Antique Bicycles

The grandkids discovered a second floor museum of sorts in Oatman, Arizona.









Mike on "American Pickers" would like this place!  It is seriously antique bicycles!

This baby is apparently an 1820 Draisene replica.  It's also called a Laufmaschine ("running machine").  It was invented by the German Baron Karl von Drais in Mannheim, Germany in 1817. Being the first means of transport to make use of the two-wheeler principle, the Laufmaschine is regarded as the archetype of the bicycle.


Since this guy just learned how to ride a bicycle, he was probably the most impressed with all of these things!

This is an 1839 Macmillan Replica from Scotland.  Kirkpatric Macmillan, a blacksmith, built this baby with a wood frame and iron rimmed wooden wheels.  Overall it weighed about 60 pounds



Now he's gettin' into Daddy's kinda wheels.

Not as impressed with these.  But wait a few years, and he might be back to admire them!

Petrified Trees and Oatman, Arizona

Interstate 40 splits the Petrified National Forest and the Painted Desert.  We didn't think the kids would enjoy those places enough to take the time for a drive-through.  However, we knew that they would like our favorite rock shop, so we took about a one-mile detour off of the Interstate into Holbrook, Arizona and stretched our legs.  There are amazing pieces of petrified wood all polished up for tourists to be entranced by.

We were right.  They loved it!  We promised that on their way back to Texas we'd stop again and let them buy some cool souvenirs.

Our first need after settling in to our house in Kingman was to stock the refrigerator.  The most cost-effective way to do that was at Sam's Club.  Now, if you've been reading our blog for awhile, you know that there are two ways to get to Sam's - the fun way and the fast way.  The kids had their choice, and they chose the fun way.  That meant following Old Route 66 past ancient extinct volcanoes  in the Black Mountains,

and on up into the mountains.  Across Sitgreaves Pass,

and on into Oatman, the land of donkeys/burros.  (Check out our earlier blog posts about Oatman:
http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2015/05/the-road-to-sams-club.html
http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2014/01/wild-burros.html
http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2014/01/oatman-arizona-second-time-around.html
http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2015/03/a-different-yucca-plant.html
and more if you'd like to browse the blog.)

Cutest critters ever!  Except for our grandchildren!

Grandkids in Arizona

We made a quick trip to Texas for doctor's appointments, and lo and behold, ended up bringing five grandkids and a daughter-in-law back to our two-bedroom home in Arizona.  I remember my momma telling us when there were plans to spend time at my grandmother's farmhouse that she'd hang us up on wall hooks because there was no floor space in the tiny farmhouse.  We almost had to do that this time.

As we got close to our hotel in Tucumcari, New Mexico the first night,

the sky darkened and rain showers surrounded us - but never rained down on us.  (Whew!)

 By the time we arrived at the hotel, the sunset was gorgeous!

But that in no way hampered the kids desire to go swimming! 
(Wait a sec! Where's the only boy?)

Well, except for the lil' one.  She was tooooo tuckered out!

Day Two of Yellowstone in July

Early the next morning we find the elk nursery.  One generally finds it up around Fort Yellowstone in the northwestern corner of the Park.  These guys, er, girls, had just crossed the road in front of us and were headed for a pond.

And just down the road, a deer with his new rack of antlers.

Oh, wait!  There's TWO of them.

And did I mention that Yellowstone has scenery, too.

I don't even know who these guys are.  Some kind of crane?

This looks more like a painting than a photograph.  The steam to the left is from vents in the bank of the river.  This is inside the volcano's caldera - all of the vents and geyser's are.  The main features of the caldera would be inside this 35 mile by 45 mile wide area.  That is one humongous volcano!

This would be an Osprey and her two young chicks.  

This nest is located on the tallest pinnacle in the middle of the next photo.  This is why they invented zoom lenses.

I'm always surprised when we find pelicans in Yellowstone.  

I always thought pelicans belonged on the seashore.

Now, what's this brown bump in the landscape?

Well, looky here!  It's the three little bears!  (Ya' gotta love that zoom!)

And yes, these would be grizzlies.

There was a Park Ranger who was determined (rightly so) to keep tourists at least 100 yards away from these wild, free-range top-of-the-food-chain predators - especially because it was a MOMMA grizzly and her babies!  I'm only 5' 2" (and shrinking) so it was really difficult for me to raise the camera high enough to clear the grass.  I found a clump of prairie grasses that would raise me up another couple of inches, but it was hard to keep my balance standing on it on my tiptoes.  Even so, I got some pretty good video footage:

That makes four bears on this two day trip.  Not too shabby.

(Please let me know through the comments section below if you are able to watch the video.  Thanks!)

Gardiner, Montana and Yellowstone's Original Entrance

Well, this bodes well for our visit.  While I'm checking in at the Rodeway Inn and Suites in Gardiner, Montana, Granpa is snapping photos of a deer friend.

We really enjoyed our stay here.  We'd do it again in a heartbeat. 

But just around the corner is the northern entrance to Yellowstone.  

We've been to Yellowstone umpteen times and this is the very first that we've seen these guys!

Yup, mountain goats.  But we're still looking for Yellowstone's Big Horn Sheep.  Maybe someday.

Yeah, for most people Yellowstone is about the volcanic geysers.  They're cool, but it's the animals we really come for.  Of all the National Parks we've been to, Yellowstone is the one guaranteed to show us some animals.  Animals like, well, this cinnamon colored Black Bear just moseying along the side of the road.

See?  You don't even have to get out of the car in Yellowstone to see fantastic critters.  Here.  Here's a better shot.

Well, let me get my goofy arm out of the way!

Bears just love to graze on wildflowers.  What's amazing is that there ARE wildflowers in Yellowstone in July!  But there are always buffalo (well, actually American bison).  

  

And waterfalls.  This would be Kepler Cascades.                  And more buffalo.

Some Canadian Geese.

Trumpeter Swan.

And Elk bucks with velvet still on their antlers.  Nice 'n fuzzy lookin', huh?  But this is just a young buck.

This would be "daddy."

And that would be day one of this particular trip to Yellowstone.

From Glacier to Yellowstone

We're following the commands of Lil' Miss GPS, and we have no clue where we are.  She says turn on this little country road, and that one, and this one ...  But we certainly feel like we've found a little piece of heaven on earth.

 Every new turn brings us chapter and verse.

Deuteronomy 30:19

 So many of these homesteads have these Ten Commandments billboards.  We like!

Glacier's Wildlife

We stopped for a picnic where a bear and her cubs were just yesterday.  Didn't see them, but thought watching these guys watch each other was fun!

I've already shown you the Big Horn sheep at the Visitor's Center.  Looks like they've made it across the road and up the side of a mountain.

No bears this trip.