Everglades et al.

Since we do not believe that the China virus should restrict our movement and luckily being in Florida which is not locked down, we headed to South beach with the hope of also visiting Key West to celebrate Michelle's birthday. 

Unfortunagely for us, despite the limited tourism activity everywhere, the KeyWest visit was frustrated as the tour was sold out.

We however had a nice time exploring South beach and while it is great for those wanting to tan, it was no big deal for me. For, I go to the beach to swim and am accustomed to warm water. But that water was very cold, so no swimming there for me. 

On day 2, since we could not go to Key West we decided to take in a trip to the Everglades. I had done one before but Michelle had never been. 

This time, I actually held a live gator. Yes it was a baby and the mouth was taped up but I don't even like little lizards, so before, it was quite a stretch that I would hold a gator!

An airboat in port

This bus tour took me to another park from the one I had visited before, so I did not mind, The food available for sale at this park was really lousy though. 

They had on sale alligator tail, fried chicken wings, and spring chicken. Having tried the gator twice before and never being in the mood for frogs, I opted for chicken wings.

 They were awful and unseasoned but I was too hungry to realize it until I had finished!

😋

Would you believe though that one of the blackbirds that hang around the place, swooped down and stole a wing out of my hand when I was eating? Damn cannibal. For aren't birds and chickens family?

The trip into the river was on locally made airboats that just skim the surface of the water. The one we traveled on this time had two large cadillac engines, a top speed of 35 mph, and was extremely loud when at full speed. Most importantly though, it skimmed the water well. 

Actually, I think I learned far more about the everglades on this trip than I did the first time, so it was great. 

An added attraction was the one-man show with gators by a member of Proud Boys.

These Proud Boys are not the same as the racist ones aligned to Trump. These fellows collect gators that stray into people's yards, pools, etc in Florida. 

They capture them humanely and take them back into the wild. It is some of these same gators that they use in their shows too.

  I have to admit that the one who did our show seemed absolutely fearless among those monstrous creatures and one lady on the team had quite an active snake around her neck too!

  This is a recap of some of the information I got on this trip given; 

The Everglades were formed when lake Okeechobee overflowed. It is the world's shallowest river, being only 9 feet at the deepest point. It consists of around 400,000 square miles of wetlands. The name Okeechobee is a Seminal Indian name meaning endless grass and the glades are now 90% grass. The grass filters the water on which 8 million Floridians depend for drinking. There are around half a million gators in that river but the Burmese python is an invasive species that prey on the gators. A large python can eat an 8-foot gator easily. It takes about a month to digest this size reptile. 

There are also Florida Panthers in these wilds as well as numerous bird species. The largest bird is the great white heron which eats any and everything including baby gators. There are no crocs in the everglades as they are salt water reptiles.

CHARACTER MATTERS?

I don't know who coined the phrase 'character matters,' but apparently, while conventional people may think it should, clearly to a very large percentage of American voters, it doesn't.

I was really appalled in 2016, when over sixty-two million persons in the USA, including most white evangelical christians, voted for Donald Trump to become their president. For this was a man who had in his private capacity over the years: swindled dozens of small contractors who had done work for him; been accused of rape more than once; was a self-confessed sexual molester; was a chronic liar; had used the funds from his charitable foundation for his own purpose; had allegedly been involved in money laundering; had defrauded persons who signed up with Trump University and was outright and proven racist.

When the evidence emerged via the Mueller report that he had been assisted by the Russian government in becoming president of the USA, I thought that explained his ascendency to the most powerful position on the planet. (Powerful because of the vast nuclear power of the USA.) 

However, when in 2020, after he implemented many cruel and evil policies, yet increased his support from 62 million to around 72 million people, I must admit it has left me totally astounded and at a loss for a credible explanation. 

The evil and cruelty I refer to are, of course: his regime, even during the pandemic, making attempts to take away health coverage from some 20 million people,  including persons with pre-existing conditions who would never otherwise be covered by the insurance companies. (Today, the Republican-dominated Supreme Court begins to hear the arguments to destroy Obamacare again. This is the Trump regime's 3rd attempt to try and have the court overturn the Act); lying about the severity of the global pandemic and being reluctant to take the advice of the scientific experts, thus causing thousands of unnecessary deaths; grabbing away innocent children, including babies and toddlers, from their parents and putting them in cages.

I cannot think of an act in modern history that has been more depraved and foul than the latter. 

And look at what led to that unholy policy! Simply because a few hundred people living in poverty, illegally entered the USA, a country primarily built by legal and illegal immigrants, to try and improve their material condition. 

Under this policy, many traumatized parents have even been returned to their homeland without their children and worse, not knowing if they will ever see them again. At the time of writing, 11th November 2020, there are 666 parents and children who have no idea where their loved ones are or if they will ever see them again. Because the vast majority of Trump supporters, including ardent white evangelical christians, would move heaven and earth to try and keep America white, such an act of heartless inhumanity, has their full support. 

I am wondering just what will be the explanations given to sociologists and psychologists who no doubt will be studying this period in the USA for years to come. For previously, such acts of unthinkable evil would never have been expected from a country that had enjoyed good standing in the world for its decency, humanity, and magnanimity.

The good news, of course, is that in the long run, morality has prevailed, for, in the elections, the voting majority rejected the man who brought those unconscionable acts and policies to their shores and sullied the reputation of the USA.

It is sickening but often amusing, to see some Trumpists on television trying to fool the public about the real reasons why they support that leader......claiming that it is due to his outstanding economic performance. That is absolute baloney, for Trump inherited a robust economy from Obama, with annualized growth averaging 2% per annum after Obama inherited an economy in full recession. According to CNN's fact-checking, the economic growth under the Trump presidency only averaged 2.5% per year in the first three years, an anemic increase from where the Obama/ Biden team had left it. And if he had handled the pandemic effectively, the USA would not be in the economic doldrums it is today.

So, what economic performance?

7th November 2020, was celebrated like a day of liberation for the entire world therefore, for that was the day when it was formally declared that Donald Trump had lost his bid to continue to oppress the weak and helpless for a second term.

While some maintain that the world should not become too overtaken by what happens in the USA, the fact is that because the USA is so rich, powerful, and influential, the rest of the world does not have the luxury of pretending that what happens there is of no importance to the rest of us. 

So celebrations broke out spontaneously among the ordinary people throughout the world, as the news of his demise spread. I suspect that it was only because democratically inclined world leaders are constrained by diplomacy, why many did not join the masses celebrating in the streets in their countries. For Trump has managed to create such instability in the world because of his inherent dishonesty, unreliability, and lack of humanity, that hearing that the long-overdue end of his unstable regime had finally been confirmed, brought relief to them.

Despite the fact that so many degenerates, (to borrow an appropriate word from Hillary Clinton) voted to keep Trump in power, the positive news was that more than 76 million decent people in the USA, rejected Trumpism, choosing instead, a man who appears to be the very antithesis of Trump, to lead them for at least the next four years.

The incoming president, Joe Biden from all appearances and the reputation he earned after 47 years in public service, is a very caring, decent, human being. So apart from the public knowing he would never continue or even conceive of inhumane policies as the Trump regime had become notorious for, ordinary citizens can at least expect more equitable tax policies that do not only benefit billionaires, a more serious determination to deal with the pandemic and restart the economy, and in general, far more humane policies. And while it may seem trivial to some, parents who believe character matters can now stop worrying when their children set out to emulate the country's president in any way, shape or form!

Whether Biden, Harris, the new cabinet, and the decent majority will be hampered by the millions of Trump supporters, from quickly dragging up America out of the dangerous moral mire into which it had fallen, is the real challenge. 

The real issues

While the world waits with bated breath for the USA to determine who will be their president from 2021, their exit polls have some really interesting findings which should cause us to reflect on the position of the traditional media and the Democratic Party during the campaign. 

According to exit polls posted by CNN, the top three concerns of voters were; the economy, climate change, and the pandemic in that order, with the economy, mattering most to a third of those polled. This seems to once again, support James Carville's memorable prognosis in 1992, that "It's the economy, stupid. "  

That clearly remains of foremost interest to voters in  US elections.

To explain how it arrived at the results, CNN posted this statement. "Exit polling traditionally involves interviews with a randomly selected sample of voters conducted as those voters leave their polling places. Unlike pre-election polling, where voters can only be identified using screening questions or a history of voting on a voter file, meeting voters where they ensure that those included in the survey have actually cast their ballots." So while these results cannot  100% accurate, they at least provide a useful guide. 

These findings should come as a surprise to many in the mainstream media who have been pushing the narrative that with the USA having such a high rate of infection and death, the poor and delayed handling of the pandemic by the Trump regime would have made the election a slam dunk for  Biden. It is however easy to say it is not so, even at this early stage where the final outcome of the election still hangs in the balance.

While I could never support Trump because of his uncouth manner and especially his disgraceful behavior towards women in general and women of color in particular, I have always supported his stance on the pandemic which boils down to; learn to live with it!

No, I didn't swallow the sale's pitch that he came up with at the end of September, that he had been infected by the coronavirus, had been cured and had risen from the ashes, to become almost superhuman physically. I think he lied about being infected, just as he lies about every other thing. For had he been, with his pre-existing conditions, he would have been far more ill and slower to recover.

But I digress.

The real point is, Trump, has always maintained that the economic disaster caused by locking down the country would be far more devastating than the health effects, despite the high death rate from the virus. 

While many challenge this approach, I have always maintained that this is indeed true, especially in poorer countries where people do not have a wealthy state to subsidize those on the fringes who have lived on the verge of starvation long before the pandemic. And even the World Health Organization now recognizes this as they see the rapid rate at which poverty is growing worldwide. 

I currently reside in Florida where the pro-Trump republican governor has opened up the economy totally, and where the Trump re-election win is not at all in dispute. The fact is that the vast majority of people here are happy to be able to go about their business.  But people are personally responsible, so understanding that the pandemic remains a serious threat and since they do not wish to become ill,  most are taking the necessary precautions. So despite the governor warning that public health measures should not be legislated, individuals and business people almost everywhere you go,  are all following the advice of the scientists. 

Most people are therefore fully masked and socially distancing. Yes, there are still some nonbelievers trying to resist these sensible measures, but they are being shunned and prevented by most others.

The fact is, we have to learn to live with this virus until there is a cure. Full stop.

As a postscript to Tump's win in Florida, let's look at the issue of socialism. While I stood up and fought diligently to resist the possibility of socialism being introduced into Jamaica in the 1970' s,  I  am not convinced by the charge that a win by Biden would cause socialism to be introduced in the USA. Yes, you have the fringe element led by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Cortez-Ocasio, who would fight tooth and nail to introduce this backward economic philosophy here, but capitalism is just too entrenched in the psyche of the American population for them to succeed.

However, I will not fault those whose roots were in Cuba, Venezuela, and Columbia who are the main anti-socialist campaigners in the state.  Those three countries suffered for decades and terribly because of socialism. While in Colombia, socialism was never introduced fully, the Revolutionary Armed Forces which was a Marxist/Leninist guerilla group, caused thousands of deaths and stymied the economy there from 1964-2017. So it is no wonder that Colombians who managed to escape to the capitalist USA would want to leave all tinges of that retrograde philosophy behind them.

So now, we wait to see how the referendum on the Trump presidency, pans out in the overall USA.

An unforgettable road trip

I have been on three great road trips in my life. First, in early 1970, we drove a small British MG convertible car from Toronto, through much of North and Central America. That was an adventuresome and exciting six-week trek that had us even having to stop to work for a couple weeksin Califonia when we ran out of money. But guess what, in those days they had no blogs, so most of what happened remains deeply hidden in my subconscious. Boohoo. Well, it was such a remarkable trip that I was able to retrieve and relate some aspects of the trip in my autobiography entitled, "Looking back...the struggle to preserve our freedoms." This is still available at Amazon.com but the real tragedy of tragedies is, I have no photos to share.

The second road trip was in 2015 when we explored much of Colorado and New Mexico over a four day period. There is a blog right here about it.

The third was in October 2020 which saw us visiting sections of Wyoming, Idaho, Montano and finally spending a few days at Yellowstone National Park.  (Yellowstone falls mainly in Wyoming with a small section at the northern end in Montana.)

A grizzly sighting

This was a really spectacular and unforgettable trip, partially due to the absolute beauty all around during the fall months when leaves are changing. And of course, the company of my daughter (the driver) and granddaughter, made it heavenly. 

If there was any disappointment, it was because I never saw as many animals as I would have hoped and no bears close. 

You see, I am crazy about animals and especially fascinated with bears which are so cuddly.

Momma grizzly bear and her cubs 

Unfortunately,  the only place that I can seem to get a close look at them is at the zoo, and that's no fun. It is frustrating how absent they are in the wild when I am nearby. Last year we were in Alaska where I was almost guaranteed that I would see at least one black bear. But not even a tail. On the other hand, others on the same trip reported how they had seen some. Boohoo.

But I stray.

Jackson Lake dam

I was therefore excited when we met some people at a lake in Grand Teton Park and they directed us to Jackson Lake dam where a grizzly mom and her two cubs had been sighted. We rushed over and joined a crowd of enthusiastic tourists already there with binoculars and zoom lenses!

Oh yes, we did see the grizzly mom and her two cubs but they were just too far to get a good picture. For the idiot that I am, I had traveled without my decent camera with its zoom lens. So the poor picture I have was taken from across the lake, a far distance which a stupid cell phone just can't manage.

Oh well, I guess I must say thank God for small merceries, as we just never saw another bear anywhere!

Actually, the only other dangerous animals we saw (despite the numerous signs all around warning us to stay away from them) on the entire trip was a group of militia-looking white people all dressed in camouflage. They were at the dam also and piled into a van with Kentucky plates. I couldn't but wonder what mischief they were up to!

Anyway, back to bears. Can you believe we actually considered buying bear spray! 😁 This spray does not harm the bear but it allows the user to build a protective shield around himself/herself with the spray, and apparently, the smell or something chases away the bear. Luckily we were saved from wasting our limited funds on this quite expensive product by the clerk in a store, who told us we would not need it as we wouldn't see any unless we came off the beaten track. This of course something we had no plan to do, as getting lost in the cold thick forests was not part of the plan.

But I am ahead of myself so let's start from the beginning.

Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the USA, noted for its outstanding coloration

This trip was my daughter's idea. She lives in Colorado and the southern entrance to Yellowstone is around 600 miles away.

That park is really the creme de la creme. It is the world's first national park, having been established in 1872 and also the largest. 

While the flora and fauna on the over 2.2 million acres are simply astounding, that park is best known for its geothermal activities.

However, we did not undertake the journey in one fell swoop.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Instead, we decided to spend a few days at Jackson Hole in Wyoming, so we could also take in Grand Teton National Park and its environs, before heading on to Yellowstone, just over a hundred miles away.

That was indeed a brilliant idea. My only complaint is we should have stayed longer than the two days in Yellowstone as that area has so much to see.

Jackson Hole is surrounded by glorious snow-capped mountains

To get to Jackson Hole, which is so named as it appears to be in a hole surrounded by glorious mountains, we headed to Fort Collins in Colorado, which is a popular and attractive university town near Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming. Around that area, we could not miss the smoke and smell of the wildfires which are raging in sections of the Rocky Mountain Park.  However, we bypassed Cheyenne so there is nothing to report about that segment of the trip which included Laramie which would probably be totally unknown, had there not been that horrific murder there which shocked the world.

This was the torture and killing of a young gay student at the University of Wyoming named Matthew Shepard in 1998. He was kidnapped, beaten half to death and tied up on a wire fence, and left to die because he was gay.

Black Lives Matter sticker prominently displayed

We remembered the incident as soon as we saw the sign with the name of the town, but of course, we did not tarry.

One mistake we made was leaving Colorado too late and with stopping for gas and food and generally not hurrying, dusk descended on us shortly after we left Laramie.

We were traveling through Trump country in my daughter's car which declared its political leanings loudly, so all we could think of is having an incident (like an animal running across the road and crashing into us! There were signs all along to way to watch out for those animals), which would cause us to have to stop. For we had to drive on long, dark, lonely stretches where we saw no signs of lights or life. Running into a member of the violent white militias that follow Trump around like puppies, seemed like a real possibility, therefore. 

Thank god we didn't and arrived in Jackson Hole close to 10 pm.

When we got to the hotel there, we were pleasantly surprised and happy to be checked in by a black man.

Lady's western-style boots on display at Jackson Hole

Interestingly, for the four days, we were there, we never ran into another black person as this is definitely a lilly- white tourist town. When we asked the clerk who had checked us in how come he was the only colored person in the town, he laughed and informed us that he was on an exchange program from Atlanta. That solved the mystery!

Jackson Hole is very beautiful, especially now that the leaves are changing color and the snow has started to cover sections of the mountains that hover over the town.  It appears to be a popular skiing area in the region, though by no means as popular as Vail or Aspen in Colorado. It maintains traditional western architecture all over town and the stores are full of cowboy paraphernalia. 

This ski run already partially covered with snow

We spent lots of time browsing and were quite upset when we saw an arch in the main park made from stag horns. We thought they killed the poor animals to get the horns. We quickly forgave them when someone explained to us that every spring, stags shed their horns. Boy's Scouts we were informed, then go into the hills and gather them so this is what made the arch.

Arch made from stag horns

Jackson is very central for sightseeing as the magnificent Grand Teton Park is just outside town.

This park, established in 1929 is approximately 310,000 acres and rises 7000 feet above Jackson Hole. It includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley. 

It is absolutely beautiful.

 Its human history dates back at least 11,000  years when the first nomadic hunter-gatherer Paleo-Indians began migrating into the region during warmer months pursuing food and supplies. It has numerous lakes, including 15-mile-long Jackson Lake (referred to above) as well as streams of varying lengths and the upper section of the Snake River.

One interesting trek we had was hiking almost three miles uphill to Hidden Falls. As usual, I was unprepared, for although I had a knapsack with water when we headed out from Jenny Lake, I forget to carry it, so spent a lot of time walking uphill, dying for a drink. Also, the entire area is situated in the continental divide, so my oxygen kept running out as I am not accustomed to strenuous activity in those over 7000 feet altitudes. Before the virus, adventurers could visit the falls by taking a ferry from the entrance to the foot of the falls, but this luxury had disappeared.

It was worth the effort getting there though as, apart from the spectacular flora, the falls and surroundings are really pretty and we saw whitetail deer and chipmunks scampering all along the way and even a lone, fully-grown stag when we were making our way back.                                                                                                                               My granddaughter also had a ball climbing rocks and exploring.                                                                                                                                                                                      We didn't see any bears or other dangerous animals but found it interesting seeing a white woman taking a photo of our license plate on our return!

We could only conclude that she was fascinated by the stickers!                                                                                                       The Idaho Falls con job                                                                                                                                                                      Our biggest disappointment was driving 88 miles to Idaho Falls. I was the one who suggested to the others to check it out since with "falls" in the name, I had visions of beautiful waterfalls ala Niagra.                                                                                                            The name is a grand con job for when we got there and headed to the visitor center, the lady there admitted that lots of tourists are fooled by the name. The only falls there are man-made spill-offs from the pipes in the dammed up Snake River where hydroelectricity is generated! Well, the journey was not a total loss as we were able to get a bathing suit for my granddaughter who had forgotten to pack one.

While the landscape on the journey to Idaho Falls, where the rolling hills and billowing valleys are to die for, there was no doubt where we were politically, as Trump posters were all around, blitzing the natural beauty.

One of the 'falls" at Idaho Falls!

   It was there too that we could literally feel the most animosity as people scrutinized the stickers on the car.😁                         

                                                                    Yellowstone                                                                                                                           

We found it curious though to see quite a few windmills on the way there, considering how the president has told his followers and all who will listen, that they cause cancer!                                                                                                                                               

The next day, it was time for the one hundred mile trip to Yellowstone, or so we thought. For the hundred miles, only took us to the southern entrance! From the entrance, we had to drive another two hours to get our hotel in the park.                                                                                                                                  Almost as soon as we entered and started to drive along the winding but spectacular route inside the park, we came upon Moose Falls and stopped to take a look.

The next stopper to greet our eyes was a huge herd of bison, serenely feeding beside a lake. That's when I was educated about the difference between bison and buffalo for as I declared that they were the latter, I was reprimanded by my granddaughter who informed me that although they look alike, those were bison as they are found mostly in North America whereas buffalo are found mostly in Africa and Asia.                                                                                                                                                                          We never arrived at our hotel until nightfall. It was the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel which is operated by the Park Services. This is a rustic, historic building that was erected in 1938. Clearly, since they expected that their visitors are there for outdoor adventures. they did not bother to have any televisions sets in either the rooms or elsewhere, although the Park does operate a radio station.   They, however, had excellent internet service so we weren't entirely cut off from civilization and there is a large restaurant at a large building close by, although they only had takeout service.

Well, the next morning we were up bright and early and were rearing to head south to explore, but guess what? It had snowed the night before and was 25 degrees. But then again we were in the continental divide where we were told the weather there changes every 15 minutes. We were however fully equipped to handle the snow and quite delighted to see a large herd of elk lolling close by.  However as we headed to the car,  we saw a long line of traffic, none moving, all parked on the sole road out. That's when another driver told us that two vehicles had fallen over a cliff, apparently something that happens regularly there.                                                                                                                          Since we would have nothing to do inside, we decided to head to the northern gate, to the town called Gardner, which is five miles away and the only town in the park. That town is in Montana.  

                                                                                                            To get there we drove down a deep, scenic valley and the traffic caused by the accidents above us stretched almost the entire five miles into that town. The first thing we saw on arrival was an impressive arch, but would you believe it's meaningless! According to Wikipedia, it is named the Roosevelt arch. "Constructed under the supervision of the US Army at Fort Yellowstone, its cornerstone was laid down by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. The top of the arch is inscribed with a quote from the Organic Act of 1872, the legislation which created Yellowstone, which reads: "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People". The idea of the arch is attributed to Hiram Martin Chittenden, who felt that the area surrounding Gardiner was not sufficiently impressive and required an emphatic statement of arrival at the famous park."

So it just stands there, leading nowhere!

Gardner is a small touristy/souvenir town that maintains a western look. It is divided by the Gardner River which is a spill off of the Yellowstone River.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     With nowhere to go fast because of the accident and ensuing traffic jam, we decided to have coffee and hang around town. We finally found a shop that had everything, from a pin to an anchor and a very chatty/informative manager, so we hung around there. That's where I met a white 'rasta, 'clearly very happy to be under nuff ganja. 😆

Gardner River

                                                                                             Being the ever-helpful one, I told him that I was from the land where rasta originated but he seemed surprised and so high that I suspect he still thinks that Rastafarianism had been invented in America! But he admitted that it was the hairstyle that attracted him, not at all admitting that it was the ganja which he appeared to never have enough of!                                                                                                                                                                                                   We eventually decided that the traffic must have been eased by then and headed south. And what a day we had visiting numerous geysers and colorful hot springs. 

While most emitted steam, the Dragon's Mouth geyser had actual hot lava boiling in the pools and it

was far stronger smelling than all the rest combined. All carried a strong sulfur smell.                                                                                

Boiling lava at Dragon's Breath

                            Old Faithful is of course worth its weight in gold. It is so named as it faithfully erupts every hour. Sometimes it goes up ten minutes before the hour or  ten minutes after.                                                                                                                         Jamaica time surely is not as reliable as this geyser!                                                                                                                                                     When we arrived there about twenty minutes before it was due to explode, a grand crowd had already gathered, taking most of the benches supplied. It was extremely cold, but no one was leaving without seeing the spectacle, and it was surely worth waiting for. For some minutes there were false alarms as gusts of smoke would go off into the air then diminish. When the real thing happened, it lasted probably ten minutes. It sure was worth every minute of waiting and even freezing for.

I found it curious that two crows that had been playing together close to Old Faithful while we waited for it to erupt, actually stayed around when it did. I had thought the sound of the eruption and the heat of the steam would have driven them away. No such thing. I guess they are accustomed to it!                                                                                                                                                                                 

 Well, we certainly saw and enjoyed the main thing we had journeyed there for, but as time waits on no one and as we were leaving the next day and dusk was fast approaching, we decided that we had to drive the hour to get a glimpse of the magnificent Yellowstone Grand Canyon before we left. That canyon is 24 miles long and 1200 feet deep.

We barely made it before dark, but still decided to hike down to the falls.

It was quite a long hike on a slippery well-defined path.  But when we got there we were happy we took the chance for it was really breathtaking even better than the grand canyon in Arizona, I thought. There were several "Inspirational points" but we just couldn't see anything by the time we made it back up to the car, after a very slow and tedious ascent.

I have never seen time fly so quickly, but that's what they say happens when you are having fun. For the next day, we had to go back to Colorado. 

Holiday done!

                                                                                                Goodbye Yellowstone

On the way home, we headed southwest and this took us through another humungous set of canyons nestled between the Beartooth and Absaroka Mountains before we arrived at the bottom where you find Shoshone National Park. From there the Shoshone River accompanied us through scenic valleys with huge rock formations on the other side and it is through the rocks that they built a tunnel to take you to the city of Cody.

The tunnel in the rocks leading to Cody

Cody was built to honor the famous cowboy, Buffalo Bill Cody and everything about it represents the 'glorious' cowboy era.                                                      

                                                                                                                     After that, it was miles and miles of lonely road and tiny towns with huge ranches. We were not in any doubt about where the political leanings were, as lots of  "Cheyney"  signs were around. These were no doubt in support of Dick Cheyney's daughter who now sits in the house of representatives.

The next significant area was the Sand Creek Trail named to remind all of the Sand Creek massacres.

According to Wikipedia "The Sand Creek massacre (also known as the Chivington massacre, the battle of Sand Creek or the massacre of Cheyenne Indians) was a massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the U.S. Army in the American Indian Wars that occurred on November 29, 1864, when a 675-man force of the Third Colorado Cavalry under the command of U.S. Army Colonel John Chivington attacked and destroyed a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho people in southeastern Colorado Territory, killing and mutilating an estimated 70–500 Native Americans, about two-thirds of whom were women and children. The location has been designated the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site and is administered by the National Park Service. This was part of a series of events known as the Colorado War and was preceded by the Hungate massacre."

What an absolutely memorable road trip!

UNFORGETTABLE SCENERY

                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

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