I have returned from a fun filled weekend (well, not really). I had to go out of town for a wedding. One of my wife’s cousins got married and she was a bridesmaid. It was a rare chance for me to actually wear a suit even though I didn’t have to do so. And I hate wearing a suit…. far too hot and stuffy. I feel like a robot in one.
Oh well, it’s over and I’m back… and that means more fun and exciting articles for you to read! Stay tuned!
Well, it was a rigorous week and a half. I got to see a lot of stuff I’ll probably never get to see again in this lifetime… since Yellowstone is always changing. About the only thing I know I could see again is bison… and elf… as far as the eye can see. I think I have certainly seen enough of them to last a lifetime. Anyways, the goal of a vacation is to reach the point where you wish you were back home and I had certainly reached that point. Of course, my idea of a vacation is sitting at home on the couch… well, in front of my computer, but I digress. It’s good to be home even though it also means it’s time to get back to the grind. I took well over one thousand pictures and I hope you enjoyed the few pictures and videos that I posted and that you might even go see for yourself some day.
Since this was our last day in West Yellowstone before heading back down to Jackson Hole, we spent a little more time looking around. The Holiday Inn just down the road from where we were staying had an old railroad car in it. The Oregon Short Line 1903 (150) was slightly repaired due to water damage, but otherwise was exactly the same from when it was still being used. Pictured is a shot down the hallway from one side to the other, a flip-down bunk in the servant’s quarters, an old typewriter and calculator, and one of Thomas A. Edison’s original phonographs.
We didn’t actually do a whole lot today. The snow from the night before had some roads closed (they didn’t affect us). It was still snowing and the wind cut right to the bone. We mainly just drove around some of the area we had already been, looking at it with the snow. I do have a major update though… I finally got a picture of a bald eagle.
Today, we set out for the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. To get there, we took the road east from Norris Junction, not just because it was faster, but because Dunraven Pass to the north of the Canyon has been closed the whole time. The first thing we did after getting there is visit the brink of the Upper Falls (below on the right). The Upper Falls is much smaller than the Lower Falls.
Today, we decided to go back to the Old Faithful area in order to see all the other geysers in the area, since we didn’t have the time to do it last Friday on the way through. We stopped at the Fountain Paint Pots along the way (below on the right). You might be asking yourself what the common raven has to do with anything, but it was an interesting sight. You aren’t suppose to feed any of the animals in the park, but it seems people have been giving food to this raven. It was sitting on a log squawking. It didn’t fly away when you got near, so we can only assume it was begging for food.
Our goal for today was to see Mammoth Hot Springs and then continue around Grand Loop Road to Tower Falls. As we traveled down the road from West Yellowstone, we spotted a baby elk with its mother across the river. Further down the road, there were yet again more bison resting.
Turning left at the Madison Junction, we headed north toward Mammoth Hot Springs. Along the way, we came upon the Roaring Mountain (below on the left), which used to emit a roaring sound that could be heard four miles away at the Obsidian Cliffs. Now the sound is little more than a hiss. Just up the mountain from Mammoth Hot Springs, we go down the Golden Gate, a road down the side of a cliff. Back in the early 1900’s, the road was little more than a rickety wooden bridge. The waterfall near the bridge named Rustic Falls is pictured below on the right.
We set out north today; heading towards Mammoth Hot Springs. The weather was slightly more rough today as it was still snowing on and off and some roads over on the east side of Yellowstone were closed due to over a foot of snow overnight. We spotted some Bald Eagles while driving but they were too far away for a good picture, but I did get a picture of one of their nests that was near the road just as one flew to it. Unfortunately, it beat me to it and it’s only slightly visible out the top of the nest. We also passed a field of grazing Bison.
This day was decidedly better than the trip down here. We got up, got ready, and headed north towards the Grand Tetons. Before leaving Jackson Hole, we stopped by the visitor center which was next to the elk reservation. It was a fairly long drive of mostly nothing before reaching the entrance to the Grand Tetons National Park, making it impossible to get lost. There was still low clouds covering the tops of many of the mountains and it was raining ever so slightly.
After entering the Grand Tetons, with the purchase of a 7 day pass into the parks (both the Tetons and Yellowstone) for 25 bucks, we stopped at the Colter Bay visitor center and took a look around the Indian Arts Museum. They had a wide assortment of indian artifacts, most from the end of the 1800’s.
Things are off to a stupendous start as our trip down here was riddled with disaster. Perhaps I make it sound worse than it really is, but it was pretty bad. For our flight (on Northwest Airlines) to Minnesota, we had already been switched to a smaller aircraft, so needless to say, I was pretty cramped after getting off that one. Okay, so then we had a one and a half hour wait for our connecting flight; this was normal… that is until the weather decided otherwise. That wait got upgraded to two and a half hours before we starting boarding and that’s not the fun part. Due to the weather, we got to sit on that plane for three hours (yes, you heard right) before we got to take off.
Finally, we might get over the “nightmare” or so we thought. After the normal two hour and fifteen minute flight, we finally landed in Jackson Hole. We were praying that they didn’t lose our luggage on top of the four hour delay. Those prayers were answered, but yet another problem smacked us in the face. We had reserved a rental car from Thrifty, but they were no where to be found in the terminal. Turns out, they’ve moved to the other side of Jackson Hole or something like that. On top of it, because of the delay, they were closed! We were forced to pay twice as much to rent a car from one of the other dealers. They had better not attempt to charge us for the car we couldn’t get or there might be hell to pay.
Anyways, at least we found the Days Inn we had reserved a room at before we drove into West Yellowstone today. Hopefully, this will be the extent of Murphy’s activities during our trip.
OmegaStorm Archives 