The Grand National Park Tour at West Yellowstone

Greetings from Big Sky Country!

First, let me express my sympathy to those of you who are stuck in the broiling heat in Kansas and elsewhere. It is about 65 degrees here with an expected low of 32. I guess the shorts go back into the suitcase tomorrow.

Today was a driving day. I am so glad we cut the extra 3 hours off of our drive by staying in Kalispell last night. It was a long drive as it was. We drove through some beautiful country today. I slept the first couple of hours because I didn't sleep well last night. I missed Missoula, a town I really wanted to see. We drove through a mountain valley most of the way. We stopped at a little rest stop for lunch and while we were there a young couple stopped and got out with their two large dogs and their black Persian cat on a leash. It was kind of funny to watch the cat. He was obviously used to the leash and used to getting out in new territory.

On our way up we decided to take a little side trip to the headwaters of the Missouri River. You remember all the snowfall I talked about up in the mountains? Well now it is all melting and most of the rivers and creeks are at flood stage. Well, guess what? We got to the headwaters and the pullout was closed due to flooding. But, as I told Ken, you could see it from the road and we did get a picture of it.

We took the scenic route to Yellowstone through a canyon with the Gallitin River running through it. It was very scenic. However, I found myself counting white crosses. In Montana, they erect white metal crosses where someone dies in an auto accident. I counted 30 in this canyon before I stopped counting. There is even a website with tributes to the people that the white crosses represent: www.montanahighwaycrosses.com .

We arrived at West Yellowstone at 4:30 and checked into our motel. I found the Alpine Motel on Trip Advisor. It is the #1 rated motel in West Yellowstone and our greeting by the managers lived up to the reviews. The Alpine is just a little mom and pop motel with about 20 units. Terry the manager walked us to our room, showed us how to use the air conditioner and the frig. Tomorrow we have to change rooms but all we have to do is pack our bags and leave them in the room and they will move them for us. I don't think they do that at the Super 8.

After a delicious dinner of pizza at the Wild West Pizzeria, where we were serenaded by the actors from the Pinewood Playhouse, we drove up into the park. Within just a few minutes we saw a herd of bison, a buffalo carcass and a grizzly bear. Pretty darn cool!

Tomorrow will be a park day. So much to see, so little time.

Stay cool!