Yellowstone Trip ReCap

I had such a wonderful trip out to Yellowstone National Park.  I left from western Kentucky and over the course of 14 days I travelled to Yellowstone and back, stopping at multiple points of interest along the way.  Here's some of my stats:

Total mileage: just under 4000

Money spent on gas:  $ 505.00

Total spent on campsites:  $ 458.36

Vehicle:  2019 Dodge Durango with a JEGS roof top cargo carrier.  

Stayed at:  All campgrounds where I car and tent camped

Geocaches found: 43

States visited:  9.....  Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and Idaho.  Of these, 4 were new states I've never been to before.  I'm slowly filling in my map!

10 new patches:

USA map on my Coleman cooler...

Favorite stops along the way:  The Badlands...

Devils Tower....

The Tetons...   

Register Cliff...

The Lewis and Clark Discovery Center...

Favorite campsites:  Rushmore Shadows in South Dakota, near Mt. Rushmore...

7th Ranch in Montana, near the Little Bighorn....

Riverside in Nebraska, near Scotts Bluff.....

Favorite drives:  Needles Highway

Beartooth Highway

Favorite hikes - The Notch in the Badlands...

Uncle Toms Trail in Yellowstone...

Favorite equipment to have along...

Sassy Lady Siren.  I really like this device.  I keep it attached to my purse or my backpack.  It packs one hell of a screech when set off.

Key clip:  I don't know the technical term for this key clip but I've had it for years.  I bought it at Home Depot.  I don't like worrying where my keys are and I have a fear of setting them down and not being able to find them.  I clip them on my belt hook as soon as I get dressed in the morning, before I even get out of my tent.  It's the last thing I unclip at night before I go to bed and I hook then it next to my bed.  My keys are always within reach...

SetPower Refrigerator/Freezer:  I love this thing - it's awesome!!   My food stayed frozen as needed and it's so nice to have ice cold drinks at my fingertips.

Hope's Perfect Glass window cleaner.   This stuff works great for cleaning your car windows, inside and out.  I keep a bottle of it and a roll of paper towels in my trunk.  I can't tell you how often this has come in very handy.

Car organizer:  I keep one on my front seat and one in the back of the car.  SO handy for holding a lot of items and they help keep me super organized.

My favorite new item purchased on the trip was a Cabela's Canvas Rocking Chair...

I took a lot of fantastic photos on my trip, but I think my absolute favorite was this one of a stream in Yellowstone...

If you missed any of my trip posts, you can go back and start at Day 1 here.

Thanks for reading about my journey.  I enjoyed sharing it with you.  Please like my Snug Harbor Bay Facebook Page for any updates and future trip posts.  I think The Grand Canyon is calling my name.....

Yellowstone Trip Day 6

 Sunday Sept. 12

I was up and on the road by 6:30 am and drove to Sundance Wyoming. The town was named after the Sun Dance ceremony practiced by several American Indian Tribes. However, the main reason I wanted to stop there was to see the Sundance Kid Statue. One of my favorite movies is "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" so when I heard there was a statue there in Sundance's honor, I just had to stop. Plus it's a geocache location, which is just a bonus for me! The Sundance Kid statue was placed at this location because it's where he spent 18 months in jail.

The Sundance Square is very pretty and worth the stop just to get out and stretch your legs. I walked around for a bit, found the geocache, snapped some photos and was on my way. I would have liked to tour the Crook County Museum (Don't you love that name??) because they have over 7000 artifacts on display, including the original court room where the Sundance Kid had his trial. Unfortunately they weren't open the day I was there.

My next stop was Devils Tower. Standing at 857 feet tall, it was named the first US Monument by Teddy Roosevelt back in 1906. On my drive I spotted this little gem so I had to stop and check it out. I love finding historic things like this....

When I was planning my trip I was initially undecided on whether or not I wanted to stop at Devils Tower and I'm so glad I did. I was thankful I was there by 10 o’clock am because it wasn't super crowded yet and I found a parking space right away. I love this shot of Devil's Tower on the horizon...

I decided to do the 1.3 mile hike around the base of the tower and it took me about an hour to do so.  I wasn't in any kind of a hurry and took lots of breaks to sit and enjoy the scenery.  It was a beautiful walk and loads of people had tied prayer rags on a lot of the trees.  By the time I got back to my car and pulled out of the park, there was a line of cars all the way out to the main road waiting to get in.  My advice is to get there early to avoid the crowds. 

After that I headed over to Sheridan where I wanted to stop and do a couple of geocaches. I wish I would’ve had a little bit more time because they have beautiful statues all around the city.

One of my favorite geocaches for the day was located outside this bar built in 1907.  I didn't go inside but I love that sign!

Once I was finished in Sheridan, I drove to Seventh Ranch RV in Montana to spend the night. What a beautiful place that says "wide open spaces" and has views that go on for miles and miles.  The people here are super friendly and their bathroom was extremely clean with plenty of room for showers. I highly recommend this place. Loved it!! Plus it's very close to The Little Bighorn, where I was scheduled to go the next morning. I had a really peaceful evening just sitting and staring at the countryside and I think I was fast asleep by 10:00.