Why? Wyoming!
We'll keep this post short since it's a lot of pictures and it's getting late. We're in Helena, MT on our way to West Glacier for Nate and Maia's wedding tomorrow. The last few days were incredible.
Devil's tower was great. Lisa of course loved the Prairie Dogs, and yes, it reminded us of the cube farm at work. Heads popping up all over the place. The tower itself was nothing short of impressive. And then we saw those fools attempting to climb it! I wanted to try, but Lisa wouldn't let me.
The it was across Wyoming to Big Horn National Forrest, which is on the way to Yellowstone. Big Horn was beautiful...especially the needed 25 degree temperature drop - 92 to 67 as we climbed the mountain.
Finally we entered Yellowstone after a quick stop in Cody, WY for some supplies. We caught the Lake at sunset and things really came out beautifully. Our favorite part was the Coyote our for a stroll on the shore.
The next day we walked out of our cabin and saw Old Faithul blow about 5 minutes later. Talk about timing. The next few hours were spent in the Old Faithful area with all the Geysers and Pools. We eventually made our way up to Norris and across to the Canyon area where a large Buck Elk was causing a stir. He was magnificent. We toured the entire Canyon area, including Upper and Lower Falls, and made our way out to artists point on the south rim. After dinner we headed south towards Hayden valley, where lots of animals hang out at dusk. We got there about a half hour after the most exciting thing possible happened. A Grizzly walked right across the road. We were able to see him through someone's spotting scope. Crazy!
Today we traversed the north half of the park. We did a lot of walking yesterday and Lisa's knee was a little tight so we tried to stay in the car as much as possible. Thankfully there weren't as many trails. We looked down into bear country but couldn't find any, but later on we came across a ranger who had just seen a black bear cub go over the hill, but we never saw it. We took the road to the northeast entrance and saw a buffalo caused traffic jam and got some good shots of some bison calves. Lastly we hit up Mammoth springs near the North Entrance. The Elk were everywhere, and the springs were really different.
One more thing. In every parking lot we pulled into, we were very popular. Not because of our leg injuries or our dashing good looks. It was our License Plate. Everyone playing the 'Find all 50 license plates on summer vacation' game were so excited to finally capture the elusive Delaware (Delawhere?) plate.
That's it for today. The wedding is tomorrow, then we visit Glacier National Park on sunday, and will hopefully post again Monday evening from Seattle. Till next time...
John and Lisa.
4 comments:
Hi John & Lisa,
Hope you don't mind, Jamer left us your blog site and I am really enjoying your journal and picture entries. It is a beautiful country we live in isn't it? So glad that your knee recovered enough so that you could take this trip Lisa. Sounds like so far so good. Continued safe travelling. The pictures of fireworks at Mt. Rushmore were nice. They must have been fantastic in person. Seeing the springs in Yellowstone bring back memories. Have fun, Linda
Hi Lisa and John,
These pictures, by far, are the most breath taking. I hope you are bringing home a Prairie dog for a pet!! Did you guys literally climb up the mountain with the temp. difference? If so, Lisa your knee is holding out better than I expected! Have a wonderful time tomorrow. I'll check back in on Monday. Luv and miss ya's~A
Hey John and Lisa,
The pictures of Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore were amazing. I remember seeing the Teons from Yellowstone- how amazing is that! I've got to go back and view the fireworks, though. You have had blue skies and great weather. Glad the trip is going so well. There are lots of places I remember visitng all those many years ago. Glad you are still smiling. Love, Mom
Okay, you know Seattle is a major resturant town. And is no slouch in the drink department with great wines and beers. You probably rode through the vineyards and hop fields on your way into town from Spokane and the Columbia River Valley. Watch out if you're thinking of eating near the Needle, Pike's Place Market or the Stadiums, there's a lot of tourist trap places.
But here's my recommendations from living out there for four months. When you hit the city proper go to the waterfront and about two blocks north of the Ferry slips is Ivar's on the sound. Eat there for a good seafood lunch! Get a salmon on the cedar plank and bowl of the goeduck (pronounced gooey-duck)clam chowder. Great northwestern smokey taste. Chase it with an Olymipa Draft or a Red Hook, both good local beers. If you can't get in, Elliot's is a good second choice. Both are on Alaska Way right on the sound.
For dinner if your in the mood for the best Steak in town (and several states!), go to the Metropolitan Grill. They also serve some of the other more eclectic and adventuresome tastes of the northwest (Buffalo, Osterich, Elk, Wood Duck). Have some Columbia Crest wine with this meal. It's going to be meal you'll never forget.
However if that's too high end for you and you want to visit a place from the movies (they filmed Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner eating in "Sleepless in Seattle" here) go to the Brooklyn in the Washington Mutual Building. It has the counter seats where you can watch the chefs and talk with them while they cook your dinner (a trend that started out here almost twenty years ago). They have great oysters along with the normal mixed menu of steaks, chicken, seafood, italian. Lastly, obviously Seattle is lousy with Starbucks, but if you want better coffee than that or Dunkin Do-nots go to a Seattle's Best Coffee (called SBC out there) stand. It's like the blending of both worlds. Have a raspberry scone with it.
As engineers you'll get a kick out of this. Ask how the Denny retrograde was made. Probably best to ask the folks in underground Seattle. That's a cool site to visit as well.
Post a Comment