We started off in the RV the beginning of June with plans to treasure hunt for Forrest Fenn’s treasure, visit our new great-grandson, attend a Tiffin rally and spend time on a dude ranch with the family. Alex, my step-son and Zoe, his finance, accompanied us on the first part of the trip. We managed to accomplish all that and more.
Our first stop was in Salt Lake City to visit our grandson, Kody, and his family, particularly the newest member of the family, our great-grandson. We are so fortunate to have them all in our lives! We stayed at the Salt Lake City KOA and it was very convenient.
The next stop was the dude ranch I had picked out, Gros Ventre River Ranch, near Jackson Hole, WY, with spectacular views of the Tetons. We met the rest of the family there and what a fabulous place it turned out to be. Besides looking at the stunning views, we went horseback riding, fishing and just had a spectacular time. This is a place for a once in a lifetime trip. We made such great memories and it could not have been a more beautiful place with the best staff we have ever encountered! Oh yes, Thanks to King and Kristen, we had a few Moscow Mules.
Next, continuing our five year long search for “The Thrill of the Chase” treasure, we parked at Hebgen Lake near West Yellowstone. As usual, I felt I knew just where the treasure was, so we spent two whole days looking for it. We mostly looked along the Madison river just below Hebgen Lake. If you know the poem with the clues … I decided that “begin where warm waters halt” was the entrance to Yellowstone, only going out, not in. We began there and then “put in” below the house of brown. (Hebgen Lake full of brown trout) Needless to say, we did not find “the blaze”, which will point you to the treasure. We might have missed it by not crossing the Madison and looking where a lot of big rocks are beneath a white “blaze” in the mountain above. (See photo!) Of course the girls, Gypsy and Bella led the pack and we had a fabulous time looking. We even went to Ghost Road and then Quake Lake, where an earthquake moved mountains and buildings on August 17, 1959. It measured 7.5 on the Richter scale and killed 28 people. You can still see cabins that were moved to the river along Ghost Road. 
The next day we looked just outside the West gate. Following “the canyon down – Canyon Street”, we put in just below the museum of bears and wolves “house of brown” and looked for a blaze. We saw a radio tower and headed for it. Again … no luck, but then that would have been too easy.
Off to the Tiffin Rally in Gillette Wyoming, where we met a lot of great people, particularly the group from the “Lucky Seven”. During the rally, we took a day trip to Devil’s Tower with new friends of ours, Stuart and Delores. You might remember Devils Tower from “Close Encounters of a Third Kind”. There is a 1.3 mile path around it which makes a great little hike. After that, we saw a sign for Sundance and decided to check it out. It is a very small town and one of the main attractions is a statue of the Sundance Kid, sitting on a bench in front of the jail. Couldn’t resist the obligatory photo! Robert Redford just missed us!
When the rally was finished, we decided to take a different way home and see Crazy Horse Monument. It is very near Mt. Rushmore and is actually larger, with a wonderful museum displaying beautiful Indian artifacts, clothing and art. There is lots of parking, so we just parked the RV and tow car in the lot. It was a good thing we got there early though, as it was crowed when we left around noon. Charge for the monument was $11.00 per person and parking was free.
The long road home took us through a bit of Nebraska and a lot of Colorado. Eastern Colorado has some of the worst roads we have encountered, but the road through western Colorado was stunning. All and all, it was a jam-packed fun month!!
Moving Words 