TRAVELINGCATS.COM

On our way to a workamping job

Barney — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:28:00 GMT

Hi, I haven’t written for a while, I know. We find ourselves on Elk Lake in Kansas. Yes, Kansas!

We were hanging out in Montana visiting Glacier National Park and our Dad decided it was time for us to look into “workamping”. What is workamping? It’s a short term job for RVers and since that’s what we are, we decided to check it out. Of course, we cats aren’t going to be changing our life style at all but the humans are!

We considered a job on a cattle ranch in Montana - which sounded very cool, but it turned out to be 12 miles down an unpaved road. We don't like bumpy roads so the idea of traveling a long way on an unpaved road received two paws down from all of us felines. So our parents checked into Amazon and they had an opening because some people canceled. They will start working at the end of August for 17 weeks until just before Xmas. We do know all about Amazon because it brings our Halo Cat Treats every few months. We also LOVE their boxes to play in. The humans aren’t sure what they’ll be doing or what their hours will be yet but will find out soon.

So - we took off and drove back through Montana (stopping overnight in Billings) to Wyoming and into Colorado. We stopped again in Fort Collins for a few days because we all like it there. Then we left and drove south to Denver and then east through Colorado and into Kansas, a new state for us all. We overnighted at a rest area in Kansas and landed in the most southeastern part of the state yesterday. It was two long days and Cassie and Fred are very happy that we are at the campground. We actually checked out two other places to stay (in the bus yet) before we came to the Elk Lake State Park. It is very pretty here; there are lots of trees and we hear birds and there aren’t many other RVs at the moment. We like it here!

No pictures yet but Mom promises some in the next few days.

Big horn sheep and mountain goats

Cassie — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:38:00 GMT

I think we are done with national parks for a while cause I heard Mom say she was tired of all the beautiful scenery. We have some nice peaks we can see from our windows but the humans have been driving around Glacier National Park here in northernmost Montana and saw (guess what?) glaciers, big horn sheep, mountain goats and lots of birds of prey (they sort of scare me). They like the name of the road through the park; it’s called the Going to the Sun road and was completed many, many years ago.

We can’t go any farther north or we’ll be in Canada so we are traveling south soon, I guess.

Heaven's Peak in Glacier National Park (8,897 feet high)

Jackson Glacier - the only glacier in the park visible from the road. The rest require back country hikes in order to view them.

The elusive big horn sheep. This male was on the hillside about 20 yards up from the edge of the Going to the Sun Road

A Mountain goat it its native habitat - a parking lot early in the morning near the crest of the Going to the Sun road. After hours spent scanning the peaks in parks in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, our only sighting turns out to be 5 yards from our Land Cruiser in a parking lot!

Heading for Glacier National Park

Barney — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:25:00 GMT

Hey, Barney here. Today I saw a cattle drive. Very cool! There were 100+ cattle and 7 “drovers” on horseback moving the cows along by the side of the road as we headed north out of Missoula for Glacier National Park.

We drove a bit longer today than the little rides we’ve had this week. A few days ago we went for the oil change and yesterday we went out again for new tires - all new tires on the bus and car trailer. It was really noisy when the men were putting on our new tires and each corner of our home went up and down. Dad said those were air jack lift things. Lucky for us he stayed in the bus with us most of the time so we knew all was okay.

Now Cassie (the delicate flower) says she can really tell the difference in the ride. Me, I sit or lounge in Mom’s chair a lot and it’s pretty cushy so I can’t really tell the difference.

So, anyway, today we went due north from Missoula and stopped just short of the western entrance to the Glacier National Park. It is very pretty here but we cats were due for a nap upon arrival. I imagine the humans will be trekking in the park the next few days while we relax at the bus and check out the bird situation.

Missoula, MT

Fred — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:21:00 GMT

We took off north and west yesterday and drove to Missoula through the gorgeous mountains of western Montana. What a lovely trip, my humans thought, while I was napping in the bedroom.

This is a real city and the humans went out shopping for goodies like cat food right away. We hung out in the bus - it was really hot out.

We have parked here for a week although I heard a rumor that we are going to get an oil change - that means the bus will be moving somewhere with me in it, doesn’t it?

Yellowstone National Park

Barney — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:54:00 GMT

We are here at the most famous (and first) National Park in the US of A. Yesterday we arrived before lunchtime. Mom saw a bald eagle on the way to our RV Resort, the very nice Yellowstone Grizzly in West Yellowstone, MT. Dad was driving and I was napping so we missed it. Anyway, the three of us Traveling Cats have been enjoying resting at the bus while the humans have been exploring.

Yellowstone is the largest active geyser field in the world; about half of the world’s geysers (300) are here. Old Faithful is the most famous geyser, of course, erupting approx. every 92 minutes and shooting water and steam into the air as high as 190 feet. However, there is so much more to see in the Park. The Geyser Basins (the Upper, Midway and Lower) comprise the world’s largest single concentration of hot springs and geysers. A visit to each one of these areas is a must, per our Mom. They also saw elk and mule deer and bison on their treks - no bears though.

Steam rising from one of the geothermal fields in Yellowstone in the early (6AM) and cool (36F) morning.

A view of Old Faithful from the front row of observations benches before an eruption. Not a particularly impressive sight - but you can check out a live webcam (during daylight hours) at this link.

Old Faithful erupts - you can see the water column rising about two thirds of the way up this photo on the right. It was 7:30 AM and the very cool air meant that the steam tended to obscure the 204F water more than would be the case in warmer afternoon temperatures.

One of the many geothermal pools in the park. The sapphire and orange colors are produced by the minerals in the water.

Hot on the Range

Cassie — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:51:00 GMT

I was going to call this entry “Home on the Range” because I’ve been singing that song to myself the last two days but it’s very hot here on the range. 90’s! Ugh!

We have been seeing lots of antelope playing as we’ve been driving through Wyoming and Montana. Today we left Gerryowen and traveled along to Bozeman for an overnight. Tomorrow we go to Yellowstone, I hear. Another National Park - oh boy!!

Three states in three hours

Barney — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:07:00 GMT

We are traveling cats again today. We left Spearfish, South Dakota early in the morning and cruised west on I-90 into the state of Wyoming. We continued on past the Big Horn Mountains (there was snow on their tops) and entered Montana. Dad says these are the grasslands we are going through. There are very few trees, I’ll give you that. We didn’t drive for too long and I sat on Mom’s lap part of the time because that’s where the sun was.

After we stopped at the 7th Ranch RV Camp, in tiny Garryowen, MT, the humans left us and took off in the SUV for the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. This is where some guy named Custer apparently overestimated his military skills and had his “Last Stand”, I hear. My Mom is always interested in the Old West stuff so we were glad she could enjoy herself while we all took a nap back at the bus. The temperature says 95 outside. We are in air conditioned comfort, thank goodness.

When Mom and Dad got home later in the afternoon they filled our heads with all sorts of information about the battle. They were fascinated to learn the whole story as they took the 10 mile loop through the Park which is located on the Crow Indian Reservation. The battle was really several battles spread over some five miles. Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Cavalry numbered about 600 men. Custer himself took about 225 men and divided the remaining regiment between two of his officers probably because he underestimated the strength of the several Indian tribes that had assembled at Little Bighorn. Custer and his companies were the last to engage the estimated 1500 to 2000 Indian warriors and they all died on “Last Stand Hill”. The other officers and their cavalry were also defeated but managed to retreat with some survivors. The Indians won this major battle but lost the war to keep their way of life and ended up surrendering and undergoing forced relocation to the reservations.

Last Stand Hill where markers placed years after the June 25, 1876 battle show the approximate locations of where Custer and his troops fell. The granite monument caps a mass grave for the troops. The officers' remains were later buried in other military cemeteries.

The marker for where Custer fell. His remains were later moved to West Point.

A short drive in South Dakota

Cassie — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:07:00 GMT

Monday, 7/13 we went for a short ride north and west from Custer to Spearfish, South Dakota. I have to say, although I'm a traveling cat, my belief is the shorter the trip, the better, so I was pleased with this trip. We were all set up at our new RV Resort, the very beautiful Elkhorn Ridge, within 2 hours of leaving Custer.

These last couple days have been relaxing for us cats in the bus because the humans have been sightseeing all around this area. When they come home they fill our ears with their travels.

They loved going to Devils Tower, a large rock formation revered by several Indian Nations and sticking out of the earth all by itself in northeastern Wyoming. There are several theories as to how the rock formed but all the theories conclude that once the Tower was formed the earth around it eroded away over millions of years, leaving it jutting up from the surrounding prairie. Our parents walked the nearly 2 miles around the tower and even saw mountain climbers on the back face of the monument.

Devils Tower as seen from just outside the entrance to the park.

Tatanka at large

Fred — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:34:00 GMT

We’re still in Custer, SD and yesterday the humans left us to see some wildlife in Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park. There were hundreds of bison (technically not buffalo) in the park. They even held up traffic, including our Mom and Dad, while they crossed the road. Although there were signs on all of the roads in the area that said "Buffalo are dangerous!" (Dad says he thought they said "Buffalo are delicious"), they often saw people getting out of their cars to photograph them at close range - 10 or 15 feet away! We're glad that we didn't just stay the suggested 100 yards away, we stayed in the bus! Our humans said some old (at least by our standards) movie called "Dances with Wolves" was filmed in this area due to the abundance of bison (Tatanka).

I don't think I have enough sabre-tooth tiger in my genes to want to mess with this guy!

Bison herd - including some calves in the foreground, roaming free on the range.

Also on this trip, they stopped at a prairie dog "town" in Wind Cave National Park. Unfortunately, they didn't bring one of these little guys home for us to "play" with. My brother, sister and I much prefer a more level playing field when it comes to the size of our potential prey. No Tatanka for us, thanks.

A black tailed prairie dog (a type of ground squirrel) looking out of his burrow. Squirrel?! - we hate squirrels!

Today they went to a cave - the Jewel Cave National Monument. They said this was the second longest cave in the world at 146 miles long. The tour loop goes up and down more than 700 steps, but is only about 1/2 mile long, so they certainly didn't see much of the cave, just some of the most interesting formations and colors. It was only 49 degrees in the cave, so I'm glad I didn't have to go.

Tiny stalactites (the ones that hang from the ceiling - stalagmites rise up from the floor) forming in Jewel Cave

Some of the colors on the walls of Jewel Cave.

Mt. Rushmore - at last!

Barney — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:18:00 GMT

Well, my Mom got to see “the Heads”!! I don’t really know what all the fuss is about but ever since we hit the road in our bus late last November our Mom has been wanting to go to Mt. Rushmore. Thankfully they left us at the bus (as usual) and visited both Mt. Rushmore and that partially done Crazy Horse Memorial that are both close to our campground here in Custer, South Dakota.

The unfinished Crazy Horse Memorial as seen from the main highway.

We found this very interesting: Mt. Rushmore’s presidents were selected to commemorate the founding, growth, preservation and development of the US. George Washington was selected because of the struggle for independence that he was so involved in, Thomas Jefferson for his role in the territorial expansion of the country, Abe Lincoln for the permanent union of the states and equality for all and Teddy Roosevelt for his 20th century role in world affairs. They all symbolize the principles of liberty and freedom on which our country was founded.

(Mount Rushmore is somehow both more and less impressive in person. The "heads" are only about six stories tall so they are somewhat underwhelming in person, yet the 14 years required to complete the project combined with the physical difficulty of sculpting the cliffs is evident when you visit the site and can't be conveyed by photos.)

Also nearby our campground (okay, about an hour’s drive) is the Badlands National Park. The humans thought this landscape was extremely unusual and very interesting, rising up out of the relatively green prairie that surrounds it. They think it’s pretty obvious why the Lakota Indians named it mako sica (bad lands). As for me, all of this geography is making me tired, so I think I'll take a short nap.

Badlands National Park

Leaving Creede, CO

Cassie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:07:00 GMT

Well, we are on the road again. We left early this morning from Creede, CO and went east on CO-160, the Navajo Trail, and it was such a nice drive. Very pretty mountains and valleys - so picturesque - you could just picture the early Indians living in this land. Of course, I was napping but Mom told me later. We went north when we got to I-25 and stopped for the night near Colorado Springs. Mom and Dad had some shopping they wanted to do here before we head up north all the way to Mt. Rushmore. I reminded them to get lots of cat food and treats for us on this trip so we wouldn’t be short!

We enjoyed our time in Creede but they do have unusual weather there. It was pretty cool (in the 40’s) in the mornings but we loved laying on our broad dash and soaking up the sun. The temperature would quickly rise into the 70’s by lunchtime and then it would rain during our afternoon nap. Some evenings the weather would get nice again and other times it would keep raining. Our Dad had to grill in the rain a couple times. We thought this weather must be unusual like much of what we have seen in Colorado but our Mom asked some nice folks she met who come here every year and they said this is all normal. Oh well, as long as we have some sun during the day we can bask in and nice enough weather for the birds to come out, the changes don't matter much to me.

A historic mining town

Cassie — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:21:00 GMT

Nicholas Creede discovered silver in 1890 and began the camp that would become the town of Creede. The area is rich in history - Bat Masterson ran a saloon and gambling parlor here in 1893. Robert Ford (who murdered Jesse James) moved here to open a business. He was later shot and killed to avenge Jesse's murder and is buried here as well. There are mining museums and an annual mining skills contest where men and women compete in a display of old fashioned mining techniques.

The Bachelor Historic Loop is a dirt trail starting in Creede that winds its way past numerous old mines up into the Rio Grande National Forest. At over 12,000 feet there is the meadow that used to contain the mining camp of Bachelor where no women where allowed (it was considered back luck). At the peak of the mining boom there were over 10,000 people living in this area, although today the total population of the town and county is just over 800. The town currently survives on tourism since the last active mine closed in 1985, but remains a living tribute to the mining history of the Old West.

Old mines along the Bachelor Loop trail

The meadow that used to hold the camp of Bachelor about 12,500 feet up in the Rockies.

Sign for the Robert Ford grave site. You can't actually get to the site (it's been "closed for repairs", whatever that means, for decades)

The Continental Divide

Barney — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Today we left Montrose, CO and became traveling cats again. Cassie and Fred retreated to their preferred spots in the bedroom, as usual, but I sat up front and got to see the Continental Divide. It was quite a climb to the top, but we made it all the way up to more than 11,000 feet.

We continued driving east and south until we got to Creede, CO and the Mountain Views at River’s Edge RV Resort. This is one of the RV resorts where people can purchase a spot and improve it. We have a really nice spot that the owners have made improvements to that we are staying in for the next week. The mountains are all around us and we can see birds and enjoy all of the new smells here at the 8800 foot level.

Monarch Pass on the Continental Divide - the bus is facing east so the western slope is behind us and the eastern slope is ahead. It looks like we left our trailer behind, but it's just hidden behind the bus from this angle.

Parked on our site in Creede, CO.

Another town, more peaks and waterfalls

Fred — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:51:00 GMT

We got to sleep again while our humans went off to see some more scenery. There sure are a lot of mountains and waterfalls here in Colorado. This time they went to a town called Ouray which bills itself as the "Switzerland of America". They hiked a trail to the top of a waterfall in a box canyon and then had lunch before they came back to wake us up.

On the road from Montrose to Ouray, CO

The top of Box Canyon Falls in Ouray. It's very noisy in here with all the water rushing by.

Cascade Falls in Ouray as seen from the cliffs above Box Canyon Falls across the valley

The main street in Ouray

Black Canyon of the Gunnsion National Park

Cassie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:44:00 GMT

There’s lots of scenery and parks here on the western slope of the Rockies. We’re in Montrose, CO and our humans went for another drive to see some more of it. Today they went to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. They took the 8 mile drive along the rim of a gorge created by the Gunnison River over the past 2 million years. The river drops an average of 96 feet per mile which has created a narrow (9 miles at the widest point) but very deep (over 2000 feet) canyon. By contrast, the Grand Canyon is 21 miles wide and the Colorado River which runs through it drops only about a foot per mile. Mom says it was difficult to get pictures that really portray the beauty of the park, but we got some idea from these.

The Gunnison River at the bottom of the Black Canyon

The "Painted Wall" display the bands formed by the different layers of rock that make up the canyon walls.

Sunset Point near the end of the drive along the rim of the canyon

A clever plan gone awry

Barney — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:10:00 GMT

I am always trying to show Mom and Dad how smart I am. Sometimes when I show them something really great they don’t react the way I’d expect! Like yesterday, for instance. I’ve been watching my Mom for some time open the screen on one of the windows on the bus in the living room and hand Dad out things mainly while he’s cooking dinner on the grill. They do grill out a lot and so I’ve been trying to figure out how to open that screen myself. Well, last night they had some steaks on the grill and I just walked over to the window and opened the screen right up by sticking my claws through the holes in anticipation of my Mom needing to use it. The humans were not amused and I just can’t figure out why not. I certainly was not thinking of jumping out. Heavens no - a cat knows when he has it good!

So today my Dad went off to the store and bought these window screen locking things so now I can’t open the screen anymore. Bummer!

Telluride and a Box Canyon

Barney — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:48:00 GMT

We had another quiet day in the bus as our humans took a day trip to Telluride, CO. Our mom used to go downhill skiing at Vail in Colorado and had always wanted to visit Telluride. The town is located in a box canyon which I guess means that there is only one way in and out of the town. The town of Telluride itself is located at 8,750 feet in altitude, but they rode the free gondola up to the top of the ski slopes which are above 10,000 feet.

Later, they had lunch across the street from the original bank in Telluride. Interestingly, this was the first bank robbed by Butch Cassidy sometime in 1889. Although Telluride is now best known as a winter resort popular with celebrities (like Tom Cruise), there weren’t any in town during their visit since the airport is closed this summer for repairs.

Heading from Montrose, CO to Telluride with the mountains that surround Telluride in the distance

The main street in Telluride looking toward the end of the box canyon.

Looking down on Telluride from the base of the gondola at the top of the ski slopes

Bridal Veil Falls at the end of the canyon. The "house" at the top of the falls is actually both a residence and a hydroelectric power plant. It supplies about 25% of the electricity to Telluride and is owned by an individual as their private residence. They must really like the sound of rushing water.

The first bank that Butch Cassidy robbed (now a retail store) next to a very old (and still operating) saloon.

Rocks, a bear and a snake

Cassie — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:26:00 GMT

I’m sure glad that I didn’t have to go with Mom & Dad today on their off-road adventure! They drove west of Fruita, CO and then got off the real road to drive the old dirt and rock trail 35 miles up to Baxter Pass. Although the road and pass are still in use (mostly to access remote cattle range and gas wells) they only saw a couple of other vehicles in the 4 hours it took to make the drive.

When they got back late in the afternoon they told us how the pass was originally used by the Ute Indians to travel between western Colorado and eastern Utah. It was later used to truck a gooey form of natural asphalt through the mountains until a pipeline was built to replace the truck transport. Mom told us that most of the trip was very pretty through a valley with desert scenery surrounded by rocky hills. She thought the last few miles were sort of scary since the road rose rapidly with a number of switchbacks and hairpin turns with a cliff face on one side and a sharp drop to the valley (no guardrails!) on the other.

They did see one exciting thing - a brown bear near the top of the pass (above 8400 feet). Mom didn’t get a very good photo since it’s hard to say who was more surprised - her or the bear. The bear scrambled quickly up the slope while she was trying to get a picture. The rocks the bear dislodged came falling down on the road, so they had to wait a couple of minutes for the rock slide to subside before they could continue on down the road. They also saw a big snake sunning itself in the road on the way back down. The snake was pretty easy to photograph, since it was moving pretty slowly.

The view from near the top of Baxter Pass

A brown bear making a hasty retreat after spotting us driving down from the top of Baxter Pass

The road on the way down from the top of Baxter Pass

A snake sunning itself in the middle of the road.

Western Colorado

Barney — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:21:00 GMT

We cats hung out in the sun at the bus today while the humans visited a cool rock formation near our RV park. The Colorado National Monument is a brightly colored mesa featuring several canyons with rugged terrain and terrific views that rises from the valley between Fruita and Grand Junction, CO.

Our humans drove through the entrance to the park and up to the top, some 2,000 feet above the Grand Valley of the Colorado River. After driving the scenic Rim Rock Drive, they hiked several of the park trails and enjoyed the fabulous views. They said that it was rather hot outside (lows 90’s) and I was glad to be in the air conditioning.

Wedding Canyon (Fruita, CO is in the valley in the distance)

A view from the Window Rock Trail

Crossing the Rockies

Barney — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:28:00 GMT

Today was a big scenery day for the humans. I caught a lot of it when I wasn’t napping but my brother and sister missed the whole thing in their usual mode of “sleeping (hiding) while driving”. Today we crossed the Rockies from Denver to Fruita which is just past Grand Junction, CO. I must admit it was a spectacular trip. We traveled up into the mountains on I-70 and even went through a big, long tunnel called the Eisenhower Tunnel which is over 11,000 feet up. (The air was a little thin!) Then we drove past Vail, CO which Mom said is a great ski town. (Nobody was skiing today though.) At that point we went through the Vail Pass (10,600 feet up) and the descent down was pretty steep. What we found interesting was the change in topography from the eastern side of the Pass which was so lush and green to the western side which is much more arid, brown and desert like.

We stopped in Fruita at the Monument RV Resort which is at the base of the Colorado Monument National Park. The view from our front window is great - even Cassie and Fred think so now that they have come out of hiding! Mom and Dad plan some hiking in future days here.

Driving on I-70 through the Rockies

A change in terrain on the other side of the Rockies, approaching Grand Junction, CO