WATERFALLS---WATERFALLS---WATERFALLS

US at UNDINE FALLS, 9/10/18  (See picture below for a better picture of the falls.)

Dear Friends,   Gee Whiz ---where has September gone????   I know we were out west for 12 days --but that's less than half of a month...  I'm here to tell you that GOING on a trip is fabulous (and we go-go-go almost the entire time)...  Then when we COME HOME---we are hoping for some rest!!!!! HA HA---that just doesn't seem to happen...  There's so much to do here once we do get home --and never enough time!!!!!   Then we added another short trip to Biltmore after getting home.  And 'they' said that retirement was to be SIMPLE and EASY......  Well---we make these choices to go-go-go --and one thing is for sure:  we are never bored!!!!! ha

I haven't had much time to work on our pictures from our latest West Trip ---but have taken time to add one picture each day on Facebook.   SO--I hope you are seeing those!!!!!  It is fun picking out only one picture from each of the days we are there---but it's also fun putting together a blog post with more pictures and more explanations...

Our trip did not start out to be a "Waterfall Trip" ---but we did manage to see 16 different waterfalls/cascades along the way...  IF you love waterfalls  and have not been to Yellowstone,  then you MUST visit there to see these beauties... Yellowstone is a waterfall-lover's dream place!!!!  BUT--as you will see,  we saw other waterfalls along the way...

Hope you enjoy all of these pictures today.  It was fun searching through all of my many, many photos looking for the best pictures I had to share....The names of the waterfalls and the dates we were there are listed...   ENJOY!!!  

By the way,  you will note my wind-blown hair in the top picture.... Notice anything else????  At age 76,  I have finally quit coloring my hair.  I hope it turns  snow white --like my Mama's hair and my oldest son's hair.   BUT I have a feeling it is going to be ugly gray!!!! Oh Well!!!!  My hair as a young person was light brown.  When George married me,  I was a blonde...  Wonder if he'll keep me now that I'm GRAY and an OLD woman!!!!!!!!???????  Yipes.

Beautiful UNDINE FALLS in Yellowstone,  9/10/18

Outside of Cooke City,  Montana,  we stopped at the Clark's Fork Picnic Area --and just happened to see this pretty WATERFALL  on the BROADWATER RIVER,  9/12/18 

TOWER FALLS in Yellowstone,  9/10/18   (We had hoped to hike down to the bottom --but even after 6 years,  the trail is still NOT open!!!!)

LEWIS FALLS in Yellowstone,  9/12/18   (George has a better picture of this one I'm sure since he walked across the bridge and down on the other side to get a better view.)

BRIDAL VEIL FALLS,  Spearfish Canyon,  South Dakota, 9/9/18 

VIRGINIA CASCADES  in Yellowstone,  9/12/18

Another surprise--just off of Highway 212 near Cooke City, Montana;  This is LAKE CREEK FALLS,  taken on 9/10/18.

LOWER FALLS  of the Yellowstone,  9/11/18;   This is the most popular waterfall in Yellowstone --and one everyone needs to see in person!!!   NOTE:  We tried to visit the Upper Falls also --but construction had closed the area where we wanted to go!!!!   SO--we missed the Upper Falls this year.

SPEARFISH FALLS,   Spearfish Canyon,  South Dakota 9/9/18  (Love the Fall Colors in this one)

GIBBON FALLS,  Yellowstone,  9/12/18

KEPLER CASCADES, Yellowstone, 9/12/18

MOOSE FALLS,   Yellowstone,  9/12/18;   (A favorite of ours since this one is secluded  in a pretty area full of Autumn colors;)

ROUGHLOCK FALLS,   Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota,  9/9/18  (Note picture below)

ROUGHLOCK CASCADES,  South Dakota, 9/9/18;  NOTE:  This is listed as one waterfall --but I divided it into the falls --in the background,  and the cascades below at our overlook.   Such a beautiful area!

SIOUX FALLS at Falls Park,  Sioux Falls,  South Dakota,  9/7/18  (This park and the falls and many cascades not pictured  are beautiful...  IF you are ever in Sioux Falls,  be sure to visit this park... It is AMAZING!)

FIREHOLE FALLS,   Yellowstone.  9/12/18   (One of my favorite waterfalls plus cascades in Yellowstone..  We drove on the Firehole Canyon Drive  and got some awesome pictures throughout this canyon.)

Here's one of my favorite pictures of the two of us on this trip,  taken on the Firehole Canyon Drive as we checked out all of the gorgeous cascades,  9/12/18

Well----are you water-falled OUT?   I never ever get tired of seeing waterfalls...   Hope you enjoyed this post... I will do an entire post about Spearfish Canyon,  South Dakota,  soon --since we were SO impressed with that area... It ended up being one of the highlights of our trip....     AND---can you guess how  ROUGHLOCK Falls (in Spearfish Canyon) got its name?  You won't believe it....

Have an awesome week.....  

Hugs,

Emoticons

The Mighty BEARTOOTH Mountain Scenic Byway, Montana/Wyoming, 9/10/18

This is Beartooth Mountain (taken from the other side --after crossing that huge mountain)

Hello Friends,    WOW---did George and I have a fantastic 12 day (5000 mile) trip to South Dakota,  Montana and Wyoming   (Sept. 6-17, 2018)!!!!    This is the fifth trip we have taken out west  (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018)...  All of them have been so different, one from the other.  To pick a favorite trip is an impossibility because there are highlights from each of them.

One of the  highlights of this year's journey was a trip over the highly-acclaimed  Beartooth Mountain National Scenic Highways All-American Road...   I encourage you to check out this link  (click HERE)  for lots of information and a great video of the highway--along with more pictures, etc.

We stayed 3 nights in Red Lodge,  Montana.   That is a really neat little town --and if you ever get there, try the  Bison Meatball PIZZA  at the Red Lodge Pizza Company...   DELICIOUS!!!!

BUT--my advice  (take it or leave it) is this:   "If you are interested in getting to Yellowstone easily,   do NOT stay in Red Lodge...."  We tried 3 different routes ---and there is not a short way to get to Yellowstone from there.  SO--we didn't have nearly as much time in Yellowstone as we had hoped to have..  BUT we did see some gorgeous places in areas between Red Lodge and Yellowstone,  so we were glad we did it....  The next time we go to that area,   we will stay either in Cooke City or in West Yellowstone...  BOTH are easy accesses to Yellowstone.   Cody is another entrance --but we wouldn't choose it.   (Just my opinion, folks!!!!)

Today I'll share with you our wonderful but CRAZY drive UP UP UP Beartooth Mountain to the summit at almost 11,000 feet in elevation --and then DOWN DOWN DOWN the mountain on the other side... We spent  FOUR hours doing this  (mainly because we stopped a lot and took many, many pictures)....  IF you are afraid of heights --don't do this.    We personally LOVED every single second of it!!!!   Hope you enjoy some of our photos....  BUT--as I told my son,  the pictures don't really do it justice.  This is one experience YOU must have personally!!!!

The major OVERLOOK  on this mountain;  As you can see,  we are at 9,190 feet  UP!!!!  

A very nice lady took our picture together as we walked up to the top overlook at the Rock Creek area;

A beautiful view from the Rock Creek Overlook;  You can see ice/glaciers on the tops of the moutains.  The temperature while we were there was in the 40's --but the wind chill made it feel much colder.

I just had to take a picture of the 'point' --as we walked from the parking lot to this area.

I took this picture of George at the 'point' --at the Rock Creek Vista Point.

After we left,  we stopped ABOVE the Rock Creek Vista Point ---and I took this picture so that you can see the parking area --plus the paved walkway to the top of the point....  Such an awesome place!

As I said,   we stopped  all along the way --as we kept getting higher and higher!!!

And when we reached this area,  we thought we must be at the summit---but we WEREN'T....  We were high enough to be above the TREE LINE ---but we still were going UP.

We finally made up... This is the SUMMIT---almost 11,000 feet up!!!  WOW

A very happy lady at the Beartooth Pass SUMMIT!

What an amazing experience this was!!!!  

There were several Glacial Lakes around the area  --so I used my long lens to get this picture for you.

Heading down ----can you see our road down there on the left???????  Woooooo!

As we get a little lower on the 'other' side ---I enjoyed seeing the road below us!!!!

Here's another one of the lakes we saw as we gradually went DOWN...  The views from this side are so pretty.   The road between Red Lodge and the Summit is much steeper than the road going down the mountain toward  Cooke City.

Like I said,  we stopped a lot and took in all of this amazing place, both coming and going!!!!!  George is getting up close and personal to get a good photo of the lake!!!

Now that you've seen what the summit looked like,  here's one more picture we took near the Rock Creek Vista Point---as we looked up TOWARD the summit.... Amazing,  isn't it?

I was looking for some aerial views of our experience ----and found this google photo marking the road UP that mountain....   Like I said,  amazing!!!

WELL---are you still with me?????   I'll now show you the first picture I put on here ---so you will see again the huge mountain we crossed on 9/10/18.....  Wow WOW WOWWWWWW....

Thanks for letting me share this amazing experience with you!!!

Hugs,

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