Yellowstone

(In a motel in Ritzville, WA. - Transcribing handwritten entry from three days ago.)



Now at Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone National Park. It's sometime around 7AM and people are beginning to stir, but B&G are still podded away and sleeping. We'd come into Wyoming at the last post and kept driving North on the increasingly deserted Highway 85 toward Mt. Rushmore. Big splotchy raindrops hit the windshield and lightning strikes around us became alarmingly well defined.

Our car became the only one on the road and the blue-green pasture lit up with the last angular shafts of sunlight before turning dark. We made the Mt. Rushmore KOA campground about 11 pm, a comparative oasis of activity, RVs pulling in and registering, late night ice creams and apocalyptic snoring. We unbundled the tent and piled in.

KOA's are dangerous. All-you-can-eat pancakes in the morning, horseback riding, water slides and playgrounds, trampolines, laundry and full showers. Now we'll have to qualify "Let's go camping" with "No son, just the place with the trees."

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The next morning we drove up toward Mt. Rushmore, passed a bend and saw the 4 faces gazing imperiously into the distance.

The skill of the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, is (self) evident. I was wondering more about the logistics: Do the faces have nostrils?. If so, how big is that cavity? Could it fit one man? or five? "Yes Honey, it was my 3rd day inside Lincoln's nostril. I wish he had grown a mustache as well as a beard so I have something to stand on."

Gutzon Borglum seems interesting. A true renaissance man, would pontificate on art, literature and corruption in the fledgling aeronautics industry. They had a massive Ingersol-Rand compressor at the foot of the hillside and would send compressed air, via 3 inch tubes, up to the many jackhammers chipping away at the faces. On Mondays, the jackhammers would lose power. Turned out it was laundry day in the local town and the washing machines were draining the grid of electricity. To avert this potentially entertaining debate over the most practical use of electricity, they bought a diesel compressor to finish the faces.

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Heading back west to the Deer Park Campground in Buffalo, WY through a series of Western towns, some ornamental western-theme towns, others more gritty - with grim billboards with graphic portrayals of the downside of Meth. Between two of these towns we found ourselves in the thick of another lightning storm, this time much closer, a lightning strike so close I heard a separate crack as sparks flew off the edge of the main bolt. Then hail, first raindrop-sized pitter-patter ... a learning moment for Griffin who had not seen it before ... then golfball sized numbchucks ... more of a get-the-#$%^-out-of-here moment. Other cars on the highway chose to pull over. We kept driving until we were out of the cloud, pulled over and counted ten pockmarks on our rental car.

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We drove from Buffalo, WY to Yellowstone, the blue-green pasture gave way to dry, semi-vegetated claylands, then canyon country, road signs indicating the age of the land, ranging from Pre-Cambrian, Mississippian and Jurrasic. It would have made for a great geological slideshow if the eras were in chronological order.

Amazing success in Worland , WY on the way to Yellostone. We pulled into Milly-G's drive-thru espresso.

They sold Big Train Chai! Brandy toyed with the idea of buying a 10lb bag. The next highlight was in Cody, WY. We pulled in to buy batteries for our inflatable mattress (same brand that J. Kerouac used!) and the bank inside the Albertsons had a sign saying the Arizona quarter has arrived. In a state of high excitement we bought 3 (for 75 c). Now Griffin and I have the complete collection for the 48 contiguous states. Only Hawaii and Alaska to go. For all those from the US who have promised to visit us, add $0.50 to your travel budget. More photos below.