Day 5: Yellowstone Part 2

Got up early to beat the swarming crowds of super-tourists with selfie-sticks to Old Faithful and explore the south loop.  Major attractions being so road-accesible in Yellowstone is really double-edged sword.  You can get there quickly and easily, but so can everyone else.  

The morning started out on an awesome note when, as just having gotten started, we noticed a coyote right off the road.  It was a beautiful animal, not at all the scragly thing you picture in your head when you hear the word "coyote".   As we sat there watching it, we noticed by its mannerisms that it was hunting something and we were right.  We watched through binoculars as it gulped down two field mice.  We were the only ones there and the only ones present to see it.  

After that, we entered the Geyser Basin area which was super cool

And then on to Prismatic Springs and Old Faithful

At this point, we were pretty raggedy and tired.  It was only 2ish and we hadn't had a shower in a couple days.  We really didnt feel like doing much so we decided to hit one of Yellowstones swimming holes to get  "clean" and lay around for a bit.  It just so happens it was located in the middle of a 640 million year old lava flow which was pretty sweet. 

We also did this!

The current was strong but the water was deep and it grabbed you and took you about 10 ft down river before it lets you up.  Looks scary but a bunch of kids were doing it and we weren't going to let them punk us.  

After that, we went back to camp, cooked supper, and prepared to go out to Hayden Valley for sunset.  Down in the valley we got some serious buffalo time.   The buffalo were rutting, so they were rolling around in the dirt making all kinds of noises and fighting.  It was pretty wild.  So wild that the police have to run them off the road with their sirens to keep traffic jams from happening.  One charged right across the road in front of us and as we were leaving Steph could have pet one out the window.  They are awesome and powerful creatures.

As the day wound to a close we watched the sunset in the Hayden Valley.  Great end to a great trip.

Day 4: Yellowstone Part 1

Had to leave Grandma's house at 4:50 am in order to get a first-come campsite in the middle of Yellowstone.  Normally getting up at that hour would suck bad, especially since we didnt even give ourselves time for coffee....and it kinda still did, but the drive through Yellowstone National Park at the break of dawn was magic.  Sheer, two-thousand foot granite cliffs, lodgepole pines and the Shoshone river cutting through the whole thing was really indescribable.  This was followed by foggy Hayden Valley. 

As we mentioned earlier, campsites in these popular national parks are a real pain to get and we soon found out just HOW bad it can get.  As we pulled into the Norris Campground parking lot at 6:30am, one and a half hours before the ranger even starts giving out sites, we were greeted by a LINE of cars we can't even see the end of.  So, I hop out and run up the hill and find ANOTHER  line of waiting at the campground office.  

Im in shorts and flipflops and its like 40 degrees and I realize I have to wait in line.  So I ran back down the hill to tell Steph what was going on.  Our reaction....

Long story short I ended up making coffee on the side of the road while Steph held our place in line and we ended up getting a campsite around 9:15.  On the plus side, we met lots of interesting people with lots of interesting stories about their travels.

We set up camp and then started exploring the north loop of Yellowstone. First up was Mammoth Hot Springs, but before we got there we saw this guy hanging out on the side of the road.

We also took a detour to Sheepeater Cliff on the way

And finally Mammoth, where you literally witness the birth of new rock.

We then rode through the massive Lamar Valley, but the day was hot and we were pretty tired so we didn't get out a whole lot. We did however manage to swing by the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone for a bit.

After a long day of driving and exploring we got back to camp around 6, had some cold beers(Caldera Brewing) and grilled some burgers and hotdogs.

Day 3: Badlands to Yellowstone

Got up, got a bite and headed out to spend a few hours doing the 32 mile scenic loop around the Badlands.  Our ultimate destination was Shoshone Lodge, just outside Yellowstone National Park, which meant around an 8 hour drive.  Since we knew we wouldn't be able to do much in Yellowstone that day, we decided to just take our time and enjoy the scenery.  Enjoy we did! We knew we would like the Badlands, but we didn't realize how much.  We saw Bighorn Sheep, Prairie Dogs, and deer just doing their thing.  Its really a gorgeous place.

Our route out of the Badlands just happened to take us into the town of Wall.  If you ever drive from South Dakota anywhere near this place....probably from any direction....you'll know that its coming.  Its kind of like Rock City.  Signs and advertisements EVERYWHERE.  They got their start by offering weary travelers FREE ice water.  I guess back in those days ice water was a luxury when traveling the vast plains.  Anyway, we knew it would be a tourist trap, but those kitschy little places are kinda fun sometimes.  The trip inside was short and the fresh made donuts with maple and chocolate glaze was actually surprisingly excellent.  

After leaving Wall we realized why Wyoming is one of the least populated states.  Western Wyoming is absolutely gorgeous, but eastern Wyoming.......ugggggg.  Its like a Mars landscape, but covered in brown grass as far as the eye can see(at least the section we went through).  It has its charm, but it grows tired fast.  So, we trucked on through at about 87 MPH (literally, the speed limit was 80). 

About half-way through the drive to Yellowstone you can take a detour through Bighorn Sheep National Forest (Hwy 16).  We didn't see any Bighorn sheep but we did see a whole lot of majestic scenery.

One of our favorite parts of this stretch was the drive from Bighorn to Cody, WY.  Its other worldly and it does not wear thin quickly.  Its also where we had our first (hopefully last) near disaster.  The speed limits here.... even on two-lane highways are STILL 70 mph.  The deer that tried really hard to leap in front of the van were apparently unaware of this fact.  But, ever vigilant, Steph slammed on the brakes and did the classic "mom holding back the children from ejecting out of the front window" move on me.  We watched as RIGHT at the last second two of the four deer split left while the others continued right.  If they hadn't, one of the fawns would have likely died and our rented van would have been sad too.

After stopping in Cody to eat we quickly headed on to Shoshone Lodge.  As you enter the east side of Yellowstone you are greeted by two towering mountains, split down the center by the Shoshone river, looking like a mammoth gate welcoming you in. Because we had taken our time on this stretch, the sun was close to setting as we approached the park.  The sheer, two thousand foot cliffs were almost completely shadow as we passed them and the sky was a dim yellow.  Awesome.  Unfortunately, since the light was so low and we were running so late we had no time for pics.  We have them in our head though.

We arrived around 9:30 at the lodge.  We would describe it as kinda like Camp Anawanna.  The rooms were separate cabins with no AC and decorated like Grandma's house.  It was a pretty cool place, but we didn't even get to see it in the daylight because we had to be up at 4:45 the next day to try for a first-come-first-serve campsite in Yellowstone.

Day 2: Kansas City to The Badlands

Day 2: Kansas City to Badlands National Park

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Let noone ever question Brett's dedication to coffee.  Since Steph is driving while this is being typed, let me go ahead and mention that I'm a dork at her request.  Whatevs tho, the coffee was the shiznit-o-bang-bang.

Anyway....since we're going through Iowa we originally figured this blog post would read something like:

"CorncorncornCorncornCorncorncorncornCorncorncornCorncornCorncorncorncorn CorncorncornCorncor nCorncorncorncornCorncorncornCorncornCorncorncorncornCo rncorncornCorncornCorncorncorncornCorncornc ornCor ncornCorncornc orncornCorncor ncornCorncornCorncorncornco rnCorncorncornCorncornCo rncorncorncornCorncorncornCorncornCo rncorncorncor nCorncor ncorn CorncornCorncorn corncorn!!!!!!"

But honestly, the drive was really pretty. We left out around 8am and started what we figured to be around a 10-11 hour drive.  So, we packed our lunch and split up the driving. Somewhere along the way Steph got really hungry and took a trip to SnackTown.

So hoooooooooongry

We hung a left at Sioux Falls, SD and made our official turn to head out west.  The grasslands and prairie are desolate, but absolutely in their own was beautiful in their own way.

After maybe 4 hours driving through variations of plains and rolling hills we made it to the Badlands around 5:30, having gained an hour by entering mountain time.  We hopped out at some of the scenic stops along the way to check in at the Badlands Inn

After checking in and downing a well deserved beer in the hotel parking lot(just ONE Mom's!), we headed back out for sunset.  As we were meandering around we noticed an unmarked dirt road so, we decided to just to see where it went.  What a great idea.  After just about a mile we were in unspoiled, pristine beauty.  No signs.  No lights.  No sounds, other than the wind whipping across the prairie and the yipping of coyotes in the distance.  We parked and watched 5 deer maybe 20-30 feet away eat grass, paying us little mind as a storm rolled in, lighting up the sky miles from us across the plains.  It was a special thing.  

Day 1: Nashville to Kansas City

Man it feels good to hit the road.  Like a weight has been lifted.  

Our first big target is Badlands National Park but, given that we left on a Friday afternoon, we were aiming to make it outside of Kansas City, MO which is a drive of 550 miles.  So, we loaded the cooler full of ice, food and drinks for the next few days and set off to make it as far as we could.  Nothing terribly eventful happened except for a really killer storm across St. Louis.  It was odd because, as we were crossing the suspension bridge right downtown, the sky above the city was split in half, right down the middle.  One side a firey orange haze, lit by the sun, but not a drop of rain, and the other side raining to the point of near-zero visibility.

The firey side

The only snag we hit, if you can even call it that, was something called "Show-Me Fest" or some nonsense causing all the hotels in Columbia, MO to be booked up or outrageously expensive.  Columbia was where we had planned to stop, but instead we put on our "Girl in the Ice" audio book and took our sweet asses on down the road to the Econo Lodge right outside of KC.  The ride was long and we were pretty worn out by the time we got there, but the van rides so well it really wasnt that bad. 

Tomorrow its the Badlands!