We have had a lot going on in our lives since we got home, so I am a very slow getting this last post out. However, this part of the country is so beautiful that I have to share my photos with you. So here goes.

Bidding a fond farewell to Yellowstone, we began the last leg of our trip. We headed across Montana, and across Montana, and across Montana – it is a very wide state. But it is a beautiful and diverse state, so I snapped my way along.

Montana is called, “Big Sky Country”, but is also known for its Huckleberries! It would have just been wrong to be in Montana all that time and not sample this delicacy, so we stopped by:

Savored their huckleberry pie (delicious!), and perused the gift shop – a  quick but fun break in the drive.

We continued on taking in the peaceful scenery,

We made pretty good time zipping  along with virtually no traffic. It’s not a heavily populated state which is okay until you run low on gas, then it can become an issue. We were getting pretty anxious when we finally came across a sign promising gas and food. We were in the middle of nowhere, and were  skeptical but, having little choice, we headed toward Winnette, Montana. We found the “gas station” – no building, no attendant, just two pumps and a credit card machine, but hey, it worked.

Having fed the car we decided to see if they really had food, so we drove another block into down town Winnette which consisted of three buildings -one bar, one general store, and one café & bar. What the heck, we pulled up to the Kozy Korner Café and, deciding to live, dangerously, went in.  We were seated by the 78 year old receptionist/waitress/cook/entertainer who took our orders and regaled us with the story of her life while she prepared our meals.

We didn’t have pancakes, which evidently are world renowned, but the food was pretty good and the entertainment delightful – a fun addition to the adventure.

As we continued on our way the  weather turned pretty dark, but didn’t cause much trouble.

We finally reached Traci’s and Danny’s lovely home.

In the month since we embarked on our journey, we traversed thirteen states, drove 7600 miles, and

collected more wonderful memories a than we could count.

After spending another couple of days  in KC seeing family and friends,  Tom and I headed back to Virginia.

A beautiful end to a awesome journey. Thank you Traci for taking us along and for being wonderful!

Our last day in Yellowstone we headed to the opposite side of the park where we were promised better chances of seeing the wildlife as well as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This side, again, did not disappoint.

Before I go on, let me put “headed to the opposite side of the park” into perspective.

Yellowstone National Park – Fast Facts

Getting from one site to another often took hours, and we saw a lot of sites and sights – Thank you, Traci, wonderful daughter and trip chauffer.

Moving right along, we arrived on the west side of the park to yet another traffic back-up, but this one was due to park visitors stopped along the road. The attraction was a momma black bear and her two cubs. The ranger was urging people to move along so I got a couple of quick shots before complying with her request.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued along the narrow winding roads taking in the sights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And as promised, wildlife!

(Again, the disclaimer: Many of these photos are a bit blurry due to being taken from the backseat of a moving vehicle.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove to the  southeast corner of Yellowstone to see Lake Yellowstone where we got a look at the Grand Tetons – breathtaking!

Then it was north again hitting the sites we had bypassed on the way south. The first was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sky was overcast for much of the day, and at one point we were caught in a hail storm. Now the hail was only BB sized, but it came down pretty hard, so we pulled into a turn-off to wait it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though the weather was a bit gloomy, as we headed toward our home away from home, the silver lining showed itself in all its glorious grandure! – a beautiful ending to our wonderful Yellowstone adventure.

We spent the next 3 days driving, walking, photographing, learning about, and savoring this incredibly amazing national treasure.

According to Wikipedia: Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 square miles (8,983 km²),^[1] comprising lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain ranges.^[8] Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent. The caldera is considered an active volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years.^[10] Half of the world’s geothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism.^[11] Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining nearly-intact ecosystem in the Earth’s northern temperate zone.

Beyond impressive, so let me show you a few of the amazing sights.

Fountain Paint Pot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midway Geyser Basin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mammoth Hot Springs

One of the first things we encountered was this big guy taking a snooze.

 

He was very near the walkway and there are signs everywhere warning you to stay at least 75ft. from the bison. There were also signs warning you to stay on the walkways. This guy was definitely closer than 75ft .to the walkway.  Hmmmm,,  what now. We very quickly and quietly tiptoed past and luckily he let us get by with that – wheeew!

 

We strolled around taking in the sights, sounds, and scents (some were pretty stinky, but not bad most places) of the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such amazing landscape.

Such an amazing place.

 

 

Next we headed to Emigrant, Montana by way of Idaho Falls. Lots of driving, but OMG it is incredibly beautiful country – a soothing balm for the weary soul.

 

We stayed for a long weekend in the teeny, tiny town of Emigrant which has about six commercial buildings and boasts a total population of 372. You may ask “Why?”, so let me explain – a 1/2 hour drive to Yellowstone National Park – AWESOME!!!

We actually went straight to the park before Emigrant. It was a long drive from Boise, and we didn’t arrive at the park until almost 4:00 PM, but we were on a mission so we pushed on.

The 30 mile trek from the West Entrance to our desired location took us nearly 2 hours. About half way to our destination we encountered a long line of cars stopped on the road. We grumbled loudly and wondered what in the heck was going on. Once we had inched our way near the front of the line we found out – bison!

In this case there were six or seven of them who kept wandering back and forth across the road – pretty cool! We would encounter this often throughout our visit.

We eventually made it to our first stop, Old Faithful!!!!  We watched a wonderful video, wandered around the Visitors Center for a while

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and then, at the appointed time, made our way to the viewing platform. Although there were several teases and false starts, the actual event was Spectacular!

 

 

 

 

So awesome!!!!!!!

Tired but inspired we headed for Emigrant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lovely home away from home for the next few days.