Day Trippin

Tuesday, our day off, we hopped on the bike and drove the upper loop of the park which is about 150 miles round trip. We start out at Lake and head north to Canyon, then west to Norris Junction. After that we then head north to Mammoth Hot Springs where the elk like to hang out on the grassy area in front of the post office. This grass was originally planted when the U.S. Calvary took over Yellowstone in the late 1800's. Mammoth has many very well preserved buildings that were originally used by the soldiers. Ruth, you would love the history here. Anyway, the grass is sweet and attracts the elk. It is quite a sight to see both mama elk and their babies sitting around, looking at all the people who are pointing cameras at them. You almost forget that they are wild animals. We then head to Gardiner, Montana about 6 miles from Mammoth. This small town has two gas stations, one grocery store, and about fifteen saloons! We filled up the car with gas and a got few supplies. It didn't take us long and we soon were heading back into the park. From Mammoth we head west to Roosevelt, which hosts the horseback rides, hay rides, stagecoach rides, etc. Next our direction is south, back into Canyon and then on towards Lake. As we were approaching Roosevelt we came across the largest bull elk that we had yet to see. Whenever you see a bull elk it is always special. Most of the elk you see in the park are the females and their offspring. That ended our day.

Friday, our next day off we decided to head into Cody, Wyoming. We were expecting rain and strong winds in the late afternoon so we decided to drive by car instead of the bike. This turned out to be a very wise choice. As we were heading home the winds were extremely strong with buckets of rain. While we were in Cody, which is known for their cowboys and rodeo events, we decided to ride our own horse and bull! It was difficult to decide who would ride what, but in the end Claire chose the bull while I chose the horse. Okay, I can hear you all saying that this is a lot of "bull-". We were both a bit nervous, not wanting to have anyone laugh at us. As it turned out, we became quite quite the attraction (in Walmart)! We drew a large audience, receiving cheers from the nice folk in Cody who seemed to enjoy watching us city folks have a good time. You cannot visit the west without a trip to a brothel, so we had lunch at Cassie's. Just to explain a few things, the town of Cody is named after Wild Bill Cody. The man was a legend, a showman, a friend of the Indians, an entrepreneur. He founded and lived in Cody, Wy. There are many local places that bear his name, including his own hotel and saloon. Cassie's was probably visited by Buffalo Bill Cody one or two times. You won't find any plaques on the wall, however being in Cassie's is like stepping back in time. The original, uneven wood floor had tin pieces nailed over the holes, the gas lamps still worked, and the photos would have kept you busy all afternoon. We are hungry, especially after our hard ride on the horse and bull so I had a bison/elk burger while Claire had the traditional beef burger. We do truly enjoy our "city" trips! In case you are wondering about the bear pictures, on our way out of the park that morning, I saw my good friend Larry on the side of the road. Larry is a great photographer, so we stopped to see what he saw. A beautiful black grizzly was walking down a hill, eating as he went. We stayed on, watching him for at least thirty minutes, as he came closer and closer. Trust me, this is a different grizzly than the other pictures. This summer the grizzlies have been out and about, seen every day somewhere in the park. Well my friends, Claire is calling me so I have to end. She wants me to start the grill as we are having spare ribs, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes for dinner. We do eat good in the "Stone"!