Planet Ruby Starrs

We still had our English  friend from Australia with us and were trying to drive in convoy. We agreed we would stop and have a coffee at Atomic City as we all though it sounded quite interesting.  We thought with a name like that it must have something good going on but how wrong were we!!   It was a small collection of extremely derelict buildings and a bar which didn’t look much from the outside and was even less on the inside… when we first went in we thought the place had been ransacked – even by my standards it was a mess!!! There were a few locals in the main bar bit and they were friendly enough but it was tiny and a bit daunting so we bought pop and carried on. Getting to City of Rocks went according to plan and we were told which were likely camping spots and we went off hoping we would find some shade as the temperatures were hitting the mid 30’s.  we checked every possible available camping and only one was left!! As it happens it w...

The next bit of the trip took us across the state boundary into Idaho where we pitched up at The Craters of the Moon.  What a fabulous place.   It is a large area of land completely covered with 2000 year old Volcanic lava eruptions.  It’s a very desolate looking place but strangely very beautiful.  The rocks and patterns left by the massive lava flows solidifying are very varied and are different textures and colours.   beautiful textures on lava flow There are several large craters scattered around with trails to walk around and look at them.   We set up camp and sorted out the two spots we wanted, then we drove round the site to see what was on offer.   It was extremely hot so we agreed to do most of the sights in the morning when it was cooler and less busy so we only stopped and walked around two spatter cones rare examples not found often and In one of the spatter cones there was snow!! It didn’t even look that deep but you could...

remember this..... we've just found our stow away!!!!  Opened the boot to get stuff out this morning after a lazy night in a motel, and nearly jumped out of my skin as this little mouse made a dash for it into the depths of the boot of the car.... we've had everything out AGAIN but cant find it - it must be deep down under the boot - tonight we will take everything out and give it a chance to get out although I think its been there since we left Vancouver judging by the amount of times we've found nibbled kitchen roll and packaging.... what a road trip for a mouse!!! My main concern is how many are there??

We camped at the saw mills camping in Sink Canyon... it was a nice spot next the roaring river but other than that quiet.   There were towering rocks either side so it felt quite cosy. I expected to be cold that night as we were quite high up at least 65000 feet but in fact it was a warm night and I slept well. the sink hole Sink Canyon State Park has the Pop Agia River running through it and at one point it completely disappears into a huge cavern to reappear  several yards down the pass in a calm pool full of fish. the river reappears... The next day  The boys did a huge walk up to Coney Mountain  a peak at over 11,000 feet - it took them 8.5 hours and they did well but were knackered.   I sat at Lake Frye (about 8,000 feet elevation )  watching cowboys’ coral cattle wearing full gear, I was a bit disappointed they used dogs and whistles and they were no lassos.   I  read my book and painted and had a little more manageable ...

the day following the eclipse was a bit of an anticlimax....we had quite a long driving day in front of us and it was hard to coordinate meeting up or travelling in convoy -as a consequence we lost each other and Fred and I stopped at Independence rock - the rock where the early pioneers stopped for rest as it was massive landmark and reaching there meant you would avoid the worst of the snows on your journey.  there were some great snippets from diaries posted telling the tales of life and death on the road - sadly more death then apple pies, it was a hard life - not quite the cruising along in a merc!!! But  Andrew didn’t stop....which meant he spent 90 minutes waiting for us in the delightful town of Jeffrey City.   We finally turned up and he was sat outside the Jeffrey City Split Rock Café, allegedly a legendary watering hole.  Jeffrey city was a thriving Uranium mining town at one point… with a population in the 1000's but slowly it emptied...

We are on the camping and its slowly filling up.  All the locals are taking this once in a life time opportunity to make some dosh... water for sale ..food..soda... pork borritos..rides on tractors all can be had for a dollar up.  Also there's loads of religious stuff going on tons of preachy types coming round offering lifts to church, handing out leaflets and that's how we got to meet Pastor Les and his wife Denise.  A very pleasant couple, they joined us at our heavily guarded picnic table (its mine and not left empty at any moment or someone will have it... they are practically currency here) giving us a leaflet about the eclipse.. at first glance it looked innocuous, just another publication with a nice shiny eclipse picture on and then I spotted the cross symbol on the back. By this time we were well into conversation - yes all the way from England via Vancouver road trip... love USA.. oh an eclipse!  Blah blah... they were a nice couple we decided to sit ...

More catch upposts from the last week - starting with..... this predates the eclipse posting... just setting the scene a little. We set up our eclipse camp. We are in a small town called Glenrock just east of Casper.  Its right in the middle of the track and has a lot of scope for wide open spaces with clear blue skies to observe the Eclipse on Monday morning.  The campsite is ok, its a slightly sorry affair really everything looks a bit 'overdue' and because we have been camping in state parks where everything is basic but tidy it looks a little shabby. But the owners / managers are extremely friendly and helpful though - which in my book goes a long way - there are no defined sites and no fire pits - a big disappointment, but they did rustle us up a picnic table and tomorrow they are serving biscuits and gravy for breakfast which is an American delicacy I have been wanting to try.   update it was ok but looked a bit grim and was rather stodgy there are deer roa...

I've a lot to catch up on from the last week.  Internet access has been poor so I haven't been able to post - I have however written quite  few but I'm going to stagger posting them and be a little bit out of sync as lots of messages are coming through about the Eclipse so I thought I had better start there!! we had scoped some good places for viewing - high up with 360 panoramic views and we had a couple of places in mind.  So by 7.30 Monday morning we were up and armed with biscuits and gravy - which incidentally are not nice cold... we headed out to the grasslands of Wyoming.  we stopped at out preferred place and started to make camp so to speak, we were on a wide verge off a gravel road and it was nice spot - if you squinted you could imagine the nearby cows were bison and there were real eagles flying about.  only 2 and half hours to wait.... then.... a large pickup truck drew alongside and wound the window down, Dr Fred moved over '' you are are on p...

Leaving Yeloowstone we have dropped in elevation quite a bit and the temperatures have risen dramatically, thank goodness.  After a fabulous scenic drive out of Yellowstone National Park dropping through a canyon and more stunning rocks we finally hit the prairie - a completely different landscape, vast and rolling, mountains faintly in the distance on all sides but just long stretches of grassland and more deer then i could ever shake a stick at.  It was a long drive broken with an overnight motel stop- bizarre little place - meticulously clean, spotless bathroom but some slightly unsettleing purple plastic on the floor in the room - I couldn't help wondering what it was keeping in or out... and we stopped in a place called Shoshonee which was a very peculiar experience.  Classic small run down town in the middle of vast nowhere...Again everyone we spoke to - in the library, in the visitor centre, in the diner were really friendly but the place was the most run down...

ok folks... I'm on a campsite with wifi but its not good enough for me to upload pictures on to the blog and I'm guessing most people want pictures and not just my waffle so i'll up load as soon as we find better wifi... until then adventures continue, theres lots to post, and less then one and a half rotations of the earth before total eclipse.... weather for cast brilliant and we have good spot!

Lower Falls Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone is great for lots of things but very little phone signal or internet so there are a lot of posts to catch up on.  Driving around the vast and varied landscape was an interesting experience.  its a busy place, and unless you are quite fit and at the moment we are not - its hard to get away from the masses of tourists.  we did make the trek up Mount Washburn - or rather Dr Fred did, I only went about halfway, stunning views cross the park but very busy - and quite a steep hike on a sore knee!!! view from Mount Washburn However this does have advantages as when there's a crowd it usually means there is something interesting to be seen.  We were crawling along with the masses to see the lower Falls - wonderful waterfall pictures at the beginning of post... First we spotted two single bull bison just ambling along the grassland. first bison sighting which we were very excited about and then we saw a whol...

Where to start?  We had an incredible 4 days in Yellowstone park. The park certainly hits the G spots, it is wonderful for geography . geology, geothermal  and coming next post some fabulous wildlife...Massive huge thunder storm first night. We were hoping to lie on the picnic table and observe the Perseid meteor showers but instead we realised a different kind of insignificance, huddled in our four seasons sleeping bags hoping it was the good will season - in a very small blue tent – in the middle of a very large forest surrounded by massive pine trees and lots of sky!! Mammoth Springs It was fantastic we were only sorry we couldn’t see more then the tent lighting up every 5 seconds as the thunder rolled and thudded around right above the trees.  The rain was tremendous but our little tent held up and we were warm and snug right through to the morning.  The actual storm only lasted about 30 minutes moving around but never very far away – there was ...