Georgetown Lake in June

Here's a camping trip we never posted about, a little one-nighter up the valley back in June.

Melissa drove. She's not usually as grumpy as those sunglasses make her look.

The intended destination was Warm Springs Campground, about 13 miles from our house. I don't remember why, but I called the ranger district about this campground before we left and was told that during a flood last year, the creek along which it's situated shifted from running around the campground to running through the campground. Because of this they decided to decommission it which means you can still camp there, but they aren't keeping it up at all any more. No trash, no toilets (not even vault), no water, no nothin'.

Well, we were game anyway but let me tell you, apparently when a campground gets decommissioned people take that as a license to trash up the joint. It was pretty bad, like really bad, so we turned around...

...and went up to Georgetown Lake.

Previously I've been kind of down on the campgrounds at The Lake (as it's known locally) because they're so big and usually so busy. But we found a nice spot on the edge where we were pretty content.

Pretty content indeed. Plus it wasn't at all busy.

Later in the day it coldened up (it still gets plenty cold in the late afternoon at 6400 ft in late June) so the ladies donned warmer clothes.

They also goofed around by the fire.

This might be some air guitar action.

She's 'shivering'. Maybe you have to be the kid's parent to think it's funny.

Anyway, during the night Melissa developed a health issue that sent us packing toot sweet early the next morning. But don't worry, it ended up being okay...and it was related to the fact that, sometime very late this year, we'll have to make room for a second carseat in Ludwig.

click here for map

Anaconda Alive after Five

Early each Friday evening during the Summer downtown Anaconda hosts Alive after Five, which consists in a live band, crafts for sale (mostly jewelry, it seems), a couple bounce houses, some food vendors, and a car show. The rules for the car show are simple: if it's a vehicle, you can enter it, and anyone can vote for it. We've put Ludwig in a couple times and while he's never won, he gets plenty of attention.

Even though he's in a car show he's not washed or waxed because, if you know me, you know I loathe washing and waxing cars.

The last time we entered him he was a huge hit with E's friends. So much so I had to issue some rules to the seven or eight kids who'd be in him at once. I didn't get around to making a 'no standing on the luggage rack' rule though.

This Beetle-based buggy has been in the show before. I like it, except for the matching wheels.

I like Studebakers too. Even with matching (and rally-ready) wheels.

From the front I'd expected a VW engine to be lurking aft. Nope, but it's pretty close. They even stole the generator (alternator) position and angle of its belt!

2400 Miles in X, Y, and Z

These two items refer to our big trip covered by the last bunch of posts. Around town driving has been omitted.


Click here for a larger map
Click markers for more information

Elevation Profile

Vertical red lines are the divisions of days from the above map

Summer 2013 Escapade Part 10: Yellowstone Pt. 3 and Homeward

Another bison. 

Hayden Valley landscapes presented without comment:

Upper Falls of the Yellowstone. She's starting to look really tired (the kid, not the falls).

The third of the three air-cooled Volkswagens we saw. I think all factory round-headlighted Vanagons are air-cooled, right? 

The rim of the Caldera. A little part of it anyway. 

Entering Montana some two weeks and 1700 miles since we left it. 

And now Idaho? Yes: the fifth state of our four-state odyssey was Idaho, because when heading toward Anaconda from West Yellowstone, you have a choice to take US 287 around Hebgen Lake--and stay within Montana--or take US 20 and then a state highway through about 13 miles of Idaho (see map; you'll have to zoom out, as I'm not fancy enough (yet) with Google Maps to set a map's zoom level when it first opens up). It's the same distance going either way, but going through Idaho meant that we're two more passes closer to fulfilling one of my goals for Ludwig. 

Back in Montana (again) the scene looks tranquil enough but in reality I was battling an atrocious wind for control of Ludwig for what seemed like forever. Locations not terribly far from where we were got 104 mph winds. 

It's hard to tell because the light was fading and the camera couldn't focus as well, but that's a young lady in Ennis walking a cat. The wind had calmed down significantly by this point.

The last usable shot of the trip. So, what's up for next Summer?

click here for a map showing the last day

Summer 2013 Adventure Part 9: Yellowstone Pt. 2

The rain brightened up the landscape. This is Pelican Creek, and we did indeed see a pelican--E spotted it first.

We saw our first bison crossing a road at Fishing Bridge.

And then we saw another on the way to the Mud Volcano area.

Our first stop at the Mud Volcano area was this  roil, the Dragon's Mouth, which was more violent until December 1994 when it suddenly calmed down--an earthquake probably shifted its plumbing.

Tater Tot demanded I pick her up before we got all the way to the Mud Volcano itself...

...because this bull was hanging out really close to the boardwalk (note that she wasn't too scared to take pictures though).

Mud Volcano.

This pond, Sour Lake I think, has a pH comparable to battery acid.

A few of the features in this area were geological infants, having exploded into being all at once in the 1940s and 1980s. I was glad the parking lot hadn't seen the birth of one while we were on our walk, and that Ludwig was still there.

Bison, Ludwig.

Getting ready to leave the Mud Volcano, I saw that my campsite repair of the right carb hadn't held up. We backtracked to Fishing Bridge where the mechanic supplied us with the needed part--a cotter pin--at no charge.

Next: leaving Yellowstone, driving home, and the little of the fifth state