9-20-09 Yellowstone National Park - Day 2

The day started in Grant Village campground. We had scrambled eggs cooked on our new camp stove and coffee and green tea.

Nearby is West Thumb Geyser Basin by Yellowstone Lake which was THE place to go in the stagecoach days. We went on a ranger walk and learned about geysers, fumaroles, mud pots, etc. There was one cone sticking out of the lake called Fishing Pot. The stagecoach people used to stand on it and fish, then dip the fish into the hot geyser and cook the fish! This is not allowed today.

There were different colors in the pond and each color is caused by a different type of bacterium. This knowledge is used in medical science developing DNA, etc.

We also learned that somebody on his own planted the Lake Trout into Yellowstone Lake. This trout is delicious to humans but bears, osprey and other animals do not like it even though it is bigger than the native Cutthroat Trout. And it eats the Cutthroat so it is a big problem for the other animals. If you catch one while fishing, you have to kill it by law.

On the way to the Canyon Area we encountered a herd of buffalo in two different places. They are huge!!! We drove to the south rim and walked to Artist Point where we met a ranger for a talk about geology. The view from there was fantastic with a huge waterfall in the background and steep, steep mountains on both sides.

It now had started to be windy and it was a cold wind. Jalil refused to camp. He was tired from sleeping poorly without his CPAP and wanted a real bed. Well, that was a wise decision as the temperature dropped to 47F. The day before it was in the 70's.

On the way out of the park, we stopped in Lamar Valley to look for wolves and bears. People parked on the side of the road and waited with binoculars or spotting scopes. One woman said that she had been there in the morning and had seen wolves and moose. We saw one coyote nearby and lots of buffalo but not wolves or bears. We decided to leave as it was getting dark. All of a sudden around a corner there was a herd of buffalo on both sides of the road and on the road. We had to stop until they decided to move. One calf was nursing on the road! Quite an experience! Eventually they moved and we could leave the park via the north eastern exit. We stopped at the first motel Grizzly Lodges in Silver Gate and got a room. It was 39F now at 7900
ft elevation. This area lies in Montana which made Jalil happy, as he has now seen another state!

Monday September 21, 2009 - beginning of fall

A beautiful morning with powder snow on the mountains and 37F according to the car. We stopped in Cook City for coffee at a nice little coffee place. A woman was working on her computer and she raved about her delicious lox and bagel. It was a one man operation and he was very busy. I wanted to try a cup of yerba mate tea. He tried very hard to talk me into a soy latte with this tea as he claimed it was a very strong tea but I opted for the plain tea and it was delicious - smoked. I wanted to buy a whole box but he did not want to sell it to me.

We followed the scenic road down to Cody, WY. It was called Chief Joseph's Highway. This reminded me of when Sue Glass, Theresa and Kay (my backpack friends) and I hiked in the Wallowa mountains in north eastern Oregon. We learned about Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce indians at the museum in the town of Joseph. We visited his grave outside town overlooking a lake. There were prayer cloths hanging from the trees nearby. One said "I am so sorry." He had been promised by the US President that his people would be allowed to live in the Wallowa area and then the Europeans wanted the land so the army chased them away. And they chased them all the way to this Wyoming mountain that we were driving through. At a look out site there were explanations where Chief Joseph had tried to flee either east to the plains or north to Canada with 600 members of the tribe and 2000 horses. They put up a good fight but never made it to either place.

In Cody, WY (5085 ft elevation, pop. 8.800) we went straight to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, as the AAA book said that we needed at least 4 hours there and it was getting late.
There are five different museums and a research center there. After a buffalo hamburger (dry), we started with the Plains Indian Museum, which I liked the best. It is unbelievable how they were treated! Jalil liked the Buffalo Bill Museum best. We had not realized how many roles he had played in his life. He traveled with his huge show about the wild west to many parts of the world until he went bankrupt. The next museum was the Whitney Gallery of Western Art. We had to run through it as they were closing but we saw some beautiful paintings and sculptures. We missed the Museum of Natural History and the Cody Firearms Museum.

Jalil had earlier talked to Patrick Jansson, the Volvo mechanic, about the blue Volvo. Patrick told him that he had to see the art museum in Cody!

We spent the night in a lovely motel on the edge of town called Beartooth. The view of country outside the window was very flat with no trees. Here we had WiFi so Jalil paid some bills and I exchanged a few e-mails. Found out that Janke has her house on the market now.