Day 18 Yellowstone to Deer Lodge

28 June 231 miles.

We had a very pleasant drive out of Yellowstone about thirty miles, during which we saw Bison, Deer, an Eagle and a Black Beaked Swan.

Unfortunately just outside Yellowstone we lost Pat Miles’s +4 with a blown piston. Ken and Pat had to arrange shipping for the car and fly home to pick up a replacement car a very handsome early +8. They will be out of action for about a week.

The rest of the journey was straightforward with no detours. The weather was very hot and dry with a very blue sky.

We shared a coffee and a piece of cake with the Lacey’s at Gallatin a very pleasant café next to a river and stayed about an hour. Our arrival at the Budget Inn left us time to visit a fine motor museum based in a redundant prison. The collections, were mainly American, but with one or two “exotics” including a Morris Minor.

There was a laundry close to the hotel, which gave us a much needed suitcase refresher; we also managed to clean the car!

The party had a very good meal in the Broken Arrow Restaurant and Casino the menu was very simple – Beef! The variations were quite broad, but beef it was, well we were in Montana. The local airforce was making its presence felt in the form of very aggressive Mosquitoes, which we fought off with insect repellent.

Day 17 Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone was established as a National Park in 1872. The Parks name reflects the gold colour of the dramatic cliffs lining the Yellow Rock River. The Park also has the largest concentration of geothermal features on the planet and is a about the size of Wales.

We set off early in two cars to stay a head of the Sunday rush and with the hope of catching sight of some interesting wildlife. At our very first stop to photograph some bubbling pools we came face to face with a very large Bison who fortunately was more interested in ruminating than being aggressive towards us.

The steam, gushing geysers and wonderfully coloured mineral deposits combined with the excitement of catching sight of the wildlife kept us amused all day. We saw herds of Elk, which often stop traffic as they wonder across the road. The late thaw gave the Yellowstone Grand Canyon a spectacular waterfall, which a few brave souls clamber down a couple of hundred feet to get close to.

The Sunday hordes gradually overwhelmed us and we went back to the hotel to escape. The Old Faithful Inn is quite a strange looking hotel, its interior looking like some mythical Norse home of the gods. A towering open space held aloft by thousands of interlocked pine beams disappearing into the dark roof space. The hotel also has a few restored 1930’s tour buses, which lend a “retro” look to the outside.

As we gathered to exchange tales of the day we found that one of our party, George Tollworthy, had had a close encounter with a large bear and his vivid description of hearing its claws rapping on the tarmac gave us all goose pimples.

Billings to Yellowstone NP 219 miles

Sat 26^th June 2010

We set off in light rain, which lasted about half an hour. The countryside was quite picturesque with ranch land giving way to mountains. Our first stop was Cody a town named after the

great storyteller and showman Buffalo Bill Cody in 1896. One of the visit recommendations was the Cody Historical Centre, which turned out to be excellent. There was, of course, a part of the museum given over to the life and times of Buffalo Bill and his remarkable travelling show, not forgetting the sharp shooting Annie Oakley, but also an art gallery with a very high standard of work. We took much longer than we thought at the Historical Centre and managed a late lunch at the Irma

Hotel named after one of Cody’s daughters. The hotel is well known for its Bar which was a gift from Queen Victoria given in appreciation of the exciting entertainment provided by Cody in London. The saloon in which the famous bar sits is a real late 19^th century cowboy saloon frequently depicted in western films. Lunch consisted of, what else but, a Buffalo Burger!

With just over half the journey to do we set off towards Yellowstone national park. The scenic run to the park got more and more dramatic, with towering cliffs, dams and rivers. On entering Yellowstone the pace became much slower with a rigorously enforced speed limit of forty miles per hour. Most people drive at a slow speed to try and catch sight of the parks wildlife, which includes Grizzly Bears, Bison and Elk. We were fortunate to see a large Mule Deer very close to the road and a few Bison in the distance. This being our first visit to Yellowstone it was quite disconcerting to see boiling water and jets of steam at the roadside.

Our hotel was the Old Faithful Inn situated next to the famous “Old Faithful” Geyser, which goes off about every ninety minutes or so. As we had arrived a little late for sightseeing we bought a beer and sat on the hotel balcony and waited for Old faithful to do its party trick, we were not disappointed; after a few misfires the geyser shot about one hundred and fifty feet in the air. Very impressive!

Billings – Custer and his Stand

One event and two settings gave today its tone. The event took place 25^th June 1876 and it was The Battle of Little Big Horn. The setting were a re-enactment of the famous battle just outside the town of Hardin and a visit to the actual site of the battle some twenty miles to the south close to the River Little Big Horn a tributary of the Big Horn River.

When we arrived in Hardin we found the town “en fete” with street vendors selling home made produce and ice cream. We had coffee and blueberry pie in a Mennonite café, where the ladies wear nineteen seventies Laura Ashley dresses and a black bun cover on the backs of their heads, very chatty and helpful.

The re-enactment site was about five miles out of Hardin, to the west next to a busy railway track. The final part of the journey to the annual re-enactment was along a very dusty dirt road, which made all our Morgans the same colour a light tan brown. The stage was set; a semi circle of grandstands had been erected; all the flags of the Union fluttered in the heat of scorching breeze. Many of us brought umbrellas to provide a welcome area of shade. A little late a tableau was performed if front of us depicting the colonisation of the West and the eventual clash of cultures resulting in armed conflict between the US Army and the various Indian tribes that formed an alliance of war. The battle scene was acted out with great gusto; lots of noise, gunfire, sweat and enthusiasm. If I spoil the end for you I apologise, but poor old Custer lost yet again he was the last man standing, with a pistol in each hand he met his fate along with his men. The final speeches were drown out by the sound of a passing goods train at least a mile long each section of which was designed to make more noise than the previous. All was rounded up with a rendition of the National Anthem.

A couple of us drove south to the site of the actual battle. It is a sombre scene made all the more relevant by the fact that we were there at the same time it had taken place one hundred and thirty four years previously. A small white marker point out the spot where each man fell and was buried. The site was crowded with the descendents of both parties to the conflict.

On a much happier note that night we celebrated Cathy Tollworthy’s birthday with an imported Chinese meal and a many a toast and song particularly from her husband George.

Evansville WY to Billings MT 24 June

Day 14 Clear and sunny 300 Miles

Today we travel through some famous military landmarks connected to the Indian Wars of the late nineteenth century. Our first stop was at Fort Kearny, which was erected to protect a wagon trail known as “The Bozeman Trail”. This was one of the routes west for settlers and came under frequent attack from the local Indians. The Fort is now just a marked out area of ground with a replica wall giving some idea of scale. The local landscape is exactly as it was about one hundred and forty years ago and gives a very vivid impression of how remote and dangerous life was for the pioneers.

Close by was a the Fettermen Battle Site where a Cavalry Commander, named Fettermen, was goaded by an Indian War Party into falling into a simple ambush, which wiped out his command. Here again the battle site gave a sense danger with rugged “eggs in a basket” topography. As dear reader you can imagine not everybody in the party was enamoured by old battlefields so we went straight to the hotel with no further details.

The hotel entertaining us at this “two-nighter” was again the C’Mon Inn; unfortunately it wasn’t come on in and have a drink, because it didn’t have a bar! We have, sadly, become used to a beer to wash away the daily dust of travel. The Hotel did have a swimming pool, which was very refreshing - to swim in.

Fort Collins CO to Evansville WY 23 June

Blue Sky 222 miles to Drive. Joined by John and Gail Maloney

A choice today of driving via Cheyenne or Laramie both of which bring back childhood memories of black and white cowboy programs on the “telly”, The Man from Laramie etc. We were advised that Cheyenne could be missed because it is now a big industrial city and not much fun to drive through.

Laramie lacks that image of the old west, but does have an old prison that is worth a visit. The prisons claim to immortality is that it once entertained as an inmate by the name of Butch Cassidy – he of the famous film. Lots of black and white photos of infamous inmates all of whom suffered, by today’s standards, a harsh regime and it was bitterly cold in the winter.

Heading north we stopped for lunch at the town of Medicine Bow famous for being the home of Owen Wister the author of “The Virginian” later turned into a long running TV show. We paid a visit to the towns’ museum by the railway track full of memorabilia and items from the 1930’s run by two eccentric ladies. Outside the museum was a board showing all the local cattle brands – quite a few! Across the road from the museum is the Virginian Hotel built in about 1910 to cash in on the fame of Owen Wister all red plush and chandeliers. A self guided tour of the hotel left and impression of creaking floorboards, damp, lethal electrics and third world plumbing. The lunch we were served in The Virginian was the worst we have ever been offered in America.

We travelled on to Casper/Evansville through a hot arid landscape to The C’mon Inn a spa hotel half the rooms look inward onto a courtyard liberally scattered with hot-tubs. The other half of the rooms were facing the outside world and railway tracks.

We celebrated Pauls birthday at the Silver Fox Restaurant in Casper, which was very enjoyable and great fun and sent us all to bed in a happy frame of mind.

Leadville to Fort Collins June 22

Day 12 213 miles. Clear blue skies another day in paradise.

Today takes us over the Rockies; high passes and the Great Divide. Starting at about eight we are travelling roughly northeast west of Denver.

We drive through jaw droopingly beautiful high mountain scenery. The roads twist and turn with many a hairpin. The first Pass is the Freemont at 11318ft well above the tree line. The engines run very rich at this altitude and the older cars have to be manually adjusted to run efficiently. Our second high pass is the Loveland at ten feet short of twelve thousand feet. We met a cyclist from Yorkshire at the summit who was riding from Mexico to Canada – very impressive. Two more Passes, Berthoud and Milner, see us with fifty miles of Loveland where we have arranged to meet the British Car Club who will take us on a scenic drive through some beautiful Colorado river valleys.

A splash and dash at our hotel in Fort Collins as we had to get to Jim and Beth Murrays house who were hosting a Garden party in our honour for the rest of the members of the British Car Club. There was a gleaming array of pristine MG’s, Triumphs and Jaguars to admire all of which put our well travelled Morgans in the shade.

Ouray to Leadville June 21

Day 11 220 miles

A chilly morning, but cobalt blue sky.

Breakfast, drivers meeting and away by eight-fifteen. We headed north to Montrose, where we visited the Ute Indian Museum. The museum was full of interesting artefacts and a history of the famous Indian Chief Ouray, who led negotiations with the American Government in the late nineteenth century. There was also a very good three screen video presentation of the Ute tribe’s customs and culture.

East and then north to Buena Vista for lunch at the Coyote Cantina; not very good food, but full of character. We emerged to find our car surrounded by Harley Davidson motorbikes. The landscape changed here to skiing country as we were very close to Denver, Aspen and Breckenridge.

Leadville is another town who’s fortunes were cut short by the mines being depleted, it had a gold rush in 1860. Most of the important buildings in Leadville have been restored and it is now a holiday resort for hikers in the summer and skiers in the winter.

The hotel in Leadville gave us a rare opportunity to clean our cars, which were looking very travel worn.

Mesa Verde to Ouray CO

Clear blue sky.

A short one hundred and seventeen miles today, one of the shortest legs of the tour. Our first stop was Durango; a very attractive town with a population about the same size as Bridgnorth and also has a steam railway. The main street is very busy for a Sunday and trades manly on its nineteenth century facades and excellent shopping. After a very good coffee in Durango we set off along the “Million Dollar” Highway to Silverton so called because of its cost per mile, but it is strongly suggested that the silver ore excavated during the laying of the road more than covered the cost. The route is dominated by the effects of over a century of mining, which has had a huge and dramatic effect on the landscape.

We had lunch in an old style saloon in Silverton followed by a ride in a Stagecoach, which during a quick tour of the old town we discovered all the disagreeable points of horse drawn transport of the western era.

Ouray is another town that was fixed in time by the sudden depletion of its main source of wealth – silver, leaving it set forever in the eighteen eighties as far as architecture is concerned anyway.

The evening entertainment started with a visit to a micro brewery/pub that we were advised had made a special brew for us in honour of the Morgans, however, there must have been a breakdown in communication as they seemed not to expecting us, but were glad of the business. A short drive from the pub found us at Dick and Louis Love’s holiday house, where they had organised a BBQ for us; this was a wonderful and generous thing to do and we were very well looked after. Their house is set in Colorado ranch land with a mountain backdrop. Ralph Loren has a neighbouring ranch and is said to have the best-dressed cowboys in the area! Dick is a Morgan owner who’s main home is in California. A short, legal and carful drive back to the hotel was made all the more interesting by the smell of a recently squashed skunk an odour to be savoured, but not for long.