Karen's Artwork

Montana to Idaho to Spokane to Seattle!

Spokane, WA

Spokane, WA - The World's Fair was held here.

Largest Radio Flyer Wagon!

See Karen?

Across the state of Washington

Starbucks in the middle of Washington State

A short walk from our new place!

Grizzly bears, oh my!

One of the most exciting parts of our Yellowstone visit was seeing the wildlife. We saw a lot of buffalo (herds and herds, hundreds of 'em), dozens of elk, geese, rabbits, chipmunks, and SEVEN GRIZZLY BEARS! The grizzly bears--which can be differentiated from the black bears not by their color, but by the presence of a hump in their shoulders and an elevated rump--were out looking for food and relatively easy to spot because of the snow. There were a lot of avid wildlife enthusiasts who kindly let us look through their telescopes so we were able to see the bears up close. We even saw one mama bear and her two cubs (in the photos above). Some of them are well camouflaged!

Heading from Yellowstone to Missoula, Montana

Our Yellowstone Cabin

On Day 7 of our cross-country road trip, we left our quaint cabin in Yellowstone and headed out to Missoula, Montana. When we awoke that morning, we were greeted by a steady snowfall that was slowly accumulating on the ground. Snow in June? Why, yes! I guess this wasn't so abnormal. What WAS abnormal was the gorgeous, warm weather we had (highs in the 70s) the day before--lucky us! We had actually been really fortunate with the great weather at both Badlands and Yellowstone. Now, as we were leaving, we encountered ominous gray skies, snow, and rain.

Within Yellowstone, some roads were closed due to snow and what I'm guessing are dangerous conditions. While driving out, we pulled over several times and joined the throes of cars that had spotted bears. During our time in Yellowstone, we had seen 7 grizzly bears (from a distance, of course), a whole lot of buffalo, elk, geese, rabbits, chipmunks. We had been hoping to see a moose, but we were told that while there were about 200 of them in the park, they were rarely seen. Darn!

Before we knew it, we had entered Montana and were on our way to Missoula for the evening. Before that, we passed through Bozeman and stopped in Butte, MT for lunch. one of our USA guidebooks had highly recommended a Chinese restaurant in Butte (who knew?). Steve and I were both intrigued by the Peking Noodle Parlor. Chinese food in a small town in Montana? We were feeling adventurous! Also, we were tired of eating buffalo and elk burgers, so Chinese food would be a pleasant change. Though it only had 4 reviewers on Yelp, it did get 3.5 stars. To our disappointment, the restaurant was closed on Tuesdays, and it did happen to be a Tuesday. Darn x 2! Steve quickly checked Yelp for another dining recommendation, and we made our way to Joe's Pasty Shop. Pasties, pronounced "pass-tees," are turnovers filled with meat and potatoes that were often eaten by miners in Butte. From Joe's Pasty Shop's website:

When the Welshmen and Cornishmen who pioneered hard rock mining in Butte came over from the Old Country, they brought over meat pies which they enjoy even as the Irish reputedly love corn-beef-and-cabbage. To the "Cousin Jacks" and "Cousin Jennies" as the Welsh and Cornish people are still called in Butte, the Pasty was a tradition as well as food and a miner finding one in his lunch box would fondly refer to it as "a letter from 'ome."


Steve ordered a pasty with gravy--or rather, gravy with a pasty. Seriously, 16 ounces of gravy with his meat pie, and he ate every bite of it. I had the original, which I surprisingly couldn't finish. I guess I don't have the stomach of a miner.


On to Missoula for the night!

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

On our second full day at Yellowstone, we set out early to see the sights.  Our first stop was to West Thumb Geyser Basin.  Though it's one of the smaller geyser basins in the park, we both think it's our favorite because of the gorgeous Yellowstone Lake in the backdrop.  It's underrated, which is fine with us, since it means smaller crowds!  While at West Thumb, we spotted our first wildlife in the park: elk! One elk was grazing and oblivious to all the tourists taking photos, while another elk down near the geyser appeared to be very agitated.  One of the park rangers said that the elk was agitated because her young calf was nearby.  The ranger closed off a portion of the viewing area so that people couldn't get any closer--this was probably to protect us from an angry elk, and also to protect the elk and her young.

We stopped at a couple of other points in the park and then finally arrived at the iconic Old Faithful Geyser.  We had just missed the eruption of Old Faithful when we got there.  We were able to catch the tail end of its spew.  Not a big deal though, because true to her name, Old Faithful erupts regularly almost every 90 minutes.  We walked along the boardwalks and designated pathways around the area and found plenty of other things to see as we waited for her next timed eruption.  (It's impressive how the park rangers have her estimated eruptions down pretty accurately.)   

After ooohh-ing and aahh-ing over her spews of boiling water 100+ feet into the air--along with hundreds of other visitors--we lunched at the historic Old Faithful Inn.  The Inn had been completely booked and are already taking reservations for summer 2012, and it's easy to see why.  The Inn is made of logs and wood, and it's incredibly rustic and beautiful.  I can totally imagine spending a day curled up next to the huge fireplace with a book and the views of the park. 

After lunch, we were lucky to witness another Old Faithful eruption.  We made our way to other parts of the park and also hiked down to the area of the "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone," where the river had carved out massive boulders.  We stood at the top of the roaring lower falls and admired all the rushing water.  I have to admit--being this close to the waterfall and seeing all the rapids was a bit scary!

ELK

Elk burger and bison ravioli

 

We arrived in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming - Day 1

Though we were tired (and honestly, a little bit cranky at times!) of being on the road and living out of our suitcases, we were super excited about visiting Yellowstone. This is one national park that's been on our list of places to visit, and we're glad we were able to make it out here. Custer State Park to Yellowstone was a long 9-hour drive, but the vistas were absolutely amazing--snow-capped mountaintops, lush hills, and rushing rivers. The speed limit is 75mph on I-90 and there are few cars out. Aside from the occasional road work and construction or the 18-wheeler big rigs, it's easy to turn on the cruise control, sit back, and enjoy the scenery.

We finally got to the East entrance of Yellowstone close to 8:45pm, and there was a long line of cars. Yellowstone sure is popular! Steve and I were both surprised to find out later that it is the fourth most visited national park in the country. (Can you guess what the top three are?) Luckily, with our annual national park pass, we were able to avoid a bit of the wait. We entered the park just as the sun was setting. The pink and orange sky was beautiful, but the sun was also blinding. Combine the sun shining directly in our line of vision, winding ascending and descending roads, and avalanche warnings: this made for quite a drive after a long day. Still, we were in good spirits and kept admiring the breathtaking views of Yellowstone Lake and the Shoshone River.

East Entrance to Yellowstone National Park

Sunset at Yellowstone Lake

After checking into our home-away-from-home at the Lake Hotel Frontier Cabin, we explored the hotel grounds a bit and enjoyed two local beers in the lobby before turning in for the night. We planned out our activities for the following day and were excited to begin exploring the park.