We had a nice start to the day with breakfast and enjoyed the company of llamas, chickens, and goats at the camp where we stayed. We entered the park through the east entrance. It started with a scenic drive of the north side of Yellowstone Lake. We headed north to loop the park counterclockwise. Highlights included seeing buffalo in Hayden Valley, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Mammoth Hot Springs area, the Roosevelt Arch at the North Entrance, and the North Geyser Basin. And somewhere in all that, we had a picnic lunch. Then we headed to the exit the park via the west side to West Yellowstone, which was slow, stop-and-go traffic for miles and miles. The rest of the day, traffic was no problem. Dane set a record for the farthest distance walked in a day in the last 5 years. Yellowstone lived up to everything we have heard.
We have been flying by the seat of our pants when it comes to places to stay. West Yellowstone was fully booked. We were getting worried and finally found a place near Dane’s brother in MT, about an hour away. When we got there, we couldn’t have been happier. It is a dream apartment in the basement of a house. Every rinky-dink place we passed on the way said, “no vacancy”. We could not have been more fortunate.
When we leave here, we plan to go back through the Yellowstone area again. We want to see Old Faithful. We only had one quarter of the loop left, and that was the only “can’t miss” place we didn’t see. It was a busy day!! So, we tentatively plan to go back there, then exit south toward the Grand Tetons area. The main thing we really want to do is ride a greenway that is in and around that park. The weather forecast isn’t good right now, though. But we had a beautiful sunny day when rain, wind, and hail were forecasted in SD.
We are going to spend two nights here. We plan to eat with his brother and his wife, bike in MT, and go to some old West towns in the area. Anytime we stay two nights in one place, it is restful!
Leave a Reply