How brave I am

I did a zipline! I was so proud of myself. I was very nervous. It seems the older I get, the more afraid of heights I am. Even being on the chair lift was nerve-wracking. I couldn't make myself let go of the hand rail and get my camera out to prove how brave I was. With my feet planted firmly on the ground, I did get a couple of pictures of the starting platform.

The little girl (ok, I'm chicken, even a young girl can do this) in the picture went down the same time I did. See how she is up against that wall/door. Well, when that door opens, away you go. I got all strapped in and they said, "are you ready?", and I said, "Aren't there any instructions?", he said, "hold on to the black straps." And I said, "Are you going to count down, or warn us when we are going?" and he said "Well, are you ready?", and away we went. It was really scary coming out of that door, but super duper fun after the first shock was over.

Olympic Bobsled

Here is another part of the Olympic Park in Park City, Utah. This is the bobsled and luge track. There were people going down the track, I am assuming on a sled with wheels because the track is concrete. Even then, they were reaching speed of 66 mph. I can't imagine what that is like, rough as hell I would think.

The picture just above is where the females and juniors start. I had just pasted the 3/4 mile mark, and the actual top was another 200 meters farther up. I had walked all that way, so I had gone far enough for my likings. Here is the view from "almost" the top.

Skiing

At the Olympic Park, they had ski jumping, both the distance, and the trick jumping. Here's what it looks like. And there was a little bunny hill for the youngsters. Good to know that you don't have to learn how to do this on the big slope!

This was where they practice the long distance jumping. And they do not have to walk up this one, they get to take the ski lift, (which I got to ride too.)

I have posted a video on Facebook, of someone going off the ramp into the pool. My computer is not cooperating with me on posting the same video here. I am also running out of time. I am in a hotel for the first time on my trip, and I've got to get ready to check out.  I want to show you the bob-sledding track too, so hopefully I will be near electricity soon and can share those pictures.

Another Olympic adventure

John and I had driven a lot through Salt Lake City, and Park City is on the mountain above Salt Lake City, and when you drive by, you can see this ski jump. So I was always interested in getting a closer look, and I got to. It is one of the sites of some Olympic events from 2002. They had ski jumping and luge and bobsled at this site. Luckily, they have turned it into a training site, museum, and somewhat of an adventure park.

A couple of the "puppets" used in the opening ceremony. Now housed in the museum, which is free! I love free!

Doesn't this look like just an ugly shoe with a blade attached?

These are the best pictures I took in the museum. I have lots of other pictures to show you, but I think I'm going to post them separately. There are a lot of them.

And, here is what an avalanche looks like coming right at you.

Bison?

Here is the answer to the burning question:  bison or buffalo?

And, I absolutely had to stop, take and picture, and post the picture of the ugliest statue I have even seen.  This is on I80 just east of Laramri, Wyoming. There is a rest area there called Happy Jack Road. John and I used to travel (mostly east) on this highway and Happy Jack is at the top of the last big hill before you start getting into the flatness of Nebraska. We knew once we were to Happy Jack driving would get easier and boring. I vividly remember going up this hill with it covered in ice. Not sure how I made it, but I did, with 40,000 pounds of wine from Napa Valley. Anyway, when you get to the top, there is this ugly ass statue. To me, it looks like Abraham Lincoln is growing out of the top of a tree stump.

It is not nice to say, buy Wyoming is my least favorite state so far. Cheyenne was nice, but from there, nothing of interest, at least on I80. Yellow Stone National Park is in the upper west corner, but to get there, I would have to leave civilization, and I like being able to call or text Jes and Betsy regularly, just to keep in touch. Sprint cell phone service sucks once you are out of Cheyenne. So, I'm heading to the Great Salt Lake.

Bison - Buffalo - What's the difference?

I am in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Staying at the Terry Bison Ranch. Sounds more exotic than it is, it is a campground.

http://www.terrybisonranch.com/

Jes and I debated, was it named that after a person named Terry Bison, or is the last name Terry and there really are bison. And, by the way, I "googled" the difference between bison and buffalo and couldn't be bothered to read about it, but it seems there is not much difference.

Anyway, here is the answer to Jes' and my question.

Sorry the picture is dark, but it was getting dark outside, and I only have a "point and shoot" camera. Anyway, just below the camping area, there is a fenced in area (a large area), and last night I counted 26 horses. Not wild horses, they actually belong to the ranch. Behind the horses area, were the bison. I tried to count them, and got to 50, including some of the babies. The bison are a pretty lively bunch, and it was hard to count. But anyway, they were quite active. The babies would jump around, and the adults seemed to move around a lot. Not like cows, who can barely be bothered to look up from their meal, the bison seemed to move a lot.

At Terry Bison Ranch, there is a restraunt called the Senator's Restraunt. (how in the hell do you spell restraunt?). I know Dick Cheney was not a senator, but I was not going to eat there if it had anything to do with him. I saw no evidence of that, so I was going to try it. The special of the night was a bison burger for $13.99.  The wait staff ended up being so incompetent that I ended up not even eating there, but I was really glad I didn't eat a bison burger after seeing the cute herd of bison.

There are also three CAMELS here. Yes, CAMELS!!!! I can't get close enough to get a picture, but you can apparently ride them.

Speaking of riding, they offer horseback riding here. I thought maybe I should put that on my bucket list, and do it, until Betsy told me about her very hilarious experience riding a horse. Her horse decided he wanted to stop and eat some bark off of a tree. Her head was in the branches, and she couldn't do anything to get him to move. She said she really did not enjoy having a "power struggle" with a horse. As funny as her story was, I decided I don't want to be in control of a horse either. Horses are big!

Camping and some pretty pictures

This is from Colorado Springs, Colorado at the campground. I took the 1/2 mile trail, out and back. You can see the campground from where I was, so I decided I needed a picture of the BIG hill I climbed, half a mile up. I capitalize -big- sarcastically.  These turkeys were chilling on the side of the road leading to the campground.

Here is this picture from the campground up to the BIG hill, and then from the top of the BIG hill, overlooking the campground.

I was a little disconcerted at this campground because the one in Sante Fe, New Mexico had trash cans everywhere, good clean bathrooms (with soap), free WIFI, etc. This one had NO trash cans anywhere. But, I realized there was a reason. A sign in the bathroom said please don't throw trash in the bathroom trash cans because it will attract raccoons and bears. And the dumpster was inside a chain-link fence with warning signs to use CAREFULLY. STAY BACK. Wildlife may be feeding in the dumpster. I was kinda looking forward to seeing a bear, albeit from a very safe distance. I didn't see one. Good? or bad.



I left Colorado Springs intending to go to Denver, but when I got there, I never even got off of the freeway. It was just too big, crowded, and fast. The last day in Colorado Springs, I didn't even start the truck, so I was (and still am) in the nature state of mind, and a big city just did not appeal to me at all. So, I blew through Denver and stopped in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is a college town and very oriented toward art and nature. Here are just a few pictures to give you an idea. This was the "old" downtown, you know, the place where us old people shop during the day, and the young crowd drink at night.

Betsy, the flower is for you.