Tag Archives: Wyoming

Cross Country Vacation Sept./Oct. 2025

The Hubster and I set out on a cross country trip to visit with our daughter and her fam. They live on the east coast and we live on the west coast. We choose to drive so that we can take our time and visit places that we have never been.

In other words, we set out on a very long scenic drive.

The last time that we did this was in 2023, and we had so much fun!

September 14 was a long travel day. We left home in Washington state, traveled through Idaho and most of Montana.

A stop for gas in Montana was needed, and we stopped at Muralt’s Travel Plaza. Who would’ve thought that a truck stop would be so nice!

This mural is painted on an outside wall. It features places to visit.

Muralt's Truck Stop, Montana

*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!

Muralt's Truck Stop, Montana

This guy was right inside the front door. I had to snap a photo for the grandkids!

Muralt's Truck Stop, Montana

One can not only get fuel, but also visit restaurants, a deli, buy baked goods, snacks and gifts, play in the casino, do laundry, stay the night and more.

Sunflower, Montana

When the Hubster and I travel, sometimes we car camp and sometimes we stay in a hotel.

Our first night was spent at the Huntley Rest Area.

We had a brief storm followed by a fabulous sunset!

Huntley Rest Area, Montana

The next morning, we drove into Wyoming.

Wyoming

We stopped at Fort Phil Kearny and I will share that in another post. Afterwards, we drove into Buffalo, Wyoming. Unfortunately, the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum was closed.

However, I was fascinated with this sculpture that I spotted while driving through town.

It is called “After the Dust Settles” and was created by D. Michael Thomas.

D. Michael Thomas_Buffalo, Wyoming

D. Michael Thomas_Buffalo, Wyoming

Be sure to click on those links above to see more about this impressive sculpture!

D. Michael Thomas_Buffalo, Wyoming

From the website:

“Two war ponies, ravaged by the wreckage of war, have reached the end of their run. Their speed and their courage, sacrificed for the folly of man, have betrayed them and now only push at their hearts and their spirits. With their riders no longer driving them against one another they have found an escape, each becoming the refuge that the other seeks. Above them, an Indian arrow flies like a flag from a white man’s saddle, proclaiming a battle won and a battle lost. Behind them lies only dust and the terror that continues to pursue them. The frantic call of the bugle, the volleys of gunfire, and the screams of the wounded have thinned into a long, drawn out silence. All that remains are fear, comfort, and the sound of the wind in the sage.”

D. Michael Thomas_Buffalo, Wyoming

See the world around you!

More Travel Posts:

Last Day of an Epic Road Trip

Our last day on the road took us through small parts of the Bighorn National Forest, the Gooseberry Badlands and a picnic lunch in Yellowstone National Park. It was a beautiful drive home!

Loaf Mountain Overlook on the Cloud Peak Skyway shows off the Cloud Peak Wilderness.

Bighorn National Forest

*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!

Bighorn National Forest

Tensleep Canyon offers unspoiled beauty while rock climbing, caving, hiking, or mountain biking, and our pursuit…the scenic drive.

Bighorn National Forest

Bighorn National Forest

Bighorn National Forest

Leigh Creek Vee has a broad ledge about 200 feet below the rim of the canyon and about 1,000 feet above the canyon floor with a stone monument topped with a cross. The monument was constructed in 1889 in the memory of a British Member of Parliament (member for South Warwickshire), the Honorable Gilbert H. C. Leigh, after whom the creek is named. In 1884, Leigh, a house guest of Moreton Frewen, lost his life hunting big horn sheep.

Bighorn National Forest

Sam Stringer, the courageous former Confederate teamster, had the mail contract for delivery of the mail from Buffalo to Powder River, Sussex, and Ten Sleep. In about 1892, he nearly lost his life delivering mail, but his powerful determination got the job done!

If you are at all interested in the taming of the west, then I encourage you to click on Sam Stringer’s name and read his story. He was a soldier, a teamster (including using his wagon to carry the dead from Fetterman’s Massacre), worked on railroad building, as well as a mail carrier.

Bighorn National Forest

Bighorn National Forest

Our scenic drive home brought us to the Gooseberry Badlands right after driving through the Bighorn National Park. So fun to see the landscape change so quickly!

Gooseberry Badlands Wyoming

Gooseberry Badlands Wyoming

There is a trail to hike here, but we opted out. Perhaps someday, we will pass by again and take the time to hike the trail.

Gooseberry Badlands Wyoming

Gooseberry Badlands Wyoming

Gooseberry Badlands Wyoming

I have shared about road trips to Yellowstone National Park here, and here. It is one of our favorite parks to visit!

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Today, however, since we were headed home, we only stopped for lunch at the Chittenden Memorial Bridge. It was first constructed in 1903 as a Melan arch bridge by park engineer Captain Hiram M. Chittenden of the US Army Corps of Engineers and spans the Yellowstone River.

In 1961, after a lot of public protest, the National Park Service tore down the original bridge and replaced it with a more modern, wider structure suitable for the type of vehicle traffic the park was experiencing. In an opening ceremony in 1963, the new bridge was christened the Chittenden Memorial Bridge.

Among his other achievements, Chittenden was a successful and prolific historical author. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Seattle are named in his honor.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

This large raven kept us company the entire time that we ate our picnic lunch.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park Sandhill Crane

Our road trip took us 6,738 miles from Washington State to North Carolina. We explored much, learned much, and had so much fun! Wherever you are, if you cannot afford international travel, or maybe that isn’t even a dream of yours, I know that you can find much to see and do in the area where you live!

Since this is my journal, I keep my posts under the tabs in the heading above so that I can find them again. If you ever want to revisit them, you can find them there, too.

See the world around you!

Devils Tower National Monument

Devils Tower National Monument (also known as Bear Lodge Butte) was the first United States national monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. The monument’s boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres and is located in the Black Hills of northeastern Wyoming.

Devils Tower Wyoming

Devils Tower rises 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, and stands 867 feet from summit to base. The summit is 5112 above sea level. Devils Tower features the world’s largest example of columnar jointing. Hundreds of parallel cracks make it one of the finest crack climbing areas in North America.

*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!

Devils Tower Wyoming

Devils Tower Wyoming

My camera lens was not powerful enough to take sharp photos of those black dots way up there, but it is enough to see that there were a lot of turkey vultures hanging out!

Devils Tower Wyoming

Devils Tower Wyoming

Devils Tower is a sacred place to over 20 Native American tribes. There are numerous legends and oral histories passed down and preserved through their cultures and traditions. You can learn of these stories when you click here. Devils Tower received its original name from these stories. The current name originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, when his interpreter reportedly misinterpreted a native name to mean “Bad God’s Tower”.

Devils Tower Wyoming

Devils Tower Wyoming

Hubby and I hiked the Tower Trail…an easy trail that surrounds the base of Devils Tower. This tree is found about halfway on the trail.

Devils Tower Wyoming

The Window is one of Devils Tower’s most distinctive features, a 300 foot alcove above the boulder field. The Window cracked open as tall stone pillars toppled from the Tower.

Devils Tower Wyoming

Devils Tower Wyoming

Devils Tower Wyoming

I love this photo because you can clearly see that the columns are not straight!

Devils Tower Wyoming

The first climbers on record to summit Devils Tower, Willard Ripley and William Rogers, built a ladder to the summit in 1893. They advertised the climb as a Fourth of July spectacle, charging admission to dance and picnic. Dressed as Uncle Sam, and carrying the American flag, Rogers climbed the ladder for the crowd.

On July 4, 1895, Linnie Rogers became the first woman on record to climb Devils Tower. She used the ladder built by her husband.

Devils Tower Wyoming

Devils Tower Wyoming

Devils Tower Wyoming

The prairie dog town at Devils Tower National Monument is approximately 40 acres in size. As in the Badlands, I really enjoyed watching them!

Devils Tower Wyoming

Devils Tower Wyoming

See the world around you!