PB&J
Adventures' Wild West Tour 2014 - Part
6
2 adults, 4 kids, 1 cat, 20 states, 20 days
Day Six - Vore
Buffalo Jump and Devils Tower - June 4, 2014
The travel day from Mount
Rushmore to Cody, Wyoming brought more thrills and scary weather,
but we enjoyed it just the same. We departed Mount Rushmore a
little later than planned, but the travel to our first destination went quick and easy. |
|
Vore Buffalo Jump
I personally had not heard of
this place until this trip. Vore Buffalo Jump is a large sink hole
located just off Interstate 90 about 1/2 hour west of Sturgis, SD. Over
a period of about 300 years, various Native American tribes would
stampede bison toward the hole, guiding many of the large beasts to
their demise at the bottom of the pit. Here, the bison were used for
their meat, skins, and bones. Very little of the animal was left
unused. There are bones though. More bones than you can imagine, and
they all tell a story.
Vore Buffalo Jump is an active archaeological site with a professor
and several students excavating much of the time. We enjoyed walking
through the small teepee themed museum before descending into the pit
and visiting with the archaeology students and a guide. The bones are packed in there, layer
after layer. It's a very interesting place to visit, and learning
about all the applications for Bison side products was educational.
We wondered how the Native Americans had the knowledge to do all the things they
did to sustain themselves.
Devils Tower - A Close Encounter!
A couple of weeks prior to starting this trip, we watched
Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind with the kids. Our
goal was to familiarize them with the popularity of the nation's
first national monument. It seemed to work, and they were looking
forward to seeing the odd formation for themselves. So, when we saw
it on the horizon, everyone got excited. Wow! Cool! Awesome! Not all
the comments were coming from the back of the RV. Rebecca and I were
equally amazed.
Then, without warning, the kids started telling us details of the
site's history and legend. They knew all about how the site became
the first national monument in 1906. They told us about the prairie
dog town at the formation's base and the site's spiritual
significance to Native Americans. They even know about the park's
"Trading Post" and the tasty sarsaparilla the sell there. How do
they know? The Carole Marsh mystery they read about Devils Tower
told them all about it. Another home run for
Carole Marsh!
Our first stop was at the prairie dog town. Hundreds, maybe
thousands of prairie dogs inhabit a maze of dens in the field
between the formation and the river. Lots of fun. Then we circled
around the formation and found the visitor center and gift shop.
There is a walkway around the formation, and you can often see rock
climbers scaling the unusual rock columns that form the mountain.
Very cool indeed.
Upon exiting the park, we stopped at the trading post and ordered
some cold bottled sarsaparilla for the road. It's very similar to
root beer and scored highly on the family's yummy scale.
From Devils Tower, we still had a pretty long drive ahead of us if
we were going to make it to Cody, Wyoming before sunset. There were
storm clouds on the horizon and the wind was picking up. It was
looking like we had another challenging day ahead. But we could see
mountains. Mountains with snow! The excitement was growing.
Bighorn Mountains/Bighorn National Forest
The wind and threat of large hail caused us to pull off the
interstate a couple of times before we reached the base of the
Bighorn Mountains. We'd been warned about using highway 14 to go to
Cody, but it proved to be a reasonable drive. The assent and descent
are both very steep, and if you are towing, it can be a challenge.
We had no toad behind the motorhome, so we crossed without incident.
If you go, make sure you have good brakes and fuel. There was
no gas on the mountain, at least not in early June. There was snow
up there though. For a family of southerners, seeing snow in
June was a first for the kids. We had to stop and let them play a
little.
The drive through Bighorn National Forest was beautiful. We were
looking for wildlife, especially moose, but saw none. We did get
snowed on briefly, but nothing stuck. There were a few white knuckle
moments, but nothing severe.
Cody, at last!
By the time we arrived in Cody, Wyoming, we were relieved to be
there. It had been a long and exciting day. We were drained. We
located the Ponderosa Campground, a short walk from the historic
downtown Cody area. We were pleased with the campground's facilities
and our site. What we weren't used to was the "cash and checks only"
policy. Very unusual for home, but not uncommon out here.
Additionally, because they charge a "per child fee," the cost was a
little higher than we're used to as well. We reconciled that it IS a
resort town with a limited season. We'd still recommend the park.
Check back for installment 7 of our Wild West Tour 2014 for more
about Cody, Wyoming.
|
Scroll to bottom for the entire gallery.
Archaeology students hard
at work
From within the Vore Buffalo Jump
sink hole.
Prairie dogs guard the approach
to Devils Tower.
A view from the visitor's center.
Cold
bottled sarsaparilla for the road!
_small.jpg)
Excitement grew as we began to
see snow-capped mountains on the horizon.
_small.jpg)
Almost to the top, NOT!
Ponderosa Campground/RV Park,
Cody, WY |
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
