Moving east...Montana and Wyoming

It was going to be an installment of the final days in Canada, but we have traveled so many miles since then, I think I need to bring us up to date with more recent photos. After a few miles across Idaho, we entered Montana.

We went through Glacier National Park and camped there but we're not able to go travel the scenic route over Logan Pass since the van was one foot two long.  We could have taken a shuttle provided by the national park but it sounded like driving on the KnifeEdge of Katahdin!  Not a happy place for Latona to be so high with steep cliffs on each side so we decided to just move on across Montana and head for Yellowstone.

Spotted this fun place in Kalispell...love the doors.

Driving from Montana into Wyoming...

And headed for Yellowstone NP... Here is the stone arch that is the entry to the first National Park ever created, March 1, 1872.

                                      

We got a campsite at Mammoth Hot Springs and look what came to nap in front of our site...

Shades of the Grand Canyon experience we had.

Just a few shots from the Hot Springs. Mammoth is definitely the right adjective.

This Killdeer was feeding around one of the springs. Amazing to me.   

                            

We headed for the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the famous Upper and Lower Falls, but got turned back at the head of the road by a ranger, due to a serious medical emergency.

We moved on to see what else we would find. Driving through the park, we see the Elk Herds...

And one of the famous Yellowstone Bison.

And of course, on to the must see of Yellowstone, Old Faithful.  We only had to wait about a half hour to wait until we witnessed this most beautiful geyser.  Hard to capture on photos. Ranger told that this is not the tallest at 130 feet but certainly the most known geyser in the world.  There are five places on earth with geyser activity (New Zealand, Chile, Russia, Iceland and Yellowstone) but over half of the active geysers are in Yellowstone. We anticipated the sight and we're not disappointed.

                                

She erupted for over three minutes.  The longer the eruption the longer the time until it goes again. But ther is always and only a space between eruptions of one and one and a half hour, faithfully, around the clock everyday. Humbled and awed!

                                                                    **********

We returned to the van and quietly headed toward Grand Teton National Park. The road through Yellowstone continues through the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Highway NP, so we moved into the national park and got another campsite at Flagg Ranch.  

A few notes.  We have seen Bear Warnings EVERYWHERE we went at trail heads and campgrounds.  We obeyed all the warnings and being quite intimidated, did most of our travel in the van rather than on foot.  We both were surprised to see the extent of the Bear information thT included recommendation not to hike with less than four people in a group.  It gave us more respect to our friends and all, who hiked this area on the Continental Divide Trail.

We are somewhat "road weary" at this point as you might imagine.  Of course, we want to share the high points and the clear photos in the blog. But to be honest, we can say that sometimes we get tired of one more mountain or one more waterfall, at least for a moment or two.  I can tell when things are getting tense between us when we start barking at each other or Latona sits with her head almost out the window on her side of the van.

We continue to be grateful for the safety of the journey and the amazing beauty of our country, and the kind people we find most everywhere we go.  Moste of all to the support and encouragement you are providing to us both.  Love and hugs, as always...

Tomorrow, I will add another blog that will describe our time in the Tetons!