Our Vacation Trip To Yellowstone
From James Donahue’s Journal
After I had been at the Times Herald for a certain number of years I earned three weeks of vacation time. The first year that went into effect, Doris and I bought a new Plymouth station wagon and we left on a wonderful vacation trip to Yellowstone National Park and back again.
It was to be only one of two family vacation trips we ever made, and it was a memorable one. I remember how I carefully planned that trip, choosing the routes to and from Yellowstone, calculating the miles we would drive each day, the scenic places we wanted to visit, and estimating the cost of every day we were going to be on the road. I still had fond memories of the trip I made there with Bill Havers and wanted my family to experience everything I had experienced and more.
The nation was facing its first gasoline shortage that year and some places were reporting long lineups at the gasoline pumps. A few gas stations were running out of gasoline, so there was some apprehension about the trip. While we had to pay more than expected for gas, we found no shortages of fuel anywhere on our trip. When I got back I wrote a story suggesting that the fuel shortage was a hoax. As it turned out, that was just the beginning of America’s fuel shortage woes.
Our new station wagon was equipped with three seats so there was lots of room for the kids plus our luggage for the trip. The car had a V-8 engine and ran at about 25 miles to a gallon of gas. The only thing lacking was air conditioning, which we could have used during one hot run across the open plains.
We drove north across the Mackinaw Bridge and then, as I had with the Havers family, followed US-2 west across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan into Wisconsin, then continued west into Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana. It took a full day of driving just to reach the Wisconsin state line. The Interstate I-94 and I-90 was not yet in existence so we followed the old route that I took with the Havers in 1958.
On the second day, as we were approaching Fargo, North Dakota, we approached a violent storm directly in front of us. It was a frightening cloud formation and we thought it might have had a tornado somewhere in it, but we drove through the storm without incident. When we got to Billings I tried to enter Yellowstone by way of the same scenic mountain drive I remembered from the first trip. But a late season snowfall had that route closed. We had to drive many miles out of our way and then follow a valley route that eventually got us into the park.
Gone were the rustic cabins and the neat camping and fishing spots. We rented rooms in modern motels and cabins. We brought a propane camp stove with us and lots of food, so we did a lot of camp cooking for many of our meals. In one camp site, we were visited by a buck moose. This giant animal stood several hundred feet away from our picnic table. I told everybody to sit very still and not move, for fear the moose might charge. Eventually it wandered off.
At yet another place we were stopped on the road by a line of cars, all blocked by a number of bears that were in the road. The bears wandered up to some of the cars, apparently expecting handouts of food. Some of the people were foolishly rolling down their windows and throwing food at the bears.
Old Faithful was no longer faithful. There had been a major earthquake since my first visit and the geyser wasn’t firing off like clockwork anymore. This time there were bleachers set up at the site for people to sit on while they waited to see the show. Things had really changed at Yellowstone.
After visiting all of the major sites at Yellowstone, we drove south into Grand Teton National Park. There we found the most majestic snow-capped mountains one might imagine. There was a beautiful lake and a mountain lodge there with rental cabins. We rented a cabin and enjoyed a fantastic trout dinner that night at the lodge. We were told it had been caught fresh that day in the lake. The next day we rented canoes and explored the lake, all the while enjoying the breathtaking view of those mountains looming over our heads.
While in the park we went on a horseback ride along a wilderness trail, and rode a large rubber raft with a guide and several other travelers down a river above Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Later we drove into Jackson Hole to do some sight-seeing. I bought a pair of western boots at a shop there that was the most comfortable boots I have ever owned. I wore them almost constantly until they were completely worn out. Efforts to find another pair of boots like them in Michigan proved fruitless.
From Jackson Hole we turned east over a mountain range and got on an open highway across a broad flat plain heading across Wyoming toward the Black Hills. On the map that did not look like a long drive, but in reality it was a very long, hot flat trip. Once we came down out of the mountains we ran into searing heat. There was no air conditioning in the car. Fortunately we were carrying a large water container and had filled it with chipped ice before starting out. We were so hot we drove with all of the car windows open and everybody gulping ice water. I was so anxious to get out of that heat I found myself driving faster and faster on that open road. It was such a desolate area there were no towns, no trees and few other cars on that road with us. I did not worry about hitting speeds of 90 miles an hour because I was confident there were no police lurking behind any bushes.
When it got time for us to stop to fix our lunch I noticed a tree in the far-off distance ahead. I suggested that we get to that tree and park under it for shade while we eat. As we got nearer we discovered that the tree was in the center of a small town. In fact, the tree was in a little park. When we got to the park, we found several other cars parked at the tree. There was just enough room for us to get under some of the shade. As soon as I turned off the motor we could hear the radiator starting to boil. There was a pump at a well in the park and everybody was putting more water in their radiators. I did the same thing before going on.
The Black Hills was a place worth visiting. We stayed in a historic old hotel where Wild Bill Hickok was said to have once stayed, and went on a tour into a cave deep in the earth. Right after this we took a train ride on open cars pulled behind an historic steam engine. It was while on that train that I began having some kind of an allergic reaction. My eyes got all puffy and red and my nose stuffed up. I thought at first it was from the coal smoke but later realized that I was reacting to something, possibly a fungus in the cave. I was in misery for several days after that.
Our trip naturally took us north into Rapid City where we visited Mount Rushmore. After this we started back east across South Dakota until we reached Iowa where we stopped to visit my parents, who were working there as VISTA volunteers. From there we drove on to Michigan and home. I was so tired of driving and cooking out and staying in rented rooms I decided to drive non-stop from Iowa until we got home. We rolled into Sandusky early the next morning.
From James Donahue’s Journal
After I had been at the Times Herald for a certain number of years I earned three weeks of vacation time. The first year that went into effect, Doris and I bought a new Plymouth station wagon and we left on a wonderful vacation trip to Yellowstone National Park and back again.
It was to be only one of two family vacation trips we ever made, and it was a memorable one. I remember how I carefully planned that trip, choosing the routes to and from Yellowstone, calculating the miles we would drive each day, the scenic places we wanted to visit, and estimating the cost of every day we were going to be on the road. I still had fond memories of the trip I made there with Bill Havers and wanted my family to experience everything I had experienced and more.
The nation was facing its first gasoline shortage that year and some places were reporting long lineups at the gasoline pumps. A few gas stations were running out of gasoline, so there was some apprehension about the trip. While we had to pay more than expected for gas, we found no shortages of fuel anywhere on our trip. When I got back I wrote a story suggesting that the fuel shortage was a hoax. As it turned out, that was just the beginning of America’s fuel shortage woes.
Our new station wagon was equipped with three seats so there was lots of room for the kids plus our luggage for the trip. The car had a V-8 engine and ran at about 25 miles to a gallon of gas. The only thing lacking was air conditioning, which we could have used during one hot run across the open plains.
We drove north across the Mackinaw Bridge and then, as I had with the Havers family, followed US-2 west across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan into Wisconsin, then continued west into Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana. It took a full day of driving just to reach the Wisconsin state line. The Interstate I-94 and I-90 was not yet in existence so we followed the old route that I took with the Havers in 1958.
On the second day, as we were approaching Fargo, North Dakota, we approached a violent storm directly in front of us. It was a frightening cloud formation and we thought it might have had a tornado somewhere in it, but we drove through the storm without incident. When we got to Billings I tried to enter Yellowstone by way of the same scenic mountain drive I remembered from the first trip. But a late season snowfall had that route closed. We had to drive many miles out of our way and then follow a valley route that eventually got us into the park.
Gone were the rustic cabins and the neat camping and fishing spots. We rented rooms in modern motels and cabins. We brought a propane camp stove with us and lots of food, so we did a lot of camp cooking for many of our meals. In one camp site, we were visited by a buck moose. This giant animal stood several hundred feet away from our picnic table. I told everybody to sit very still and not move, for fear the moose might charge. Eventually it wandered off.
At yet another place we were stopped on the road by a line of cars, all blocked by a number of bears that were in the road. The bears wandered up to some of the cars, apparently expecting handouts of food. Some of the people were foolishly rolling down their windows and throwing food at the bears.
Old Faithful was no longer faithful. There had been a major earthquake since my first visit and the geyser wasn’t firing off like clockwork anymore. This time there were bleachers set up at the site for people to sit on while they waited to see the show. Things had really changed at Yellowstone.
After visiting all of the major sites at Yellowstone, we drove south into Grand Teton National Park. There we found the most majestic snow-capped mountains one might imagine. There was a beautiful lake and a mountain lodge there with rental cabins. We rented a cabin and enjoyed a fantastic trout dinner that night at the lodge. We were told it had been caught fresh that day in the lake. The next day we rented canoes and explored the lake, all the while enjoying the breathtaking view of those mountains looming over our heads.
While in the park we went on a horseback ride along a wilderness trail, and rode a large rubber raft with a guide and several other travelers down a river above Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Later we drove into Jackson Hole to do some sight-seeing. I bought a pair of western boots at a shop there that was the most comfortable boots I have ever owned. I wore them almost constantly until they were completely worn out. Efforts to find another pair of boots like them in Michigan proved fruitless.
From Jackson Hole we turned east over a mountain range and got on an open highway across a broad flat plain heading across Wyoming toward the Black Hills. On the map that did not look like a long drive, but in reality it was a very long, hot flat trip. Once we came down out of the mountains we ran into searing heat. There was no air conditioning in the car. Fortunately we were carrying a large water container and had filled it with chipped ice before starting out. We were so hot we drove with all of the car windows open and everybody gulping ice water. I was so anxious to get out of that heat I found myself driving faster and faster on that open road. It was such a desolate area there were no towns, no trees and few other cars on that road with us. I did not worry about hitting speeds of 90 miles an hour because I was confident there were no police lurking behind any bushes.
When it got time for us to stop to fix our lunch I noticed a tree in the far-off distance ahead. I suggested that we get to that tree and park under it for shade while we eat. As we got nearer we discovered that the tree was in the center of a small town. In fact, the tree was in a little park. When we got to the park, we found several other cars parked at the tree. There was just enough room for us to get under some of the shade. As soon as I turned off the motor we could hear the radiator starting to boil. There was a pump at a well in the park and everybody was putting more water in their radiators. I did the same thing before going on.
The Black Hills was a place worth visiting. We stayed in a historic old hotel where Wild Bill Hickok was said to have once stayed, and went on a tour into a cave deep in the earth. Right after this we took a train ride on open cars pulled behind an historic steam engine. It was while on that train that I began having some kind of an allergic reaction. My eyes got all puffy and red and my nose stuffed up. I thought at first it was from the coal smoke but later realized that I was reacting to something, possibly a fungus in the cave. I was in misery for several days after that.
Our trip naturally took us north into Rapid City where we visited Mount Rushmore. After this we started back east across South Dakota until we reached Iowa where we stopped to visit my parents, who were working there as VISTA volunteers. From there we drove on to Michigan and home. I was so tired of driving and cooking out and staying in rented rooms I decided to drive non-stop from Iowa until we got home. We rolled into Sandusky early the next morning.