Beautiful Jackson Hole Wyoming

Day 6, Sunday August 24.

Waking up in Jackson Hole was great. because of the lower elevation and beautiful sunshine, it was actually warm when we got up. Thanks to Albertsons "bed and breakfast" we had a great night sleep and were now headed inside for the breakfast part. By the way, Albertsons is the name of the grocery store whose parking lot we slept in. We found some breakfast in the bakery section and spent some time in the store hanging out in their coffee shop where we had a chance to blog a little.

We went back out to our campsite... rather, parking lot and straightened up the truck and trailer. Just as we were nearly finished, another fellow supermarket slummer walked up to our truck and said that their van wouldn't start and asked if we could give them a jump. Being that we were now a part of the supermarket slumming community, it would be rude to refuse so I told Bambi to jump in and we headed over to lend a hand.

We decided to head to downtown Jackson Hole and see what we could see when Bambi suddenly realized that when we went over to help those people, she had kicked off her shoes in the parking lot and forgot to pick them back up. So, we drove all the way across town again - by now it had been about an hour since we'd left our "campsite" and what do you know... there they were. Someone - probably another helpful member of our supermarket community had taken Bambi's shoes and placed them in a shopping cart at the back of the parking lot. We supermarket slummers stick together!!

Anyway, back to downtown Jackson Hole. This is one cool town. It's old west meets high end boutiques and shopping. The feel of the town puts you squarely in Western Wyoming. They have a bar on the downtown square called "The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar" with saddles for bar stools and Texas longhorns above the bar. Then on the inside of the square, they have a central park (like Pella) except at each corner, they have a huge archway made up entirely of the shed antlers from the thousands of elk which inhabit the winter feeding grounds just outside of Jackson Hole. So, it has a very western feel. On the other hand, the shops and restaurants are very upscale with boutiques full of designer clothing and artists studios with expensive paintings and sculptures. All in all, a very cool town and worthy of being a vacation destination all by itself.

After an hour or two of shopping, we decided to check out the white water rafting services. We found one called Louis and Clark that offered a mid-afternoon ride down the beautiful nearby Snake River. We grabbed another PB&J in the truck in their parking lot and took off on our bus ride to the river which was about 40 minutes away.

White water rafting the Snake river was a real hoot! Bambi and I opted to ride in a "6-man" boat rather than an 8-man. The advantage of a smaller boat is that you are far more maneuverable and the guide can get you into the better rapids for a wilder ride. He asked who wanted the wettest and wildest ride of all... so I volunteered for that which put me in the very front of the boat along with another guy. Our wives sat behind us and another couple sat behind them with our guide Gavin at the very stern of the boat. The snake river is not the wildest river in North America as it has no class 5 rapids (Unlike the New river in West Virginia which Bambi and I rode a few years ago, right after the snow melt on a Memorial day weekend - now that was a wild ride.) However, the Snake is still consistent Class 3-4 rapids and our guide Gavin did a great job of steering us into the deepest holes possible every chance he got. He also made it fun by maneuvering us along an 8 man raft and starting a massive water fight. The water was very cold at about 55 degrees but the sun was shining so it really didn't feel too bad at all. The only real mishap was when John, the guy sitting next to me in the front took advantage of an opportunity to swim in a calm section of the river. He thought he'd just fall backwards out of the raft and swim along side for a little ways. He rolled backward out of the boat, but the back of his swim trunks snagged on the side of the raft and he was stuck there, hanging upside down with his legs up and his head and body under the raft (I'm actually being serious this time!!) It took us all a second to realize that he wasn't joking around and he began to struggle under the boat with his wife starting to scream and get a bit panicked. I dove to the side of the boat and luckily was able to yank his shorts lose from the boat just at the same time as Gavin was flying forward ripping the knife lose from the front holster of his life jacket, prepared to cut him lose. John came up for air but was sputtering a bit and was quite clearly a little shaken but overall none the worse for the wear thankfully.

We had a really great rest of the ride and Gavin filled us in on some of the local history and myths of the snake river and its inhabitants. We even got to watch as some of his fellow river guides climbed about 40-50 feet up a cliff and jump into the river. Gavin said that watching them do that made him believe in natural selection. I thought it looked like fun!!

After our river trip, we headed back into Jackson Hole, changed our clothes and then headed out for supper. We took the advice of our rafting bus driver and went to a place called the Snake River Brewing Company. Great food and really good microbrews with a local crowd. We finished the evening by going back downtown for some more walking and shopping through the stores and then a quick trip to McDonalds for a McFlurry to satisify Bambi's sweet tooth and it was time to call it a night again. We drove to a different part of town to "Smiths" supermarket which was really nice because there was also a laundromat next door with 24 hour service and free Wi-Fi. Bambi called it a night and I pulled out a chair and sat out front of an adjacent Dentists office (Made me think of my good friend Dr. Eric) plugged the computer into an outlet and spent the next couple of hours blogging and shooting emails under the stars. All in all, another really great day. Our only regret is that in order to see other places, we'd have to leave Jackson. But, if we get a chance, we will return... maybe by then they'll have even more supermarkets to sleep by.

Days go by...

Day 5, Saturday August 23.

"I'm changin' lanes and talkin' on the phone and driving way too fast...

the interstate's jammed with gunners like me afraid of coming in last...

but somewhere in the race we run, we're coming undone -

Days go by, I can feel 'em flying like a hand out the window in the wind

Cars go by, yeah, it's all we've been given so you better start livin' right now cause days go by.

Out on the roof just the other night, I watched the world flash by

headlights, tail-lights running through a river of neon signs

but somewhere in the rush I've felt, we're loosing ourselves -

Days go by, I can feel 'em flying like a hand out the window in the wind
Cars go by, yeah, it's all we've been given so you better start livin' right now cause days go by.

We think about tomorrow then it slips away

we talk about forever, but we've only got today.

and the days go by, I can feel 'em flying like a hand out the window as the cars go by.

It's all we've been given so you better start livin', you better start livin', better start livin' right now!

Cause days go by, I can feel them flyin' like a hand out the window in the wind

Cars go by, it's all we've been given so you better start livin' right now.

So take 'em by the hand, there yours and mine, take 'em by the hand.

Days Go By. Keith Urban

Today was one of those days that we did some livin'.

We awoke in Yellowstone to another cold morning like I mentioned before. We took a walk together down to the Canyon Lodge where we just warmed up a bit by walking around some stores and sitting one last time by the big copper fire place. Being that this would be our last day staying in Yellowstone, we decided to go back to the campsite and hook up the trailer and get checked out of our spot.

After checkout, we took a short drive to the Canyon area where we went across the river and down to lower falls. We had seen upper falls the day before (It's the picture of the waterfall with the rainbow across it). We wanted to see the lower falls and also wanted to check out the road for a bike ride we would take later. The lower falls are probably the most awesome waterfall that we've seen on the trip thus far. The height of the falls is astounding but the sheer volume of water going down the yellowstone river from the lake is really impressive. I can only imagine what it's like in early spring after the snowmelt.

After checking out the falls, we drove back up to Canyon Stables where we actually did do some horseback riding. My horse was named Klondike and Bambi's was Spot. We had a great time and our guide was a 13 year veteran of the park so he gave a lot of great history on the places we were seeing. He told us that at one point, right next to the stable, there was a hotel called the Canyon Inn. He said it was the largest Inn in all of Yellowstone - the outside footprint of the building was a mile and a half around. We saw pictures later and it was truly impressive. Unfortunately, they built the hotel on a poor site and the ground began to give way under it so it was condemned and taken down. He said that another reason was that when it was built, people arrived by train. However, as time went on, people began arriving by car and wanted to be able to pull up to a cabin and park right outside their door so that's why the Canyon lodge area was built to replace the grand old inn. Anyway, we had a great ride and it was fun to get out into the back country and see some of Yellowstone that is otherwise less accessible.

After riding horse, we drove back to the lodge area where we changed our clothes and got on our bikes. We rode bike back to lower falls where we had been earlier that day which was a great ride - Especially on the way there as it was nearly all downhill. The price to pay came on the back side when we had to pedal back up those hills to get back to the truck. Oh well, the scenary was fantastic and the exercise felt great.

After back to back horse rides and biking, we felt we were due another shower. So, for $3.25 a piece, we got clean again.

After rinsing off all the nasty, we decided it was time to leave Yellowstone. Originally, we were planning on leaving via West Yellowstone or North through Mammoth and into Montana and Idaho. However, we felt that since we were so close to the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, we'd be remiss is we didn't go check it out. We were so glad we did.

On our way to Jackson, we stopped at Jenny Lake and we were just in time to catch the last ferry across the lake to the hiking trail that leads to inspiration point. They warned us that there was time to catch the ferry across but that it would be the last time they cross the lake so if we rode over, we'd have to hike back. No problem we said. We rode the boat across which was a really beautiful ride. The lake is crystal clear and at it's deepest reaches 260 feet down.

We got off the boat and hiked up the trail toward Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. This was a really rewarding hike for us because the views were just awesome. As you hike, you get to follow the river upstream where you can see several little falls. Then, you turn the corner and you can hear hidden falls. As you can see in the picture, it is a truly beautiful waterfall and just another wonder of God's Creation. We continued our climb all the way up to Inspiration Point which affords a panoramic view of Jenny Lake and the surrounding Grand Tetons. Again, you just have to stop and take it all in. Unfortunately, we didn't have alot of time to linger. The reason it was the last ferry was because it was getting late and we were losing sunlight. In order to get back before sundown, Bambi and I chose to run the vast majority of the 3-4 mile hike back to the other side of the lake which was quite fun. The only scarry part is that it is bear country and they get active as the sun goes down. (Normally, this is where I'd make up a good bear story but I think I've already tried that).

We made it back to the parking lot just in time to watch the fading light extinguish over the western slope of the Grand Tetons - then we jumped in the truck and it was off to Jackson Hole.

By this point, the PB&J sandwiches we'd eaten by Yellowstone lake were long worn off so we went into Jackson Hole where we ate at.............. Surprise, Surprise - TACO BELL!! This is the best vacation EVER!! (Like I said, I loves me some taco bell)

We really wanted to check out Jackson Hole but decided that we'd better get to finding a place to camp instead. So we plugged in "campground" to our GPS "Mandy" but unfortunately I think she was confused because she took us on a wild goose chase which ended up about 10 miles from town on a very dark and narrow gravel road. We think the problem came because there was a park out there, but it was a day camp / hiking area only - not for overnight stays. The hard part was finding a place to turn around with a trailer but we finally did get back to Jackson. We could see that there was not a lot of camping options right near Jackson Hole and we were getting very tired from the days activities so we just decided to pull into a local supermarket parking lot where we not only had a great place to sleep... we had a bathroom... and it was totally FREE. Oh, the dutchman in me was really liking this one. You'll notice that grocery store slumming is now our new favorite past-time. And, we're not the only ones either... it's like a whole little subculture of cheapskates all pulling into the grocery store parking lots late at night, grabbing their toothbrushes and heading into the bathroom. So, from now on, if you see someone bathing in McDonalds - OR - the local grocery store... it could still be your friendly neighborhood chiropractor!!

The temperatures in Jackson Hole were much warmer and Bambi and I both slept a whole lot better. As a matter of fact, we liked the looks of Jackson Hole so much, we decided to stay an extra night. After all, they did have TWO grocery stores!!

Yellowstone...day 2

Day 4, Friday - August 22.

So today started a lot like the day before. We woke up in Yellowstone with a new all time low temperature. When we finally dared to get up out of our sleeping bags and step outside, we could see frost on the windows of the cars. The only good thing about it being so cold is that you wake up quickly and realize that you may as well get up and get moving. I've never gone from sleeping to exercising so fast in my life. I think Bambi and I both got up, stepped out of the trailer and just kept walking until we found a sunny spot to warm up. It's not that we wanted to get up - it was only 6 am - it's just that you can really only lay there and shiver just so long before you start chipping your teeth. Ok, so here is where I would normally say... oh, it wasn't that bad. But it was!!

We decided to use the day to finish driving the Yellowstone loop. We left the Canyon campground after a breakfast of granola bars and headed toward the West side. Before we left for our drive though, we thought we'd check into getting on a horseback trail ride that morning. We arrived at Canyon stables just prior to their 2 hour ride. Unfortunately, the ride was full. However, there were still two spots available for the next morning which was a one hour ride so we reserved the two spots and were on our way.

As we were leaving the parking lot, there was an unusual amount of commotion coming from the stables. Apparently, a wealthy cattle baron had lost his prize possession, a two year old colt with rich blood lines that he had purchased for his daughter Jessica. He rode in with his posse, raised his pistol in the air and fired off two shots. He yelled, "I've got ten thousand dollars and my gratitude for any of you who are able to find my colt. She's been missing now for nearly 36 hours and we think she headed toward the canyon where she may be running free with the wild Brumby herd". He fired off two more shots and just like that, his entire posse, all of the stable trail ride wranglers, and even a few of the tourists took off to the East in search for the colt. I looked at Bambi and she said "Go, you know you have to do this to prove yourself". Like a flash, I jumped on my faithful steed Klondike and we were gone, though by now the only sign of the posse was a cloud of dust. Klondike gave her best and in no time, I could see the posse in the meadow below - just in time to see the best tracker in the region, Clancy, rounding up the entire herd of Brumbies with a crack of his whip. It seemed that the chase was over... until... the leader of the Brumbies circled around and reared his head. Like a shot, the herd was off and broke free of the containment circle the wranglers had set up. The horses were gone and so was Jessica's prized colt. The men gave chase with me and Klondike bringing up the rear. We ran the horses hard, right up to the edge of a canyon cliff where the Brumbies made the jump, stampeding down the side of the canyon wall. All the men in the posse pulled up, refusing to make the jump... knowing that the pack was gone. Suddenly, the posse spread apart at the precipice of the canyon wall. They could hear the crack of my whip and the thundering of Klondike's hooves as I urged her on. The next few seconds felt like they happened in slow motion. I leaned back hard on the saddle and pulled up on Klondike's reigns as we cascaded down the huge cliff. Leaning left, leaning right, we missed the trees and suddenly, we were on the canyon floor... right behind the pack of Brumbies. The posse at the top of the cliff could only see a cloud of dust. They returned back to the stables with their heads hung low, knowing that the Brumbies had taken the colt forever. Suddenly, the men in the posse turned their heads and looked off into the canyon valley when one of them yelled "look, over there!" (music starts) In the distance there they came, the entire herd of Brumbies, including Jessica's prized colt. I coralled the herd and said to the wealthy baron. "They're all here... there are five or ten good horses in that pack... I'll be back for them tomorrow... along with my money." Then, Bambi jumped on Klindike behind me and we rode off into the sunset... Wait. That's the plot from the movie The Man From Snowy River. But we did make reservations for a one hour trail ride the next day.

So anyway, we took off driving around the North part of the loop and down the West side in order to see Old Faithful and the other sights on that side of the park. We took several different short hikes to see some brilliantly colored Sulfur pots and smaller guysers. Finally, we came upon Old Faithful. It's a really cool place, starting with the Old Faithful Inn which was originally built in 1904. To say the Inn is grand would be an understatement... especially considering its location only a few hundred yards from Old Faithful. We checked the place out and found out that it was designed by a very young architect at the time (29 years old) and was built from lodge pole pines which are so readily available in the area. The inside of the Inn is huge and wide open, three stories up in the lobby with the ceiling soaring to a height of 76 feet. The architect did this knowing that the average height of the surrounding pines was 75 feet... he wanted the building to blend with the nature around it. He even built in a really cool tree fort at the peak of the lobby but tourists are not allowed up there. It also has a door up there which lets people up on to the roof to an observation deck. Apparently, when the Inn was first opened, guests could go on the deck to watch Old Faithful from up there. This is also no longer allowed but must provide a great view.

Anyway, we found a spot around Old Faithful and while we were waiting, struck up a conversation with a woman and her son from New York. They were on a trip similar to ours and we found out that we had done a lot of the same things through SD, WY and now Yellowstone.
After waiting for about 20 minutes or so, we were rewarded by natural spectacle which is Old Faithful. The guyser began to bubble and steam and then exploded, shooting steaming water about 130 feet in the air. The whole thing lasted about 4-5 minutes and was really something to behold. To think, this thing has been doing this for generations now. Although, it seems like she's not quite as faithful as she used to be. We went to get something to eat at the restaurant next door and waited to see her go again. This time, she was a good 4-5 minutes behind schedule. According to the brochure, she may go anytime between 40 and 90 minutes in between bursts but usually, it does still go like clockwork every so many minutes.

We decided to get headed back across the park to Canyon Lodge where Bambi took up her favorite spot on the leather chair... right next to the fire place. That night was very cold again, only this time, I was alone in the trailer. Bambi decided to clear out the back seat of the truck and sleep there. She ran the truck for about 15 minutes with the heater set on 90 until even she had to admit it was hot in there. She shut off the truck and snuggled down deep into her sleeping bag where she says she finally got some sleep. As for me, I slept ok... I was in my sleeping bag with workout pants under my blue jeans, a t-shirt, an under armour long sleeved jacket and my hooded sweatshirt (hood up) and gloves. It's hard to sleep with that many clothes on but it was better than freezing to death. I guess I mostly was able to stay warm because of the adrenaline still pumping through my veins from my previous adventure... I drifted off to sleep still saying... go Klondike, after those Brumbies...

Guess what... it's really cold at night in Yellowstone!!

Day 3, August 21

Yellowstone. We began our day by pretty much just trying to stay alive after nearly freezing to death last night! So, when you finally decide to get up and go to the bathroom, you better be committed to it. When you wake up in an aluminum trailer at 7000 feet elevation, you can see your breath. That's because IT'S COLD. So by the time you just about think your bladder is going to explode, you make the decision. I'm gettin' up. You quickly unzip the sleeping bag and try to put some clothes on... scratch that, you already have ALL of your clothes on.

Cold aside, staying outside Cooke City was really fun and I'd do it again. We got up this morning and packed up the trailer and drove the 1/2 mile into town where we ate at a local bakery. It was a really cool place because you could buy biscuits and gravy, a cinnamon roll, climbing or avalanche rescue gear, and motor oil... ALL IN THE SAME PLACE!! Who says a bakery can't multitask? Seriously, the food was great and most importantly it was warm plus they had a computer there where we were able to check our email for the first time of the trip.

We took a few more minutes to walk around Cooke City and went into their local grocery store where we bought food to get us through the next few days in the park. It was a cool little grocery store like you'd have seen 50 years ago. More like a general store but it was just a little place with a lot of charm so we lingered a while... oh, and it was warm.

Finally, we felt like we were stocked for a few days in the park as we didn't know what, if anything, would be available in the park. It turns out, they have everything there including restaurants, bars, gas stations etc. So, we were well prepared anyway. By the way, our definition of "well prepared" is an 8 pack of buns, peanut butter, licorice, doritos, and of course some Mt. Dew. Not exactly a balanced diet, but oh well.

We entered the park from the NE corner at a cost of only $25 for a 1 week pass which was also good for Grand Teton NP. We drove through the park and were talking about some of the animals we hoped we'd see there. As luck would have it, we had only been in the park about a 1/2 hour when we saw our first bear. It was a long way off but a bear none the less. Throughout the remainder of the 3 days we were in the park, we saw: Moose, Bear, Coyote, Deer, Antelope, and hundreds of Bison.

We found a campsite at the Canyon campground which is on the East side of the Yellowstone inner loop. It's a very nice campground but, like the night before, it has no electrical service to the individual campsites which meant two more miserably cold nights coming our way. Otherwise, it was a very cool place to stay as they had a whole complex next to the campground including a very nice and clean shower area (more about that later) and a restaurant with a really nice lounge area, as well as a couple of stores to shop in. Neither of us bought a sweatshirt to wear at night because we'd have had to buy a XXXL to fit over the other two sweatshirts we were already wearing to bed at night... It was cold!! The daytime temperatures were actually very nice - in the 80's but due to the near complete absence of humidity and the elevation, it just gets very cold very quickly once the sun goes down.

We decided that three days without a shower was long enough. All throughout the park, they have these huge metal containers for you to throw your trash in to keep the bears from getting it. Apparently, bears can smell food from miles away... I'm pretty sure they could smell us as we entered the park!! The nice thing about Canyon campground is that the registration building has a huge laundry and shower facility connected to it. It was really nice and clean - as nice as any campground we've stayed in and boy did we take advantage of the showers... they had warm water!! The cost of the shower was $3.25 per person which we would have gladly paid double and still gotten our money's worth. It felt so good to finally get clean and feel like a regular person again.

For the remainder of our first day in Yellowstone, we drove the East side of the loop down to Grant Campground where we ate supper at a lakeside cafe. We got to watch the sun set over Yellowstone Lake while we ate which was just spectacular to see. On the way there, we stopped at Upper Falls in the Canyon area, and also got to see several of the different sulfur pots, or as Bambi called them "stink pots". Anyone who has ever smelled sulfur knows that it has the smell of rotten eggs. These were no exception. They smelled pretty bad, but they were absolutely remarkable. The water in the pools was the most beautiful color blue and clear down to the bottom. The outside of the pool was colored with brilliant yellows, reds and oranges because of the different bacteria that live in the pools. We had no idea of all the geothermal activity under the Yellowstone area. Apparently, the entire area was once the site of a major volcano. There is a line on the map which covers a huge area of the park and denotes the outer ring of the volcano. They told us that all of the sulfur pots and guysers, including Old Faithful, are a result of this volcanic and geothermal activity brewing under the park. Very cool.

During the day, the wind was blowing quite hard and we noticed that when we got nearer the lake, there were huge whitecaps on the lake and the waves were 2-3 feet high and crashing onto shore. Later, as we drove along the lake, we had to stop for about 15 minutes as a huge pine tree had blown over onto the road just ahead of us. We got out and watched as a park ranger made quick work of the tree with an ax he had in his truck. We decided that by the looks of him, he had cut down a few trees in his day. He was really fast.

As we were leaving the restaurant at Grant campground, we thought we'd walk along the lake to the parking lot instead of taking the paved trail through the woods. As we began walking, Bambi said, "Is that a bat?" Just like that, we were nearly surrounded by bats swooping down all around us. I guess there were a lot of bugs at the edge of the water that were attracting them, but knowing Bambi's affinity for bats, and the fact that she was already turned around and half way down the wooded trail to the truck, I figured I'd take the wooded trail too. Oh, while in Yellowstone, we saw: Bear, Moose, Coyote, Deer, Antelope, Bison... and BATS!!

We ended our first night in Yellowstone by driving back to Canyon Lodge next to our campground where we sat in their beautiful lounge next to the restaurant. It was there that Bambi found her favorite spot in all of Yellowstone. It was a huge gas fireplace with a large copper chimney. They had overstuffed leather chairs which Bambi drug over to be RIGHT next to the fire and soaked up as much heat as she could before going back to the trailer.

All in all, our first day in Yellowstone was really great and we couldn't wait for the next day. Especially the part where the sun comes up and warms the earth... yeah, that part!

Free and Easy...

Day 2: August 20

"Pair of boots and a sack of clothes, free and easy down the road I go.
Hanging memories on the highline poles, free and easy down the road I go.
Got the sun shining on me like a big spotlight, so I know everything is gonna be alright.
Aint no tellin' where the wind might blow, free and easy down the road I go.
Livin' life like a Sunday stroll, free and easy down the road I go.
If you only get to go around one time, I'm gonna sit back and try to enjoy the ride.
I could make a million or wind up broke, free and easy down the road I go.
Can't take it with you when you go, so free and easy down the road I go.
Some day I know it's gonna take me home... so free and easy down the road I go."

Ok, so I know everyone out there is not a country music fan... but I am, and songs like this are why. In this song, Dierks Bentley is talking about what it's like to just leave it all behind and go. Where to... who cares. You only get one chance, may as well give it your best shot.
As we drove down I-90 today across the great state of Wyoming, it was becoming easier to see just what he was talking about in this song.

We woke up to a beautiful morning in Keyhole State Park near Moorcroft Wy. The sky was blue and the temperatures were beautiful. Bambi got up a little earlier and took a walk through the park and was able to walk within 20 yards of some antelope which were just laying around in the grass in the park. It was a rustic but beautiful state park, and since there was no electricity or running water, we had no showers to take or tv to watch... free and easy down the road we went!
We drove to Gillette Wy where we stopped for breakfast at a McDonald's. We chose it simply because we didn't want to spend a lot of time and it was the first thing off the exit. Now, since we were just a little funky yet at this time of the morning, we took advantage of the bathroom at the McDonald's and brushed our teeth etc. So, the next time you see a vagrant taking a bath in the McDonald's bathroom, don't be scared, it could just be your friendly neighborhood Chiropractor and his wife - free and easy down the road we go.

After our luxury spa treatment, we decided to continue on to Sheridan Wy. There we stopped for gas, lunch, and some carpet for our trailer - I know carpet and everything... you're thinking, "getting pretty fancy" but actually we put it in there because the bottom of our trailer is aluminum and we figured the carpet would protect our air mattress from being punctured while going down the road... now that's fancy. Then we ate at Taco Bell!!!! Anyone starting to notice a pattern here? And, since we already had such a fine bath at McDonald's, we just used the bathroom there like normal people. Near Sheridan is where the scenery really began to change and you could tell we were starting to get into more mountains. You could also tell because my truck would no longer shift into overdrive because of the incline and the prevailing winds that we were headed straight into. I could feel our gas mileage dropping from a dismal 12mpg to a truly sucky 10. Oh well, as Kyle and I always say, I didn't buy it for the gas mileage!! Throttle Jockey. Free and easy down the road we go.

Our next stop was Cody Wy. Now Cody is truly a cool little town. It's very much a western town, but there was a great downtown and we took an hour or two to just cruise the shops. We were having such a great time, we nearly stayed for the night because in the summer time, Cody has an old west gunfight just off main street every afternoon, and a rodeo every night which we thought would be fun. However, we really wanted to spend the next day in Yellowstone so we decided we'd better keep going.

We ended up spending this night in Cooke City Montana. But, before we got there, we took a recommendation from my family and got off the interstate to take the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. WOW... what a cool drive. Talk about desolation. I think that drive took us about an hour or two and most of it was uphill. People have been making fun of us for not having a cell phone, gotta tell you, I'm pretty sure they don't work on the Chief Joseph Highway. There is nothing out there and I don't think we ever saw a single car on the highway. Desolate, but completely beautiful. The views were just astounding and if you are ever in the area, it's worth the time to drive it.

Finally, as it was just beginning to get dark, we made it to Cooke City Montana. Cooke City is a little town situated on the NorthEast entrance to Yellowstone. The park is mostly in the NW corner of Wyoming, but just a slice of it extends up into Montana which is where we were at. We drove into town to check it out... which took about 30 seconds. It's a very small town, but certainly with its own history and charm. We decided to come back into town but as it was quickly getting dark (and cold) we thought we'd better go back out and get a campsite. We only had to drive back out of town about 1/2 mile to where we had seen Soda Butte Campground, which is another very rustic little national park campground. We got settled in and were pleased to see that the total for the night was just $9. See, you really can travel cheap: $9 for lodging and a free spa treatment at McDonald's - who could ask for anything more?

After getting settled in, we were just beginning to get ready to go back into town for dinner and to see Cooke City when we heard some rustling in the woods. Our camp site was literally 25 feet from a small stream. I took the flashlight and shined it down near the creek and I saw something move. Bambi was like, "don't go down there," but you know me. I was curious to see what it was, but as I moved a little closer, the ground under me gave way and I fell about 10-12 feet down and when I found my flashlight, I realized that I was right next to the creek and my feet were wet. I shined my light around and saw Bambi standing up at the top of the creekbed and when I shined the light on her I could see it in her eyes that something was terribly wrong. I looked back up and shined the light when I saw it move directly in front of me. There standing nearly on top of me and looking down at me was a 9 foot black bear. No kidding, I just froze right there in the creek. Suddenly, I could see she was starting to get aggressive and I moved back about a foot, just in time as she took a huge swipe at me with her left paw. I rolled to my left side and she missed, but I could tell by her growl that she was serious and she reared back to take another swipe. Her teeth were bared and her mouth was wide open as she put out a growling sound like I'd never heard before. Truly, terror swept through me and just as I could see her right paw coming down at me, I heard another even more terrifying sound. You guessed it, it was Bambi. Seeing her man in grave danger, she summoned all her strength and got a run for it, jumping over the creek and directly at the bear. As she flew over, something caught the light and gave a quick shimmer. It was her curling iron. Apparently, as I fell, she was unpacking her bathroom bag and had her curling iron in her hand. Anyway, she flew over me and directly in to the bear where she jammed the curling iron into the bear's open mouth. The two females rolled violently across the ground and as I scrambled to get my light on them, all I could see was a cloud of dust. I called out to her but heard nothing... silence. I ran over to where they were just in time to see the bear rear back, take her last breath and drop to the ground with Bambi perched on top of her, curling iron in the bear's mouth and the cord wrapped securely around its neck choking off the mighty bear's airway. As I watched the light fade from the bear's eyes, I knew that the greater preditor had been victorious. The mighty Bambi then let out a piercing war cry that sounded like she may have said, "leave my man alone!". Then all at once, she reached down grabbing the bear's head and neck - with her biceps nearly tearing her shirt sleeves, she gave a quick jerk and broke the bear's neck... and it was over. She then sharpened a stick at both ends and placed the bear's severed head upon it next to the stream to serve as notice to all the other bears in the park. We don't talk about that night but I know now--do NOT tick her off!!

Oh, she's gonna kill me for this. Actually, I think the true story is that we unhooked the trailer, used the outhouse bathrooms and headed back into town for supper. (I probably had many of you going there for a while, but for those of you who truly know Bambi, when I got to the point in the story where she was unpacking a curling iron on a camping trip, you would have realized I was just having some journalistic fun).

Now Cooke City is just a little town like I said, but it really feels like you've stepped back 50 years. Not because it's uncivilized, it's just a little reflection of what a small mining town may have been like back then. It's very small and just nestled into the side of the mountain. We walked the street up and back checking out a few little stores and decided to go in to eat at a place called the Miners Saloon. We really liked this place. The food was great (we shared a pizza) and the atmosphere was really cool. It is just a little place, but it was packed with people. Bambi also liked it because it was nice and warm in there like when you get to sit next to a fireplace. The inside was decorated with all really old mining equipment and fishing gear. You know, you can go to many restaurants and they have "old" stuff hanging on the walls, but you know it's just reproduction stuff. This seemed like it was the real deal which made it really cool. They had the Olympics on and it seemed like everyone was watching it and it wasn't long and the whole place was cheering on the Americans. We stayed there for quite a while, because it was such a great place to hang out, and it was warm. We knew that we'd had it pretty good the first night in Keyhole State Park as we were even able to sleep with the door to the trailer open half way. Now, we were camping at about 7000 feet with no electricity or heat and it was going to be cold!! IT WAS!!

We got back to the trailer and paid homage to the great bear who had struggled so valiantly, and went inside. Neither of us slept all that well because it was just cold. I think when Bambi started to move around at 6am, she was surprised to hear me say - let's just get up.... I'm freezing.
Oh well, free and easy down the road we went.

Next stop, Yellowstone.
(P.S. if you want to see any of the photos more closely, just click on the picture and it should come up in a larger size.)