Listing Through Life

On Friday, we drove from Rock Springs to Colorado Springs where we spent two days with our daughter and son-in-law. In the evening, we went out to eat at a German restaurant, then headed downtown where the cars from the Pikes Peak Race were on display. The entire area was packed, and we had to squeeze through the crowds at every step. In the middle of all this, a block was cordoned off so three motorcyclists could do trick jumps off a ramp.

On Saturday, I birded in the morning at some nearby places on the north side of town — Black Forest and Monument Branch. The latter is next to my old workplace, but I didn’t go anywhere near the building. I would have liked to visit some of my other spots, but I was tired of driving — we did over 4,000 miles of it in the 12 days we were gone. Instead, I met and local friend for a 2+ hour lunch, then went to the house and hung out.

On Sunday, we visited a church where my daughter and son-in-law have recently begun going. We at lunch at a crepe restaurant, then spent the rest of the day at the house.

On Monday, we headed south into New Mexico. We had just crossed Raton Pass when we were caught in a traffic stoppage that lasted at least 45 minutes. The most frustrating thing about it was that I could see in the distance cars that had gotten off at an exit a mile or two behind us, driven through town, and were getting back on the interstate a mile ahead. When we finally got moving, we saw that the delay had been caused by a bus that had caught fire.

We headed east almost immediately and headed into the plains. We stopped at Capulin Volcano National Monument. When I lived in Colorado Springs, I was aware of this place, but it never seemed to be worth the almost three hour drive. My visit on this day didn’t convince me otherwise. It consists of a cinder volcano cone, considered one of the most perfect in the world. There’s a visitor center, and a road that winds around the cone to the top. We drove up, but decided not to hike the trail around the rim or the one down into the cone. For one thing, it was very hot. For another, we’d lost 45 minutes due to the bus fire and had a long way to drive. And for yet another, we were still limping from our past adventures.

There wasn’t a great deal to see. Here’s the view from the top.

Here’s the crater.

And here’s what it looks like from the southeast as we were driving away.

To quote Samuel Johnson (in reference to a tourist spot in Scotland), “It’s worth seeing, but it’s not worth going to see.”

On Thursday, we drove back to the East Entrance of Yellowstone, our fourth trip on this road. We only stopped once in the park on this day, at LeHardys Rapids on the Yellowstone River. I saw on eBird that Harlequin Ducks are seen there regularly, but on this morning, I could only find a single female. Still … I also finally saw a Dipper.

We drove south out of the park on the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway and into Grand Teton National Park. We never planned on staying long. Our goal was to see the mountains. Here are some of the places (north to south) from where we did just that. They are beautiful, of course, but we still can’t see what the French dudes who names the place imagined they saw.

We stopped at Colter Bay Village, walked around a bit, bought some souvenirs, and, rather spontaneously, decided to eat lunch at the John Colter Ranch House restaurant. We split a burger, a order of nachos, and a piece of huckleberry cheesecake. It was ridiculously expensive, as all food in National Parks is. It was also very tasty, as all food (that I’ve had anyway) in National Parks generally is.

As we drove south through the park, we saw some Bison and a few of the famous Jackson Hole Elk. We also stopped at an overlook above the Snake River, where Ansel Adams took his famous photo. There was a sign board telling exactly where he stood.

Here’s his photo.

Here’s mine.

Naturally, I took it in color. The clouds added a dramatic element.

My wife wanted to see Jackson, so we drove through town without stopping. I know there’s more to Grand Teton than that, but we’d seen what we came to see. Our route south through Wyoming was amazing at first, and we figured we’d lucked on another drive as pretty as our destination, but things soon flattened out. Before we got to our hotel in Rock Springs, the world was flat and brown and dull. We bought McDonald’s and ate it in our room. I wandered around Rock Springs in search of birds, but saw nothing worth the walk.