”.

Under Moonshine Arch, Vernal, UT

• We hiked among the cliffs of Dry Forks Canyon at the McConkie Ranch and viewed the ancient Native American rock wall pictures called Petroglyphs. These beautifully preserved petroglyphs cover 200 feet along a cliff face in the Navajo formation. It’s believed the petroglyphs were crafted somewhere between 1-1200 CE.

McConkie Ranch Petroglyphs in Dry Forks Canyon

Vernal, UT was a great stop. Our campsite was comfortable and conveniently located. We did a lot of walking into town for shopping and errands. After traveling across the country for a bit over 8 weeks, we even got well needed haircuts. Eventually, our stay in Vernal came to an end, and we packed up Neil the Northpoint (our camper) for a trip further on down the road to our next destination in Silt, Colorado. We have two stops in Colorado scheduled on this trip; the town of Silt is located a short drive from Glenwood Springs and about 60 miles from Aspen. We will be heading due east. Our westward drive is formally over, and the predominant compass setting will be east for the remainder of our summer trip. But there’s still another 7 weeks of travel in front of us, so check on back for the next blog post as we tell… the Rest of the Story.

Exploring Yellowstone National Park, The Grand Teton Mountains, & the Town of Dubois, WY.

Yellowstone National Park meets every expectation and preconceived notion of what a great National Park should be. The first national park created some 150 years ago by an act of Congress has it all. Geysers, mud pits, soaring mountains, glorious multicolored canyons, fantastic wildlife, and astonishing TRAFFIC. Sorry to say but all those rumors are true, the national parks are becoming overcrowded during peak season. This fact became painfully obvious as we tried to make our way south and through the park. On paper this seemed like an easy drive of only 255-miles, moving the camper from Ennis, Montana, north of Yellowstone, to Dubois, Wyoming, south of Yellowstone. There were not that many route options, and the route we were taking would have us driving directly through Yellowstone with the camper.  How thrilling would that be? Yeah, not that thrilling. My route did not foretell the amount of traffic I would encounter on a midweek drive through the park during peak summer season. Holy Crap! I wish I had done just a bit more research before I picked West Yellowstone as my point of entry to the park. Notoriously the busiest entry point into the national park. So, our first impression of the park was the 50-minute, miles long line of traffic we encountered as we hit the small town of West Yellowstone. Bumper to bumper with hundreds of other cars, buses, and RVs also trying to enter the park. What should have been an amazing 5-hour scenic ride through Yellowstone, across the Grand Teton Mountain range, and through the Shoshone National Forest, ended up being a miserable, stop and go, construction related, delay filled, 7-hour, OMG can I please get there already, kind of drive. 

So that was the first and only time we drove ourselves through Yellowstone. Thankfully we had the forethought to prebook an 8-hour tour of the southern loop of Yellowstone, with a professional tour company.  We have found that sometimes sightseeing is enhanced with an experienced & knowledgeable local guide. (Knowing when such a guide will be required is the key to a more fulfilling experience, and one we are attempting to master). There we were, just 32 hours later, early in the morning, being picked up by a very comfortable 12 seat tour van, with a licensed tour guide and driver, negotiating the traffic and parking so that we were able to see all the fantastic sights of the southern section of Yellowstone. As an example, our guide knew where in the park the cell service was, so that he could call the “Old Faithful Geyser Hotline” to get a better idea of when we needed to be at the geyser. Wouldn’t you know, he dropped us off in the parking lot just 3 minutes before the event. We walked the path towards the geyser, whilst the van moved through a maze of cars in an overly crowded parking lot. We got a great view of the eruption, and some time to wander through the timber-framed Old Faithful Inn.  A 300+ room historic lodge that is more than 100 years old, located in the park at Old Faithful, and is actually owned by the National Park Service. That’s how our wonderful tour started, watching Old Faithful erupt before 10:15 am, and the awe & magic just kept on coming all day.  Yellowstone is absolutely amazing, and I could fill pages with pictures and descriptions of the sights, beautiful landscape and wildlife we saw in just 8 hours. Instead, I will encourage you to visit Yellowstone for yourselves and experience the wonder of it all firsthand. For those who have visited already, I’m sure there is every intention of returning again one day.

Grand Prismatic Overlook, Yellowstone 

Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park

Professional Guide John P & Judy

I would just like to add that the stories and videos you may have seen on YouTube, or other such platforms, of remarkably stupid tourists getting way too close to the wild animals, are true.  We saw for ourselves, firsthand.  After lunch we headed through the Hayden Valley, a lush green valley known to attract the buffalo. And the males were in “rut”, so they were more aggressive, and visitors were warned by signage, as well as the National Park personnel, to watch out for the buffalo. “Don’t pet the fluffy cows” is our affectionate expression. Through the windows of our van, watch a video we took and listen to our tour guide react to a tourist making a run for the safety of the car, after lingering too long near a male buffalo who clearly had his sights on a female. Wow. Not staged, and I do not think the woman realized she was playing hide and seek with a 1 ½ ton male buffalo. 

Next up, Grand Teton National Park.  How is it that the one state of Wyoming has just an amazing collection of National Parks, National Forests, and Wildlife Sanctuaries? I don’t think it’s fair to some of the other, smaller states. My gosh, there I am standing at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center about to start a 7 ½ mile hike around Jenny Lake, and I’m just mesmerized by craggy stone peaks of the Grand Teton Range. Staring up at Grand Teton Peak, soaring 13,775 feet above sea level, as well as Mount Owen, Teewinot Mountain, Middle Teton, and South Teton. Some of these peaks still have snow visible, and I’m quite sure that the many streams we encountered on our hike around the lake were being fed by the snow melting at much higher elevations and running down the mountains.  And the canyons that have been carved between the mountain peaks, like Cascade Canyon, are so green and picturesque, it is almost impossible to describe or capture. We packed a picnic lunch and spent the entire day walking the Jenny Trail Loop, even being fortunate enough to spot a moose languishing in a shallow cove of the lake.  

Moose in Jenny Lake

Cascade Creek, Jenny Lake Trail, Grand Teton National Park

And it wouldn’t be a trip “out west” without going to a local cowboy rodeo. Every Friday night, for 8 weeks in the summer, there is a rodeo in Dubois, featuring many local, talented cowboys & cowgirls. Just great family entertainment. First off, I have never seen kids try to ride a fuzzy lamb before, but there they were, saddled up bareback on a sheep, usually with some type of helmet, trying to stay on the uncontrolled animal. We saw some barrel races, some bronco riding, and team calf roping. Neither Judy nor I had ever seen any type of rodeo in a live setting, and we thoroughly enjoyed the evening. 

Dubois, Wyoming is also home to one of the finest military museums we have ever visited. The National Museum of Military Vehicles is amazing and it’s like BRAND NEW, being established in 2020. The building is enormous, at 160,000 sq ft, and contains more than 500 military vehicles and an entire vault of firearms of all shapes and sizes. The Weapons Vault Gallery is home to the rifle used to fire the first shots at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The museum houses three additional galleries which display armament and equipment used in the 19^th century.  There was so much to see that we had to return for a second day. Each day we joined a different guided tour of the major galleries led by an assistant museum curator. Following the curator’s storyline we weaved our way through the museum whilst he reviewed the major issues related to fighting the Korean, Vietnam, and WWII Wars. So much to see, we could have returned for a third day to see the outdoor pavilion which showcased another 50+ personnel and armament vehicles. Wow! This museum is epic and should be considered as good as the National Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH.

National Museum of Military Vehicles

We spent a week in Dubois, WY and barely scratched the surface of all the available sights. I probably should have booked a 2, maybe even 3-week stay, as there is just so much to see and do. We scarcely had any time to explore Shoshone National Forest, although we drove through the 2.4-million-acre forest on every trip into Yellowstone. So much more to see, so many trails to hike, and there were definitely places in Yellowstone I would have liked to have visited after our guided tour.  And we never got a chance to visit Jackson Lake, or even visit Jackson Hole, WY. We will just have to return! A very easy decision and something to plan for in the coming years. In the meantime, our 7-day stay has come to an end, and for the first time in over 2 months our traveling direction is starting to turn ever so slightly in an easterly direction. Our next destination is a small city 175 miles or so due west of Salt Lake City called Vernal, Utah. Vernal is situated in the northeastern corner of Utah, abutting the western Colorado state line. This promises to be a very exciting drive as we will be navigating our way through the Flaming Gorge National Recreational Area, Red Canyon and across the Flaming Gorge Dam. The “Beast” will pull “Neil the Northpoint” up and down steep terrain and in and out of narrow canyons. Amazing views around every corner as we travel the old federal highway route 191 south.  So look for my next blog post as we tell… the Rest of the Story.