Wy-O, Wy-O Wyoming! Day 3

~as remembered by Stacy


"Wyoming Welcomes You!" ...and so did the Big Horn Mountains....gorgeous! After being fully equipped with breakfast burritos and a borrowed Garmin GPS system from my cousins Scott and Christy and big good-bye hugs from Gage and Deedan, we left Sheridan and continued on our trek across Wyoming. But not before we picked up a "journey can" (a.k.a gas can) and a tarp...just in case.

The views on Highway 14 just west of Sheridan were gorgeous, and made for a winding ride up, down, and all around through the mountains until we found ourselves on flat land. And when it was flat, there was wind. Not just any wind, but the kind of wind that might make a Subaru pulling a U-haul run out of gas.... But wait! We have a gas can!! Unfortunately, we didn't fill up the can with gas, because we weren't expecting to have to use it until we reached Canada. Nevertheless, I saved the day by driving the 15 miles into the next town, Cody WY, to retrieve gas and bring it back to a napping Jonathan, in order to keep our caravan en route to Yellowstone.

my hero!

Continuing our travels toward Yellowstone, we began to understand why Smokey the Bear had warned us of the chance for Forest Fires being "High." Smoke rose from behind the mountains in front of us, and we saw tents along the roadsides that were housing forest fire-fighting teams who were using helicopters that scooped up water from the lakes to put out fires.

Fortunately, the only "smoke" we saw in Yellowstone Park was really not smoke at all, but steam rising from the bubbling geysers throughout the park. We wisely parked the U-haul at the entrance, and drove together in my car into the park, taking little off-roads that led to hidden waterfalls, bubbling pools smelling of sulfur and wildlife!

We saw sooooo many bison, and took care when viewing them as we were warned in the park bulletin...

"WARNING: Many visitors have been gored by buffalo! Buffalo can weigh 2000 pounds and sprint at 30 mph, three times faster than you can run! These animals may appear tame but are wild, unpredictable, and dangerous. DO NOT approach Buffalo!"

We even saw a few brown bears and...you'll never believe it, Bill...

"The Giant Elk!"

We found ourselves crossing the Continental Divide on the way to Old Faithful, arriving just in time to "see 'er blow!"

Lucky for us, as there is usually at least a 1 hour wait period between eruptions. Our several detours for photo opps and the 45 mph max speed limit kept us in the park for several hours, not to mention the cars parked along the side of the road for nearly a mile, all observing a herd of bison and family of brown bears at sunset. We drove into the darkness finding our way across the border into Montana. It was after midnight when we finally arrived at my highschool friend, Ross Epley's place in Belgrade, Montana, and what did we find awaiting our arrival, but a nice comfy bed!

Video of Good Ol' Faithful!