This Country is Amazing and Beautiful

Road Trip Day 1

First stop: The Great Salt Lake

Just a short drive from our hotel, we arrived at about 9:30 AM and even though Ryan told me it would have a smell I wasn't prepared for the gag-worthy rotting odor that early. Good thing it was so pretty and interesting. Of course Ryan balanced on some precarious rocks to dip his hand in the water and had to walk around with a crusty hand until he found someplace to wash it. There was only a small visitor center at the marina and not a lot of people around, which I found odd because of how cool the place was. Once you get past the smell and crazy amount of flies it is truly a one of a kind place to see and made me even more grateful to have these opportunities to see this country's gems.

Ryan Note: I really wanted to touch the Great Salt Lake so I walked down to the water. The brine flies were everywhere but they scatter when you get near them so I thought I'd be fine. Turns out the sand/salt/minerals/whatever near the edge of the water is basically like mud that is very soft. I was just wearing sneakers and when I started to have my feet completely sink in and water fill my shoes, I jumped away. Jess did a great job capturing that moment. By the way, I did climb out on some rocks to touch the lake. It was wet and salty.

Second stop (1 1/2 hour drive): Bonneville Salt Flats

I admit I knew nothing about this until today. Ryan kept joking about driving the rental car on the salt flats and I would roll my eyes. Off the highway was a rest area and when we got out everywhere you looked was salt. It was squishy to walk on but hard enough that you didn't sink in. It felt like a combination of sand and snow - a little wet so it sticks together and kinda soft and smooth. It was shockingly bright and you really needed sunglasses. After spending some time walking along the salt we headed to the foot washer which was a couple spouts to wash all the salt from your shoes. The only other thing there was bathrooms and vending machines so we were on our way.

Ryan Note: The last picture is of me setting a new land speed record for humans. We bought a $50,000 camera just to have a shutter speed high enough to capture me in mid-run without it being blurry. Totally worth it.

Third stop (1 1/2 hours): Jackpot, Nevada 

If you really know Ryan and me you know that we can't get near Nevada without hitting some casinos. Well, Jackpot was one road with a few buildings and about 3 casinos so we picked the one with the funniest name (Cactus Pete's) and headed in to find out Chicago was performing there tonight! Even at 2:30 in the afternoon the place was packed! After hitting a tiny dumpy casino instead we lost some money and got back on the road. Alas, no jackpot in Jackpot...false advertising?

It might seem like we do a lot of driving on these trips but we find the change of scenery (and 80 mph speed limit) makes the time fly by and totally worth it. Random roadside views on highway 93 in Nevada are breathtaking.

Ryan Note: I saw a marker for a Historic Site so I almost killed us as we turned left off a highway to get to it. Turns out it was for a dam that was 8 miles away that you couldn't see from there. They set up the dam to help irrigate the dry land around there but a) it was around porous lava rock so water escaped around it and b) there's not much rainfall so the reservoir it created didn't capture a lot of water. It was built in 1910 and didn't fill up under 1984. Great job, Idaho. 

Now we are in Twin Falls, Idaho for the night. We ate dinner at a local eatery called Chili's (if you don't know Ryan I will tell you endlessly that he eats like a 4 year old and refuses to try new food or local restaurants). 

Now we're going to get some rest for another adventure day tomorrow. Can't wait to see what's next.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton

We arrived in Yellowstone Thursday morning and drove around the upper loop.  First stop: Mammoth Hot Springs where it was crazy to see steam coming out of the ground.  The ground was white and trickles of water were all around.  There were many boardwalks and stairs leading to many different views.  It was something I had never seen but I wouldn't say it was pretty or scenic - just interesting and smelled terrible.  The sulfur smell from the hot springs fills the air with what I would describe as someone burning rotten eggs, It was hard not to hurry back to the car.

My favorite view of the whole trip happened next in Calcite Springs.  It was a view from the top of a cliff where you look down over the Yellowstone River with one bank being white (I believe that would be the calcite).  You could hear the rushing water of the river and it was so peaceful.

Supporting the Hurricanes from Yellowstone!

After a few more stops to view waterfalls and other scenery we made our way to our room for the night at the Old Faithful Inn.  Our room wasn't ready yet so we took a tour of the property and saw the geyser go off.  Old Faithful is impressive and a huge tourist attraction.   We have had almost every other park to ourselves but Yellowstone was jumping. 

So Old Faithful Inn...what to say...it is a large wooden cabin looking lodge.  It was pretty and you felt like you went back in time especially in the rooms.  No AC, internet, phone or TV made for a long night.  Some find it nice and relaxing to get away from it all but we aren't those people.  I was actually ok after I put my ear plugs in since I couldn't hear people, doors, toilets or creaking floors and I went to sleep.

We did decide to only stay the one night instead of our planned two because rain is heading in and we wanted to see the Grand Teton National Park in nicer weather (not to mention some of the road closures in Yellowstone added an extra few hours of driving time if we stayed another night).

Friday started still in Yellowstone seeing the Grand Prismatic Spring and whoa tourists.  We could barely find a parking spot and walking on the boardwalk wasn't easy with people stopping in the middle and flipping their hair to do a selfie.  We got to see the spring along with other geysers but it was very steamy and you really couldn't see the color variation like on the postcards.

Next we went to the Grand Canyon in Yellowstone and it made me want to see the real Grand Canyon.  It was beautiful with waterfalls going over steep canyon walls.

Yellowstone Lake was huge and had some of the best views of the trip.  It had everything - mountains, water, changing leaves and wasn't as crowded as the rest of the park.

Also, Yellowstone has giant Ravens that are loud and not afraid of people. They will walk right up to and either take food or squawk for a handout.

Grand Teton National Park is just south of Yellowstone so we made our way there and because you only have to pay once for both parks we didn't have to stop at a ranger station so we didn't have  a map.  We first came to Jackson Lake and then headed toward Lake Jenny and took a scenic drive along the edge of the mountains.  I think I liked this better than Yellowstone.  Yellowstone was a lot of driving through pine trees so it was hard to see the mountains but Grand Tetons you can see the whole time.  It was less crowded and made our stops to see the sites more enjoyable.

Billings Blah

Everyday, we head out to see the beautiful landscapes and learn some history about the West.  Today was Little Bighorn Battlefield and from the minute I got out of the car next to the National Cemetery there was this sad feeling (I don't handle death well and am often overwhelmed in cemeteries) but this felt exaggerated.  Walking up to the monument and seeing the stones where the men fell was eye-opening and heart-breaking.   Reading all the accounts of what happened seems like such a tragedy on both sides.  I noticed walking around it was different than all the other historic or tourist sites we have seen this trip since no one really spoke above a whisper and there was an overall heavy feeling.  It was still beautiful and you can see why everyone wanted to be there but it was a very solemn experience.

 Just a portion of the National Cemetery.

These are stones marking where the soldiers fell.  Custer is in the middle of the field and shows he fought and stayed with his troops.

This is the monument for the soldiers.

This is the Indian memorial.

 
On our way to Billings we saw a sign for a National Monument and decided to check it out. Pompeys Pillar looks like a large flat top rock formation from a distance.  When you get closer it is 150 feet tall and is close to the Yellowstone river.  The interesting part is William Clark named it after Sacagawea's son, who he called Pomp.  William Clark climbed the rock and wrote of it in his journal, even signing and dating the rock.  They have added stairs and the climb to the top was kinda tough but worth it since the view was impressive.   It's a really neat little piece of history and a nicely done visitor area.

W Clark July 25, 1806

View from the top.

I conquered all 215 stairs on this 90 degree Montana day.

Now we are back in Billings with nothing to do.  It is super boring here and instead of wasting tomorrow learning how nothing happens here we are leaving a day early and going to Bozeman.  At least that gets us closer to Yellowstone.