Out with old…In with the new

Here are pictures of our broken windshield and the new replacement.

This is where the rock hit.

Out with the old.  And in with the new.
        
 
Windshield is complete, however we are still in Rock Springs.  Again we are having problems starting the motorhome.  We were going to have the windshield replaced yesterday, but couldn’t get the motorhome started.  We had a mobile mechanic come and change the fuel filter.  Thought that was it. But when we tried to start it again today, it wouldn’t start.  Had the same mobile mechanic come out and we got it started.  We went and dump our tanks and left the motorhome running the whole time they replaced the windshield.  We have found a different Cat dealer who will be able to fix us, but not until Monday.  So here we sit, in the dealers lot.  Now we are actually hoping it won’t start.  Then they will be able to find the problem.  Really glad we were in such a big town with many truck mechanics.

Waiting

While we are waiting for our new windshield to come in, we are trying to find something to do.  We have played Bingo…didn’t win.  We went to the movies to see “Lucy”, it was an okay movie.
Today, the Sweetwater County Fair started with the first of many horse shows.  Since we used to have horses and did show them, we thought this would be a fun thing to do.  We really enjoyed this day.  These were kids showing these horses.  They are all part of 4H.  Those who place first, have the opportunity to go to the State Fair to compete.
Today, we watched Halter classes and then English. 

Isn’t this girl just too cute!!  They start them young.  I forgot that I even had my camera, so I missed some of the other classes. 
        
       
We plan on going back on Tuesday.  They will have Western riding at that time.  These kids even get into beginning rodeo.  They have barrel racing!  While talking to a family whose daughter competed today, we learned that their son will be showing pigs.  We might even go watch that. Usually, when you go to county fairs, you walk through and look at all the animals to see who won.  We are actually seeing the judging. 
We will know more tomorrow about a time line for the windshield.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that it come in and we can get it completed by the end of the week.  Fingers crossed.

Grizzly And Wolf Discovery Center

We like going to zoos.  However if we can find a not-for-profit learning animal center, we like that even better.  When we were in Tampa Florida we visited one that rescued sea birds and one that rescued sea turtles and dolphins.  So when we found the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center, we had to go. 

The have a wonderful naturalist cabin with glass windows where you can see the wolves.  They have a great movie playing that gives wonderful information about wolves.  All of the animals at the center have been rescued and for one reason of another, they could no longer live in the wild.

         

We then waited for them to bring out Sam.  Sam is a grizzly bear from Alaska.  It takes a grizzly cub two years to learn to live on his own.  Sam was found as a cub, not sure what happened to his mother.   Before they let Sam into the enclosure, they “hid” his food.  He must “forage” for his food. 

      

We then watched a presentation on different birds of prey. The first bird is an American Kestrel.  He was very small, and is sometimes mistaken for a robin.  The second is a hawk.  And the third is an owl.  Again all these are rescued birds.

                

 

It was a good day. 

Yellowstone

We have spent several days touring Yellowstone National Park.  Day one, we did most of the lower loop.  That included quite a lot of the geysers including Old Faithful. We arrived at the park at 7:30am and after stopping and walking thru Fountain Paint pot, we arrived at Old Faithful around 9:00am.  We were just in time for the eruption, which was scheduled for 9:10am (give or take 10 minutes).  There is 2 rows of benches around the geyser and there were a lot of people but we did get a front seat.  There was a lot of steam and then all of a sudden it started shooting the water, but with all the steam it was really hard to see.            

Red Spouter is the newest geyser hole.  It was created by the 7.3 earthquake in 1959.

     

   You see steam vents, geysers and mud pots. 

    

Our second day in the park, we decided we would go later in the day.  We were trying to see some animals. 

           

I did see a black bear, but I was going to the other side of the street to get a better angle for the picture and he decided to cross the street right in front of me.  I got so flustered I couldn’t get a good shot.

There are also some beautiful waters.  This park is huge and I know we didn’t see it all.  In the 2 days we drove close to 250 miles around the park!

          

Soon we will move south to the Tetons.  Looking forward to more spectacular views and more animals.

Virginia City, Montana

While we left the motorhome in Ennis, we traveled by car to Virginia City.   Frozen in time, this historic city provides one of the best-preserved examples of the many mining camps.

                  

Gold was found in this part of Alder Gulch and the town grew fast.  When the gold ran out, it became a ghost town.  In the 1940s, Charles and Sue Bovey began buying the town, putting much needed maintenance into failing structures. 

         

To read more about this historic town you can go to this website …http://www.legendsofamerica.com/mt-virginiacity.html

Glacier National Park

This morning we drove to West Glacier and the west entrance to Glacier National Park.  We were a little disappointed to learn that we could only go 16 miles up to Avalanche Creek and that Logan Pass was still closed because of snow.  That meant that we couldn’t get to the other side of the park.  To get there, we would have to drive 100 miles around the park. 

Most of the 16 miles was along Lake McDonald.  We stopped several times along the ride.  The lake was formed by a glacier 12,000 years ago. 

              

The lake was so clear and very cold.  A little further down the road we came to McDonald Falls.  Not really a waterfall like in Yosemite, but more a roaring river.

              

              

When you come into West Glacier there are a lot of companies that do white water rafting and there is also 1 helicopter company.  The couple parked next to us said they did that last year and it was really nice. However, I do not like small planes or helicopters so that was not an option for us.

The town of Kalispell is a very nice town.  If it wasn’t for the winters, it might be a great place.  People a really friendly and it seems that every restaurant  has casino in its name.  Everywhere you look there are slot machines, poker and keno machines.  Guess its legal to gamble in Montana!!