This entry was posted on 6/28/2007 10:24 PM and is filed under XCountry.
GREYBULL WYOMING - On the contrary we're
actually quite happy! I've got some making up to do with the blog
again of course but before I go and catch you all up on that let me
just say that right now we are in the lovely state of Wyoming. I'll add entries for the previous weeks later!
Rewind. We flew out to California June 13th on a mission to visit
Anna's family and retrieve the Jeep which is full of stuff we'd very
much like to use this summer. Her dad turned 60 and his party was
the 23rd so it seemed like a great time to come out. The first
stop was San Francisco... a little birthday suprise Anna secretly arranged for me since I'd
never before seen the Golden Gate bridge, ridden a trolley, or looked at Alcatraz through a 25 cent telescope...
It was unusually sunny and 70 degrees and we spent a night and a day jamming
in as many sights as possible before we headed up to her mom's place in
Chico. We stayed with Anna's mom for a few days - visited with Skip and Sally (whose birthday is 11/18) and then went to
visit her grandparents in Mendocino.
As you can see, the weather in Mendocino was also unusually sunny and a pleasant 71 degrees.
(Chico however was a hundred and five). After all that we headed
to her dad's place and visited there for a few days at his and Colleen's new house. We celebrated his 60th
birthday and headed out toward home!
We decided to shoot up to Washington to see my cousin
Mark's dog and of course his new house (he's the guy we met in Costa
Rica for surfing - he had the sunset in his ear-hole).
Then we jetted off to Glacier National Park where it seemed
like we were thwarted by nature. The road we tried to take was
closed due to a nasty flood, the trail we wanted to hike was
closed because bears were fighting wolverines over a dead goat carcass,
the second choice was closed because it was still covered in snow and the
others were shut because of bear activity. There were grizzlys everywhere and this was in our campsite...
We still had a
good time... we found a big fresh bear poop, saw some mountain goats,
deer, beaver and baby loons, and watched a moose swim across a lake to
greet us. And the mountains were gorgeous...
Next we headed toward Yellowstone with a stop in Minnesota so Anna
could buy some wheat berries (more on that later). Ignore the
compressed springs on the back of the jeep... that was BEFORE the 270
pounds of grain were added. I hope we make it home!
When we
finally got to Yellowstone the entire west side was envoloped in smoke from a forest fire and we
couldn't see much. Was nature thwarting us again?
We finally got clear of the smoke and spent the day going from
sight to sight. We caught a little known geyser erupting which
was nice since there was nobody there. The drive was beautiful
and sometimes it was hard to stay on the road. We missed a
grizzly and cub sighting by a few minutes... when we got there she was
just a brown speck on the horizon. But we did see some
wildlife... like this buffalo...
And we found these cool hot springs...
and finally we saw Old Faithful...
After that we headed out the northeast entrance along a very long road
and finally arrived at a KOA campsite in Grey Bull Wyoming. Sure
it was 101 degrees when we showed up but at least we don't have to pay
80 bucks to sleep at a Super 8. Plus the store down the street
had New Belgium Brewery Black Ale
6/28/2007 10:55 PM
Suzy wrote:
Finally....a word from you two....we were starting to worry. I can't believe all of the places you've been since we last saw you. We miss you and wish you'd stay in Southern California.
6/28/2007 10:58 PM
Kyle wrote:
Hey buster, head down to Colorado, we're just down the road a spell.
6/28/2007 11:29 PM
nan wrote:
Yeah! You're on your way. Can't wait to taste those wheatberries. Drive carefully. Love you, nan
6/29/2007 8:35 AM
Brandi wrote:
I'm so sorry, but I couldn't hep but giggle when you said you went to Minnesota and then right below it you had the sign saying Montana. I'm sure the ridiculous heat is getting to you. What are all those wheat berries for? And, more importantly, what is a wheat berry? Is this the beginning of the great baking experiment? Hurry back, y'all!
6/29/2007 8:52 AM
Charlie wrote:
yeah, being geographically challenged isn't a good trait if you are traveling the world! Never mind the leaf springs, your gas consumption is really hurting if you're driving from Washington to Yellowstone with a stop in Minnesota! Driving like that we'll see you in October! Maybe the visit with Mark MISODA left MInneSOTA on the brain! Maybe I'll post another map so you can get home, and we can visit you at the cottage before it gets cold!
7/6/2007 4:09 PM
Hegs wrote:
So Shannon and I finally get settled in San Fran to find out from the 6/28 blog that you and Anna just passed through. Know that you both always have a place to crash in the city if you head out this way again. Thanks to Garry and Suzy who turned me onto this blog, now we can travel vicariously through you both. Safe travels!
I'm sure the ridiculous heat is getting to you. What are all those wheat berries for? And, more importantly, what is a wheat berry? Is this the beginning of the great baking experiment? Hurry back, y'all!