July 22, 2010

We got up fast and ready to roll in no time, adrenaline is an amazing thing when you're excited you can get it together so fast. We are headed for a couple of days in Yellowstone. We made great time, and saw wonderful countryside, the Mountains of the Rockies…Beautiful. When we got to the Gate they were just opening and my Golden Access Pass got us in for free, sure beats $50. The traffic inside was unbelievable, we went to the first campground we saw because w just wanted to set up and then get out and see the sights. It was full.

We drove on disappointed, with the traffic, but surrounded by the most beautiful country I have seen, just about beats Yosemite. There were steam holes all over, they smelled like rotten eggs, we saw people taking picture so we would pull over to see what they were shooting, they must have had telescopic lenses because the buffalo we saw were so far away they looked like a pack of dogs. We went to the next camp, and it was full, we drove on, we went to some famous grazing sights to find out that we just missed them. We were getting a little discouraged. We pulled into another campground and talked with the park ranger. We were told if we didn't get here by 10 am that all the site were taken, and ours that was reserved was probably given up since we didn't call again to confirm, their website said nothing about this, I'm getting really irritated now and this lady was too nice to bestow my wrath upon her. She called all around for me to try to help. But the bottom line is that we didn't get to stay in Yosemite, but we sure did get to see the sights, somehow we got turned around, when I thought I was going East we were really going North. And by complete luck we got to pull over and see this most beautiful huge waterfall.

So we ended up in Montana, unexpected, BOZEMAN, MT. Now on interstate 90 we just wanted to camp somewhere nice. Tomorrow we will be seeing Mt Rushmore in S. Dakota. Montana was a lot more beautiful than I ever expected we kept stopping and taking pictures, it was the big sky and huge mountains, and acres of grassland. We saw so much, we ended up staying at the KOA in Hardin, MT…and it had everything we could need. We paid the extra $20 to be members because we know we are staying at more of them, they have showers, laundry rooms, pool, hot tub, grass sight for your tent and a continental breakfast in the AM. I started on the laundry right away then bought hotdogs for dinner and Katelynn built the fire and started the soup and hotdogs, after eating I switched the laundry around and took a shower…..and

So can a really bad day get so much worse? YES, That night we were in the middle of dinner when we started getting a little sprinkle, no biggy we decided to put out the tarps and rain flies on the tent. But by midnight, we were right in the middle of the biggest thunder and lightening storm, monstrous rainfall and 70 mile an hour winds. Kate was so scared, we could hear all kinds of things breaking and blowing around, I have to admit I didn't know what to expect. It was crazy, the tent was blowing right across us sideways. We slept and in the morning with just our bottom sleeping bag a tiny bit damp. We had survived!!!

I took the blanket to the laundry room and put it in the dryer. The sun was out so we laid out our tarp and tent to dry. We weren't able to leave until 12 noon, but we left clean and dry.

July 21st

Boohoo we had to leave the haven in the town of Cascade. The drive out was just as beautiful as the trip coming from the other direction. But wait… before we left John made us a tasty breakfast. It started out with a parfait, a layer of strawberries and layer of fruit yogurt and granola on top. Then he came out with omelets, just perfect – one filled with all the right things. I ate the whole thing.


So today we are heading to Yellowstone, we stopped in Boise to shop at a book store, I wanted to buy a kindle so bad so I could read in the tent as the screen lights up. But while we were in Boarders, I was looking at the travel information for Yellowstone, and I got to talking to this man about our trip and that we were headed there today. He said that he was so sad to inform me but if I didn't get there at 10am when the gates open I wouldn't be able to find a camping spot. We needed to sit somewhere and look things over and make a decision. So after Kate got her books we stop at a Starbucks and talked for a while about what we should do, after calculating how far we were from Yellowstone, we wouldn't even get there until 6pm. I don't want to miss out on anything. So we will drive on until 5 or 6 then set up camp closer to the park entrance.


We pulled off at 5:30 in Pocatello Idaho, very close to Idaho Falls still an hour and ½ to Yellowstone…and it's raining like crazy, looked for camping nearby because KOA has some good covered sites at times. No luck. We ended up in a hostel, right across the street from Applebee's, and it was very close to a big airport. So in the morning we pack up early and head out, we can't wait to see the buffalo, Old Faithful and the Sulfa Ponds.


After eating at Applebee's Kate and I came back to our place and were able to go for a swim at the hostel's indoor pool. As I'm writing, I'm falling asleep. Got to get up and rolling early.