Wow, it’s been 5 weeks since we’ve updated our activities – time really does fly by!
The Devil’s Tower must have taken it out of me (and I’m only half joking) 😊. It was a challenge for me, but one I’m glad I did.
After we left Devils Tower we looked on the map to determine where we wanted to stop next. We wanted to bike in Big Sky but it was a long drive and we wanted to stop somewhere half way. We couldn’t find a really good option, and we needed high elevation as the heat down low was too much, so we decided to just make our way to Bozeman in one day. We found a place on our Harvest Host membership at a farm that had a 6 course dinner available. We thought it sounded like fun so we headed that way. We left and drove for about 90 minutes – glad to be leaving the Sturgis crowd behind (way too many motorcycles), only to find us coming to a “traffic jam” in the middle of Wyoming. There were tons of motorcycles descending on a saloon. From doing a little internet search it looked like it was Topless Tuesday (wet t-shirt contest) for the Sturgis crowd. Clearly they liked their wet t-shirts!
We continued on our way, stopping for some lunch in Broadus, MT. After leaving, we only made it a couple miles out of town only to discover that the road we needed to be on had just closed due to a wildfire. We ended up having to take about an hour detour out of our way. It was a gloomy site with incredibly black skies where the wildfire was. Then we hit wind and lots of it for almost the rest of the way to Bozeman. Our gas mileage dropped from about 14 MPG to 9 to 10MPG the rest of the way and it made for a slow, arduous drive.
We arrived about 45 minutes late for our 6 course dinner with the other guests patiently waiting for us. It was a fun time, where we met a former emergency room doctor and his wife who just started a “gap year” in their new Airstream. They were from the New Orleans area and were just pleasant people to get to know. We met a father and two sons from Long Island who had never been that far west and had borrowed his brothers RV for an adventure, and we met a woman from Colorado and a couple young women from Seattle. One of the things I am enjoying about our adventures is meeting different people from different walks of life who are all out exploring the country.
The next day we ran errands in Bozeman, checked out Bridger Bowl ski resort and the surrounding area and stayed the night in a nice campground close to the ski resort. We hiked Sacagawea Peak the next day. It is a beautiful hike and area. Lee, always with more energy than me summited up a couple peaks close by. We then drove to Rexburg to stay with my parents for a little over a week.
We had a really nice visit, relaxing, even attending a cattle auction which brought back memories for Lee. I’m glad that I have been able to spend more time with my parents over the last couple of years and Lee has enjoyed getting to know them. He also enjoyed being in Rexburg, as it reminds him of his years growing up on a farm in Colorado.
Matt and Melissa George also came up for a day and we spent it in Yellowstone, doing the entire loop. Lots of fun, but we were tired at the end of the day.
After leaving Rexburg we stayed a few days in SLC to do some errands and I had a few annual exams I needed to do.
We then left for Vegas to spend a day with Andrea and we were also flying out of Vegas for Maui.
We spent 11 days in Maui with Grant and Viviana (my brother and his wife) and Matt and Melissa George. We had a great time.
We (Lee, Grant and I) did the famous Maliko downwind run 3 times, I did it once on an OC2 (so much fun). Each time we got a little better, catching and connecting “bumps”. Lee was like a kid out there having a ton of fun. We saw huge turtles and lots of flying fish. Lee also says he saw a big “fish” under the surface. I’m choosing to believe it was a fish and not a shark. 😊
We rented mountain bikes and did the Skyline trail down the side of Haleakala and a loop in the Makawao forest. We also did some snorkeling and had some good beach time. The trip confirmed that Maui is definitely a place we may want to one day live, at least part of the time.
We arrived back to Vegas to 109 degree temps. We had only planned on staying a day before moving on but I had to do some follow up exams from my appointments in SLC and found a place in Vegas that would do it, so Andrea was very kind to let us stay 4 nights. I had a great time being able to stay and visit longer with her, I miss her!
We left Las Vegas Saturday morning and made our way to Great Basin National Park where we are currently. The temperatures are very pleasant so we plan to say a few days before heading to Southern California!
Campground by Bridger Bowl ski area Sacagawea hike Sacagawea hike Sacagawea hike Hiking Sacagawea peak Yellowstone Yellowstone Biking the Skyline Trail Biking the Skyline Trail Biking the Skyline Trail Biking the Skyline Trail Biking in Makawao Forest Preserve Maliko run Maliko run Maliko run Maliko run Sunset from our home in Makawao Fagan’s Cross in Hana On the road to Hana
