Not really a place worth visiting we thought until we met Hugh in Stamford. He encouraged us many times to leave the concrete-cemented East to have more time to enjoy the natural parks of the West. So we made the plan to go West. After Mount Rushmore we would drive West through whole of Wyoming. Then our travel plans include Salt Lake City to the South in Utah. After visiting the Mormon capital, we will had east to Colorado, then south again to Taos, New Mexico. Finally we are going to go West again to Las Vegas, while passing the Great Canyon in Arizona. This S - shaped travel route is probably one of the finest to follow in the US. Next time when travelling the US and to anyone considering visiting the US, please stay out of the big cities on the East and on the West. There is so much to do and to see starting from Glacier in Montana down to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. You will see wild-life like bear, moose, wolf, bison and much more. You can swim in natural hot springs, such as boiling river in Yellowstone. Hiking and mountain bike trails are waiting for you, so are kayak and wild water rafting tours. You can go horseback riding or climbing, take amazing photographs and enjoy good food.
Wyoming - The country of William Frederick Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill. He was said to have killed around 4000 buffalo to feed the railroad workers. It isn´t farfetched that towns in Wyoming are called Buffalo or Cody. Though buffalo live in Africa and bison in America, this confusion is probably never going to be solved. Can you imagine eating bison wings? No, they are called buffalo wings and will ever do so. "Bison wings" - That just sounds strange, especially if you consider that buffalo wings have nothing to do with buffalo, but are in fact marinated chicken wings, who originated from Buffalo, NY, - a city falsely named Buffalo when it should have been Bison.
Bison have been hunted by Billy and Co for ages, not only for food but also for fun or to take away the native American´s source of food. Often, the bison had been hunted for its most delicious parts, while the other usable parts were ignored and left behind.
Wyoming consist in the east of dry and hilly land, while the west offers some of the most beautiful natural sites there are in this world. There is the Big Horn Mountains with gorgeous mountain ranges, wild rivers and passes. Further in the west of Wyoming to the boarder of Idaho in the west and Montana in the North there is Yellowstone National Park. Volcanic activity together with accessible roads offer for millions of visitors every year an unforgettable experience. We will come back to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park in a later blog post.
Bison have been hunted by Billy and Co for ages, not only for food but also for fun or to take away the native American´s source of food. Often, the bison had been hunted for its most delicious parts, while the other usable parts were ignored and left behind.
Wyoming consist in the east of dry and hilly land, while the west offers some of the most beautiful natural sites there are in this world. There is the Big Horn Mountains with gorgeous mountain ranges, wild rivers and passes. Further in the west of Wyoming to the boarder of Idaho in the west and Montana in the North there is Yellowstone National Park. Volcanic activity together with accessible roads offer for millions of visitors every year an unforgettable experience. We will come back to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park in a later blog post.
Wyoming is one of the least populated states of the US a fact which didn´t stay unnoticed to us on our way through. Except for the National Parks there isn´t much more for us to report on Wyoming. Buffalo Bill may be an exception. After he hunted so many Bison and serving the Union in 1865 as a railroad scout he laid the foundation for most of the tourist attractions ins Wyoming. Once Buffalo Bill played even the main character in a novel, he founded a theater play with him as the main character playing himself how he hunts and lives a western life. Some even say he put the "wild" into wild west. Being quite successful in selling the image of the wild west, Bill and his ensemble travelled Europe and played for Kings and celebrities. Today there is a life wild western show in Cody every day, right on the streets in front of the historic city scenery. There is also the Sheridan County Museum advertising with the slogan "Explore the Past - Discover the West". The town of Cheyenne features the Wyoming State Museum with a lot of artifacts from Bill´s time and earlier - aaaand that´s pretty much it. Come to Wyoming, it´s all a big museum of the wild west, except for Yellowstone.
Yellowstone - definitely a world wonder, a must see and unfortunately not yet recognized enough by the world as it should be. More on Yellowstone in our next blog post, hopefully featured by Nicki SIlberbauer from South Africa.
- On the left a little preview of Yellowstone. Nope, that´s not Ferdi caked with mud and an ice cream cone, it´s a Bison! To be continued...
- On the left a little preview of Yellowstone. Nope, that´s not Ferdi caked with mud and an ice cream cone, it´s a Bison! To be continued...