Today was one of our most anticipated days! We have experienced so much during our travels so far, I thought it wasn't possible to continue to be amazed. Boy, was I wrong!
We had breakfast at the Dude Rancher in Billings, MT, a hotel that was featured on Hotel Impossible on the Travel Channel. Then we packed the car and hit the road!
We drove until we saw this in the distance. The Beartooth Scenic Byway is something everyone needs to experience.
This is the first time that either of us have experienced the Rocky Mountains. It was breathtaking! Every mile that we but behind us was a new and more amazing view. The mountains towered around us like giant rock hands guiding us upward into the sky. The sky and the peaks melted together creating little doubt that this was the most beautiful natural creations we have ever seen.
We pulled off at an overlook that was just over 9,000 feet. The views were wonderful.
While we were there we spotted some little wild chipmunks, and they were hungry! So we grabbed some peanuts and feed them. It was an amazing experience to have a wild animal come and take food from you, much like the prairie dogs a few days ago.
Once we got back on the road we kept heading up and up, higher and higher with every turn. Every time we thought we had reached the peak the mountain kept taking us higher! It wasn't long before we were above most of the others mountains were below our line of sight.
We reached the top of our mountain to find beautiful fields as far as we could see! It was amazing!
We reached the top of our mountain to find beautiful fields as far as we could see! It was amazing!
We continued towards the Northeast Gate of Yellowstone when we saw a bunch of people crowded on the side of the road. Like any tourist in their right minds, we immediately stopped the car and grabbed the camera. Much to our astonishment, we saw a moose and her two calves eating in the distance. Kim cried tears of pure joy.
Once we entered the park, we were memorized by nature. Soon we saw a herd of wild buffalo roaming the hills. There were so many! One was even relaxing by the side of the road. We just had to have a close up.
We stopped off and checked out Tower Falls, which is one of many waterfalls in the park. It was beautiful!
On our journey to the next stop, we saw two elk in velvet lying in the grass. Everyone was snapping pictures trying to catch these creatures in their natural habitat. Then, we saw ANOTHER elk walking near the falls.
We headed down to see The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and it was a great warm-up for the big daddy that we'll be seeing the near future. The Yellowstone River upper and lower falls were also visible.
After that we saw one of the craziest things the park has to offer. The majority of the Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano, and that means there are unique thing that happen underground. The Sulfur Spring, the Mud Volcano, and the Dragons Breath Spring are all made by the magnum that runs under Yellowstone. They were the oldest things to watch, also the smelliest things in the park. Sulfur is yuck!
After that we headed towards Old Faithful by way of Lake Yellowstone. It freezes over in the winter except large parts where the water is heated by hydrothermal vents. Cool stuff...well hot actually.
As we were making our last turn toward Old Faithful, we could see the geyser spraying into the air from a distance! We were crushed, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The geyser erupts about every 90 minutes or so and we had just missed it, but that gave us time to explore and wait for the next one.
We wandered around the visitors center and learned something's about the park and geysers. Then we got a got a great seat up front and waited for our blast from the Earth. It was an amazing site to behold. The water went so high up! We were astonished that much water could come from the ground every 90 minutes or so.
After Old Faithful did her business we walked over to the Old Faithful Snow Lodge and had dinner at the restaurant inside called Obsidian. Kim had a humus plate and a salad with HUCKLEBERRY vinaigrette. I went with the more manly option of a bacon and cheese BISON burger. It was terrific!
By the time we finished our meal, it was close to time for Old Faithful natural fireworks once again, so we hung around and watched the geyser spew thousands of gallons into the once again. It was a great way to end our 4th.
Now it's time for sleep. G'night all!
-Paul and Kim
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