Home! Truckee to San Francisco (Day 38) September 29, 2019

That was a long trip. We did not quite make 40 days and 40 nights. 38 was plenty. 

We woke up to a little snow on the ground in Truckee. Better than usual continental breakfast at the hotel. Good start to the day. I did not sleep well, so Beth did all the driving today.

Only 188 Miles today. Easy!! + 8,332 = 

8,520 total miles for the trip

Here's the whole trip

I want to frame that map

We saw more snow coming over Donner Pass

Welcome home: usual bumper to bumper traffic between El Cerrito and the Bay Bridge toll plaza - even on a Sunday morning

Home!

Unpacked. Washing clothes. Shopped for groceries at Rainbow. Busy day in that neighborhood for the Folsom Street fair. Lots of leather and bare skin on display. San Francisco. 

We'll try to come back and add some more thoughts. Too exhausted right now. 

I got back on the scale. Something I feared. It was bad but not horrible. Back to my old diet - no meat, no dairy, fish OK.

Highlights for me: Yellowstone and Maine and all the friends and family we visited. The country does not feel so big anymore. 

Love,

bear and Beth

Twin Falls, ID to Truckee, CA (Day 37) September 28, 2019

485 miles + 7,847 = 8,332 total miles. 

Pretty long drive today. Mostly thru barren high desert in Nevada. Speed limit 80 for parts and we gained an hour because of the time change. We were going to go to Reno but decided on Truckee instead. More beautiful scenery. We can spend time with Beth's sister Kate Wagner and husband Paul. Dinner plans for tonite.

Lots of weather on todays drive: rainstorm, dust storm and high winds.

Really ready to be home. I am going to have to learn how to live at home again after so long on the road.

After walking around Truckee a bit. Beth checked out Kate's new puppy

We had dinner with Kate and Paul aka "Durango" at Moody's

More elk chops

Hotel to bed. Home tomorrow.

Love,

bear and Beth

Yellowstone to Twin Falls, Idaho (Day 36) September 27, 2019

We are homeward bound. We toyed with the idea of touring Yellowstone some more this morning. We had not seen Old Faithful. We decided to skip it because we had a six hour drive without it. We would have had to add a few more hours; and, Old Faithful goes off sporadically, every 90 minutes or so. We did not want to have to wait around. At the bar last night, we talked to a lot of folks who had seen it. They described it as a big tourist trap.

Good talking to fellow travelers at the hotel. Comparing notes. Finding out what they saw and where. Lots of good bear talk - the highlight, of course!

So, off we went - day one of our three day trip home. There was a small herd of elk next to the hotel, seeing us off

Pretty drive through the western part of the park. We enjoyed the morning light

On the way, we came to a consensus (of two) that Yellowstone is better than Yosemite. For all of you who have not seen it - get there. It feels wilder. Much more wildlife. Water (rivers and lakes) and wide open spaces.

We drove by this bison and many others

We saw one more bubbling pool - Beryl Spring. It sounded like a broken steam pipe. Very loud.

Stopped for a great Mexican lunch in Idaho Falls.

Made it to our hotel in Twin Falls. EXHAUSTED!!

We drove around Twin Falls a bit and went out to dinner. I ate as local as I could: Idaho Trout and a baked potato. Beth noted how undiverse the restaurant was. I was the only person of color there, if being Jewish counts.

327 miles today + 7,520 = 7,847 miles total

Our loop is almost closed

One more stop tomorrow in Reno. Home Sunday.

Love,

bear and Beth

Yellowstone Safari (Day 35) September 26, 2019

We left our hotel before dawn to search for wildlife today. Temperature in the mid 30s - brrr. We drove off in the dark. Could not see anything. I got a glimpse of a bull elk as we turned onto the main road. I put Beth on bear watch.

I forgot to mention the altitude. The hotel is close to 7,500 feet. I felt it at night - like I could not get a good breath of air.

We stopped in  what seemed like a promising spot in the Hayden Valley. There were a few other cars stopped. We got out, turned off the lights (bundled up!) and listened.

We could not see them, but we heard the bugling of elk. We did not know we were by water, but could hear ducks or geese. The elk bugling was like something right out of Mutual of Omaha, “Wild Kingdom”. [Look it up in Wikipedia  - Peg]. A highlight.

We drove north and east from there to the Lamar Valley. There, a huge herd of Bison had to negotiate traffic to cross the road. Big time nature experience. We got pretty close. You could really hear them breathe and snort. Wild animals.

Easy slow driving through Yellowstone. Wide open terrain. Beautiful wilderness everywhere: meadows, rivers, valleys, snow covered peaks in the distance.

Stopped at a bubbling sulfur caldron

Satisfied with our, so far, successful venture, we stopped for breakfast at the Canyon Lodge. Not only do all the concessions in Yellowstone look the same, they look very similar to the concessions in Yosemite, run by the same company - Xanterra. They are only open for another ten days before closing for the winter on October 7. They have great exhibits in the visitor center

After Breakfast, we did a little hike along the south rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We saw the upper and lower falls

Back to hotel for a little nap.

Dinner again at the Yellowstone Hotel Dining room. Elk Chops again. Hell yeah! And they were good.

Love,

bear and Beth

Rapid City, S.D. to Yellowstone National Park (Day 34) September 25, 2019

Late post for Day 34 and 35 because we had no internet connection in Yellowstone.

We got an early start Wednesday, September 25 from Rapid City. We dreaded the long 8 hour drive. I had anxiety about it all last night. 465 miles + 7,055 = 7,520 miles to date.

Before long, we left South Dakota. Into Wyoming. What a beautiful state. Huge sky, open spaces, cooler weather. For the first time, I feel like I am in the West.

This was the most enjoyable drive yet. Great scenery. Varied terrain. Wide plains. Pine Forests. Mountains. High desert. Some snow on the ground.

We are listening to Lonesome Dove. The book describes a cattle drive from Texas to Montana. As we went over a mountain pass today, we got stopped by — a cattle drive! We had to stop as cowboys on horseback took a herd across the road. Fascinating. Ironic.

We love Lonesome Dove. Both of us have already read it. We are listening anyway.

I wanted a name for our truck. I found one in Lonesome Dove

Captain Woodrow Call has the sturdiest horse in Texas named Hell Bitch. Voila - our truck is Hell Bitch.

The drive into Yellowstone was gorgeous. 

River, mountain, valley, forest, lake. Happy to be here. Much more wide open than Yosemite. 

Before we even got to the Hotel, we saw a grizzly bear, bison and some elk. 

Checked into the Lake Yellowstone Hotel. They know what kind of soap I like

We walked around the hotel and lake shore a bit before dinner. I did not know that Yellowstone has a huge lake in the middle. Looks a lot like Lake Tahoe.

I found what looked like a bear print in the sand

Nice dinner at our hotel. Elk Chops! Delicious.

We walked on the beach after dinner and caught the sunset over the lake

Big plans to tour the park tomorrow, looking for more wildlife.

Love,

bear and Beth

Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park (Day 33) September 24, 2019

Assaulted awake at 5:50 am this morning by Fox News blaring from the next room. I could only get snippets:   President Trump - immigration -  Joe Biden - Investigation - Impeachment - House Democrats - Nancy Pelosi.

Went to the free breakfast at the Best Western. Disappointing, as expected. Choked down a cup of bad coffee with disposable creamers out of tiny plastic cup. Looked around at the other travelers. I felt out of place.

Back to our room. Getting ready for an early start. We planned to drive from Wall, near Badlands to Mt. Rushmore followed by Crazy Horse.

For the first time I miss home. Taking a shower with foreign soap. I miss my soap. I miss my routine. I have eaten badly. Looking in the mirror, my stomach shows it. Like most Gorelicks, I have a prominent stomach. No matter how much weight I lose, I always lead with my stomach.

Now, I am counting the days til we get home. One more day in South Dakota; two days in Yellowstone. Then homeward bound. I am ready.

Eating breakfast at a pathetic diner in Rapid City. Feeling judgmental about the place and the people. We Are all brainwashed by our own cultural socioeconomic soup. It causes us to make judgments about other's soup. Unavoidable. In any event we had horrible coffee and redneck hash browns [with gravy].

Bill Weber sent us a podcast of a New Yorker article about Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse is  supposedly the native american response to Mt. Rushmore. An even bigger monolithic mountain carving of Crazy Horse. Sounds like something I should and would want to see. After listening to the podcast, I felt that Crazy Horse is just a big rip off. It only benefits the sculptor and his family - not the native americans. Crazy Horse was so modest that he would not allow a photograph. He certainly would not approve of a giant sculpture of himself. 

We decided to skip crazy horse. On to Mt. Rushmore. It is as, advertised,  a big sculpture of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. We came, we saw, we left.

Next, we toured Custer State Park. Nice wilderness loop through the park. We saw bison 

a pronghorn antelope

and burros

I enjoyed the Black Hills. Not too much driving today. 137 miles. Total now is 6,918 + 137 = 7,055 miles.

We are staying at decent hotel  - Holiday Inn.  A suite. We got to the hotel early afternoon. We took it easy and then walked around downtown Rapid City. 

Pretty nice downtown. Beautiful old buildings. Not too many deserted storefronts. Too many Native American panhandlers.  Bronze statues of all the presidents on corners.

Nice simple dinner downtown. I got a Bison Burger (delicious!)

Walking back to the hotel, we realized that we have gotten used to being in strange places. Only a few more til home. We are starting to wonder what home will feel like after so long on the road.

Big/long drive tomorrow to Yellowstone.

Love,

bear and Beth