Jim and I slept just okay in the massive bed, and The Dog had the sleep of her life. That is because we made the decision to leave the door to her travel crate open when we went to bed at 10pm, and at 1:30am, likely after much deliberation on her part as to whether or not this was a trap, she decided to test the boundary and leapt into bed with us. While she isn’t huge, at a slender-framed 45 lbs, she can spread out like an oil spill and suddenly take up a very large footprint. Within moments she was sound asleep peacefully and even though she is not generally allowed in our bed, neither one of us had the heart to ask her to leave.
We didn’t want to leave, either
We all awoke to a somber mood as we prepared to leave the lavish lair of the Four Seasons. To help assuage things we ordered a chocolate croissant and yogurt parfait from room service and I think The Dog was flabbergasted when the doorbell rang and someone was suddenly standing at the door – with food. Otherwise, she was especially sad when she saw us packing up and refused to move from in front of the fireplace until the bellman arrived to take down the luggage, and then there was so much excitement she ran into the hall again to dance and bounce around.
Once the cart was all loaded up we reluctantly left the suite, The Dog leading the way. She had gotten quite comfortable at this hotel, marching down the hallway and turning automatically at the bank of elevators, waiting expectantly for the doors to magically open. We got downstairs, and, as had become her routine, she tried to lead me (unsuccessfully) into the restaurant. An eternal optimist, that one.
At 9:01am we were in the car and heading north via the Moose-Wilson Road, which is known for prime moosing activity and goes right into Grand Teton National Park. All of us kept our eyes peeled intently, including The Dog, who didn’t know exactly what we were looking for but she was ready and moosing like she was born to moose. We even got out of the car and walked a mile round-trip on the roadway, but at no point did we see a moose, a Wilson, or a moose named Wilson. The park service even had signs out saying it was a sensitive wildlife area (like, thin-skinned?), but nothing. Maybe next time, Wilson.
The sign says it all
Heading north on US-89/191/281 we eventually left Grand Teton National Park and entered the bit of land between Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park known as the John. D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway. There was evidence of a forest fire throughout the entire area and it looked like all the skinny pine trees went up like matchsticks. It’s strange, though, because just like the other forest fire remnants we’ve seen, the trees are burnt to a crisp but still standing proud and tall. Only dead.
The moment we all waited a lifetime for
We entered Yellowstone National Park through the South Entrance, and it was, as one might expect, astoundingly beautiful. Thing is, all 3 of us had to use the bathroom really badly at this point so it was difficult to focus on the mountains, forests, water features, and scenic vistas. We couldn’t stop, however, because rumor had it Old Faithful Geyser was expected to blow next around 11:56am (plus/minus 10 minutes) and if we pressed on we could just make it. I mean, you can’t visit Yellowstone and miss one of its most famous features, even if that feature involves water blowing out of a giant hole in the ground. Although, it should be mentioned that my dear husband suggested if we missed it he would recreate it at home with a garden hose.
So onward we went, hoping the big, gushing hole was worth kidney damage. We eventually blew into the Old Faithful parking lot like our hair was on fire, parked, hopped out, and joined the crowd that had also gathered to watch earth relieve itself. Less than 10 minutes later it happened – water blew out of that giant hole in the ground as advertised. They don’t call it Old Faithful for nothing. We watched for about one minute, 58 seconds of which was spent suddenly realizing the biggest phenomenon of Old Faithful was that we all come by the truckload to see it, and then beat the crowds into the Visitor Center bathrooms. Check and check.
Scene stealer, the Excelsior Geyser Crater
Afterward, we pulled the car to the far side of the parking lot to have a picnic lunch. The Dog got her daily bone with a little peanut butter to enjoy while we ate PB&J sandwiches (a special little vacation treat), but she was far more interested in watching Squirrel TV that was playing outside. She hadn’t seen this particular episode and was riveted.
Beautiful scene… with a dark secret simmering underneath
Moving along, we next stopped at the Grand Prismatic Hot Springs, and let me tell you, Old Faithful has nothing on this grouping of pools with steam venting out of the turquoise blue water. There is the Excelsior Geyser Crater, Grand Prismatic Spring, Opal Pool, and Turquoise Pool. These thermal features were spectacularly stunning and reminded us of a TV show about Yellowstone we watched before we left. The gist of the show was that Yellowstone has 10,000 geothermal features in the way of geysers and other science-y things, and they all may erupt one day as a supervolcano. If that happens it will pretty much wipe out humanity, as scientists predict it could plunge Earth into a “volcanic winter.” Sleep tight.
Grand Prismatic Hot Spring
For now, however, it was a tranquil scene. After walking the boardwalk around all the steamy features we were back in the car and making our way along. A bit down the road Jim was commenting how he thought there was what looked like poo in the roadway when we rounded a bend and – BISON – standing right there. Holy smokes. Well, that immediately solved whether or not that was indeed poo in the road. Anyway, bison are funny animals. They spend a lot of time standing around nonchalantly or strolling wherever they damn well please, not seeming to care one whit about you or even notice your existence. But they do care. And they do notice. In fact, they care and notice a lot and could ram you with their 2,000 lbs in an instant. That that is why, people, we give them plenty of personal space. Inside those girthy, rugged exteriors are sensitive souls and gangsters at heart.
It’s easy to see why they call this Artist’s Point
Continuing on we took a right at Canyon Village toward Hayden Valley and stopped at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone’s South Rim Artist’s Point. We found a beautiful waterfall there but also saw the elusive Least Chipmunk. They are one of my favorite animals and we’d seen very few of them on this trip, and even fewer that would sit still long enough to be photographed.
Hayden Valley was – surprise – stunning and offered views of more (sensitive) bison across large expanses, trees, water features, and all kinds of random steaming fumaroles. Eventually we turned east and toward the park boundary, a route that took us past Yellowstone Lake (fact: it’s the Largest High Altitude Lake in the continental United States). Farther along, we serpentined our way up and over Sylvan Pass at 8,541 feet and out the East Entrance. It was a lot to take on in one day but worth the time.
Boss
The drive out of Yellowstone dumped us right onto the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway, which follows the Shoshone River, and immediately the countryside turned into the Wild West. It was exactly the type of landscape you picture Buffalo Bill traversing through on horseback, with brown and red rocky outcroppings, scrub brush, and canyons. Although we didn’t see one, we knew there was a horsethief around somewhere.
We arrived into his namesake city, Cody, WY, about 5pm and headed straight to the Beck Lake Bark (dog) Park. The Dog had been so patient in the car for most of the day and she deserved a chance to run around and play. One feature this park had that we’d never seen before was a separate fenced area that led right into a lake. Because the last thing we wanted was a sopping wet dog, we took a vote (2-1) and went into the non-lake dog area. However, we had no sooner turned The Dog loose when we noticed a feature in the section we were in: a small, very muddy stream that ran the length of the play yard. Our little girl is a mud magnet, and has been known to dive right into many a mud pit with delight. At the same time we saw this, another dog showed up to play so we thought maybe she wouldn’t notice it. We were wrong. After about 20 minutes she not only noticed it, but before we could mobilize a blockade she was in it and in it deep, gleefully thrashing around. The tan bits on her legs were now black to match the rest of her fur, her collar was no longer discernibly red, and she was an utter disaster. The other dogs – and their humans – watched on in amazement at how quickly she could transform herself. Seeing as there was no way we could enter a hotel with this canine calamity she finally got her wish and into the lake she went. When she emerged from the impromptu swim she was dripping wet but her color was restored. Thank heavens.
After towel drying her the best we could we checked into The Cody. It’s a nice place with nice staff and they didn’t seem to bat an eye at the damp, pleased looking dog and exasperated parents that slunk in the front door. We settled in for the evening, bittersweet about the fact our trip was coming to an end soon.
HowieRoll Around the World 