By Shannon Williams
After almost 3 weeks on the road it was finally time for the whole reason for the trip which was Yellowstone National Park! We stayed the first part of this adventure in Bosman, Wyoming, which is about an hour outside of the park. Full disclosure, I did not do enough research on where to stay and where to enter the park, but we started so late in planning, I was getting hotels wherever I could, BUT in the end it all worked out. We again, had a guide for the Lower Loop of Yellowstone, which covers all the things you hear about when you think of Yellowstone. Having the guide worked so good for us, we did not have to worry about where we were going or how to get there and where to park or find a good bathroom! Also, all the apps that tell how to tour Yellowstone depend on Wi-Fi which is not present in the park, so we would have spent our time trying to fight crowds and figuring it all out.
It was a long day, but our guide really tailored the trip into what we wanted to see and do. We saw the small geyser and of course Old Faithful. It was crowded waiting to see Old Faithful, but she showed out in a glorious way. It was amazing to me that they can predict the times it will go off! The Geyser Basin are such a beautiful color of blue, you are able to walk around them on a walk way and the color is just breathtaking. Just several days before we had visited the park a Bison had gotten into one of the Geyser Basin and it did not end well. While they are a wonder to look at they are very dangerous. We saw Yellowstone falls and ended the day with a cruise on Yellowstone Lake.
I had planned a day in between our tours so we would not be worn out and so I could also explore the area outside the park. One evening we had dinner at a local diner and Paul had Bison meatloaf with a cherry sauce on it. I think it was the best thing he ate the whole trip. We had stopped at a roadside park and gotten some cherries and they were just so good! The other big thing to eat there is Huckleberry in any form or fashion. I had a Huckleberry ice cream sandwich and it was so good and the lemonade was good too.
We moved to West Yellowstone, which is right next to the park. This was the day we both were looking forward to as we had a wildlife tour booked. We started out at 6 am and drove Lamar Valley. We had the best guide and of course he was from Katy, Texas and had camped many nights at Crystal Beach. He had so much knowledge and was in touch with the other wildlife guides, so we had the best day! We saw herds of Bison, and several up close and personal. The highlight of the day was the wolf! Spencer our guide had the neatest scope, it was part telescope and part binoculars, He could focus in on animals so far away and then we were able to see them also. The wolf was tagged and known as #1479, she is a female and a mother, we were able to watch her for several hours, as she found food, and then prepared to take that food back to her cubs. Spencer said she was most likely going to be the alpha for the pack and what a good mother she was. Right away she was my hero, a leader and a MOM!!
When you have a guide, they work very hard to make your day the best. We had preordered our sandwiches for lunch, which was good, as Yellowstone food is costly and well let’s say not the best! About mid-day, Spencer pulls up to a meadow with just a few of the wildflowers left (it was late in the season), He sets up a table and brings out our sandwiches which were wonderful, it was just a great experience. We followed wildlife for a few more hours and went home full of joy and wonder with all we had seen that day.
The next morning, we headed to Cody Wyoming to see the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Our guide had told us to get up early to drive though Yellowstone to get there and where we might see more wildlife and just as we were leaving the park, we saw a bear!
The Museum is really neat, Paul had wanted to go for the Cody Firearms Museum, he was disappointed when the gun that he really wanted to see was out of the exhibition for being reburnished. I guess his disappointment did not last long as he spent several hours in the gun museum and was like a little kid afterwards telling me all about it. I enjoyed the Whiney Western Art Museum and the Buffalo Bill Museum, both had great things to see. I did leave Paul there and went shopping in downtown Cody! We ended the day with dinner at the Cody Steakhouse and it was a great meal. We had planned to go the nightly rodeo, but the meal was so good, we just wanted to go to bed!
All in all, Yellowstone is a one of kind experience. I am not sure it would have been on my list, you know I am a cruise girl! but I am so glad we saw it all. We said goodbye to Wyoming and started to Utah and Arizona. Did I tell you I was tired of Best Westerns breakfast by now LOL? More to come.
