Roadtrip 2009: Days 2-4

When last we left, we were staying at the Super 8 in Twin Falls, ID.  After the continental breakfast, during which we overheard someone say that a city was "booming" because it had a Target and a JC Penny, we left around 10:30am Sunday morning and got to our hotel in Moran, WY at 5:30pm.  The hotel was about 10 miles from Grand Teton National Park and about 40 miles from Yellowstone.  Along the way we saw a sign for the "Oregon Trail State Historic Site: Massacre Rock."  Didn't feel it was a good omen to stop, so we pressed on.  I absolutely LOVE southeastern Idaho, though.  It is GORGEOUS.  Rolling hills, sprawling ranches, just gorgeous.  Sunday night we ate dinner at the hotel restaurant and met the sweetest couple.  They are from Mississippi and just moved out in May to start running the restaurant.  The menu was simple, but delicious.  We ate breakfast there Monday and Tuesday as well.  Sunday night we also took a walk down the road (State highway 287) and tried to take some pictures of the sun setting over the AMAZING Teton mountains, but the camera batteries died.  So we just enjoyed it ourselves.  Sorry!

Monday morning we got up and headed into the parks.  We stopped on the Jackson Lake turnoff because there were a lot of people stopped.  Apparently a grizzly had been bathing in the river, but was gone by the time we got there.  There was road construction, so we didn't get to Old Faithful until 2:30pm.  We ate lunch in the parking lot, like a lot of folks were doing (who knew Yellowstone was one big tailgate party!?).  We watched the geyser erupt twice and walked around for 2.5 hours.  There are a ton of geysers and hot springs in the area and a little boardwalk-type walkway that you aren't allowed to step off unless you want to meet the fate of a 9-year-old boy who fell through the thin ground and died in a hot spring...we stayed on the path thank you very much!!

We were pretty wiped out after 2.5 hours walking in the sun, so we started the trip down about 5:30pm.  We were hungry, too, so we stopped at Flagg Ranch for dinner.  We shared an entree and got some information on hikes from the front desk.  We thought about taking a little evening hike, but were so pooped, that we just headed back (another hour in the car from where we were!).  It was getting dusky on the drive and we saw some elk!!

Fun facts: gas in WY is 85/87/91 instead of 87/89/91 and everywhere you turn you'll see antlers used in decorating.

Tuesday morning we were slugs from the sun and car-ride, so we didn't get moving until about 11:15am.  We made it to Flagg ranch for our hike at 12:30pm and were told to make lots of noise because a bear likes to hang out in the area where we were going to be hiking!  So we talked loudly and made up songs and had a really fun time.  We were tired and still had a long drive to Sheridan, so we only hiked down to the Snake River and back.  We set off again at 2pm and reached Yellowstone Lake at 3:30pm.  We ate lunch and then set out for Sheridan.  Jesse's dentist called at this point to confirm his appointment for Thursday.  We cancelled it.  :-p  Oops!  Pretty funny that we had service in the park and that the dentist called!  We drove through downtown Cody, WY and it was really cute and old-timey.  "Buffalo Bill" Cody founded it and the original hotel he named for his daughter is still there!  We stopped at a McDonald's to use the restroom and get some caffeine and they were advertising "third pounders."  Is this a WY thing, or is it national?!

After leaving town, of course I had to pee again.  At Greybull we didn't really find anywhere, so we figured Shell was our last hope.  We stopped at the Antler Inn and right away knew we were in for something interesting.  I got out and checked my phone because the auto-time zone is all messed up and I heard "No cell service here" from the tiny bar.  We walked in to find 3 men...one behind the bar and two patrons.  They said, "So how're things in California?"  The barman seemed pretty nice and one of the guys didn't say much.  The other was a talker.  Jesse ordered a beer and I used the restroom (next door in the guy's house which he was converting into an Inn."  When I came back there was another couple there.  Let's just say we got ribbed a little bit.  It didn't seem that these folks (except the barman and quiet man) thought there was much future with a degree in exercise and nutrition and the current Administration...n-bombs were dropped and Jesse chugged his beer as quickly as he could so we could hit the road.  The barman said we'd see some wildlife and to go slow over the mountain and the quiet one gave us a restaurant suggestion.

The Peak Mountains are so pretty!!  My favorite part was the signs indicating the age of the rocks...some were billions of years old!!  They had the geologic periods (triassic, crutaceous...) specified and we even passed a dinosaur dig site!!  If it wasn't getting dark, we would have stopped.  We saw a bunch of deer and even a moose!!  And of course we saw tons of cattle and horses.

We got to the hotel around 9:45pm local time and didn't get to go to Sanford's Pub & Grub, but went to a 24-hour diner the hotel manager suggested.  Tomorrow we are going to do a little Sheridan sight-seeing and then go to Keystone and Mount Rushmore!! I am so excited.  Apparently there is a ranger talk at 9pm and then they light up the monument!  Hopefully we'll have some internet access at the Travelodge so we can update tomorrow night.

I"ll post pictures in a separate blog.

Love you, love, me.