We're back again in civilization once again!!!! Yellowstone has no internet service as well as no TV [no Fox news for John ...ha!]. Phone service was questionable. Anyway...we are now in Jackson Hole WY and have the most incredible last few days.Every day has gotten better and Bigger!! I now understand the meaning of"Big Sky Country". Cody Wy offered the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. A must see if you are in this part of the country I'm embarassed to say that my knowledge of the west hadn't gone too far beyond "Hopalong Cassidy". The museums we've visited have filled in a lot of the gaps.All of them have been family friendly.We crossed the Continental Divide twice. Forgot to mention that John has had problems with the altitude and is looking forward big time to getting back to sea level.And then the buffalo...........lots and lots of them. We have also savored buffalo burgers, buffalo stew, and I'm sure there was buffalo in the eggs yesterday.We stayed at the Yellowstone Inn and arrived just in time to see Old Faithful do her thing. We saw many other geysers and hot springs. I hadn't given this much thought either and have taken for granted, these postcard images. This whole area is a volcano crater and is over due to erupt................in fact we're 40000 years overdue. It was strange to stand in one spot, turn around and no matter where you look, there is stream coming from the ground. A little Martian Chronical-ish............!!!We visited Mamouth Hot Springs and again this was beautiful. Somehow boiling water coming out of the ground doesn't quite compute. Here we saw a lot of elk and in one case they were on the porch of a residence. Gave new meaning to "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner".Today ........the Tetons and all I can say is WOW......these are mountains!! This type of beauty is difficult to describe, I wish I had the vocabulary.Today, a raft trip on the Snake River The rapids were about class .5! not too difficult......pretty slow and I mean really slow but very fun and gave us a different view of Grand Teton.Jackson Hole is way too expensive but again beautiful. There is no such thing as a 10.00 t-shirt. I know this as I've done my share of cash therapy on this trip!Tonight we attended a a chuck wagon bar-b-q with entertainment. The cowboys [singers] were very good and even impressed Mr. The only real musician is Dave Brubeck DiPinto. In fact he bought a CD. Tomorrow morning we will wake up to 31 degrees. Might have to wear socks. This will be our last day and will arrive in Salt Lake City around 4:00

'Twas a long day today as we were in three states........South Dakota, Wyoming, and now Billings Montana. We saw Devils Towers from 50 miles away....can't get there from here. It was the first national monument.

We saw miles and miles of snow fences which interestingly enough are being torn down and replaced by composite material. The people that are replacing these fences are doing this at no cost as the old wood from the fences is more valuable for cabinets etc.

The most impressive part of today was Little Big Horn. The Ranger that spoke to us should be nominated for an oscar...................I could see the Indians coming over the hill!! That whole story is so wrong on so many levels. I'm glad we were able to see it.

Animal pics include a two headed calf [every museum needs one] and antelope as in where the deer and the antelope play.

This whole area is a paleontologists dream. But.....the only dinosaurs I've seen are on our tour bus.

Tomorrow, Yellowstone

TTFN Judy and John

Finally arrived last night around 8:30, after what seemed like a bizillion hours in the air. You can't get here from there...........there being Sarasota.

Our accommodations are great and WOW......Rapid City is really a neat place!

I had a chance to walk around this afternoon and of course discovered a bead store that sells mostly Indian stuff for their native ceremonial costumes. Did a small amount of cash therapy but not for a costume!!

On all of the street corners in Rapid City there are sculptures of the presidents.

Crazy Horse is an unfinished sculpture of Crazy Horse an Indian Chief. It's huge and all of the presidents in the Mt Rushmore sculpture will fit into the head of this one. One of the attached pictures show the final result.

Mt. Rushmore is all that we've thought it would be and more. It's a beautiful tribute to this country and amazing because of how it was done.

Not too sure where we are headed tomorrow except that we will be in three states. If this blog works I'll add to it again. Give me a heads up! thanx

TTFN........................Judy and John

New ideas and will try this for our up and coming vacation.

As I post, I will send an e-mail suggesting you check our blogspot.

This image was from a zip line experience in Costa Rica. This trip won't be quite that exciting as we will be visiting some our national parks................on a tour bus.......works for me!!!!

We can be found at www.wherearejudyandjohn.com.blogspot.com

we'll be in touch next week

Judy