The coolest place on earth

We live fifty miles from the nations first national park, aka Yellowstone National Park, aka The Coolest Place on Earth.  We fought with busloads, carloads, and bicycle-loads of people from around the world for a chance to see some of the most spectacular bits mother nature has to offer.  If you've never been, you must MUST get here pronto.  Simply put, Yellowstone has some cool shit.  You would think living so close and visiting so often would get old, but it never does.  Ever.  I could go there every week, see the same bubbling mud pots, the same steamy geysers, and fight with the same busloads of foreigners, because it is just that cool, not to mentions unbelievably gorgeous!

We spent the day travelling from the east entrance to the north, which normally wouldn't take all day except for the fact that we stopped a cajillion times to see a cajillion different things.  We hiked, we walked, we took pictures, we laughed, we ooooohed, we ahhhhhhed, we sang, we did pretty much everything tourists do.

By the time we were ready to make the trip back home it was already 9:15 pm and we had a good three-hour drive home.  No problem, I knew the park well and just had to follow signs and watch for wildlife on the road.  Guess what they don't tell you when you enter the park?  When the sun goes down, people scatter like cockroaches, and nobody is on the road.  NOBODY.  Life folds up, the dark sky seeps into the forest, and the most complete and utter blackness descends upon you.   To put it mildly, it is fucking creepy.

It didn't take long before Brandon was sacked out in his seat in the back, and Amanda and I kept each other company through the eerie blackness of the park, our eyes wide open out of the creepy fear of the dark, and the creepy fear of the animals that might scare the shit out of us on the road.  Amanda was getting drowsy and I told her she was more than welcome to fall asleep, that I was fine (read: please stay awake please stay awake) and my eyes were peeled for wildlife.  No Mom, I'm good, and plus I want to give you another set of eyes on the road.  Ok, no problem kiddo (read: thank you thank you thank you). 

At one point we rounded a corner and I saw an oncoming vehicle so I turned down my brights and slowed down.  Out of nowhere was a big ol' cow elk standing right in front of the headlights.  I had slowed down enough I was able to stop quickly, and luckily enough the oncoming car saw it in time too.  There was nearly a collective pants shitting as Amanda and I had it scared out of us, and not a peep from the boy in the back.  Of course!

Anyway, as all of this was happening I was also getting the feeling I needed to throw up.  I had eaten a chili cheese dog before we began the trip home and it seemed to be disagreeing with me wholeheartedly.  So there I was, eyes WIDE open, hands asphyxiating the steering wheel, large plastic grocery bag in lap, open and in place in case of oral evacuation.  I was also starting to feel a fever coming on and I just wanted to get us home and in bed.  

So after all that, here's my advice to you all:  Get to Yellowstone and now; don't drive through the park after dark.  There is nothing more to know for an awesome Wyoming vacation.  :)  

   

Overlooking Yellowstone Lake

First of three grizzly bears sighted throughout the day