On May 24th we left Salt Lake City. We traveled through Idaho, Montana and arrived at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. One of the things we discovered when we got to our campsite was that there was little to zero cell/internet service in the park. I am surprised how attached we are to our "technology". I would like to say that after a week, we decided we did not need cell phones, laptops & ipads; but the truth is we are very happy to be "connected" again.  I felt very isolated and out of touch.  I will try to recap our week -- sort of a Readers Digest version.

We saw lots of animals:  buffalo, elk, wolf, bear, big-horn sheep, mule deer, and moose.  Mary Lee got closer to a bear than she ever imagined.  She was walking from our campsite to the trash bin when she saw a bear three campsites over from ours (about 20 ft. away).  Thankfully, the bear did not notice Mary Lee.  She hurried back into the camper.  We spent the next hour or so watching the bear in and around our general area.

The weather:  It was cool & COLD.  We had it all -- rain, sleet, snow and a thunderstorm.  One day was a complete washout with constant rain.

Things we saw and did:  Mud Volcanoes (sulfuric gases escaping though the earth, creating smelly, very smelly mud pots) unreal looking.  Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone where we took a ranger guided walk from the Upper Falls to the Lower Falls; from there we went to Tower Falls -- awesome.  We visited Old Faithful -- the most famous geyser, I suppose.  We also went to the Norris Geyser basin which has lots of geysers and boiling springs.  We drove the Firehole Lake Dr where we actually saw a small geyser erupting.  Because geysers & boiling springs are so hot and so acidic not much can survive in the area around them -- creates a bleak landscape.  On the day we went to the Norris Geyser basin we also saw Gibbon Falls -- a treat after the starkness of the basin.  One sight I had not thought about seeing was the fire damage.  We heard a ranger say that fire is a part of the cycle of life in the park.  The main tree in the park is the lodge pole pine.  The only way to release the seeds from its pine cones is fire.  However, there has been so much fire.

Places we went:  Cody, Wyo.  In Cody, Ken and David went to the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum.  Mary Lee and I took a side trip to a quilt store.  When we finished there, we joined the guys at the museum.  It is a very well done museum.  It has an extensive gun exhibit, a great photo gallery plus the life story of Buffalo Bill.

Jackson, Wyo.(aka Jackson Hole, Wyo.)  On the way to Jackson we stopped at the Visitor Center in Moose, Wyo.  Shortly after leaving the visitor center, we actually saw a moose.  We took the scenic drive to Jackson and got to see an awesome view of the Grand Tetons.  When I think of mountains, I visualize the Grand Tetons.  Jackson is a pretty town -- very clean, lots of flowers and antler arches.  On the way back to our campsite, we saw a rainbow.

All in all it was a good week.  A must see part of our country.  Our next stop was to have been Glacier National Park in Montana.  Ken and David talked to a ranger and found out that one of the main roads through Glacier was still closed because of several feet of snow and would probably not open until mid-July.  We are making an adjustment to our plans.

buffalo with calves

wolf

Mamma Elk with calf

Mary Lee's bear 

Big-horn sheep

Moose

Mule Deer

Mudpot

Upper Falls in Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Lower Falls in Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Tower Falls

Old Faithful

Norris Geyser Basin

Gibbon Falls

Fire damage

The Grand Tetons

Jackson, Wyo

If you look very close, you can see the rainbow