Day 17, Bison, not on a plate. Have I mentioned we ate bison burgers?

It is easy to understand why this area is a popular winter and summer tourist destination. The ski resorts offer challenging runs without the crowds of some of the more popular resorts. With cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snow hiking, big tire bicycle riding, and sledding, there is something here for everyone. Not to mention sitting around the fire and looking out at the beautiful snow covered trees and mountains preferably with a hot drink in hand.

In the summer, the ski runs are transformed into mountain bike trails and the snowshoeing trails become hiking trails. There is fishing, rafting, ziplining. Not to mention sitting out on the deck and looking at the beautiful trees and mountains. Preferably with a cold wine in hand. In other words, there is something here for everyone.

Through the generosity of Colleen's in-laws, we have had the opportunity to visit their vacation home and enjoy both seasons. I think I can honestly say, I've fallen in love with Montana.

Today, we headed to Yellowstone. We had been warned of long lines and lots of traffic. I guess we got here late enough in the day that we didn't really experience any of that but we did hear tales from other campers. We did however, find that the parking lots were fairly full and since we were still pulling our trailer, there were places that we needed to park in a pull out and walk.

We didn't hit any of the really big attractions today. We did see Artists Paint Pots, one of the many geothermal sites. Signs caution people to stay on the trails. It is easy to see why. Everywhere you look there is steam escaping from the ground. The paint pots are bubbling mud pots. We learned that the mud pots are different in character in the spring when they are soupy and later in the summer when there is less water and they are more stewy.

We were anxious to see bison. We got to check it off our list with the spotting one bison by the side of the road. This guy was alone and we got quite close just be passing in the car. We hope to see more tomorrow when we take a wildlife tour.

We are settled in our campground. There are signs everywhere that this is grizzly bear country. While we don't plan to do any trail hiking tomorrow, we bought bear spray at Colleen's insistence. Both she and Alex have encountered bears while our on trails. I'm more than happy to learn from their experience and to be better safe than sorry.
Location: Lonesomehurst Campground, 40 S Lonesomehurst Rd, West Yellowstone, MT 59758, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 9, Rockin' n Rollin' all Night Long

Image
Our crash wrap survived the night. The forecast called for a high wind warning with gusts up to 50 miles an hour. We are pretty sure that wasn't an exaggeration. That was accompanied by heavy rains. Our RV developed a small leak around where the slide comes out but it only required a rag on the floor to keep the water from spreading in the night. We were really relieved and thankful that the temporary fix held.  Ardith and Jim decided to head back to Ashland today. They'd planned to stay an additional night. Tomorrow we would continue north and theywould head back inland and south. If the night's storm and the forecast for continued rain, wind, and chilly temperatures (as I write this at 6 pm it is 46°) wasn't enough to convince them to leave, the standing water in their campsite was. We didn't have too much on our list of things to do given the weather but we headed out to Oceanside Beach. We got there during a break in the rain. Luckily, it was low tide. A walk do...
Read more

Day 7, The Long and Lonely Road

Image
March 28, 2023 Death Valley, at 3.4 million acres, is the largest national park in the contiguous 48 states. More than 90% is protected wilderness. As we left the park, we made sure we had gas since we'd be driving for a long time with not more much besides vast expanses. We drove through Death Valley Junction. Pretty much at all that is there is the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel. It was originally built by the borax company but was abandoned in 1925. In 1957, Marta Becket came across the abandoned building and felt it was asking her to ressurect the building. She moved from NYC and began offering dance and mime performances but the audiences were small so she began to paint an audience on the walls. It took her four years. There were no tours anytime close to when we passed through so the image is from the web. From Death Valley to the Mohave. We are outside Barstow tonight. It is about halfway to our next stop. I found a Harvest Host at Slash X Cafe, abou...
Read more

Day 1, On the Road Again. Destination Olivia

Image
Since our big adventurer, we've only been out in the pod on a few occasions and then only for a few days at a time. Even though I made lists of what we'd taken on our long trip, it took a while to assemble it all together. We also need to sanitize the fresh water tank. When we finally drove away, the planning and packing already seemed all worth it Driving to our first stop was a bit unremarkable. We made one rest stop at the Dunnigan Rest Area. It has lots of eucalyptus trees which makes it a nice rest stop by California standards. Our first night is at MoonBeam Farms, a lavender and loofah farm. It's a Harvest Host, meaning RVs can stay one night but you must have your own water, power, and there are no trash facilities. In return, you are asked to support the host by spending $20-40. Caz gave us a tour. She currently has ten different varieties of lavender. Some are culinary, others are more fragrant and provide buds and oils for her many products. As we walk...
Read more