We went to Yellowstone the week of June 13th. We had a lovely drive north, stopping to visit with Sarah and the kids for a birthday bash in their back yard. The best part of that occasion was watching Miss Katie eat BBQed pork chops. They are clearly a favorite.
We had breakfast in Pocatello on our way to West Yellowstone. It was a real diner, and the food tasted great to us. Wen entered through the west park entrance, and the first attraction we came to was Old Faithful. What a mob scene! I thought, if the park is this crowded I don't think I am going to enjoy our visit much. Fortunately, we left a lot of people and congestion behind when we left Geyser Basin.
Our destination was just outside the east park entrance at the Crossed Sabres Ranch. We were meeting Johanna and Larry there for a few days of fun before they drove on to Boise to pick up some library holdings from Larry's former professor.
As we drove around Yellowstone lake, there was lots of ice in the shallows, because winter had just left the park.
We noticed that in the mornings, the ice in the shallows was connected indicating some nighttime freezing!
We had to drive over Sylvan Pass on our way to the ranch. As you can see there was quite a bit of snow in the high elevations, in fact, while we were there an avalanche blocked the road back into the park for a couple of hours one day!
We met up with the Davis and had a wonderful time together. Lots of hand and foot and quality time just hanging out. We love these people.
We drove back into the park one day, because it was Bubby's first trip and we all agreed that she need to see the Mammoth area and the north entrance. We drove by beautiful Tower Falls and stopped for a photo opp.
Johanna had orthoscopic surgery on her knee a couple of months ago, which meant she was moving a little slow. Larry is probably looking at total knee replacement before too long, so in general, we are all getting a a little older.
We had a great time on the boardwalks at Mammoth. We even had a lovely lunch in the dining room. We drove out of the park to Libby, MT where I visited the Dan Bailey Fly Shop in historic Libby. What a treat for me. I haven't been there in a couple of decades, and it was their catalogs from which I learned to tie flies. I used to look at the beautiful pictures of the all the latest flies and try to duplicate them.
On another day, we drove east to Cody, WY where we visited the fantastic Buffalo Bill Cody Historic Center and Sierra Trading Post (there is an actual outlet store there). We even played hand and foot in the park and got this lovely lilac photo.
On our last morning together we did a little photo shoot at the Ranch. Larry and Johanna, as it turned out, were not going on to Boise. The library transaction fell through. They were headed home, and just came to Yellowstone to be with us. We were honored to know they came that far just to hang out.
When we drove home, we went out the south entrance to the park. We were able to see all of the park entrances except the northeast, Lamar Valley, entrance. Bubby got to see some great country in our short trip. Yes and we saw bears, elk, deer, antelope, moose, and bison. What we didn't get to see, and Bubby really wanted to, was a beaver!
We drove through Jackson Hole and the Tetons on our way south. It was along drive that day, but we were well into vacation mode by this point, so we just enjoyed the ride.
Once we got home, we started our BBQ experiments. This was the first batch of ribs I tried. That tasted good, but were pretty fatty. We are making some progress, but there is a long way to go. Great to be home. We have had a great summer.
Buboppy
No comments:
Post a Comment