Author Archives: sunandsandtravelers

Dubois, WY

IMG_6686

We’re just finishing a two-week stay in the very small town of Dubois, WY situated at an elevation of 7200 ft on the Wind River east of Grand Teton NP.  Dubois,  with a population of only 900, most of whom are ranchers, has yet to be discovered by the masses and is sometimes referred to as an ’embryonic’ Jackson (that tourist mecca just outside Grand Teton NP).   The high desert climate has the most ideal weather we have encountered on our trip, high’s in the low 80’s and low’s down into the 40’s at night with an occassional afternoon thunderstorm. Continue reading

Cody, WY

IMG_6642

Cody Stampede

Cody, WY, that quintessential western town.  Home of Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley and stomping grounds of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Where else can you still see cowboys riding horses down main street?   From the veranda of the historic Irma Hotel, built by Buffalo Bill for his daughter Irma, we watched a shoot-out in the street, we also attended the famous Cody Stampede, did our usual back country exploring and then met up with our good friends Will and Allie, now living in Australia.
Continue reading

Up, Down and Around Red Lodge

IMG_20170627_093946486

We spent our last few days in Red Lodge exploring some nearby towns and some of the 4 wheel drive roads up into the mountains.   Here are a few photos of some of the sights along the way. Continue reading

The Beartooth Pass

IMG_3408

We’ve relocated to Red Lodge, Montana, a darling little town located at the foot of the Beartooth Mountains.  From here we are able to do some exploring into the mountains and travel the famous Beartooth Highway, considered to be one of the most scenic highways in America.   The 64 mile highway starts in Montana, then crosses into Wyoming connecting to the eastern entrance of Yellowstone NP at Cooke City.  Continue reading

Yellowstone Beauty

 

 

IMG_3318

Grand Prismatic at Midway Geyser Basin.

We made a couple of more forays into Yellowstone with our good friends Steve and Diana who spent the week at the same RV park as us.   We hit it hard the last couple of days and it was well worth it for we saw some incredible sights and the weather was perfect. Here are some more images of the wonders of Yellowstone.     Continue reading

Yellowstone National Park

IMG_3263We headed down into Yellowstone again, this time toward the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which is a region we had not previously explored.    We were able to watch a black bear and her cub meander through a field of flowers looking for tidbits, totally unperturbed by the hordes of onlookers.   Continue reading

Livingston, Montana

IMG_6371We’re spending a whole week at Yellowstone’s Edge RV Park which is about 30 miles north of the North Entrance to Yellowstone NP.  We’ve made two forays into the park so far, once to explore the Mammoth Hot Springs area and the next day to cross the Lamar Valley and on to Cooke City outside of the park for lunch and then back. Continue reading

Little Bighorn Battlefield and Billings, Montana

 

IMG_6335

On our way to meet up with friends in Billings we stopped for the night at the 7th Ranch RV Park on the Crow Agency, adjacent to Little Bighorn Battlefield.   The RV park was a wonderful respite from the wind which we battled once again and we arrived in time to tour the Battleground and visitor center that evening. Continue reading

South Dakota

IMG_6263

Palisades State Park, S Dakota

Our journey west takes us on I-90 across southern Minnesota and into S. Dakota.  We’ve travelled this route before at this time of year and encountered strong winds which tore the cover off our air conditioner, so we were a little apprehensive about what would be in store for us this time.  We were pleasantly surprised though, it was smooth sailing as we passed from Minnesota into S. Dakota although the huge wind farms all across southern Minnesota attest to the fact that this truly is a wind corridor. Continue reading

Another Summer, Another Adventure

IMG_20170530_143633068

The pilot, co-pilot and navigator are all ready!

Our 2017 summer travel plans had us leaving Florida just as the heat was nearing triple digits in late May.   Florida was in a severe drought when we left and there were wildfires all across the state.   Eventually the rains will come and with them the stifling humidity so our plans are fairly loose – head to the Rocky Mountains, primarily Montana, Wyoming and Colorado seeking cool mountain air and fresh cold streams. Continue reading

Boothbay Harbor, Maine

 

img_2393-2The Boothbay Harbor Region is located in the most picturesque part of coastal Maine, with deep coves and small villages dotting the area.  Fishing is still the main industry and cute seafood restaurants seem to be in every small harbor.  Artists have now discovered the area and so along with the good food there are hundreds of various types of galleries to visit.  The 9 days that we spent there gave us a good idea of the region but there was still lots of unexplored territory and beautiful galleries to visit.   Continue reading

Acadia NP, Maine

IMG_2247

The view from Beech Mt

We spent a week on Mt Desert Island enjoying the trails, carriage roads and scenic drives that wind along the shore and in and out of Acadia NP, which is the heart of the island.  We chose to stay in a campground on the ‘quiet side’ of the island – Southwest Harbor, away from the crowds of Bar Harbor, especially since we were there during the Labor Day long week-end.   To our delight most of the crowds left after the week-end and we enjoyed the beauty of the area without having to fight for a place to park.     Continue reading

Prince Edward Island

IMG_2035

We left the wild rocky shores of Nova Scotia behind and discovered the bucolic beauty of red soil, endless green potato fields and the red sandstone cliffs and beaches of PEI. So incredibly different from anything we had seen in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

We spent 2 wonderful weeks on PEI, the first 6 days at the best campground in PEI – the backyard of our friends Walt and Lorraine.  They took us around their part of the island, we met family, Walt helped Leonard put a new starter in the Jeep (it crapped out as we were hooking up to get on the ferry-how lucky is that) and Lorraine gave me one on one painting lessons.  I learned from a master who has her own gallery and took home one of my creations.  We laughed and joked, ate local seafood and learned a lot about PEI and Newfoundland where Walt is from.  We had to force ourselves to leave and go to another part of the island for the rest of the stay, but only after agreeing that we would meet again somewhere during the week.   Continue reading

Cape Breton Island – Part II

IMG_1958

Keltic Lodge in Ingonish, NS

Almost every road we took on Cape Breton Island had some sort of Scottish influence.   There was the Gaelic College in St Ann’s,  where  Californians were learning or improving upon their fiddle skills to the Keltic Lodge in Ingonish,  now owned by Parks Canada and undergoing restoration.   The beautiful Keltic Lodge was built in 1940 on cliffs overlooking the Atlantic and is famous for its championship 18 hole Highland Links golf course.  Quite an amazing bit of history associated with the Lodge is that it was closed in 1942 because of the war, but with its abandoned luxury and protected harbor it became a favorite shore leave destination for U-boats crews.  How scary is that! Continue reading

Ceilidhs, Chowder & the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island, NS

IMG_1994The fiddles were playing and the chowder was hot and delicious all over the small towns of Cape Breton Island.  Unfortunately the WiFi and our cell service was very sporadic, hence the lack of blog updates.  So we spent about 2 weeks just enjoying the people and some of what this beautiful island had to offer.   The island, which is on the far eastern part of Nova Scotia, has a shared very strong Celtic and Acadian influence.   One can stay in an Acadian village where French is the first language and travel just down the road to be greeted with signs in English and Gaelic.   Continue reading