Wild, Wild West… Day 2 and 3
Day 2
Before hitting the road, we stopped at Super 1 Foods to pick up some fruit for breakfast. I highly recommend doing this on your road trips. It doesn’t cost any more than fast food, and it’s most definitely healthier! To my delight, they also had my favorite low carb snack bars. I picked up a couple of those, as well.
We made a stop at Flathead Lake to take a pic in the same spot where Cal had a flat tire on her 2020 wild west adventure. That’s definitely not something this momma wants to commemorate, but I mention it to offer this word of advice. I can not recommend AAA membership enough. We have all used it for various reasons, but coming to Callie’s aid, when she was miles away from home, made me a fan for life. They will also bring you gas if you run out, boost you off if your car won’t start and entitle you to some great hotel discounts. In short, if you travel near or far, you need AAA. The Flathead Lake water was so still and beautiful. We could have stood there all day just soaking it in, but we had some miles ahead of us to reach Yellowstone National Park.
Callie had never been to a casino. Surprisingly, they are located in almost every gas station in Montana! We stopped in Missoula to try our luck. We went in with a $20 limit. Gambling can be financially dangerous. I think it’s important to set a comfortable limit for your spending before you go in. We each picked a slot. I had lost my $20 within in five minutes. Callie, however, was a winner. She left with her winnings of fifty cents, LOL!!!!!
Next it was time to eat some bison! We chose Montana Ale Works, in Bozeman. I had the Bison New York Strip and also some local wild foraged morel mushrooms. I believe in trying new foods and new things so I am glad that I chose the bison. I’m not a huge meat fan and bison is a pretty tough meat. For those reasons, I would probably never order that again. Afterwards, I had several insta-friends message me that it is a meat that is better when eaten, ground. I will definitely try it as a burger or meatloaf in the future. Here in KY, we call the morel mushrooms “dry land fish.” We had to see if they were similar. Of course, in the south, we “bread” them and eat them fried. In Montana, they were served with herb whipped amaltheia goat cheese, blistered cherry tomatoes, wilted rainbow chard and crostini. It was beautifully presented and tasted delicious, but anything with goat cheese does! Although we cleaned our plate, I am a southern gal, so my heart (and stomach) belongs to the deep fried version!
We made it to West Yellowstone in time for a shower and sleep. Our lodging for the night was Best Western, West Yellowstone. (Read in the previous blog post how Callie found our hotel deals AND how we got free entrance into all of the national parks.) The rooms were clean and there was a free breakfast bar. It was a perfect location, as far as proximity to the park. An early rise, a cup of coffee and we were entering the park. May I suggest early mornings, as we had the entire place practically to ourselves!
Day 3:
Upon entering Yellowstone, my very first observation was how smoke was seemingly rising from the ground! It was beautiful, in an eery way. Thermal areas, with sulfur deposits on top, result in the “smoke,” or “steam.” A little too much science for my understanding. We stopped to admire what is deemed, “the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.” It’s located just south of Canyon Village and is a must see.
Next, I saw my buffalo! Remember, I told you in the last blog post that we were in search of animals. We had seen a field full of buffalo from a distance. I, however, had my heart set on one up close and personal. As we were cruising thru the park, there, beside the road, drinking from a stream, was my buffalo!!!! A little more down the road, and we came upon a another field full of them, this time much closer. Then, one right beside of the road, so yes… I took a selfie with it! (Can you tell how excited I was to see buffalo?!)
Next, it was time for the big showing of Old Faithful! It is named Old Faithful becuase it is faithful to erupt every 63-70 minutes. It’s located in a big, open field, with rows of benches surrounding it from the front. As we sat in our front row seat waiting, the geyser would tease us with smoke shows and mild spoouts of water. When it finally happened, there was total silence from the crowd, as we all sat in awe of this spectacular show of nature. The eruption lasted about three mintues and was everything I had imagined!!!! So blessed to say I experienced it!
On our way out of Yellowstone, we made a stop to admire the snowcapped mountains in Grand Teton National Park. We decided against wandering around after seeing a sign for recent bear activity! LOL We did, however, just “sit” for a while, admiring the landscape.
From Yellowstone, our drive took us to Jackson Hole, Wyoming! This town had been on my top five list of cities I wanted to visit for some time. At last, I was having my photo taken in front of the deer antlers!!! I was surprised how small the town was. We could see the ski slopes and only imagine how beautiful they would be when snowcovered. Oh my, they were some steep slopes! This was a quick stop for a light lunch, al fresco, at Cafe Genevieve. I loved, loved, loved this lunch spot! After our meal, is when we entered the design store, and I was encountered by the sales associate that was less than kind. I talked about this experience in our IG Live in case you missed it.
I didn’t realize what a lengthy day this was until I started writing about it! As you can see, we were on a mission to squeeze in as much as we could! I will wrap up blog post #2, as we leave Jackson Hole. Where are we headed? Stay tuned for the next installment!