June 22, 2009

Well here it is the last day here in West Yellowstone, Montana. We woke to 36 degrees and sleet.
So we decided to take one last trip into the park. It was around 42 when we got there.
We drove through some of the off shoot roads that we had missed, what a good choice. We saw some very interesting things along the way - these fireholes and the geysers that we saw were really worth the trip.
In total we have driven around 800 miles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. I am sure we haven't seen it all, but we sure put a big dent in it.
Tomorrow we leave for Utah.

June 21, 2009

Today we headed to The Grand Teton National Park.
But first we had to drive back through Yellowstone to get to the entrance which included another 60 miles.
Upon entering Yellowstone we were fortunate enough to see a coyote; he was a little too far for our camera to catch so no pictures.
When we arrived in Grand Teton the sight of the mountains is breathtakingly beautiful - they really are larger than life. The bear activity there must be something; because on every building, bathroom, entrance to campground, entrance to lodges, and entrances to stores there are BEAR warnings. No we didn't get to see one - we were a little disappointed.
Robert decided to drive down a side road - finding out it was a dirt road did not deter him in the least; but to our enjoyment there were Buffalo right next to the road.
We drove around for about 150 miles and decided to start heading back - when low and behold a MOOSE walked right in front of us. We then proceeded back down the same road and about 18 miles later we saw a BULL MOOSE in the weeds, only got a glimpse of him - but quick with the camera we got a couple of head shots. He was huge.
We didn't realize the time when we were leaving the park it was already 8:00-so we decided to try a little (we mean little) Italian place we saw when we first got here. What a great choice food was amazing, it is family owned.
Then it was back to the motorhome and some much needed R&R.

June 19, 2009

Today was a trip back into Yellowstone Park.
We decided to try Old Faithful first and boy did we get lucky.
We got a parking space that was really close and there weren't many people - Dorothy got right up to the front to take pictures and Robert found a cool log chair to sit in (air here is very hard on him) and it erupted about 15 minutes after we got there; it was something.
The rangers said it has not been shooting very high in the cool weather they have been having here.
After that we drove to the northern part of the park and yes there was plenty of snow and it was pretty cold too.
Saw a petrified tree and a lot of remains of forest fires.
We have never seen so many fly fisherman in our lives.
In total it was a 200 mile day of driving round trip.
Saturday is supposed to be rainy so we are just going into the little town to check it out.
Once again we are having an awesome time.
P.S. Jeremy if you read this we found the perfect job for you - a park ranger who sits in a boat all day and fishes for non-native fish.

June 18, 2009

What a long day we had.
We spent 10 hours in Yellowstone National Park - didn't even make a dent in it.
We have seen a few things to cross off our "list" bald eagle, mule deer, bison, and red cranes.
One of us climbed to the top of the "Upper Falls" on the yellowstone river. It was 1/8 of a mile than about 75 steps - boy did Dorothy put that new knee to a test.
We also saw the grand canyon of yellowstone - one of us wouldn't get to close "he" was chicken. Probably because he saw the news and saw that a 20 year old fell in on Monday. We saw mud volcano's and geo thermal basins - and words can't describe them. Tried to get to Old Faithful, but the parking lot was full so we will try another day.
Everything here is so green and clean it is just amazing that we come from a place where there is not a square inch without something built on it.
Tomorrow we will go back to the park and try to see another section of it - We don't think in the 6 days we are here we will see all of it.

June 17, 2009

Today was spent driving West toward Yellowstone.
We drove about 350 miles - some of the roads we took ran next to (very close) the Gallatin River. We followed the river for a very long time and saw many white water rafters in our opinion crazy people. The river was really running fast, because the snow here is still melting.
We arrived late afternoon and shortly after had a wonderful hail storm. According to the local weather that is a common occurrence - wind, rain, hail and strong winds seem to happen just about every day.
In the information that the campground gave us they tell you to be prepared for drastic changes in weather, and to put your grill and all food away at night because they have bears.
Tomorrow we will head into Yellowstone Park.
Keep you all posted

June 16, 2009

Today was a day of doing absolutely nothing.
Went for a ride through Billings - quite interesting, that just sums it up.
Found a Cabella's - never been to the one in PA so we decided to check it out.
Pretty cool store - I don't think it would be worth the 2450 miles to see it, but I might go to the one at home.
Just going to read a book and look at the scenery for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow we leave for Yellowstone, Montana; should be about 325 miles - that seems to be the daily total. So far it has been a comfortable amount to do in a day and get to the campgrounds early.

June 15, 2009

Well here we are starting week three already - time has flown by so fast.
We left South Dakota early after filling the motorhome with propane; never thought we would need heat just about every night.
We headed West toward Wyoming - today's final destination was Billings, Montana.
The scenery along the way has been nothing short of spectacular.
Each state is more beautiful than the last.
Montana is a lot of "nothing"mountains, cattle, oil wells and green; when we arrived the first rest stop in the state was 60 miles from the border of Wyoming.
We drove to Billings and are staying at a very nice KOA campground.
Tomorrow we will be checking out what is around here to see.