But, we eventually got out act together and drove up to Bozeman via Big Sky following (more or less) the Gallatin River through one of the most picturesque sections of road we’ve seen on this trip. Big Sky is also clearly “big dollars.” I can see why though: the location and real estate both look pretty breathtaking. 

In Bozeman, we stopped at the Museum of the Rockies, which has an impressive dinosaur collection.

This guy is especially impressive, as it isn’t merely a casting (as most dinosaur skeletons are) but the real fossil:

The museum also had some interesting exhibits on Montana history and culture, as well as a hands-on, interpretive history site that demonstrated daily life in 1890s Montana:

I should also mention that the town of Bozeman itself was fairly appealing.  Maybe not a great place to visit (not a lot of touristic interest), but it seems like a good place to live if you can accept the climate. 

The drive across the rest of Montana to Medora, ND was rather pleasant and interesting enough. Eastern Montana certainly isn’t as arrestingly beautiful as Western Montana’s mountains. However, it was a nice change of pace from Florida. 

We arrived in Medora, ND around 6pm and checked into our fairly “old school” motel. I didn’t expect much of the town or accommodations — we were just coming for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. But, we were shocked by what we found: a pristine, quaint, well cared for town and a modest but very nice (and newly renovated) motel. 

We were utterly smitten.

How did this come to pass? It turns out the town was founded by a French aristocratic (using his wealthy American in-laws money), who’s business there ultimately failed (though his “chateau” remains). Teddy Roosevelt, of course, loved the area and helped to make it famous. But, Medora kind of languished until it was bolstered by the vision and finances of the inventor of Mr. Bubbles (among other things).  Today, it thrives, supported by a well-endowed, non-profit foundation and hundreds of volunteers each summer. I could go on, but I suggest you just read about it at Medora’s web site. 

Here’s a couple of photos of the town, including an awesome playground:

Today’s box score: +1 state (North Dakota)

In the morning, we got coffee in the reception tent and cinnamon rolls (excellent!) in town at a place called Woodside Bakery. We then headed into Yellowstone to visit the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. On the way, we encountered a number of buffalo including many that were strolling in the road (a scene that was repeated numerous times for us):

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone had a spectacular waterfall, but I was otherwise less excited by it when compared to Waimea Canyon in Kauai (because it’s majestic and on an island!) or the Grand Canyon in Arizona (because it’s the “Grand” canyon by which all others must be judged). 

Emerson was excited to spot an Osprey nest in the canyon near this spot: 

From the canyon, we drove up toward the park’s entrance at Mammoth Hot Springs. The drive was greatly slowed due to road construction, and we once again found visitor parking and facilities to be very crowded in this area. 

 Nonetheless, it was worth it. 

The climb up and down (or down and up, depending on where you park) looks more daunting than it is. Here’s a view from the top of Minerva terrace:

Here’s a view up from the bottom of Palatte Spring: 

And a view of Minerva Terrace:

We opted to drive home via Tower / Roosevelt country, which was longer in terms of distance but was a different route through another part of the park, seemingly less popular with the tourists, and overall just more enjoyable. Here’s a view in the area of the fossil forest as we climbed Mt. Washburn:

We ate dinner at Beartooth Barbacue (good) in West Yellowstone and then grabbed some excellent homemade ice cream at City Creamery (excellent) before heading back to Yellowstone Under Canvas to go to sleep. 

We departed the Jackson Lake Lodge around 9am this morning after a leisurely morning of coffee, breakfast, repacking for Yellowstone. I’m using a new system of keeping the large suitcase in the car and living out of a smaller suitcase to carry into hotels. Plus, we needed different clothes anyway due to the cooler mornings (in a tent)!

It’s a short and pleasant drive between Grand Teton and Yellowstone NPs up the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. Even stopping for photos along the route, we reached the Yellowstone entrance in about half an hour. We started our explorations at the West Thumb Geyser Basin, which features a number of interesting geothermal features on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. 

Here we were introduced to Yellowstone’s pools, springs, cones, geysers, pots, and more. I must say, having never seen anything like this before, Libby and I were fairly smitten. I don’t know this to be true with certainty, but Yellowstone feels like one of those rare, few “singular places” on earth.

From West Thumb, we drove to the Upper Geyser Basin, which includes Old Faithful (and, as we learned, all it entails — for good and bad). In truth, it’s kind of a zoo with hordes of tourists. Parking is difficult. Everything is crowded And, ultimately, while Old Faithful is remarkable, it’s remarkable in the same way that the Pyramids at Giza or Acropolis in Athens are “remarkable” (or not) to me. Personally, I find the other geothermal features fat more beautiful and interesting… perhaps simply because they’re less familiar and thus unexpected to me.

Here’s a photo of Old Faithful pre-eruption (I used the SLR for the actual event shots): 

After Old Faithful, we headed up to the Midway Geyset Basin, which is home to Grand Prismatic Spring and Excelsior Geyser. Both of these are spectacular–if potentially deadly–geothermal features. Here’s a view of each:

When walking by these features on the boardwalk, we could feel the hot, moist stream blow against our faces. Once out of the steam, the wind and dry, hot weather caused the moisture on our skin to evaporate quickly. This made us feel surprisingly cool almost instantly. 

By this time, we were approaching five o’clock and thought it best to drive the 30-45 minutes to our accommodations in West Yellowstone, Montana, a “glamping” (glamorous camping) place called Yellowstone Under Canvas. I must confess: I had my doubts. But, it turns out that this place is awesome (especially if you get a deluxe tent with full en-suite bathroom like we did). Honestly, we prefer this to the Jackson Lake Lodge: it’s closer to a wider range of dining options and just feels more like a unique experience (whereas the lodge felt more like an unremarkable motel that was living off of its location). 

For dinner, we drove back into West Yellowstone and ate at an awesome place called Wild West Pizzeria. Admittedly, we were hungry after a busy day. But, we all thought that the meal was legitimately good — a pretty high compliment from this family. 

So, it’s nearly 8:00 and after dinner. What to do? Well, why not put the cherry on top of this sundae and visit Idaho? That’s exactly what we did… visiting the town of Island Park (which is about 500 ft wide and 33+ miles long, incorporated to circumvent Idaho liquor laws) to see Henry Lake just before sunset. 

After returning to Yellowstone Under Canvas, we got ready for bed, and I made a fire in our “stove/heater/fireplace thing” (I’m a native Floridian — what do I know?). The trick will be keeping us comfortable throughout the night as temperatures dip into the upper 40s. 

Today’s box score: +2 states (Montana, Idaho).