Miles: 200-ish (to date I have travelled over 2,000 miles!)
Highway Patrol: 0 (unless you count park rangers)
Tolls: 0
Hitchhikers: 10 (all in the park -- and all about 20 years old!)
I did the abbreviated "Grand Tour" of Yellowstone: I focused on the southern loop. I hit the biggies: Old Faithful...Grand Canyon (not "The" Grand Canyon, but Yellowstone's)...Yellowstone Lake...and the "wild and dangerous" wildlife (the park's terms).The day started out rather chilly: 39! But it got rather warm, and it was a gorgeous sunshiney day.
I spent most of the day just enjoying the scenic drive. 45 mph....for about 6 hours...across windy, often tree-lined (often not) roads. For those every planning a trip to Yellowstone, here are a couple items to note:
1. Old Faithful now has viewing benches, with shows beginning about every 10-15 minutes (hence the term "faithful"). The old guy has lost of his eruption height due to earthquakes, but he is still quite a site.
2. Bison like to eat. They eat in the river. They eat in the grasslands. They eat on the side of the road. And people LOVE to take pictures of them eating. If you see about 10-15 cars in a pull out, it is because a bison is eating. (Picture: the ONE bison I saw that wasn't eating. He was lounging by the side of the road..posing for pictures)3. It takes a forest longer than 20 years to replenish after a fire. There was a very large fire in 1988, and evidence of it is everywhere. As new trees are growing, you see their dead, charred brethren towering 50-70 feet over them. Destroyed tree trunks are all over the landscape. The circle of life is on full display.
4. Geysers are everywhere..and they tend to stink like rotten eggs (the sulphur). Old Faithful may be the most famous one, but he ain't the only one.5. Waterfalls are something to behold. The Grand Canyon (again the Yellowstone one), has some gorgeous falls, but try to check out it's less famous cousin Gibson Falls.
I planning on going to the local rodeo tonight. Should be fun!
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