Day 6: Estes Park to Kearney

One of the very cool things on this trip - as we were pulling out of town this morning, we passed a herd of elk walking along the freeway.  It was a good size bull with about 30 or so cows & calves.  I handed Kayl the camera, and pulled over for her to get some shots.

This guy was so close - this is without the zoom lens. This bull was moving his small herd of girls down the mountain a little (presumably away from the other, bigger males), and chose to use those nice wide walkways next to the hard roads the humans paved...

The herd as it was walking away. After a couple hundred yards, the grassy way left the road and they made it back into the trees. It was awesome to see while we could!

One of the big disappointments on this trip - the route from Estes Park back to the freeway is along one of the best canyons to see big horn sheep, yet the morning was rainy and we saw none...

Anyway, another new state - Wyoming!  Even though we would only cross 50 miles in the bottom-right corner of the state, it not only counts, but added a state capital to our list.

Just as you cross the border into Wyoming (seriously, like take exit 2 and drive back on the service road 2 miles...) you can stop at Terry Bison Ranch.  We got there either too late or too early depending ion how you look at it, to go on the bison tour (we arrived at 10:30, and they run at 9, 12 & 3).

We did get to see a small herd from the road on the way in! This is with the zoom lens, so they really weren't that close - but we counted it as seeing bison.

The trading post was pretty touristy. That being said, the kids really thought it looked cool - and I almost had to drag them out (and away from all the cheap junk...).

...Okay, very touristy!! We had to pay a couple bucks to get these pics - even using our own camera! I guess it helps pay for their feed and upkeep...

"Hey dad, what's a Jackalope?"

Quickly, we added Nebraska to our list.  It was a long push to get to North Platte and see the Golden Spike Railway Tower and Visitor's Center for the Union Pacific Railway.  It's the world's largest rail yard!!  Click here to see those pictures.

Finally, a push past sundown (and the great sunsets Nebraska gets) to car camp at the rest area just west of Kearney, so we could get an early start at Fort Kearney & the Platte River Archway.

Quick Stats:
total mileage so far - 2034
hours driving - 34
States - 7 (46 counties, 4 state capitals)
sites/parks/monuments - 10
Junior Ranger badges - 5 (& 1 Junior Paleontologist badge!)