Monday July 24, Day 6

Starting trip meter: 2111
Starting time: 8:30 AM
Starting Location: Little Falls, Minnesota

Today our goal is to make Bismarck, North Dakota. Maybe we’ll take a look at Fargo which is on the way but we don’t expect too much excitement today and we plan to spend the night in a motel so that we can get on the Internet and make some calls.

So far, we are pleased that everything that we had planned is working out as we had anticipated. The absence of suitcases has been a blessing, the shelving is perfect, and for the most part everything that we need on a daily basis is at our fingertips. One drawback is the lack of ease to reach some of the items in the car top carrier. Although not impossible, with the height of the van and the stepladder it takes some doing. We are still working on perfecting that aspect.

Up to this point, the highlight of this day was when we crossed the Continental Divide! The elevation was only 1490 feet. Another treat was seeing two large flocks of geese in their distinctive “V” formation. No doubt they are smarter than us, and are already heading south, who knows?

We found a nice motel in Bismarck and stopped around 4 PM. That gave us plenty of time to do laundry, check our e-mail, catch up on CNN, and for Barney to be able to upload this log to the Internet, not to mention sleep in a real bed. We ate at Caspar’s and stuffed ourselves on steaks and the works, plus a bottle of wine. Leaving the restaurant shortly before 9 PM, we were surprised to see the sun still well above the horizon. The further north we go, the more daylight we have at both ends of the day.

Today’s weather: High was 86, low 62
Miles driven today: 375

Tuesday July 25, Day 7

Starting trip meter: 2486
Starting time: 9:30 AM
Starting Location: Bismarck, ND

We got off to a late start just due to laziness, checking our voice mail from home, and some other minor chores, not to mention being able to have a nice chat via IM with Kinzey and Betty. What a treat to hear back from several of you and your responses about the site. Thanks!

It is a clear, sunny day. After driving only about 30 miles, we heard a loud thud of something hitting the van so we pulled off to determine the cause. We had lost one of the lawn chairs due to the buffeting winds. It was retrieved about a quarter mile back and we were glad that it was nothing worse than that. Not much further along, and we ran head on into a large bird. This must be our day for mishaps, hopefully those will be our only ones. We both knocked on the wooden center console for luck.

For anyone who is interested in statistics; to this point (Dickinson, ND) we have spent $267 for gasoline. The lowest price we have paid for regular was $1.299 in Salem, Illinois and the highest price we have paid was $1.599 right here in Dickinson, ND. Our average price is $1.422 and we are averaging 14.876 mpg.

As Diane was driving in a highway construction zone west of Dickinson, she took a sip of her Hardee’s coffee. It was one of those Styrofoam cups with plastic cap and a little drinking hole in the top. As she sipped, the coffee leaked under the cap, and dribbled a large spot on her nice clean white blouse. She had no choice but to keep on driving since the construction zone had concrete barriers on both sides of us and traffic was narrowed to one lane each direction and we couldn’t stop due to fast moving traffic behind us.

She said, “Quick, wet down a towel and wipe out this spot before it stains permanently.” I tried to comply so we’re sailing along and I’m wiping down her chest. The spot wasn’t coming out too well because I couldn’t get enough water on her. So she decided to remove the blouse! I was to hold the steering wheel as she did so. That part went pretty well. I soon had the blouse in my lap and was working on it as best I could. Meanwhile, Diane is driving with her bra exposed to the world. No problem. Single file traffic, right? Wrong! Just then the construction zone ended and Diane went to the right hand lane. The guy in a big RV behind us came zooming up on the left so quick thinking Diane grabbed the Rand McNally Road Atlas and held it up to the window.

This was all so funny it had to be seen. Luckily we weren’t killed and we soon pulled off the road where she could get a clean dry blouse and work on the stained one. She eventually got the stain out.

A major decision was made during lunch today just inside of Montana. Because of the tentative route that we had planned across the state we would have been too far to detour down to Yellowstone Park, however, by adjusting our route and not being as far away as before, we decided it would be foolish to not spend a few days in that area. I have never been there and Barney’s first and only time was 36 years ago. The lady in the visitor center was an enthusiastic wealth of information and provided us with more resource information than we can read in a week. Now that we have made the decision to go, we are both really excited.

We stopped in Forsyth, Montana to call for reservations in Billings tonight and in Yellowstone Thursday and Friday nights. We were successful on both attempts and can now relax about sleeping quarters for a few days.

We spent the night in a private campground on the Yellowstone River. Here we met Dick and Judy Passmore from Phoenix, Arizona. They had a big 5th wheel trailer next to our little van and they invited us in for a little chat. Very nice people.

Today’s weather: It was warm in Bismarck when we left there this morning, but it is getting cooler and very windy as we drive further west. In Montana it started getting hot again and we had to turn on the A/C. In Forsyth it was 89 degrees, but the humidity was very low.

Miles driven today: 441

Wednesday July 26, Day 8

Starting trip meter: 2927
Starting time: 7:30 AM
Starting Location: Billings, Montana

We both awoke early in anticipation of our day, and the best we could read our watches, it was either 7:25 AM, or 5:40 AM. Regardless, we decided to get an early start as we were uncertain the amount of time required to take the route we had selected into Yellowstone (YNP).

Route 212 (Bear Tooth Highway) is the NE entrance to YNP, and is the most scenic. We climbed to an elevation of 11,000 feet. The vistas were truly spectacular, and we stopped frequently to drink it all in.

Our arrival time at the gate was 11:30 AM, so that gave us a good portion of the day to start seeing the sites available to us. We saw the falls, cauldrons and boils, rushing Yellowstone river, and the 1000 foot canyon with all of it’s colors. We had a picnic lunch at the top of Mt. Washburn, elevation 10234 feet and we about blew away with the wind gusts

Wildlife is abundant in YNP, and we saw mule deer, numerous bison, two of which stopped all of the traffic while they came down from the hillside and crossed the road, a moose cow in the trees that others said also had a calf with her, and a major surprise, our first grizzly bear feasting on something in a field which was also a traffic stopper. The bear was about 200 yards away from us. The wildflowers are at their peak right now and they provide a palette of yellow, blue, purple and white. One of the amazing things to us was the vast amount of burned out forests and downed trees that have fallen as a result of the 1988 forest fires.

We arrived at our campground a little after 6 PM and set up our gazebo in preparation for predicted rain showers which never came. We were cautioned about leaving anything out that would attract bears into the camp but were surprised that they allowed us to grill out. Instead we dined on a wonderful meal prepared in our “Arnold Microwave.”

We were visited by two great kids (Tori and Justin) who came over to “admire” our van and how it was set up. We are a bit of an oddity parking next to all of the “big guy RVs and trailers”. We took their pictures and later met their parents, Lisa and Dan, who invited us over to their place for a cool one. We left with a bag full of their homegrown tomatoes and nectarines. Nice family.

Today’s weather: 95/64 Billings Mid 70s/Lower 40s Yellowstone
Miles driven today: 205

Thursday July 27, Day 9

Starting trip meter: 3132
Starting time: 9:30 AM
Starting Location: Yellowstone National Park

We plugged in the electric blanket for the first time last night. It was our chilliest night so far.

There was no rain last night and this morning is bright and sunny. We stopped at the Trading Post and got gas, at $1.759 per gallon, and things for supper, then headed down the road to see more of YNP, and for sure, Old Faithful. The entire first hour of travel was around the huge Yellowstone Lake which made it very scenic.

We arrived at Old Faithful and saw the geyser erupt within 10 minutes, frankly a major disappointment in both height and duration. We then walked through the Lodge which was a massive structure made of huge logs and all wooden ceilings, walls and floors. Very impressive. Then we stopped at the Old Faithful Inn, and were in total awe from the first step in the door. This is a national treasure, and it was easy to understand why. The entire center is open to the ceiling which is over 4 stories high. Everything was wood from the candelabra to the individual spindles in the staircases. Where and how they were able to craft so many pieces together with such beauty is mind boggling. We decided to stay there and enjoy lunch in the dining room and take in all of the ambiance. It was a real treat! While walking through the lobby we saw that the next eruption was due in 15-20 minutes, so we took a seat on one of their balconies to view it. This time it was spectacular! It was everything you ever read or heard about, only better since we were there to share the moment.

Another highlight today was taking a side road to Virginia Cascade and happening upon 3 large male Elk with huge antlers feeding on a hillside. We have seen many female elk, but these were our first sighting of males. We are still looking forward to our first bear (up close), but no luck yet.

Today’s weather: Bright and sunny. High mid 80s and low mid 40s.
Miles driven today: 110

Friday July 28, Day 10

Starting trip meter: 3242
Starting time: 9:15 AM
Starting Location: Yellowstone National Park (Fishing Bridge Campground)

Driving out of the park we stopped to view the Mammoth Hot Springs. Fortunately, they had a nice driving tour in addition to the foot trails and that saved a lot of time. On our way there, we passed large herds of bison and elk. The elk are so plentiful, that we even saw a number of them lying next to a home in Mammoth.

We found a nice, clean motel that allowed us to check our e-mail, make a few phone calls on DialPad.Com, and upload our recent log and picture information to the Internet, not to mention sleep in a real bed in the A/C. We were spoiled in YNP with the cool evenings, and the unseasonable high temperatures in Missoula would have been detrimental to comfortable camping. We thought we were leaving Jax to escape the heat!

Today’s weather: High 97 in Missoula, MT Low about 50 in YNP
Miles driven today: 360

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