Kahuna

OU - Texas. The hate that binds.

It depends on whether Nebraska scores any points.

Bama intimidated by the appearance of the LHB pep band in their stadium. Longhorns win 24 - 17. Bama offense goes for 375 futile yards.

My flight into Austin Mueller Airport was aborted back in the day when, as we approached on a rainy day and broke through the low cloud cover, I could see folks in their golf carts driving into the trees to open the fairway for us. The pilot pulled up and did a better job in Round Two.

Well, there goes our Directors' Cup chances for this year. It was a nice run.

An extension to the Mesa Falls trip is a turnoff from Idaho Hwy. 47 to Cave Falls. Cave Falls is located in the very SW corner of Yellowstone NP and is accessible only from a direct road from ID Hwy. 47 into the park, i.e., you can't get there from the loops that most folks travel within Yellowstone. It's a really pretty area because Yellowstone NP drains out here, hence the waterfall. Bechler River and Falls River merge at this point and it is an easy one-mile hike to their confluence. This area of the park is prime grizzly habitat, but I've found the biggest threat to be mosquitos. Take along spray for both. The drive from ID Hwy. 47 to the park is partially paved, then gravel, and finally paved again once you enter the park. There will be some wash-boarding and a few potholes, but just take it easy on the drive and you'll do fine. The combination of Cave Falls-Lower Mesa Falls-Upper Mesa Falls takes up a large chunk of a day, especially if you do an hour or so of hiking in Yellowstone. If you are also driving up from SLC that same day, you won't have time for all of this. As an aside, I returned from the Yellowstone area a couple of weeks ago. The Yellowstone flooding occurred the day we departed from Austin so needless to say our camping/fishing trip up there was severely modified. One spot we landed for a few nights of camping was Flaming Gorge in Utah. Since you are coming out of SLC, this is a convenient spot with lots of good camp sites. It is also a popular dinosaur dig and research area, so there are several good museums that kids and adults will enjoy.

Son of a bitch. I get a Bachelors in English, a Masters in Jive, then a PhD in Ebonics and now someone comes up with this language - Mindless Internet Jibber-jabber.

Very nice, Ramjet! I'm headed back up mid-June - can't wait!

I haven't been to Delta Lake but have been to both nearby Taggart Lake and Bradlet Lake. Those two are at a much lower elevation and were pretty boring; it was just a nice walk. It looks like Delta will be a lot nicer. Another kid-friendly excursion I was going to mention is also in TNP. At Jenny Lake you can take a boat across the lake (for a small fee) and take a short, but steep, hike up to Inspiration Point. The family can easily handle this short hike and the view back across the lake and park is awesome. If everyone is up to it, you can then continue on up the trail into Cascade Canyon. The Cascade Canyon trail is relatively flat, and the "canyon" is merely a valley between the mountains. It's a pretty hike and you just turn around and return to the boat when you are getting tired. Take water, snacks, or even pack a lunch. This is a busy trail, especially up to Inspiration Point, so don't expect privacy. Hiking boots aren't necessary. Bear spray wouldn't either unless you went far up Cascade Canyon to where you were leaving the crowds, although my last trip up I walked right by a bedded down moose without noticing it until my return. Bear (moose) spray might have been useful if I had made it mad.

Buy the bear spray after you arrive; I'm pretty sure it isn't allowed in your suitcase. Also, you won't really need it unless you are going backcounty. The grizzlies won't be hanging around Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic, visitor centers, etc. If you take off on trails, however, definitely take some spray and carry it in your hand, not in a backpack. You have 2-5 seconds to respond to a charge sometimes and you can't call a timeout to dig it out of a pocket on your pack. Good call on the binoculars; bring several pairs if you can because one pair for four people will be limiting when looking at something cool. As you drive around you will also see a lot of people with spotting scopes set up. They usually know about a certain animal's activity or have lucked into something cool that they are monitoring. Ask them what they are watching, and they almost always invite you to look through their scope. We've seen wolves, bears, and a perrigine falcon feeding a dove to her chicks on a cliff simply by stopping and asking. Hiking boots aren't necessary unless you are going some serious trails for a long distance; tennis shoes are fine and more predictable than new boots. If you are sticking to major sights, you'll be walking on boardwalks and nice trails. Other stuff you need are daypacks, water bottles, a few warm clothes (be capable of dressing in layers). I've been snowed on in June and September up there. You are correct on the bug spray and the rain gear, even though it is a very dry environment. I also always pack a good corkscrew for obvious reasons.

I would plan on a six-hour drive from SLC to West Yellowstone, especially in a motor home. Traffic in SLC tends to be really heavy but will thin out for the rest of the journey as you approach the Utah border with Idaho. It's not very scenic until you get within an hour or so of West Yellowstone unless you are into potato fields. Here is one of the excursions I referred to in my prior post: A lot of visitors to the area just focus on the two parks but there is a ton of scenery and cool places in the surrounding area too. One I recommend is on your drive up to West Yellowstone. About an hour from West Yellowstone you'll be driving on US 20 through the little town of Ashton, Idaho ("Seed Potato Capital of the World!"). If you are in a hurry to get to West Yellowstone and start touring the many t-shirt shops proceed ahead on US 20. However, if the family is ready to stretch their legs, turn right onto Main St. in Ashton. Main St. is Idaho Highway 47 and is also called the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway. It leaves US 20 in Ashton and then rejoins it about 25 miles later, so you aren't going to be backtracking, just driving a parallel route through the Targhee-Caribou National Forest. Before leaving Ashton, if you need a meal, there is a little cafe called 511 Main, which is also its address. It's a decent lunch spot serving soup, sandwiches, pizza (you know you are in Idaho when one of the pizza options is the "Darth Tater") and has an old timey soda fountain with excellent local ice cream. Continuing on Main St./Hwy 47 you pass through the last of the potato fields and into the forest. The first recommended stop for the kiddos is a trout feeding spot that will be on your left. It's not marked by any signage, but is across the road from Three Rivers Ranch (an Orvis-approved flyfishing lodge) which is easy to see. There is a wooden deck at the spot where you can toss chunks of bread out into the Warm River to feed giant rainbow and brown trout. Bring some old bread along for this if you can, but there will likely be other folks doing the same thing so you can at least watch. Polarized glasses really help. This will be a quick stop on your journey and the kids will have a blast chunking bread at huge trout. Leaving this area you'll notice that Hwy. 47 starts climbing uphill for quite a while. That's because you are actually climbing up the side of one of the old Yellowstone super-volcanoes. When you get to YNP go to the visitors center at Canyon, look for the Island Park Cadera on the 3D display. That's what you are currently climbing. Continuing along Hwy. 47 you will see a well-marked turn to Lower Mesa Falls. This is another quick stop. There is a large parking lot and you take a short walk (maybe 150 feet) to a scenic overlook of the Henry's Fork (i.e., the north fork) of the Snake River with a large waterfall in the near distance. Very cool. Hop back in the RV and travel another five minutes up Hwy. 47 and turn at the sign for Upper Mesa Falls. If you don't do anything on this Hwy. 47 drive, I encourage you to do this. There are two parking lots and there is a small fee (maybe $10/vehicle). You'll see a log lodge that you should visit after taking a walk. A nicely maintained loop will take you down to the edge of the Henry's Fork and then alongside the Upper Mesa Falls. At 114 feet it is really impressive. It is cascading through an area of volcanic rock that will be explained by a series of interpretive signs. After completing the loop you wind up back at the wooden lodge. It is a small museum and nature center so head on in. In the back room they have a bunch of animal pelts that they encourage the kids to handle and guess what kind on animals they came from. A key with the answers is posted on the wall so you'll look smart until they are teenagers. There is a lot of other stuff there that warrants at least 30 minutes. After this stop continue up Hwy. 47 another 10-15 minutes and turn right onto US Hwy. 20. If you need another dining choice, about 2-3 miles after rejoining Hwy. 20 you'll see another fishing lodge, Trouthunter, on your left. It has a nice restaurant/bar with very good food. They have an outdoor seating area alongside the Henry's Fork - a great place to sip an IPA or two. We had to chase a momma moose and her baby back across the river from the patio once to keep them off the highway. Last summer this place required reservations all day due to huge demand so call ahead to check on that if you are interested. You also won't be able to park and RV in their lot, but there are parking areas close by that I'm sure you could use and then walk over to Trourhunter. From here you are 30-45 minutes to West Yellowstone. I have some other potential stops along this route for you that are great and will avoid the crowds of the national parks, but I'll hold off unless you want them.

Since 2006 I have spent the period from June 1 through early October at my summer cabin located about five miles from the SW corner of YNP (Idaho side). I've had a lot of friends and family visit me so I'll pass along some of the same advice I give them (tailored to some of the details you have provided about your schedule and family). The first advice is to avoid trying to do everything on your first visit, starting with flying into Salt Lake City to see the Yellowstone area. I know you have friends to visit, but that is like flying into Lubbock with your family to go visit Austin 6 hours away. The friends might be a better visit coupled some other time with Zion/Bryce/Arches/etc. Of course, you might have free passes on Southwest for the family, but at least look at Southwest flying into Bozeman. Southwest aside, the nearby airports for Yellowstone are Jackson Hole, Idaho Falls, and Bozeman. West Yellowstone does have a small airport too, but I believe service is sparse. I would also suggest saving the motor home experience for another trip. The roads within the parks and surrounding area are two lanes, and even shoulders and pull-offs are hard to find. There is a lot of traffic and parking lots are full with lines of cars parked along the roadside near some of the major attractions. Parking anything is a pain, but a 32' motor home will be awful. Going back to my Austin visit example, it will be like driving it downtown and hoping to find a parking place - and let's go to San Antonio for the sights too and park by the Alamo! I exaggerate, but that is the sort of experience I would expect. I would rent as car at the airport and stay in motels/lodges. Staying in Jackson Hole to visit Teton NP is great. I recommend that you try to find a hotel room within Yellowstone NP at least one night. They are expensive and are likely all booked up by now, but go to the concessionaire booking website (xanterra.com) daily and look for cancellations. A night inside the park is nice because commuting to/from one of the gateway towns is a real time eater. Last summer there were lines of cars snaking through West Yellowstone in the morning to get into the park. Families wasted an hour or more in line just to enter. Another advantage to at least one night in the park is that you have the pole position for looking for wildlife. The animals tend to move around more in the early morning and late afternoon/dusk. That is when most tourists are just finishing breakfast and driving to the park. You can go out early (maybe with snacks) and travel around in light traffic and then find a place for breakfast as the park heats up. When others are driving out of the park, you can go out look around and return to your hotel for dinner. A final comment about food/snacks. It's a good idea to take food/snacks/drinks along with you as you drive around, so take a collapsible ice chest with you if you bail out on the RV. Good places for box lunches: West Yellowstone - Ernie's Jackson - Creekside Market. I've got a few ideas for excursions the kids (and parents too) will enjoy if you are interested.

Does anyone have any information on how to stream this game? I'm up in SE Idaho today and just discovered that the Mormons in this part of the country have preempted the local ABC channel all day to broadcast the LDS Conference live from Salt Lake City. And they wonder why we wouldn't invite them in the conference with us. Even Baptists don't pull this crap.

I spend from June 1 to early October each year about 45 minutes north of Rexburg near the Henry's Fork and Warm River confluence so I know the area well. It sounds like you put together a pretty good trip for the short time you could spend traveling. If you have kids, Bear World is a great place to take them. Yellowstone tends to be pretty boring for younger kids because there is too much car time looking at trees. You passed by some really fine, uncrowded sights on your way to West Yellowstone (Google Cave Falls in SW Yellowstone NP, Upper Mesa Falls, and Lower Mesa Falls). My wife and I went over to Yellowstone a week ago for a couple of days of hiking and mountain biking and only saw three bison the entire time. It's hard to hide 3500 bison in the park, but somehow they sneaked off. It was still hazy from the California smoke. For a first trip, you had a great overview of the area. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for the responses from everyone. I've added this to the NEISD recipe. Now if someone could just find the enchilada recipe from The Stallion on N. Lamar in Austin back in the day. All I can duplicate is the big jalapeno perched on top and the moat of grease around the perimeter.

I missed the pointer on how to steam the whole batch of tortillas. Please elaborate. Mine keep breaking. Thanks!

Maybe they can land a spot on the Magnolia Network.

The Strategic Air Command, which was once based in Omaha, has a really good museum on the outskirts of town, if you're into aircraft.

I spend summers at my fishing cabin about 1-1/2 hours south of Big Sky on the Henry's Fork. It has been a while since I drove up there for dinner (it's a long drive after slamming wine all night), but two restaurants I enjoy are Buck's T4 and the Rainbow Lodge. Buck's T4 is located in a Best Western motel, but has high end cuisine. They also have a nice bar with a limited (and much cheaper) "locals" menu that you have to ask for. The Rainbow Lodge comes across as a bit fancier with great food and wine list. The last time we went to the Rainbow Lodge we couldn't leave the restaurant for a while because a moose was patrolling the parking lot. That area has really been growing so I'm sure there are now a lot of other places to check out.

Previously viewing They Shall Not Grow Old had the opposite affect on me. The documentary pulled together great, colorized film footage that made the recreated scenes in 1917 took like a joke. Even the characters were better developed as you follow the "lads" through training, the war, and finally their surprise reception back home. All I got from 1917 was that apparently Germany lost the war because their snipers didn't know how to shoot.

Thanks for the Wintergreen Lighting recommendation. I'm planning on wrapping some trees on my back porch for year-round use during dinner parties. Those look like they will do well.

I would like to pick up some quality outdoor Christmas lights as the season winds down. I've previously only purchased cheap, crappy stuff doesn't hold up and the entire strand fails when one bulb is out or loose. I would especially like to find some with the deep blue/purple lights rather than the multi-colored lights. You see these more in commercial applications.

Sold.

Reduced to $550.

Asking $650. Ticket is in Austin.