Adventure is Out There - A Salute to All Nations, but Mostly America

[HouCuseChickie]

Oh man, I want that cinnamon roll!! Decades ago, before they redid Mount Rushmore (The visitor center was separate from the giftshop and restaurant, the walk of flags was in a different place, there was no huge archway at the entrance...they changed that all when I was a senior in high school) they had a little restaurant and there was a breakfast option for each president...One was a sweetroll, (I think Jefferson) one was standard eggs and sausage or bacon, I think one was probably pancakes? I don't remember the other....I always got the sweetroll. We'd go there first thing in the morning and have breakfast, and then go exploring.

And yes, I think the parking tag is good for a year. If you ever decide to go back, look into things like the 1880 train, Spearfish Canyon, the fish hatchery, and the needles drive...although if you don't like twisty roads with sheer dropoffs the needles highway might not be for you.

Wow....I don't think I've ever heard of Emblem, Wyoming. I'd guess the stares you got were not necessarily how you looked....just the fact that you were there screams tourist. In most of those smaller towns, everyone knows everyone, so anyone you don't recognize must be a tourist. Funny story: Every year, our town held a celebration of the incorporation of the town. There was a parade, bed races, a street dance, craft fair, etc. (Think the fair in Pollyanna) One year, they decided they were going to find a tourist family coming through and make them honorary town members for the day and they'd have VIP access to everything...a ride on a float in the parade, tickets to the rodeo, etc.

So the way they planned to do this was to have the local highway patrolman sit at the intersection on the highway by our town and pull over the first out-of-state license plate car they saw. Only they sat there and sat there and sat there and the only out-of-state car that came by, they pulled over, and it was a family heading to a funeral, so obviously they couldn't be delayed and weren't in a celebratory mood. The best laid plans. The point being that you stood out from the locals just by being there in the first place.

She's asked if I'd make something like that at home. LOL That would have been really nice to be able to go to Mount Rushmore for breakfast...get an early start and then hit the trails before things get crazy.

I have it sitting in my folder full of all of the maps and brochures Kendall collected. I just don't see that happening again in the next year. At least it's not excessively expensive. I don't love the winding roads with the drops, but it's also one of those things I push through so I can see/do cool things. Hasn't gotten me over the fear, but that fear isn't going to keep me from stuff. I know I saw signs for some of that while we were there. Our orthodontist also has a bunch of recommendations should we go back since he has a buddy in Pringle, SD. So maybe we really could make a full trip of it.

That's a really good point! I never considered that just not knowing us would equate to being labeled a tourist. I mean, it makes perfect sense for a community of that size. The town where I grew up was considered small, but NY Metro NJ small is massive compared to this...so it didn't register as the reason.

The fair does sound fun! While we didn't have a town fair, we had an annual Italian Festival in my home town (it's actually this weekend), but it was more about carnival rides/games, raffles, bocce and grandmas visiting from Italy to see had the best sausage and meatballs (among other yummy treats). Not quite the same and while I knew a lot of the people there, still definitely not small enough of a town to know everyone. The pulling over of the tourists might have freaked me out at first, but it's a cute idea and would definitely make for an interesting story to bring home had they found a good car. What are the odds that the one out-of-state car they find is on their way to a funeral?!?!? WOW! Either way, I see what you mean about us standing out.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Trying to get in some of Yellowstone before @Nemo14 leaves and before I have to be in cake and tween bday party mode. Also trying to get excited about our next trip...but I bought airfare today and am still in cringe mode.

Aug 10 -

Like every other day, I was the first one up. After sitting there for a bit and being lazy, I decided it was time to get up and have a nice breakfast outisde.

David and the kids had bought a couple of boxes of Nutrigrain bars, but I just wanted fruit. Unfortunately, the fruit tasted really funny to me. Everyone else said it tasted fine, so I suspected the altitude increase was starting to impact my taste buds. Cody isn't as high as Yellowstone, but it's about 5,000 ft above sea level. Rapid City was about 3,200 ft and I was fine, but considering the Houston area is only 50-125 ft above sea level, this was a change for us.

Someone else woke up, got dressed and joined me outside.

We took a little walk around and took some pictures...since we were still in awe of this absolutely stunning spot. Although, for some crazy reason, I just grabbed my phone vs. the big camera.

We even saw a white pelican land in the water. I didn't know they had them up there, but after doing some reading...apparently, it's not that out of the ordinary.

Kendall came out to join us after a bit and took pics of the only magpies we'd see all trip. Last time we were up in these parts, we saw a ton of magpies, so I'm glad we saw these when we did.

I know this is going to sound crazy to some, but I remember turning to David this morning and talking about how clean the air is and how you just want to keep taking these deep breaths. We live in a heavily forested suburb of Houston, so it's not like I live directly on highway or in the middle of the city, but there's an obvious air difference when you travel to places like this.

I met the "neighbors" while we were outside, who kindly offered to move their boat if it was in my way. Nice, but not needed. I also found the owner of the cabins cleaning the neighbor's cabin a little while later and to make check out easy, she said I could just leave the key in the cabin. Nice! Oh...and her dog gave the girls a proper good-bye with snuggles and kisses.

We packed up and headed west. Next stop...YELLOWSTONE!!! I was actually kind of nervous that it wouldn't be as amazing as it was the first time. We'd been hyping it up to the kids and I was praying it wouldn't let me down.

We passed a number of interesting road side "things." Not sure how to classify them any other way. I also missed taking a picture of the Big Boy in the field on our way through this area. The beef sign just started David on a Texas beef thing. LOL

Next, we entered the Shoshone National Forest and got to see more spectacular scenery.

I didn't get any pictures of it, but several of the signs detail the age of the rock formations you're passing while you drive. While I saw one sign that had newer date ranges, I know I saw a couple that had Cambrian and Pre-Cambrian Era dates.

We passed a lot of neat camping areas and cabins within the forest as well as construction areas that brough traffic to a screeching halt. Gotta love portable traffic lights.

We were on our way again...

...and then the sign!!!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

and the guard shacks (or whatever the proper term is for them)!

Not quite the WDW main gate, but it's the biggest part of this trip and it's finally here!

We got to the front of the line, showed them our 4th grader and the ranger had all kinds of questions for her. Nothing too lenghty to hold up the line, but since she wanted to see animals, he wanted to know more. After that...we were in!

The kids were fascinated by all of the runoff on the rocks. Funny, we didn't see any of this until we were just inside...so I guess it was something specific to the park and not the surrounding area? Maybe?

David insisted it was snow up on the peaks. We were near some of Yellowstone's highest peak, including the highest (Eagle Peak...not pictured), but last time we were here, we swore everything we saw like this was sand. So, I don't know, but it may be why we're seeing runoff.

David and I also marveled at the wild flowers. Last time we went, we were past flower season, so we didn't see all of these colors.

I was also reminded of this area approaching Sylvan Lake (never got there this trip) that scared the heck out of me while driving.

We told the kids there would be a really big lake would be coming up soon...and we were right.

]

As you can see, there's fire damage in this area, but it's OK. One of the things I remembered from our 2005 trip was how lodgepole pines need fire to essentially reseed the forest and that it's ultimately a good thing. A guide had told us that people came in a few years after the massive 1988 fires and thought someone went through and actually hand planted all of these tiny pines...when it was all done by nature.

I was also in dire need of a restroom. I kept seeing the stops with them after we passed, but we finally found one (and stopped in time) around a beautiful section of Yellowstone Lake. And in case you didn't know, it's the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 ft in North America.

So, here I am standing in line for a bathroom while the three of them get to go play.

As least they're still having fun when I get out and cooperate for a few pictures.

David was trying to teach them how to skip rocks, while I was marveling at the crystal clear water. I even took some close ups of the rocks under water since the clarity is still kind of shocking to me.

*Still amazes me that these rocks are under water.

We also saw some people swimming. I think they were just celebrating their arrival in the park, but it's not recommended. The average water temp is around 41 degrees.

We were hungry, so we got on the road again. At least I now have a pretty good idea of where I'm going. We pass the Fishing Bridge area and wait for a bit because it's under a ton of construction. In fact, they were giving out 50% off coupons as construction discounts just to bait people back into this part of the park. Get it...bait...fishing bridge?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Last time we were in Yellowstone, we got out here and saw all kinds of fish...I guess hence the name "Fishing Bridge." This time, I just didn't want to deal with the construction mess.

We were closest to the Lake area, so we decided that was the best idea for lunch.

We also decided it was time to take a trip down memory lane...

When we went in 2005, we spent our first few nights in a Lake Lodge cabin. We also ate in the cafeteria at the Lake Lodge on our first night. Oh...and whenever we'd tell the kids about evenings in Yellowstone, we'd tell them how we'd sit in the Lake Lodge rocking chairs out on the porch and play cards. So, it was fitting to start here. Even love the themed trash/recycle bins...

*I got a few looks from strangers for taking pics of the trash.

We quickly made our way in and headed to the cafeteria...

Not really up for Old Faithful Ale at this point.

David and the kids all had bison sloppy joes and I had the open faced turkey sandwhich. Discarded the bread and gave K most of my cranberry sauce. I'm sure that gravy and mashed potatoes isn't going to be any good for me, but at this point, I was hungry. At least it tasted normal...which is funny, since we were now at a higher elevation than our Cody cabin.

The windows were open and giving us a nice breeze...

All in all, it's a neat rustic space and the food is good. I want to say the food was around $12-13 pp...so pricing isn't awful. Not great, but again...kind of like Disney...they've got a captive audience. What's funny is that table service food is much more reasonable. More on that later.

After this, we hit up the store in the lodge to see some of the cute items.

*The lens on that camera was actually with me in YNP back in 2005. Not sure why, but it made me sort of happy to see it get another adventure.

After that...a visit to the porch and the rockers.

Then a trip up to the cabins so we could bore the kids to tears.

David swore we stayed in different cabins, but I took a pic from our 2005 trip and I know for certain we were in that first cabin behind the light pole, in section D. As much as I loved the main lodge...I hated that cabin. Moving on...

And flowers...lots of flowers.

The kids were bothered that they hadn't see any animals, so I decided we'd drive towards Old Faithful. It's always crazy busy in this section, but why not try? We had already passed one spot that was a bison favorite in 2005 that was empty today, but maybe we'd find something there. We passed more fire impacted land along the way...

*see all those cute little trees sprouting up!

The Continental Divide...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Also a good time to mention that my ears were constantly popping with all of the ups and downs this trip. It never used to be this way, so I guess it's inner ear sensitivity developing with age. Boo!

And then pulled up to the Old Faithful Inn...well, the back...

*I have SOOOOO many pictures of her later in the TR.

Nothing, so we pulled back out and started making our journey to the Canyon section of the park....passing some Yellowstone transportation along the way.

*You also see a few caldera signs around this point- a reminder that you're driving around on a massive volcano.

When we had made the turn off in the center portion of the figure 8 that makes up the grand loop, I saw an animal. Nobody else saw it, so I have no other opinions on what it could be. It was dark, had a decent length tail, could stand up on its hind legs, a more pointed face (so not an otter, beaver or marmot), bigger than a marten or mink, but smaller than a wolverine or badger...and also no distinctive markings. The only animal I've been able to find that can sometimes be seen in Yellowstone that looks like what I saw is a fisher (not my video)...



Oh well...had to move on. It wasn't long before we arrived in the Canyon area...

This area has changed SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much since our last visit. Many of the cabins (like the one we stayed in back in '05) are still there, but now there are a bunch of hotel style lodge buildings. Instead of checking in at the main lodge (a funky mid-century modern style building) like we did waaaay back when, we checked in at the Washburn Lodge building.

*crazy, but I don't think we took a single interior pic of these buildings. They weren't bad, but they weren't all that interesting either. Don't get me wrong...some nice touches...but it just feels generic woodsy compared to the other spots. Also glad I opted for a cabin. There were some rooms left in these lodge style buildings, but they were a bit more than the cabins and there didn't seem to be any great advantage to staying in them. I'm sure they're nice...I just stayed in a western cabin at Canyon last time and really enjoyed it...and it looked like more of what I was looking for with this trip.

We were a bit early, and the line moved quickly for check in, but thankfully...our cabin was ready. I actually had a small panic attack because I never got any last minute confirms from Xanterra (the company that handles all of the in park lodging and such), but all was good. Now would also be a good time to note how important it is to book really early if you want to stay inside the park. I believe lodging booking opens up May 1st, a year in advance. So on May 1st 2018, booking opened up for summer 2019. I booked in Janaury 2018 for summer 2018 and Canyon was my only option. Everything else was booked solid. People do stalk Yellowstone Lodging like Disney fans stalk Disney dining, but I understand the odds of getting something to open up aren't nearly as good. Even the owner of our Cody cabin made sure we had lodging secured in Yellowstone because I guess some people go assuming they can find a place to stay without a reservation (same thing applies to camping).

I basically took a bunch of cabin pics while we took turns settling in. I even got to unpack the suitcases...so no more living out of backpacks!

Someone found the bear soap! The ONLY one we got. We got one each night the last time we visited.

Not quite the woods view we had last time.

But we still had woods and a back door this time.

The style...like the main lodge...is more of the blend of rustic and mid-century modern.

We decided to head up to the main lodge. We had dinner reservations at their table service restaurant that night, but we wanted to explore the Canyon location of the General Store first.

*Funny, the Disney universe went nuts when Zuri's in AK started selling poop treats, but clearly...poop stuff is all the rage in the national parks!

* I think we'd actually mvoed on to the outdoors shop by this point. I kind of regret not getting these.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We also headed over to the Canyon Visitor Center...also new since our last visit.

We headed out and passed a raven that kept screaching at everyone...only wildlife for the day in the park (well, beyond a small squirrel we'd see at Lake Lodge and the animal that only I saw). Hey, I like ravens.

And then it was time to head into the main lodge.

Apparently, it had a major overhaul about 2 years ago, so some of the touches we really liked are gone. BUT I think this was done to handle the crowds. By adding more lodging, they needed more dining options for all of those people. And considering lodging is in such high demand in the park, it was a good thing that they added all that lodging. Still, they kept that funky MCM vibe and I liked it...right down to what we called the Despicable Me chair. And they salvaged the fireplace...just blew out some walls.

We still had some time until dinner, so it was time to drink what we drink when in Yellowstone...

MOOSE DROOL!!!

*We can now get it locally (in bottles), but it brings back memories.

And I'd regret it. My tummy just can't take beer anymore, but it tasted soooooooooo good!

The only issue was the fire. It was the best place to sit, but it was a bit warm outside, so the fire was making us a bit too warm.

Oh well, the kids finally busted into the games and we all had fun while passing the time. So glad they were embracing tech free entertainment.

I also got a second beer, but this time decided to try Tippy Truck. Also pretty good. I seem to recall it having a lot of honey.

*Note- drinking and playing Connect 4 doesn't work well.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We had a 6:45pm dinner reservation at the M66 Grill...the table service restaurant at Canyon. It was like 6:20, but we were getting hungry and we decided to head that way.

They technically require reservations for dinner at any of the table service restaurants in the park. It's a bit different than Disney dining, but these spots can be made beginning May 1st of the following year IF you have lodging reservations at that specific hotel. If you don't have lodging reservations, general dining reservations open up at 60 days out. They have an online form you complete and submit. You get an email confirming that they've received your request and then a second email confirming whether or not they can honor your request. Since we were staying at Canyon, I was able to book this several months out from our trip dates. Some restaurants seem to be more hot spots than others. I know dinner at the Old Faithful Dining Room and the Lake Hotel's are extremely popular.

Thankfully, they were able to seat us a bit early. Oh...and another thing that's like Disney, their employees wear name tags with their home state or country. So, it gives you some of that same personal touch you get with Disney cast members. The girl who seated us was from Texas, and we had a few laughs about her going to A&M. Nothing wrong with A&M...my husband's family is just all UT and UofH folks.

We sit down in a both in the back and I just have fun taking pics of all of the MCM details. This is pretty cool with me since it's some of the vibe I'm going for in our casual dining room at home...so I'm getting ideas!

They brought us bread...

We order lamb sliders for an appetizer (I had mine a bit deconstructed)...

For entrees...I had some kind of sausage which was good, Kendall and Sam both had the burger on their main menu, and David had the pork chops.

Food was generally pretty good and a big step up from the place the previous night.

Oh, they also wanted to do some kind of birthday thing for me since the previous night was a dud. Sooooo, they told our server, who said they'd be happy to do something if I order a dessert. When in Yellowstone, the flavor of choice for just about everything is huckleberry. So, I ordered huckleberry ice cream. I only had a couple of spoonfuls and my stomach was now ready to disown me. Still, it tasted good...although, more blueberryish than I remembered.

I had a ton of staff sing for me...and I was MORTIFIED. I'll save the song for later in the TR when they get Kendall.

On a side note, I didn't feel robbed with the cost of the meal. While lunch wasn't too far off from a quick service meal at a Disney restaurant, dinner was significantly cheaper than a Disney TS. We'd find this with all of the table service meals we'd have in YNP.

We walked back into the general store for a few things...and I took pictures of both the Christmas and Huckleberry displays.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Pretty interesting about their Christmas in August. We saw a lot of snow in early September when we went in 2005, but nothing to snow us in.

Oh, and while I haven't shared a ton of it, we'd been playing the name game with bottles. David would be Austin for the evening.

Even the little signs are cute...

On our way out, Kendall decided to pose with this pine. Not sure of the variety (some kind of fir?), but it was definitely more of a Christmas tree type. Just brushing against it and catching that fresh pine scent made me feel like I should be hauling out a bin of ornaments.

It was time to head out. The sun was going down and it's not a good idea to be out and driving in Yellowstone after dark if you can help it. Sunset was also crazy from all of the smoke in the air.

The kids ended the day not sure what to make of this place. They saw some pretty things, but weren't convinced we'd see any animals since we went the better part of a day without anything beyond some ravens and a squirrel. This was also a big deal because the first ranger we met gave us animal check list games. We had a raven and nothing more...so we needed to do better.

Oh, and phone service was super spotty. I expected it, but it was funny how it would come and go.

Coming up...Aug 11th- our first full day really exploring Yellowstone

 

[Nemo14]

*squeals with delight seeing all this!*

 

[HouCuseChickie]

*squeals with delight seeing all this!*

Not sure how much of YNP day 2 I'm going to get up before you go, but I'm hoping to get at least the first bit this evening...which will involve an early morning in Hayden Valley and a stop by Swan Lake. My pictures after this point for day 2 (Mammoth and Lower Falls in Canyon before going back to Hayden Valley) get more out of hand, so that part will take longer.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Side note...just to prove I was right...this was our cabin from 2005 from the Lake Lodge. LOL

David still thinks I'm making this up.

Aug 11-

Last time we went to Yellowstone, it was pre-kids and we found ourselves sleeping in a bit each day. This time, I was up with the sun (we were starting to see light around 5:30am) and ready to go animal spotting in these prime morning hours.

Not everyone else was so chipper, but we'd also had a rough night. The pillows were awful. They were so squishy that your head immediately sunk to the bed. I'm sure it's some eco friendly thing, but we had to go to the front desk in the building where we checked in to get more. David and Kendall also felt like the beds were sloping and were at an angle...so they both rearranged a bunch of stuff in the middle of the night to sleep the opposite way. Oh...and it was warm to start off the night, so we had to use the little fan they had in the room...but things cooled off considerably by the middle of the night...like go from summer to winter pj's cool off. And don't even get me started on the snoring!!! At least I found out one helpful thing...between about 2am and 6am, you hit a sweet spot for cellular signal. Yeah...probably because everyone is sleeping!

Evenutally, everyone was up and out the door. We went up to the main lodge for some breakfast. Saw one of the Yellowstone buses parked there as well...

I had thought about booking one of their tours, but I waited too long and couldn't get anything. The reality...we really didn't need to spend the $ on this. We did a photography tour back in 2005 and while I got some great pictures and learned some very interesting info from our guide, she wasn't any better at finding wildlife than we were. There are boards in the various lodges showing who's seen what and where in the recent days and the rangers at the visitor centers can also help (more on that later). Don't get me wrong...the tours are nice and these guides are really great, but no tears over not getting it either.

So, we headed in and got something quick. I wasn't hungry (paying for being bad the day before), but muffins were the breakfast of choice for David and the kids. Oh ... and chocolate milk. This is also when I realized my kids don't know how to open milk cartons...they've never had to. BUT...they learned.

Everyone finished up and we headed towards Hayden Valley. Nat Geo was doing this Yellowstone Live 4-night special before we left for this trip and they were following the rutting bison in Hayden, so we though that would be a good place to start. We pulled off at the first pullout where we saw others parked. While you may be the first person to spot something, other vehicles/people is usually a good sign there's something there. So we got out and had this view...

I saw nothing, but Sam insisted there were elk off on the other side of the river. I changed lenses and sure enough, she was right! Eagle Eye Sam!

We decided to head up the road a bit where everyone was crowded together to see a lone bison. Also got a better view of those elk.

We saw the wolf watchers up on a hill above us across the road, but knew there would be a massive crowd up there if there were actually a wolf in the area. There was evidence of a kill...but no visible wolves. We struck up a conversation with a woman who suggested we go a little farther up the road. Said there was a whole heard of bison up there...and as she put it...they were fighting and chasing and rutting and doing bisony sort of things. So we drove up a bit and sure enough...

Now, do you see that one bison in the foreground that's separated a bit from the herd? Yeah...this dude.

Well, he didn't want to stick with his herd...and kept moving towards us. You can tell in the first pic (which is zoomed in) that we were pretty far away and well beyond the 25 yard minimum you'd normally use for bison. So, we watched him cross the field...

And then the water beneath us...

And up the hill in front of us...

And by this point...we're back in the Jeep.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

He ended up just crossing the road after passing us, but it was a good early lesson for the kids on best practices and keeping a good distance from wildlife. I'll get into it more later, but I'm still amazed at the chances some people are willing to take. Yeah...the kids were just super excited that it was still early and they'd already seen all kinds of animals...and they wanted MORE!

So, we decided to head to Mammoth, where there's usually an excellent chance of seeing elk up close. There's a herd up there that just never seems to leave. It took forever because there's construction between Norris and Mammoth. There were even signs saying to expect up to 30 minute delays. This would become a big issue later on in the trip. We didn't wait that long, but long enough that the engine was off for a good 10+ minutes (the Jeep actually does all that on its own to save gas). When we did get by, we decided to pop into Swan Lake...

These are actually my attempts to recreate some pics from 2005.

Just for perspective...this is the 2005 photo...but it's also had some editing and the ones above have had none. It was also shot with actual film. Old school! Obviously, I'm all DSLR these days...even if it's total novice stuff.

As you can also see, there are swans at Swan Lake...

It's not the only place we spotted them in the park, but I remembered seeing a mating pair of trumpeter swans last time we were here...and sure enough...there was a mating pair here again.

I took over driving and made the drive into Mammoth. I have pics of it later on in the trip, but this is one of those drives with steep drops, but amazing views. We found parking back by the hotel and headed in. I just went right to the sun/social room because I LOVE this map...

Just a nice place to hang out...

The kids even found their game tables and decided to start a game.

Oh yea...we'd also bought water bottles the previous night. You really need them when walking around in YNP and with all of the bottle filling stations and sinks, it's pretty easy to keep yourself hydrated without going through a bunch of throw away bottles (which aren't even sold in the park...well, not the plastic ones at least). I think this ornate piece in the hotel was one of the only that was a bit more challenging to use...

I went outside for a bit to look around and see if the herd was anywhere to be seen. I mean, there was certainly plenty of elk poop, but no herd.

Oh, this is also when I started to hear it about how this was David's favorite place we stayed during out 2005 trip. It was a super cute cabin behind the hotel with an awesome little front porch and chairs...a shrub with bunnies...but it also didn't have a bathroom. Meaning we had to leave the cabin and head outside across the way to shower and such. It wasn't awful and it's kind of like glamping (had sort of a turn of the century feel in theme), but there was one night where two elk bulls fought it out for the herd and the loser planted himself in front of an old car in the parking lot in a spot that was a little too close to the bathroom for comfort. And every time I went to the bathroom, it looked like a massive hood ornament...one that could get up and gore you with that huge rack on its head. Ok...back to walking around Mammoth...

Oh well, it was still before lunch and we were in Mammoth, so we decided to head up and show the kids the hot springs.

Coming up- we explore a few areas of the terraced hot springs and have lunch at the Mammoth Hotel Dining Room. It's probably also going to be a bit before my next update. I have to make a bunch of pink lemonade pound cakes tonight and start getting this house ready for party time. FUN! Thanks for following along!

 

[Nemo14]

Thanks for posting those. We won't be in Yellowstone til the 9th, but we leave Sunday morning for Salt lake City, then on to the Tetons from there. I've been taking notes from all that you've written, plus from the myriad of books I've found. I can't wait!!!!!!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Thanks for posting those. We won't be in Yellowstone til the 9th, but we leave Sunday morning for Salt lake City, then on to the Tetons from there. I've been taking notes from all that you've written, plus from the myriad of books I've found. I can't wait!!!!!!

I'm so jealous...because my gut says you're probably going to see snow and cooler temps than we had for our trip. It'll also be elk rut, so you're probably going to hear all of that bugling with the bulls. I will be curious if you see any magpies or mountain bluebirds. We saw a ton of them when we went in 2005 (mostly up at Mammoth), but we didn't see any this trip. I wonder if it's because our last trip was at the time of your trip dates (like they came back with cooler temps)...or if they're just changing the areas they frequent...for who knows what reason. Either way, you're going to have an amazing time!

 

[Tick Tock]

"...'Cause this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness!"

Oh, wait. Wrong mountain.

Even the little signs are cute...

I want this for the hotel I work at. Ours just says: "Will Be Back In A Moment. -Thanks"
You've just inspired a fitting change.

Great shots of the bison crossing the pasture, and up across the road (well, all the pictures have been amazing), but that bison... talk about being at the right place at the right time!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

"...'Cause this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness!"

Oh, wait. Wrong mountain.


I want this for the hotel I work at. Ours just says: "Will Be Back In A Moment. -Thanks"
You've just inspired a fitting change.

Great shots of the bison crossing the pasture, and up across the road (well, all the pictures have been amazing), but that bison... talk about being at the right place at the right time!

OK, I'm a bit disappointed with myself. I can't believe I didn't think BTMRR when I saw that. Especially since we said that (to the point that people looked at us like we were crazy) the entire time we were at WDW in 2017.

I love little details like these signs, although it reminded me of that bear that recently decided to wander into the lobby of the Stanley Hotel.

Thanks! I really wasn't expecting the bison to leave the herd and get that close. We'll have more bison encounters when I get into Aug 12th. Thankfully, I also hit a point where I remember that I am not limited to still photography.

 

[Songbird76]

She's asked if I'd make something like that at home. LOL That would have been really nice to be able to go to Mount Rushmore for breakfast...get an early start and then hit the trails before things get crazy.

I have it sitting in my folder full of all of the maps and brochures Kendall collected. I just don't see that happening again in the next year. At least it's not excessively expensive. I don't love the winding roads with the drops, but it's also one of those things I push through so I can see/do cool things. Hasn't gotten me over the fear, but that fear isn't going to keep me from stuff. I know I saw signs for some of that while we were there. Our orthodontist also has a bunch of recommendations should we go back since he has a buddy in Pringle, SD. So maybe we really could make a full trip of it.

That's a really good point! I never considered that just not knowing us would equate to being labeled a tourist. I mean, it makes perfect sense for a community of that size. The town where I grew up was considered small, but NY Metro NJ small is massive compared to this...so it didn't register as the reason.

The fair does sound fun! While we didn't have a town fair, we had an annual Italian Festival in my home town (it's actually this weekend), but it was more about carnival rides/games, raffles, bocce and grandmas visiting from Italy to see had the best sausage and meatballs (among other yummy treats). Not quite the same and while I knew a lot of the people there, still definitely not small enough of a town to know everyone. The pulling over of the tourists might have freaked me out at first, but it's a cute idea and would definitely make for an interesting story to bring home had they found a good car. What are the odds that the one out-of-state car they find is on their way to a funeral?!?!? WOW! Either way, I see what you mean about us standing out.

Yeah, small town Wyoming is a totally different animal. When my husband first visited me, it was the talk of the town that a European was going to be there. And over here, they eat sandwiches for both breakfast and lunch, so we would go to the local cafe and my husband had fallen in love with Hot Beef sandwiches...which were only on the lunch menu. But the owner of the cafe made an exception for him and would only serve it at breakfast for him. The next time, we hadn't told anyone he was coming, so we went to the cafe, he tried to order the hot beef and the waitress told him they didn't serve that for breakfast. He asked who was cooking and it was the owner, so he said "Tell her it's Mark." and the bewildered waitress went back to the kitchen and came back shaking her head saying OF COURSE he could have a hot beef.
When we went to play pool at the bar, they passed around his drivers license and passport....the bartender tried to kick us out because she didn't even know what a passport was and said she couldn't accept that as proof of being over 21. Once we explained and they passed the ID around, everyone came to shake his hand and introduce themselves. Word got around fast that there was a Dutchman in town and everyone we met said "Oh, you must be Mark!" or "Oh, you must be that guy from Holland!"

You could DEFINITELY make a whole trip of just the black hills. We spent 4 days there in 2016 and didn't get to see NEARLY everything. We wanted to spend a LOT more time in Keystone and we only got to eat dinner in Deadwood and got to do nothing else, we wanted to see more of Custer State Park, we didn't get to do the Badlands, or take the 1880 train. And we only had time for Wind Cave, but we'd have loved to do Jewel Cave as well. We'd have needed more than a week to do everything we wanted to do. There is so much in that area.
If you're interested, I started a trip report for that one back in 2016, but never finished. I did make it through the Wyoming and South Dakota portions of our trip, though. https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...es-or-at-least-5-of-them.916767/#post-7357459

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Yeah, small town Wyoming is a totally different animal. When my husband first visited me, it was the talk of the town that a European was going to be there. And over here, they eat sandwiches for both breakfast and lunch, so we would go to the local cafe and my husband had fallen in love with Hot Beef sandwiches...which were only on the lunch menu. But the owner of the cafe made an exception for him and would only serve it at breakfast for him. The next time, we hadn't told anyone he was coming, so we went to the cafe, he tried to order the hot beef and the waitress told him they didn't serve that for breakfast. He asked who was cooking and it was the owner, so he said "Tell her it's Mark." and the bewildered waitress went back to the kitchen and came back shaking her head saying OF COURSE he could have a hot beef.
When we went to play pool at the bar, they passed around his drivers license and passport....the bartender tried to kick us out because she didn't even know what a passport was and said she couldn't accept that as proof of being over 21. Once we explained and they passed the ID around, everyone came to shake his hand and introduce themselves. Word got around fast that there was a Dutchman in town and everyone we met said "Oh, you must be Mark!" or "Oh, you must be that guy from Holland!"

You could DEFINITELY make a whole trip of just the black hills. We spent 4 days there in 2016 and didn't get to see NEARLY everything. We wanted to spend a LOT more time in Keystone and we only got to eat dinner in Deadwood and got to do nothing else, we wanted to see more of Custer State Park, we didn't get to do the Badlands, or take the 1880 train. And we only had time for Wind Cave, but we'd have loved to do Jewel Cave as well. We'd have needed more than a week to do everything we wanted to do. There is so much in that area.
If you're interested, I started a trip report for that one back in 2016, but never finished. I did make it through the Wyoming and South Dakota portions of our trip, though. https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...es-or-at-least-5-of-them.916767/#post-7357459

Wow! It's like he became a local celebrity. I gotta say...the sandwich also sounds really yummy! That's wild with the passport, but good that it all worked out.

Funny, but I was on Facebook the other day and an old friend of mine is in the Black Hills for a birthday trip with his wife. They're getting to do a number of things we just didn't have time to do. Of course, they also went to a number of the same places and it's like complete de ja vu seeing some of his pictures. Jewel Cave and Wind Cave were the two I regret missing the most. The orthodontist was particularly keen on the Jewel Cave area, talking about driving through patches where you see tourmaline and other gems coming from rocks along the road. The kids like caves too. Not quite the same, but they got to visit one when we were in the Branson, MO area a few years ago. We've been discussing a drive to New Mexico at some point since it's not too far and I'd really like to see Carlsbad.

I'll have to take a look at the TR. Who knows, it may give me all kinds of ideas

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I'm surprised that I'm already posting. Obviously, I am ahead of schedule! House is clean, laundry is done, sleeping stuff is in place, groceries are purchased, and the cake is done. Not sure where Kendall got this idea for a mustache cake, but I rolled with it.

Oh, and apparently me being a kid of the 70s and 80s, I didn't see the mustaches on the cake as upside down. I was seeing Tom Selleck...Kendall had no idea what I was talking about. Plus, I thought it added balance...staches up top on the chocolate covered Oreos face up and ones on the bottom face down.

And in case you're wondering, it's a pink lemonade cake with vanilla buttercream and fresh raspberry filling. If you want to see the cake before decorated...I can...but I'm finding those pics are making me want to be really bad.

OK, back to the report...

Aug 11 Cont-

So, we headed up to the hot springs. We started at the lower portion, which meant A LOT of climbing. I don't have pictures of this lower section from our 2005 trip so I couldn't do a lot of comparision. The only real difference I was noticing so far was that I hadn't seen a single magpie or mountain bluebird...which made me sad. I really wanted a great bluebird pic this trip. Still, it's a beautiful area...so I'm just going to spam you with pictures.

1. I wasn't kidding about picture spam. I hit areas like this and I just love all of the different angles, colors and movement of these things.
2. Hopefully you can also tell, it was a bit of a climb just to this lower part.

Oh...before I move on...this was the first time we really saw people doing things that could cause harm to themselves/the park. There were a lot of Asian tour groups (was told it was primarily Chinese and some Thai), so it's possible that they didn't understand the signs or have enough resources in their languages to properly educated themselves before travel. Still, I saw so many people in this section chasing after their young children like it was a Disney park. I remember praying that none of them tripped or bolted into a thin crust area. Heck...I was scared my own kids (who were lectured for months about the dangers of Yellowstone) would have issues. I mean, Kendall is clumsy and can trip on thin air. The girls also fight like cats and dogs and I thought David and I might have to take a man-to-man approach to keep them away from each other on narrow boarwalks (especially since some people insist on walking side by side).

Ok...off my soap box. After this, we headed up to the upper portion of the terraces...

Sort of a funny story...as we were pulling into the parking area, an animal crossed the road in front of me and went into the brush. I was able to pull up just enough so we could all see him. Of course, the kids were busy looking and not photographing, but that's fine. Seeing it comes first. We came across a ranger after parking, described the animal and she confirmed what I thought...Yellow Bellied Marmot. Of course, she asked if I saw his belly and I'm thinking, why would I turn him over? LOL

So, we got out and took a ton of pictures from the top. This brought back all kinds of memories because this was part of our 2005 photography tour.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

David thinks I'm nuts, but I know this is the same dead tree that was in my 2005 picture with a couple of mountain bluebirds perched on top.

2005

I know I'm right, but what can you do? So, we kept heading down and again...I took non-stop pics.

David really thought I was losing it when I said these were the same trees in one of our most favorite pictures from the past trip. I think I lost him when I started trying to compare angles and positioning of dead branches with corresponding terraces. Obviously, the trees don't have quite as many limbs today, but I'm certain it's them. The biggest thing is that this portion of the spring is now dormant.

2005

Another 2005 perspective...and I think this seals it...same trees/same spot...13 years apart.

So, you be the judge.

I brushed it off and kept taking pictures...