A ram grazing beside the road....
A heard of buffalo...bison...whatever they are...
Scuse me, pardon me, bison coming thru.....although the locals here get irritated by them, we just thought the complete self-centeredness of these beasts were funny. Sarah said the locals called these kinds of animals "the boys of summer". They know they're pretty and they just come out when the weather is good to lay around, get in your way and show off.
Day two of Yellowstone was just as impressive as the first one.
We got to visit with a LOT more animals today than we had previously. There are many, many more animals freely roaming on the east side of the palatial park than on the west side.
Also, we were privileged to take a ride in a 1936 ORIGINAL Yellowstone park tour bus.
These buses were used in the 30’s and for many years after. Soon, people started driving themselves to the sites and the busses fell silent. So, they were sold. They were used as movie props in Hollywood, private owners bought them and other tour companies. In 2001, a company decided to buy these back, a few of them, refurbish them (250,00.00 a piece to refurbish like new) and put them back into operation. 2007 is the first year they went back into the park and by all appearances, they seemed happy to be back doing what they were built for in 1936. As we took the one hour tour, led by a very sweet girl named Sarah Jane,
it was hard not to pause to imagine what had occurred inside this very vehicle in prior years. Sarah told us that she had met one of the drivers of the original tour busses and he went by the name Popeye. She said the stories he told you could curl your hair..if you had some, so that left me out. With the top rolled back, we sputtered along windy twisty roads and Sarah lead us to the falls and told stories about the park. What a great gift it was to ride in those old cars, imagine who had ridden decades before us and wondered what they thought about as they rode in that seat. Were they as taken by Yellowstone that we saw?? Or did the pressures of war time in the 1940’s stay on their mind more than the awe of the bison that roamed in front of us today
We made some very good friends. One couple was Jim and Linda from LA.
They were spending some time in Yellowstone. We actually met them in Pocatello, Idaho and they were also staying at the KOA in Yellowstone. Our boys hit it off well. Jim and I had several good lawn chair conversations.
Another couple was Bob and Stacy from Florida.
They were moving to Washington state on a re-assignment with the Navy. They have had to move several times and uproot their great family. Those are the things we non-military forget about. Not only are they in the line of duty, they have kindergarteners who have to keep moving schools. Thanks to Bob, and his family, for all they do for our country. Good luck and keep in touch. Also, sympathies on Bob’s recent loss of his mother.
One knows they may never see these people again; physically. But it is nice to know that for a brief time, you have met someone, hopefully left positive memories with them. Life is all about that. Meet…make happy….
Ya’ll keep in touch with us. You NEVER know when our paths might cross again….and that would be good.
We missed a turn to get out of the park. We drove awhile before realizing it. Finally we turned around and headed back. THIS is what we would have missed if we had went the right way….(Sharon leaned out the truck window to take the bear pic...isn't it a turn-on when your wife get's all brave like that? hahah)
Good lesson in taking the road less traveled.
The ride out of the park was pretty guelling to say the least. Very twisty, 25 mph, people staggering around like acute head injuries with cameras. I mean, ALL over the guardrails, parking IN the road, absolutel craziness. We are the tourists, true, but there are designated places to pull off and shoot pix. Not just where you get the hankering to take a picture and the rest of the two lane road has to wait. We needed Dudley Do Right there for sure. He was busy harassing kids somewhere.
Too pooped to pass, we decided to get a hotel for the night after we left the park. We’ll have to adjust as needed in the next few nites, maybe shave off a nite at Rapid City…Dunno, but we were all very exhausted from staying up late talking with friends, walking, driving, so we sought shelter for the night.
Little did we know what lay in front of us in Cooke City, Montana.
Please read into the next blog; Cooke City deserves it’s own segment.
Day two of Yellowstone was just as impressive as the first one.
We got to visit with a LOT more animals today than we had previously. There are many, many more animals freely roaming on the east side of the palatial park than on the west side.
Also, we were privileged to take a ride in a 1936 ORIGINAL Yellowstone park tour bus.
These buses were used in the 30’s and for many years after. Soon, people started driving themselves to the sites and the busses fell silent. So, they were sold. They were used as movie props in Hollywood, private owners bought them and other tour companies. In 2001, a company decided to buy these back, a few of them, refurbish them (250,00.00 a piece to refurbish like new) and put them back into operation. 2007 is the first year they went back into the park and by all appearances, they seemed happy to be back doing what they were built for in 1936. As we took the one hour tour, led by a very sweet girl named Sarah Jane, it was hard not to pause to imagine what had occurred inside this very vehicle in prior years. Sarah told us that she had met one of the drivers of the original tour busses and he went by the name Popeye. She said the stories he told you could curl your hair..if you had some, so that left me out. With the top rolled back, we sputtered along windy twisty roads and Sarah lead us to the falls and told stories about the park. What a great gift it was to ride in those old cars, imagine who had ridden decades before us and wondered what they thought about as they rode in that seat. Were they as taken by Yellowstone that we saw?? Or did the pressures of war time in the 1940’s stay on their mind more than the awe of the bison that roamed in front of us todayWe made some very good friends. One couple was Jim and Linda from LA.
They were spending some time in Yellowstone. We actually met them in Pocatello, Idaho and they were also staying at the KOA in Yellowstone. Our boys hit it off well. Jim and I had several good lawn chair conversations.Another couple was Bob and Stacy from Florida.
They were moving to Washington state on a re-assignment with the Navy. They have had to move several times and uproot their great family. Those are the things we non-military forget about. Not only are they in the line of duty, they have kindergarteners who have to keep moving schools. Thanks to Bob, and his family, for all they do for our country. Good luck and keep in touch. Also, sympathies on Bob’s recent loss of his mother.One knows they may never see these people again; physically. But it is nice to know that for a brief time, you have met someone, hopefully left positive memories with them. Life is all about that. Meet…make happy….
Ya’ll keep in touch with us. You NEVER know when our paths might cross again….and that would be good.
We missed a turn to get out of the park. We drove awhile before realizing it. Finally we turned around and headed back. THIS is what we would have missed if we had went the right way….(Sharon leaned out the truck window to take the bear pic...isn't it a turn-on when your wife get's all brave like that? hahah)
Good lesson in taking the road less traveled.The ride out of the park was pretty guelling to say the least. Very twisty, 25 mph, people staggering around like acute head injuries with cameras. I mean, ALL over the guardrails, parking IN the road, absolutel craziness. We are the tourists, true, but there are designated places to pull off and shoot pix. Not just where you get the hankering to take a picture and the rest of the two lane road has to wait. We needed Dudley Do Right there for sure. He was busy harassing kids somewhere.
Too pooped to pass, we decided to get a hotel for the night after we left the park. We’ll have to adjust as needed in the next few nites, maybe shave off a nite at Rapid City…Dunno, but we were all very exhausted from staying up late talking with friends, walking, driving, so we sought shelter for the night.
Little did we know what lay in front of us in Cooke City, Montana.
Please read into the next blog; Cooke City deserves it’s own segment.
1 comment:
I truly enjoyed reading and viewing your pictures....It felt as if i was there. Your enthusiasm shines thru...Thank you for sharing with us!!!
Jacqui Burton
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