Post #51730 by thejab on Wed, Sep 17, 2003 9:27 PM

Thanks for all the nice comments! Here's still more pictures:

Day 7 saw us leaving South Dakota for Wyoming. We stopped at Devils Tower for a spell and ended up in Sheridan, Wyoming for the night. Only disappointment of the trip: the amazing 40s cowboy bar called "The Mint" was closed for the labor day weekend.

The gorgeous Chevy dealership in Sheridan:

Day 8:

The 2 thrift stores in town were closed for labor day so we took US14 west over Bighorn Pass and stopped at Medicine Wheel, an ancient native American sacred site.

Bighorn Canyon was our next stop:

We saw this incredible 1952 theatre in Logan, Wyoming:

The interior was frozen in time so I took some pictures through the glass doors:

Detoured to Red Lodge, Montana, so we could take the scenic Beartooth Highway over Beartooth Pass:

Overnighted in Cody, Wyoming, home of Buffalo Bill and Jackson Pollock. Nice town. Not as touristy as Jackson and there's the fine historic Irma Hotel in town. They have a nightly rodeo in the summer and the excellent Buffalo Bill musueum that's actually 5 museums in one (Buffalo Bill Museum, the Museum of the Plains Indian, the Firearms Museum, a Natural History Musuem, and a Western art museum).

Day 10-11:

After seeing as much of the museum as we could stand we drove through the smoke from the summer's fires into Yellowstone National Park. We stayed the next 2 nights at the incredible Old Faithful Inn. It's a must see and well worth staying at least one night in.

The lobby

Fireplace

The dining room from above

and from inside

My favorite spot - the bar!

They did a great job restoring and maintaining the place without cutesifying it. It pretty much looks the same way it did a hundred years ago.

Other Yellowstone sights:

Riverside geyser

Morning glory spring

Castle geyser

The Grand Canyon on the Yellowstone River

It looked like a painting - it can't be real

Day 12

We left Yellowstone and encountered a traffic jam

They keep their buses in nice shape in Grand Teton National Park:

We had excellent steaks for dinner at the Gun Barrel Restaurant in Jackson.

Downtown Jackson

Inside the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. Pull up a saddle and rest a spell!

Jackson's a weird town. There's a few old neon motels left but it's mostly real upscale with tons of "galleries" selling "art" like animal sculptures and landscapes. It's real sterile and boring because I guess that's what rich people like. I felt out of place.

We stayed the night near Grand Teton National Park at this place:

The rooms were original 1950s log cabin rooms - here's a pic from their web site:

Day 13: Our day to explore the Tetons was cold and rainy so we didn't do any canoing or hiking, which we had planned. We ended up in Afton, Wyoming, home of the world's largest antler arch:

Our motel, which I didn't get a good picture of, so here's one from their web site:

Day 14: We drove US 89 through a bit of Idaho and into Utah. We stopped near Perry for a delicious meal at the Maddox Ranch House. They have the juiciest fried chicken and tender steaks (they even have their own feed lot out back!), served with huge flaky homemade rolls with raspberry butter, and bottomless mugs of homemade root beer or sarsparilla (no beer or wine - it's Mormon country). They even serve water from their own well. The deserts are great as well.

Look for the spinning sign that says "Maddox Fine Foods"

Somewhere near Ogden, Utah, on US89

We stopped briefly at Bert's tiki bar in Salt Lake City didn't especially care for the decor so I didn't take a picture.

Drove 500 miles that day and stopped in Ely, Nevada on highway 50, the "loneliest road in America". Stayed the night at the historic Hotel Nevada in the Hank Thompson room (many of the rooms are named after famous people who once stayed in the hotel - ours had records by Hank in frames - a nice touch).

Day 15: Another long drive (500 miles) home across Nevada and California to Oakland.

Whew! When's the next road trip? I can't wait.

Oh, only 2 tiki mugs were found on the whole trip (not counting the Kahiki moai salt and pepper shakers I got in Chicago). I found a leilani mug and Robin found a skull mug (Trader Vic's older style). I did find a few records, a great bakelite radio, a lamp, some great old cocktail books (one with pinups on the cover and inside!), a few aloha shirts, some ties, lots of cufflinks, and more tchotchkes that I don't have space for.