PIctures of Yellowstone

This gives you an idea of the devistation from the huge forest fire that hit Yellowstone a few years ago. I do like that the park isn't "cleaned up" but that the public is allowed to see the extent of the damage from the fire and realize how long it takes for nature to recover. But it can recover. We may not survive the damage we do to our planet, but it will find a way to go on. And thank goodness it does.




I like this one because it gives you some idea of the size of this place. At times were were 7 - 8 thousand feet above sea level and there were still things towering over us.







This is just one of several people we saw fishing in the lakes and rivers of Yellowstone.







This is the bull elk we saw. There were several cars pulled off on the side of the road to watch him. By the time I got my camera out, he had started to run away from us.






This is the Roosevelt gate at the North entrance.

Bridgete's camera is far better than mine and she got some great photos, so I'll let her share those with you.

Pictures for the Guys

These are just some of the bikes we saw in Deadwood and Spearfish. Notice the bikini clad girls. There were several of them giving bike washes. The Miller Lite girls won't be there until the 7th, so you'll have to make do with the local talent. :)

The Road To Spearfish

We've travelled about 1000 miles, as the crow flies. But we've done much more driving than that. We arrived in Spearfish at 1:00 AM yesterday (or I guess it's today), got the cat settled and headed for the bar for a well deserved drink. Bridgete and I were the only ladies in the bar and they were all making eyes at her. Considering that we had been in the truck for about 14 hours, we didn't feel particularly sexy and just wanted to finish our drink and hit the sack.

It should be noted that this is the weekend of the annual Sturgis gathering for Harley Davidson. Every hotel within a hundred miles or so is booked. The entrance to our hotel looks like a dealer lot. Some beautiful bikes are here.

So - pictures will be coming later. In the meantime, allow me to say that I have seeen some of the most glorious country ever. In brief, I'm not sure why anyone lives in Idaho. Yellowstone is amazing, gorgeous, stunning, every superlative description you can imagine - and then they don't do it justice. We saw herds of elk, falcons, and the most stunning, perfect specimen of Bull Elk - not 50 ft from the road. He was magnificient.

From there we went to the Grand Tetons and down into Wyoming. This surpassed all my expectations.

I'm an Oregon girl, born and bred. I consider Oregon to be the best place to live - beautiful, clean, moderate climate, etc. But what I saw yesterday took my breath away. Every turn in the road gave another stunning vista. Colors that aren't in any box of crayons. Air so clean and crisp it makes you want to breath deeply. I can't even describe it. You just have to see it for yourself.

The drive itself was long, very long. We took the southern exit from Yellowstone thinking we might save time, only to find ourselves in the midst of road construction. And when I say construction, I mean construction. The road had been completely torn up and we were on dust and dirts and "rough road" for about 60 miles off and on. We stopped and got a quick bite to eat, gassed up the truck and set out for Spearfish. We wound our way through the hills, even through Big Horn, and finally got onto I-90. 75 miles an hour didn't seem fast enough.

SIDEBAR: We've learned via the roadside signs that 75MPH equal 1 mile every 48 seconds.

But we're here now. Severus has learned to love the truck. He sleeps as long as he's drugged and being held. We're still working on the hotel sleep time. He likes to jump from bed to bed and doesn't always make it. He gets to rest today as we are off to see Deadwood and will be back in Spearfish tonight. (as long as those road agents don't get us.)

Later HOOPLEHEADS!

Second and third days

Well, driving across Idaho is pretty boring. And we didn't know what the top of potato plants look like so we're not sure if we even got to see any. We saw a big green field with lots of odd, short plants so that might have been it.

Severus was much calmer on the second day, I think he finally gave up fighting the valium we got him from the vet. He also greatly prefers to be in someone's lap rather than in the carrier so whoever isn't driving has the job of holding the cat. Makes it hard to read but that's ok.

Even though he was better in the car, he still wouldn't settle down in the hotel. And this particular hotel didn't allow pets, so we were sure someone was going to hear his howling and come investigate. He did sleep a bit but only until the valium wore off, so my mom took him out to the truck at 6 am. But when we checked out there was nothing about us sneaking in a cat on the room notes. There was also nothing about trying to drive the truck through a thing that was too low for it and scraping the roof of the truck...and disrupting people eating in the restaurant above. In our defense, it was just barely too low and there wasn't a sign that said what the clearance was. I mean, come on, even McDonalds tells you what the clearance is on their drive-thru windows!

The most interesting thing on day two was driving through part of Yellowstone. Since it was dusk we saw TONS of elk just wandering around, not a care in the world. We saw a beautiful male just chilling out in a field, happily eating as if 20 people weren't standing there gawking at him and taking pictures. We tried to take a picture but he was a little too far away. It's on my mom's camera so she'll probably load that one when she posts her blog.

Anyways, day three was.........long. We spent a couple hours driving through more of Yellowstone, eventually losing the ability to find words to describe how amazing it was. I managed to be walking up to Old Faithful RIGHT when it went off...talk about good timing. We also went to look at the Grand Tetons. Then we drove through all of Wyoming in order to reach Spearfish, SD. That was an...interesting drive. At the beginning we had to go through some MAJOR road construction...I mean, the roads were basically gravel so we couldn't even go highway speed. Then we finished driving through the Rockies. You have no idea how huge they are. Unless you've driven through, of course. And they're just amazing to look at. Words can't even describe them. The pictures will help, but it's still nothing compared to actually driving through and seeing them.

The flat part of Wyoming was pretty boring...plus it was late so we were tired anyways. So, now we're in Spearfish, once we get ourselves moving we're going to head over to Deadwood...because we have to.

I will post the pictures in a bit, right now we want to get to Deadwood.

-Bridgete-

First day

Well, the cat is not happy. But the drive today was alright. He did calm down a bit after about...6 hours of meowing. I think he exhausted himself.

He started up again with his howling in the hotel room. He seems to be telling me that nothing smells right, nothing feels right, and he just wants to go home. Little does he know that he's heading towards a new home, and he'll have to adjust just as much when he gets there as he's needing to adjust in each hotel room. But at least he'll recognize the furniture when we get to the apartment.

Nothing really interesting that I noted while driving through Oregon. We've arrived in Idaho now, and it all still looks like desert and the occasional farm. Lots of cornfields once we hit Idaho, but that was probably the most interesting thing I saw.

I didn't get a chance to take any of my own pictures today since the cat was so incredibly unhappy. But I will be taking some later, I promise.

Time to go sit with my cat. He needs some love.

-Bridgete-

We're Off! Day One

First, here's how the truck looked this morning.



And this is how we looked. (Bridgete is the cute one)

We’ve arrived at our first stop. The Best Western Caldwell Suites in Caldwell Idaho. It’s already miles ahead of the La Quinta in Seattle where B and I devised our minimum hotel standards check sheet.
The room is large and clean, with good pictures and a quiet, efficient air conditioner. The toilet works and does not continue to run after use. There is an indoor pool down the hall where we plan to cool off as soon as we get the cat to settle down. Right now, he's howling underneath the bed.
Severus did not enjoy the trip and seems a little displeased with the room. He cried all the way from Portland to Caldwell – with a little break around La Grande. He was briefly content while Bridgete held him and stroked his belly. He has a definite dislike for turn signal indicator noises and those little bumps on the side of the freeway that warn you that you have drifted onto the shoulder. We had to drive on them a couple of times for road construction that reduced us to one lane of traffic. He was also greatly offended by a malodorous aroma in Malhuer.
The drive was a good one overall. Made good time – leaving Portland around 10:00 and arriving in Caldwell at 6:00 mountain 5:00 pacific time. We've had a good dinner and now are ready to relax. Severus is tired of the whole thing already...


Miles traveled today - 404

Toast to Bridgete

Bridgete mentioned the toast I made at her party a few weeks ago. This is the gist of what I said then - and I still mean every word of it.

August 1982 - 25 years ago. I was 22, starting my last year in college, and pregnant. I was absolutely terrified of being a mother. I knew the kind of mother I wanted to be, but I had no idea what kind of mother I WOULD be. Well, 8 months later, after several hours of unproductive labor and a c-section, I had a daughter. Bridgete. She was absolutely perfect. Beautiful olive skin, 8lbs. 15oz., 10 fingers and toes, a hard head (literally and figuratively) and dark brown eyes. I fell head over heels in love with her.

I became a mother. And because I was very, very lucky, I got a daughter who would teach me how to be HER mother. I still don't know what kind of mother I would be to anyone else. But for Bridgete - I learned how to be her mother. She has been the greatest teacher in my life. From her I learned patience and laughter and joy and most of all, love. The kind of love that can change your life. The best kind of love.

Now I'm driving with her to Boston - 3000 miles away from me - so that she can start to pursue her dream. I know that life has much more to teach her. And I know that she has much more to teach me. I'm looking forward to this next phase of both our lives. I know it will be filled with many lessons, some heartaches and great joys. I am confident that Bridgete is doing exactly what she should be doing and I have no doubt that she will be a great lawyer. I am so very proud to have been chosen to be her mother. I am proud of the woman she has made me.

I'm going to miss her so very much. Thank goodness for the internet and email and chat rooms and doing the NY Sunday Times crossword puzzle together online. I know there will be many trips back and forth. And that the love we share will only grow stronger. Now we'll see just how far love can go.