We now continue on our mystical journey. Today, we get to check out Yellowstone, one of my favorite places. I apologize for the cloud cover on most of these pictures...and so does the Big Guy who put them there. Enjoy...
Day 7 - Cody to Great Falls
We started a little earlier than usual (around 6:30 AM) and left the Beartooth Inn in Cody towards Yellowstone National Park. Now, this time, we basically did a drive through to get to Montana along the Eastern side of the park...but because I love you guys, I'm going to add some pictures from two years ago when I went along the Western & Northern sides with my mom, stepdad, brother, and his fiance...now wife. No need to thank me, just pay it forward as usual. Now, one thought that I had about Yellowstone (being one of my favorite places on Earth) is about all the geysers, hot pots, mud volcanoes, and whatever else you want to call them...and they're basically the Earth letting off some internal steam...like sweating...only in Yellowstone, it's a lot more than just sweating...and the smell takes some getting used to I'm told, which is why I affectionately call Yellowstone "Mother Earth's A-Hole" but think about it. If Earth's A-hole is one of the most beautiful sights in all of the world...then we should definitely do all we can to see the rest of her, right? Anyway, just my thought...and I apparently think too much sometimes. Enjoy the pictures...
Lots of waterfalls of various sizes in the Park
Yellowstone Lake
Think about the end credits of "Little House on the Prairie"
I like these purple flowers...whatever they're called
"The Buffalo are nearby."
"That's amazing! You can tell that just by sniffing their droppings?"
"No, I can see one right there."
We've had a few close calls with Buffalo
"Now, don't be alarmed...but he's coming towards you guys.
It's okay, stay perfectly still. They rarely eat humans."
Buffalo Joe - We have video with the van door open...
but he gets up really quickly and I don't want to post
footage of my entire family crapping their pants simultaneously
Colter's Hell!!!
Mud Volcano
My favorite, the Dragon's Lair
A lot of buffalo on the range
A bear that we saw two years ago
When we got to Mammoth Hot Springs, the does had taken over
"Use the crosswalk. Remember what happened to Bambi?"
Mammoth Hot Springs
Apparently twenty years ago, there was more action...
Get your mind out of the gutter...
Sapphire Spring
Inspiration Point at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
The Falls at the Grand Canyon
Now, for the big show...
"Everybody gather round!!! He's about to BLOW!!!"
I was a little disappointed by the size of the eruption...
but maybe it was a long day for the Old Guy...
maybe they should add some Viagra with his Metamucil
The Northern Gate of Yellowstone
After making it out of Yellowstone, we drove about an hour north to the city of Livingston, Montana. We stopped at a nice little diner there called Clark's Family Restaurant...but after waiting for twenty minutes and no waitress, we decided to just head to Arby's and be on our way. The drive through Montana was quite scenic. There was Bozeman, Butte (which ironically enough...has a HUGE hole in the middle of it, a copper mine), the capitol of Helena, and eventually to our stop for the next few days, Great Falls. Here are some accompanying pictures...
If you don't know why I took a picture of this sign,
then you may not get half the jokes on this blog.
P.S. Hi Lilie, it says "Boulder"
The State Capitol of Montana in Helena
Magic Diamond Laundromat Casino
Now, think about that for a second. MAGIC!!! DIAMONDS!!!
CASINO!!! LAUNDROMAT!!! "One of these things does not belong..."
Along the drive, my mom & I kept ourselves entertained by talking about this and that. By the way, we pulled into Great Falls with just over 2000 miles on this trip so far, which by my calculations means somewhere in the range of 40-50 hours in the car at various speeds over the last week...so we talked a LOT. One of the more memorable things from this portion was we say a semi going uphill carrying a large cylinder...but from our angle, it looked like a giant O...so we got to talking about Oprah...but not about all the stuff that she owns...but how unlucky she is because she can't trust anybody & will probably never know the joys of having a family because of it. People like her & Bill Gates probably have a hell of a time finding friends that they can trust...because they would always suspect they're only around them because they are bazillionairres. Oprah doesn't have any kids...just her dogs. You never hear about Bill even having a girlfriend or anything...probably because he's trying to develop that sexbot prototype or something. Anyway, the point is...money really won't make you happy. I know you're rolling your eyes at me right now...and that's okay, I forgive you. Trust is the key thing. You have to be willing to trust to be trustworthy...and that means running the risk of being taken advantage of (remember my little spiel a few days ago?). Trust is like a flower or something. It takes a lifetime to build...but only one quick act to destroy. Once you've been burned, it makes it that much harder to grow back too. Anyway, I hope that all of you out there have at least a few people that you can trust...and please, don't take advantage of them. That's today's public service announcement.
We arrived in Great Falls, got some Wendy's, checked into our hotel, and basically kicked back and watched TV. It was already kind of late...and we'd been in the car for something like eleven hours. Didn't want to take it anywhere else that night. We watched "What Lies Beneath" with Harrison Ford & Michelle Pfeiffer. I hadn't seen it in a few years...and my mom had never seen it. It's pretty good. I really like the slow, dramatic suspense, especially during the last half-hour or the movie. It's more psychological than anything else...and big ups to director Robert Zemeckis, who did "Back to the Future" and others. Yeah, slept pretty good that night.
It is at this point...that I have to stop yapping about my journey...because my blog's memory is full...and I need to format a new one over the next couple of days to tell you about all the sights of Great Falls & continue my incessant ramblings. It's probably a good thing because I found out last night that my brother & sister-in-law are going through some serious drama right now...and I don't want to bring you guys down too. Seriously though, see what happens to them when I leave town for a WEEK? How are those kids gonna survive when I move to Vegas (whenever the Hell that'll be)? So I'll check in with you ladies & gentlemen in a few days, wish me & my family luck with their drama, and I'll update you as soon as I can with what I can...mostly about my trip and other positive stuff because that's what I'm all about. It's been great hollerin' at ya for the past year or so on this blog...and I hope that you all join me over on my new one. I'll have a link to it soon. Promise. In the meantime, feel free to check out some of my past entries. I think they're pretty good...but I'm kind of partial. Have a great time everybody!!! See ya soon!!!
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