DAY 273 SUNDAY 8th JUNE 2008

Anchorage, Alaska (Miles to Date: 28160)

A cold wet morning here in Anchorage – such a contrast to the bright warm sunshine of yesterday. Never ones to be discouraged by the weather we decided to head off into town. Anchorage is not what we expected; it is a modern city with a number of high rise buildings. We had visions of something more rustic but alas it is very much like many other small cities throughout the USA. Arriving at 11:00am on a Sunday morning is not necessarily the ideal time to see Anchorage at its best, as it is at this time only just coming to life (although the pulse is still weak!). Our plan for today was to visit a hands-on science discovery centre (the only one in Alaska!!) in downtown Anchorage called the Imaginarium. A great place for a cold, wet day! As we said Anchorage was slow to wake up on this Sunday morning, and this was true of the Imaginarium as well. So to kill some time before opening we headed into a number of the many gift shops in downtown.

As the clock struck noon we head to the Imaginarium. Inside the exhibits cover the range of sciences from biology, physics and cosmology; and they are very hands on. Jack and Emily particularly liked the bubble making, especially the giant bubbles you can stand inside. The older Hoblets headed inside the darkened room where there is a slide show running of photographs of nebula and other astronomical marvels shot by the Hubble Space Telescope. The effects of the darkened room, warm temperatures, stunning photographs and serene music were very soporific – and if we hadn’t had the grace to get up and look around some more the room would have resounded with the rasping tones of adults snoring. Luckily there was a presentation on some of the reptiles on exhibit in the Imaginarium, so when the lights came up we were rudely woken.

We spent two hours in the Imaginarium, which the children enjoyed very much. By the time we left the weather had significantly improved, in fact it was turning out to be a very pleasant afternoon. When we returned to the Bed & Breakfast Jack and Emily were immediately drawn by the magnetic attraction of the lake. Chris our host kindly let them use the pedalo (paddle boat), so off they set complete with fishing rods, to try their luck further out. After several minutes they managed to work out how to steer the boat and guide it towards a spot where they are told the fishing is good. Despite reaching a potentially more bountiful spot their efforts are not rewarded and somehow one of the rods is dropped into the water. In the ensuing melee Jack somehow manages to fall into the lake, luckily it is not very deep or infested with alligators or snakes, but it is very cold. After a rescue by Chris and his father-in-law, Larry, Jack makes it to shore his teeth chattering – nothing wounded except his pride. So after this escapade we get Jack and Emily to bed and join Chris, Larry and Mary (Caroline’s mum) for a quite chat on the end of the dock and to drink some of the local beer – Moose’s Tooth IPA (very delicious!!).

DAY 272 SATURDAY 7th JUNE 2008

Anchorage, Alaska (Miles to Date: 28130)

The weather has changed for the worst. Mind you we never expected this to be a beach type holiday. It is both cold and damp today – but we had come to Alaska prepared so we layered up and set off to the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. Luckily we get some complementary passes so we get in relatively cheaply – but even if we had to pay the full price it was well worth the expense. There is an indoor exhibit area, theatre and cinema but we decided to join a quick stop tour of the outdoor exhibits – which celebrates the native Alaskan cultures; the Athabascan of interior and southcentral Alaska, the Yup'ik and Cup'ik Eskimo of southwest Alaska, the Inupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik of northwest to northern Alaska, the Aleut and Alutiiq from Prince William Sound to the end of the Aleutian Island chain, and the Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian of southeast Alaska. For each culture there is reproduction of a typical dwelling house and inside a guide to tell stories of the particular native people and introduce their way of living using everyday objects.

The first house we visit is that of the Eyak who live in the southeast area of Alaska which has a milder and wetter climate – these people lived in large building constructed from the cedar tree. Another distinctive feature of these people was their large totem poles (similar to those we had seen in the museum in Ottawa, Canada manufactured by the native people on the West Coast of Canada). As we moved to the other areas the house designs were radically different. The other native Alaskans built their houses to survive the cold winter months of Alaska. The houses were generally subterranean with small entrances to protect the inhabitants from the cold and snow, but also unwanted visitors such as raiding tribes and polar bears in the far north. The tour was really good but a little to much of the whistle stop variety – we planned to go back around at our own speed later to talk to the interpretive guides in each dwelling (for one reason or another we never got around to this).

After the tour we headed back inside (to warm up as much as anything else). On the stage in the Visitor Centre were a group of teenage Native Alaskans demonstrating some of the typical games played by the Native people. The derivation of these games had originally been to hone the skills and strengths of the people throughout the long dark winters, but had nowadays turned into competitive sports. There is even an world championship in these Alaskan sports. To you and I these sports are quite unusual – the ones demonstrated involved hitting a suspended ball with various parts of the anatomy (mainly the feet and hands) by balance and leaping. Other sports included carrying weights by your ears or carrying four men hanging from your neck as far as possible. Most strange – but when you understand the explanation of each you can see where they come from in terms of testing the skills and refining the strength of the native folk.

Following the sports activities a native dance group made up of family from the Yu’pik region. The dances are somewhat reminiscent of the Hula we saw in Hawaii in as much that is primarily done by standing in one position – no leaping around the stage – but has none of the allure or sexuality of the Hula. In fact the movements are quite stilted. The accompaniment is provided by simple hand held drums and voice, which somewhat limits the tonal qualities of the music. Like Hula and many oriental dances the movements are used to depict stories of bravery, love and other great deeds. The dancers looked like they were having a fabulous time, especially the oldest lady of the group who was really into her music. After the main show there was a chance to get up and dance, Emily was up for this so while she volunteered Mark and Jack went into watch a film on life in the wilderness (which involved lots of killing and slaughtering of animals and fish). When Mark and Jack returned the audience participation had moved onto playing of the drums and Jack was much keener on joining this than the dancing.

By the time we had finished all of this we were tired and decided to return to the B&B for a bit of an afternoon siesta. On the way back we got to see our first moose in Alaska which was happily feeding close to the edge of the highway.

DAY 271 FRIDAY 6th JUNE 2008

Anchorage, Alaska (Miles to Date: 28100)

From George, WA we drove 500 miles south back to Ashland, OR. It was far from an unpleasant trip through the Cascade Mountains. The reason for coming back to Ashland, is to gear ourselves up for our trip to Alaska and then flying back the UK, via New York.

It was quite nice to spend a few days in Ashland catching our breath after a few weeks of covering a lot of country.

From Ashland we headed up the middle of Oregon, stopping briefly in Portland for lunch. We chose to go to Fuller’s Coffee Shop in downtown Portland for lunch. As is often the case in this part of the country it was raining, and also unusually cold so it was wonderful to find a place selling simple hot food. Emily, the fussiest of us when it comes to eating chose a burger, but the rest of us had a hot beef sandwich with mashed potato covered in steaming gravy. Just what the doctor ordered. Good old Road Food wins again!

Eventually arrived in Seattle yesterday for our overnight stop before flying to Anchorage, Alaska today.

We arrived in mid afternoon at our Bed & Breakfast, the Anchorage Lakeside Jewel, which will be home for the next three nights. Our hosts are Caroline and Chris a very nice young couple. Our suite is called "The Top of the World", and its first floor situation provides a fantastic view of the garden which runs down the lake. It is a lovely evening and of course Jack and Emily are magnetically attracted to the lake - so we all end up spending some hours down their enjoying the long summer's evening. Chris lends Jack and Emily some fishing rods - but despite numerous castings into the lake, with plenty of small fish joyously leaping from the water celebrating the arrival of summer, their fishing endeavour ends fruitless (or fishless). It is around 10.00am before we get them into bed and it is still like the middle of the afternoon ... the sun does not set until around 11:40pm and it really never gets dark throughout the night. The blinds in room are not very efficient so it is very difficult to get to sleep - especially the over-stimulated children. We do allow Jack to get up and sit out on our balcony just to prove he can read his book up here in Alaska at midnight.

DAY 264 SATURDAY 31st MAY 2008

George, Washington (Miles to Date: 27100)

The above heading is not reference to a former President but an actual place here in Washington State, approximately halfway between the cities of Spokane and Seattle (about 150 miles away from each).

We sadly had to leave our new friends at Dog Bark Park, but we took away our little dog Walter to always remind us of the wonderful time we had had there. From Cottonwood we headed North-West, passing by Lewiston and Clarkston and climbing high on the plains. If the prairies of Idaho had reminded us of the Yorkshire Dales back in England the plains of Washington State along a large part of the route were more reminiscent of the Yorkshire Moors with the sagebrush mimicking the moor’s heather. We had set-off in pouring rain but as we passed through Washington the clouds parted and the sun came out, and it miraculously turned into a glorious day. Luckily we reached our first night’s stop at Sun Crest Resort, in Moses Lake early afternoon. It turned out to be one of the nicer campgrounds we have stayed at, with a fantastic pool which Jack and Emily really enjoyed.

From the relative comfort of Sun Crest we travelled some 30 miles further along Interstate 90 to George. This place is literally in the middle of nowhere – surrounded by agricultural farm land and vineyards, but its value is its central location from Spokane and Seattle. So here they have constructed the most wonderful outdoor concert venue high on the ravine cliffs overlooking the mighty Columbia River. We had come here as a treat for Mark’s birthday, having bought him tickets to see the veteran rock band Rush. He had last seen them he reckons when he was 21 or so – so they we now firmly in the category of “aging rockers”. We are now parked in a field with no electrical or water hook-up with a bunch of other people intent on partying – so needless to say it is a bit noisy. The first night we suffered, but the second night when the band were playing we decided to relocate further into the site to escape some of the noise of our neighbours! Staying here for two days also allowed us some time to do some much needed domestic work around the motor home in preparation for abandoning it in Ashland, Oregon and making our way to the UK via Alaska.

The Rush concert was wonderful. We had only bought 2 tickets so Mark and Jack were the lucky two to get to go to the concert. It went on for around 2 ½ hours showing that even old rockers in their 50s are able to party and play hard. These shows were an extension of their 2007 Snakes and Arrows offering, their latest album. As well as doing quite a few songs from this album they also threw in a large number of the old classic songs. As always one of the highlights of the evening was a long and characteristically rampageous drum solo by the ever melancholic Neil Peart. His partners in crimes the shrill Geddy Lee and guitar strummer, Alex Lifeson, belied their passage of time.

It was surprising to even Mark how well attended the concert was considering where we're located – we estimated about 15,000 people were there. As for the venue we were hugely impressed. The event organisation was wonderful, there were so many security guards and staff that it made us feel incredibly safe. Yet the most amazing part is the concert venues natural amphitheatre setting and the fabulous scenic views across the Columbia Gorge. All in all a fantastic experience.

DAY 261 WEDNESDAY 28th MAY 2008

Cottonwood, Idaho (Miles to Date: 26800)

Today was Mark’s 45th birthday so we decided to go out for day. About 50 miles north of Cottonwood are the twin towns of Lewiston (in Idaho) and Clarkstown (in Washington) – obviously the designation of their names coming from Mssrs. Lewis and Clark. Along the way we decided to stop at the Nez Perce National Historical Park at Spalding. This area was originally known as Lapwai by the Nez Perce, but was renamed Spalding after the Reverand Henry Spalding a missionary who came amongst the Nez Perce to convert them to Christianity. The Nez Perce were given this name, meaning in French being “pierced nose”, by early French fur trappers visiting the area – although they never had the tradition of piercing their noses! The name they give themselves in the Nee-Me-Poo. The Nez Perce were one of several Native American Tribes to be visited by Lewis and Clark, and their Corps of Discovery.

The Visitors’ Centre at Spalding is run by the National Parks Service, and as a consequence is wonderful. We initially visit the small museum showing the everyday artefacts of the Nez Perce; from toys played with by children to ceremonial head pieces. Thisphoto is of a fantastic wooden statue of a Nez Perce horse in ceremonial kit, recognition of the significance of horses to this Nation. The Nez Perce in fact were one of the few Nations to selectively breed horses, and they indeed created the strain known as Appaloosa. Today there are several school parties visiting the Visitor Centre so one of the Rangers puts on an interactive demonstration on building a Tee Pee. We slip in the back so Jack and Emily can join in – although Jack unusually is somewhat reluctant, feeling he is out of place in someone else’s show! Emily as usual has no qualms. After the demonstration has finished we go back inside the Visitor Centre and head for the theatre where they show a wonderful film covering the history of Nez Perce people from their early days, to meeting with Lewis and Clark, the battles of Chief Joseph through to the modern day. A proud people, the Nez Perce have suffered throughout the last hundred and fifty years, like all other Tribes, with their lands being taken for gold mining and homesteading.

We had a wonderful time here, but the storm clouds were gathering so we cut short out visit to the outside exhibits; some historical buildings from the time when Spalding was established nearly 170 years ago. Instead we head off to the cities of Lewiston and Clarkston on the Idaho / Washington border; at the confluence of Snake and Clearwater Rivers. As a special birthday treat we go the food court at Costco for a pizza, diet coke and Very Berry sundae – us Hoblets know how to celebrate!!!For Karen's birthday we went to Cusco...for Mark's we do Costco! Being quite late in the day and there didn’t seem a whole lot more to these cities so we hit the trail back to Cottonwood. On our return we were delighted to find that Frances has baked and left in our room what turned out to be the most amazing rhubarb and custard pie, Additionally Karen, Jack and Emily had baked a chocolate cake for Mark’s birthday so we were in serious danger of overdosing on sugar. Never mind it was too good to leave. We survived the eat-a-thon, but it did leave Jack feeling sick, and to consequently pay homage to the toilet bowl!!

DAY 260 TUESDAY 27th MAY 2008

Cottonwood, Idaho (Miles to Date: 26700)

Yesterday on the next leg of our tour we retraced our route back through the mountains and around Flathead Lake and down to Missoula. En route we stop at a fantastic little store that sells about 40 different styles of liquorice (we had already partaken on our upward journey to Glacier) which acted as an appetiser for lunch. We returned to Cracker Barrel in Missoula – which again we had stopped at on the outward bound journey. It was back in Florida when we first discovered Cracker Barrel, with their offering of simple southern food and great breakfasts. Whilst we love to try out new places – sometimes on a long journey familiarity and consistency is just what is needed.

From Missoula we head east on Highway 12. Here we pick up the trail again of those intrepid explorers who opened up the route West, Lewis and Clark. The last time we had run into these characters was back in North Dakota when we visited Fort Mandan near Washburn. The trail we are now following is their difficult crossing through the Bitterroot Mountains. From Missoula we climb through some wonderful scenery up to the summit at Lolo Pass where we transition from Montana to Idaho, and down into the valley below. Here we meet up with the fast flowing Lochsa River as it crashes through the valley across seemingly endless rapids. The next 50 miles or so down this valley to Kooskia is some of the most wonderful scenery we have experienced in the whole of our trip, an alpine wonderland with mile after mile of pristine forested mountains. We stop a couple of times to watch some brave kayaks and white water rafters fight their way over some extremely turbulent rapids – secretly we’d love to have a go at doing this!!! Someway down the pass the Lochsa joins the Clearwater River, becoming significantly wider and less torrid. Eventually we reach Kooskia, where we begin to climb again up to the Weippe Prairie. Here the landscape changes to gently rolling farm land, it reminds us somewhat of the Yorkshire Dales or Sussex downs back in England.

Finally we reach our destination, Dog Park Park, in the tiny town of Cottonwood, Idaho. We meet the owners, Dennis and Frances, who are the most charming hosts and their lovely golden retriever Walter who Emily falls immediately in love with. This is the most unusual B&B, as it only has one accommodation, a two storey high Beagle. It has two rooms, one in the body and a second is a loft room which you climb up a ladder to in the Beagle’s head. Of course Jack and Emily loved it. We spent ages chatting to Dennis and Frances before going across the Beagle, and settling into our comfortable quarters for the next 3 nights.

Today we left our Beagle and went out to explore the area a bit. After a relaxing start to the day it is around lunchtime before we head out so we decided to stay local. Also the weather is once again inclement. Just down the road from Cottonwood is the Wolf Education Research Center (WERC) in the small town of Winchester. The Visitor Center is small with a few exhibits on the wolf packs they have on site. Idaho as a state is not pro-wolf but this land on which the Research Center sits is on the Nez Pierce Indian Reservation – who have a cultural linkage to the wolf and therefore wish to promote the development of wolf packs in the wild. According to the staff at the WERC there are several hundred wild grey wolves in Idaho – despite the hostility of the Governor and other politicians. The original pack of wolves were raised by a couple called Jim and Jamie Dutcher who lived with them in a the wild setting of the Sawtooth Mountains for six years, making a number of documentaries about living with wolves. After the end of the project the wolves were passed into the care of the WERC, but unfortunately many have passed away and only two remain. The last two remaining wolves live in 20 acre enclosure on the WERC site. More recently the WERC were given 7 wolves from another pack, from a private individual who had developed a pack but no longer wished to continue looking after them. This pack is kept in a separate enclosure. So after perusing the Visitor Center we headed out to the viewing areas of both the Sawtooth and the newer pack but unfortunately the wolves were playing hard to get and we disappointingly we did not see a wolf. We did though get to talk to one of the staff on the education side of the WERC and he gave us loads of new information about the nature of the grey wolf.

The weather still was still playing up so we headed back to Dog Bark Park. During our stay here we spent a lot of time talking to Dennis and Francis. Running the B&B is only a small part of what they do and indeed is an effective marketing tool for their main business which is making and selling carvings of dogs. They make a huge range of dog carvings, which are hewn mainly from Ponderosa Pine but carved with a mixture of band saw and chain saws. We decided we wanted a golden retriever and Dennis kindly allowed us into his workshop to see it being born. After a few short minutes the deed was done and we had the newest addition to the Hoblets family, whom we named Walter after their golden retriever. He now sits on the dash of our motor home whenever we park up.It made us all miss "our" Golden ,Ocean, who is now having puppies again and being cared for by our friends in Ardsley!Her previous litter of ten pups are all leading blind people or are engaged in the breeding programme for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

DAY 259 SUNDAY 25th MAY 2008

Glacier National Park, Montana (Miles to Date: 26350)

From Butte we headed north up towards Glacier National Park which lies close to the border with Canada. Following the US 93 north from Missoula we pass by some of the most wonderful scenery – still evident despite the weather. It is a very English thing to do to complain about the weather – with the weather we get in the Mother country this is more than justified – as is the complaint about this day. The US 93 circles west of the rather impressive Flathead Lake (the largest natural lake in the Western United States with 160 miles of shoreline) through the Flathead Indian reservation. This pristine lake is made all the more spectacular by the backdrop of snow tipped mountains and rolling foothills.

Our layover for the couple of days we are spending in the Glacier area is the Kampground of America site in West Glacier (you’ll notice we stop at a lot of KOAs!) It is an unusually pretty site which is reasonably full as this in Memorial Day weekend. We later find out that the numbers have been bumped up by a large group of people from a church, who seem somewhat embarrassed to talk about their beliefs so we guess they are on the radical side of the religious spectrum! Indeed they pray for forgiveness after hearing another campers' Billy Joel CD!Anyway apart from hogging the play area with their hoards of offspring they keep largely to themselves. Jack and Emily managed to avoid being dragged off into a religious cult and instead hooked up with a 9 year old boy called Ryan. His Mum , Cindy, Is the cause of the downfall.....if the music is too loud.....

Today we decided to head on into the National Park to find out what was open and what was closed. This far north and as this altitude things are just starting to thaw out but the main road through the park -the “Going-to-the-Sun” road is still closed due to snow. From the Rangers at the Visitor Centre in Apgar Village we find that if we drive up to where the Going-to-the-Sun road is closed, at a place called Avalanche there is a nice walk up to Avalanche Lake. So off we set. The weather starts to break almost as we hit the road and wind our way around Lake MacDonald, which is extremely calm and acts like a mirror reflecting the adjacent mountains in balmy waters. Time to breakout the cameras. By the time we reach Avalanche after stopping briefly along the way to take pictures, the sun is out and it is nicer day than had been forecast. So fuelled by the sun's unexpected appearance we head off up the trail 2 miles to Avalanche Lake. The trail initially follows a fast flowing river, swollen by the snow melt, before climbing high into the forest. The climb to the Lake is quite steep, going up some 1000 plus feet in 2 miles, and is made all the more difficult by the boggy ground underfoot. Well, boggy is a bit of an under statement – swampy might b e more accurate. In fact the trail in many place is the easiest route for the streams created by melting snow to flow down the mountainside – so the trail often resembled a stream rather than a path. Nearer the top of the trail the snow had not completely melted so we had to scramble our way across. But the view at the top is worth the effort. Avalanche Lake is in a bowl valley, cut by the vigorous action of glaciers. The sides of this bowl rise steeply thousands of feet upwards from the lake side. From this vantage point we can also see Mountain Goats balancing precariously on the sides of the cliffs high above us. So after a few minutes to catch our breath we head back down, a gravity assisted return always seems much easier. A hike like this on such a glorious day really boosts the feel- good batteries and by the time we reach the base we are fully charged – only one thing left to do, find an ice cream shop.

DAY 257 FRIDAY 23rd MAY 2008

Butte, Montana (Miles to Date: 26100)

Yesterday was our transfer day from Wyoming to Montana. When we woke in the morning it had snowed another 2 or 3 inches of snow overnight. Unfortunately this had collected in the awnings covering the slide-out sections of our motor home. The problem was this snow was about 10 feet in the air so was tough to reach. Karen was sent out on an emergency mission and returned some 10 minutes later with a borrowed ladder. 20 minutes later we are ready to go and head off north to Montana. As we travel towards the north entrance of the Park we once again see parked up cars on the side of the road and a Ranger moving vehicles on. Immediately we see why everyone has stopped because some 50 feet to the side of the road in front of us is a grizzly bear – the closest we had yet got to a bear (not sure we’d want to be much closer!!).

Moving on we say goodbye to Yellowstone and pass into Montana, and after a few hours we arrive at our stop over campsite, Butte KOA (Kampground of America).

Butte is built around a mountain, once known as America’s most valuable mountain. This community was created as a result of the discovery of the precious materials, in particular copper. The emergence and wide use of electrical power caused a huge surge in the demand for copper, resulting in the meteoric growth in this town and in the wealth of certain of its inhabitants. The mountain is a mile high and the mine system is reputedly a mile deep. Today the mines are exhausted and the town is past it’s hey day – and reminded us somewhat of some of the old mining communities in Cornwall and Wales. As is always the case once those resource are done what happens to the town? For the most part Butte looks run-down and dismal, which is not helped by the dour weather for the time we have spent here. To try and make the most of their assets the city has decided to illuminate the head frames of the mines dotted across the mountain – which actually did cut quite a dash but not exactly enough to draw in the crowds.

Originally we only planned to spend on night here before moving up to Glacier National Park, but the weather is so gloomy and wet we decided to hang around another day and see what Butte had to offer. At least there is a semblance of a town here where as we were not sure what we’d find up near Glacier.

Anyway today we decided to go and visit the World Mining Museum. The museum is located on the old, disused Orphan Girl Mine from which the minerals zinc and silver were mined until its closure in 1956. This mine is over 3000 feet deep but has filled up like most of the local mines with water to a few tens of feet from the surface. Although this is called the World Mining Museum it is really about the mines in the Butte area and ,in particular, this mine. Some of the original mine’s buildings and structures still exist (including the Head frame and hoist house) as well as a reconstruction of a 1890s mining town called Hells Roaring Gulch, complete with 2 churches, a school house, a bank, a saloon and an undertakers. Unfortunately as well as being wet it is extremely cold so we don’t hang around outside amongst the exhibits for too long. I am not sure we’d have made good miners this being said. Up here in Montana the winter temperatures can reach down to -20 oF (-30 oC) and conversely the underground temperatures can be 100 oF. Mark had to leave to make some phone calls so the rest of the crew went on a tour that went down to the underground exhibits – with a guide who had worked the mines in the past. It was a great experience to hear the stories of mining life and how the equipment operated from a person who have lived through this.

To end the day, as it was still damp and gloomy, we headed off to the local cinema to watch the latest Indiana Jones movie – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. What a blast – we simply loved it.

DAY 255 WEDNESDAY 21st MAY 2008

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (Miles to Date: 25900)

Much of Yellowstone Park is at around 8000 feet in elevation, resulting in long, hard winters. You might hope that in the latter days of May one might be safe from the ravages of winter – no such luck. Even as we raise ourselves from our slumbers we are greeted by snow falling – not to be deterred from our Yellowstone experience we head off back towards to the Old Faithful Inn, buoyed by the thought of a hot buffet breakfast. Fighting the elements we get to our culinary destination, which really sets us up for the day. After breakfast we decide to go and revisit our friend Old Faithful. Standing there in the cold, with the snow falling, waiting for the old girl (if you could sex a geyser this one would in our opinion be of the gentle sex) to go up was a surreal experience. Strangely enough we are not the only people crazy enough to be standing there, and we get chatting to a young Californian couple. The inclement weather brings out the war spirit of the crowd and we offer each other the moral support to get us through this waiting period. Unfortunately whilst Old Faithful goes up every 90 minutes or so there is a range of times between eruptions and on this particular occasion we are the very end of the spread of these times – so we wait wondering what was going on, had the weather frozen the tap shut!!! Needless to say Old Faithful ultimately does not let us down and up she went, her jet looking like some giant subterranean whale’s spout. The mist and snow make visibility poor so the spectacle is somewhat disappointing – and as soon as it is over we head back to the Inn to warm up and pick up some souvenirs.

We decided to take a different route back to Fishing Village, via Canyon Village. As we transverse the road to Canyon Village we come across a number of cars parked on the side of the road with people outside. This is a good sign of wildlife close to the road – so we hurriedly pull over to see what is going on. As we wait we see through the snow, which is falling thickly now, two wolves calmly walking down the road. These shy creatures are typically hard to get to close to and we are amazed when they pass no more than 10 feet from where we parked. Of course we snap away as they come by.

So excitedly we leave our wolves and head off to Canyon Village. Here we park up and go to the Visitor Centre, a two storey building dedicated to the geology of Yellowstone. There are exhibits of the volcanic nature of Yellowstone – it is one of the largest volcanoes in world. Volcanic eruptions have occurred several times in the past, and the last eruption was some 600,000 years ago, creating a 35 mile caldera, and throwing dust high into the atmosphere and covering much of the United States with dust. Yellowstone is still an active volcanic area and another eruption could occur anytime. Other exhibits show the impact of seismic activity, which goes hand-in-hand with volcanoes. This Visitor Centre is a great place to spend some time, especially on a wet or snowy day like this.

We retreat back to our motor home, with the snow still falling heavily. Next to us is another motor home with an English couple, Sean and Jackie from Gloucester. Over our stay we had got to know them and agreed to get together for a few drinks on our last night in Yellowstone. Leaving Jack and Emily together, which is a risky business, after about half an hour of threats we go next door. It turns out to be a bit of a drinking and chat session covering a wide range of topics, after a few hours and slightly worst for wear we return to our motor home and collapse into bed. The children were fine! They were closer to us next door then they were when in their bedrooms in New York!

DAY 254 TUESDAY 20th MAY 2008

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (Miles to Date: 25775)

We woke to another pleasant morning up at 8000 feet – a bit chilly but at least the sun was shining. Mark has some phone calls to make around lunch time so we decided to head up to a thermal area called Mud Volcano first thing. Before heading out we go to our favourite bear spotting area, and our success rate is maintained as en route we get to see a large black bear working it’s way beside the lake and into the surrounding woods. The area here is very active and the air is filled with the acrid smell of sulphur. There is an short, but interesting board walk through the Mud Volcano area which goes past a number of thermal features. The first feature is called Dragon Mouths Spring, which is hot spring which puffs out steam – hence it’s name. The next feature is the one that gives the area it’s name, Mud Volcano. This is now a bubbling mud pot, but 70 years ago was an explosive volcano of mud, erupting many times a minutes throwing boiling mud tens of feet into the air. Today sadly it is much calmer. We spend a pleasant hour mooching around the various features, which is made all the better as we are here earlier enough to avoid the throngs of tourists transported here in tour buses (mind you it is much quieter here than in the summer months).

In the afternoon the weather has started to close in a bit so after Mark has made his calls we head off to one our favourite areas in Yellowstone, the West Thumb area down on the banks of Yellowstone Lake. Here the thermal features are very different from Mud Volcano, they are relatively calm super heated pools. Whilst they look inviting falling into these would mean instantaneous death! Having said that they are perfectly clear and you can see to the bottom of many, sometimes as far down as 90 feet. The edges of the pools, where it is slightly cooler, are highlighted in yellows, oranges and browns by the ever present thermophiles. The steaming pools are in stark contrast to the lake which is still covered by ice – it is not too cold here, in the mid-60s but the ice remains a stubborn adornment on the chilly lake. We gently amble around the various pools. Our only annoyance in one mother who has ignored the signs about staying on the boardwalks and has her daughter stepping on to the surrounding ground for a photograph. The reason for the boardwalks is not only to protect the fauna in the area, but the ground is a thin crust and a person’s weight can easily break it causing you to drop down into a potential pool of super hot water below!

Not yet done with the day we drive 40 miles north to see the most famous thermal feature in Yellowstone, the Old Faithful geyser. We had been to see Old Faithful last year but in July when there were huge crowds. Today the numbers were more modest, but there is still a healthy number of people out to watch. For the last 75 years Old Faithful has been delighting visitors, originally throwing steam and boiling hot water 150 feet every 90 minutes or so – making it the most reliable of the geysers in the Park. It used to go up every hour but years of earthquakes have re-arranged the plumbing extending the eruption times out. One of these days Old Faithful will sadly be quiet for ever – so those who haven’t seen it get there quick!!!

The weather is somewhat grey today but it does not seem to deter people waiting for Old Faithful to go up. So not wanting to be party poopers we settle down for the show. Whilst the National Park Service is telling everyone that the geysers of Yellowstone (which two thirds of the world’s total) are totally natural – we suspect there is a little man underground with a big lever. With travel comes cynicism!! What ever the case we are all delighted when Old Faithful starts to bubble steam and water before going into its all so impressive full eruption. After a few minutes everything starts to quieten down and the hot jets start to recede and eventually calmness returns to the geyser.

Our geyser fetish satisfied, we head off to the wonderful Old Faithful Inn, once the largest log cabin in the world. On a cold, wet day (although today is pleasant) it is a haven of warmth and comfort. The main lobby is truly amazing. It is centred around a spectacular free standing, four sided stone fire place, the stack of which rises five stories up through the roof of the Inn. The stair cases wind there way up into the sky, joining together a number of mezzanine floors and platforms, some what resembling a rustic Hogwarts. We love this place – it has a real special feeling.