Day Seven - Saturday July 2, 2005

I've uploaded images, see Yellowstone now! - Alice

Alright, another slow start out of Helena. It rained, really hard rain, off and on all day (mostly off). The trip was all rural highways. Terry correctly pointed out to me that we were not on INTERSTATES on the trip through Idaho to Montana, but U.S. Highways. The same was true for this trip. The trip rolled through the eastern side of the Rockies. Lots of cattle, lots of farms growing hay and what I think was wheat. I think I figured out what causes the "big sky" effect in Montana. Most of the valleys near the Rockies are carved out by glaciers and are shaped like shallow and wide pasta bowl. Also, Montana has dry air so the clouds float in a really high sky. The horizon is long, the sky is deep, so there appears to be a lot of sky.

We stopped at a local deli run by a wheat growing company called Wheat Montana. The sandwiches were delish. Leroy had a hissy-fit because he wanted a cherry drink, but waited until after we had waited in line and got our order to insist on it. Turns out it was cherry cola which he can’t have (would you give a kid sitting in a car for 4 hours a caffeinated drink?). I got him what they called a cherry Italian soda. Just a warning in Montana they make ‘em with milk (what you might call a crème or cream). He was great for the rest of the trip to Yellowstone.

So we arrived at Yellowstone. We came in the west entrance, and went to Artists Paintpots, which was okay (not colorful, but lots of interesting stuff). Leroy saw a great mud pot, and didn’t really want to leave, so he had a fit when we tried to get him to the car. All the time, we were trying to see what we could before a nasty looking thunderstorm hit.

Leroy was still not in a good mood when we arrived at Norris Geyser Basin. Adding to our frustration, we needed a bathroom break, and there was only a nasty pair of pit toilets and a big crowd there many in line for the toilets. So we asked Leroy if he wanted to go, and he just screamed for his lawyer, etc. Terry went to the bathroom, and when he got back, Leroy decided he had to go, and couldn’t wait. There are certain moments during a family trip when strangling becomes really tempting, and this was that moment for me. I took him in line and told him he had to wait and if he had a problem with that, he should have gone with his dad. Grrr!!

Once we started to go on the trail, he was totally into it, and happily pointing out all the sites. It sprinkled a little rain on and off, but the biggest problem was the wind which was almost gale-like. Here are some pics:

The best part of the day was yet to come. We went to look at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It was BEYOOTIFUL. Even with showers and winds, we had a great time. Here are the pics. I highly recommend going there if you make it to Yellowstone. If we had more time, the canyon is small enough that you can do a circuit trail around the canyon easily in a day.

We then took the trip north to our hotel in Gardiner, MT. We stayed at a Super 8. This is a small town perched on the bluffs over the Gardiner River. How small? We bought buffalo burgers from a hometowner who lamented that he had to drive 80 miles just to get to a Walmart. They have the tourist months of summer to make their money, and the rest of the year to get by. It was an okay room, but in a basement under the stairwell, and definitely the lowest quality 100 dollar room we had on our stay. Still, folks were being turned away looking for a place for the night. I had booked our stay about a month or more in advance. If you ever go to Yellowstone and want to stay at a town right outside the park, you need to plan in advance, or plan to drive 50 miles away. Leroy liked the hotel because it had an indoor pool, and pointed out that it had a pool from the sign as we drove in.