I'm Working on Pictures of My Yellowstone Trip

Ford Focus

Here's the car that took us 1515 miles from Spokane to Yellowstone and back. I recounted in an earlier entry about the mishap at the Thrifty rental counter in the Spokane airport. This was a good little car, and got great gas mileage, over 30 mpg. Ron and I could almost afford it. It's no Prius.

Judy

This is my former wife's sister-in-law, Judy. She works as a nurse (and supervisor?) at the hospital in Moscow, Idaho. I dropped by the hospital to see her and catch up on some family news. Judy is one of the most level-headed people I know. I introduced her to Ron. I really had a wonderful time talking with her. She and I share some common perspective about the family we married into.

Lochsa River

South of Genesee, Idaho, US-95 winds down the Lewiston Hill east of the city, then south to Boise. US-12 heads east where US-95 heads south. US-12 crawls a very winding route along the banks of the Clearwater and Lochsa Rivers. It is a beautiful drive, but takes many hours driving uphill to the Lolo Pass into Montana.

Chico Hot Springs Resort

After a hard day of driving, we arrived at Chico Hot Springs Resort. Here is a view of the resort from our front porch, high above the resort compound. The country is simply beautiful, and the resort had lots of nice facilities including a hot spring pool, a smoke-free saloon(!), a gourmet restaurant, and wireless! That's how I wrote all those blog entries while I was on vacation. Nifty.

Big Sky Country

This is Big Sky Country. The land spreads out ahead in a grey-green cascade as far as you can see to the snow capped mountains. It left me breathless and excited. This land is elemental, bigger than life, empty and lonely, so beautiful to be indescribable. I kept thinking, "What did those fur trappers think when they crossed into this valley?" "What did the Indians think as they road off the plains into these mountains?"

Heading to Mammoth
from inside Yellowstone

Of course the scenery in the park is spectacular, but I would say that even if I hadn't seen a geyser erupt, a mud pot boil, and a wolf saunter down the highway. This is high mountain country, and its portrait often conveys a dusty resoluteness, an ancient apartness from the rest of the world. Stay tuned. In a few days, I'll have my photos all finished, and I'll post a link for you!

Here's the Critter Picture. Just about everywhere we looked, we saw bison. These animals are large! This particular fellow was mowing the lawn near the restroom at the Mammoth Hot Springs. Bison can run at speeds up to 35 mph, and tourists who get too close to buffalo calves get to ride those horns every year."

American Bison