Beginning our wanderings to Yellowstone and beyond - May 16-18
We are starting a new adventure. Diane and I decided to go see Yellowstone National Park and the sites around Rapid City, ND including the Badlands, Black Hills, Mount Rushmore and whatever else we could find. We took many pictures and made entries in our journals along the way but decided to hold off on actually writing our blog until we got home.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Rather than taking several days driving, we decided to fly. We drove to Syracuse, NY on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 and stayed overnight in a hotel close to the airport so we would be ready for our 5:45AM flight to Billings, MT in the morning.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
We got up very early and had breakfast in our room and then headed to the airport. Fortunately when we checked the bags, they were both only 44 lbs. so we made it under the 50 lb bar. We were lucky, I'm not sure why, but our tickets were marked so we could go through the TSA pre-check and not have to take off our shoes or take the tablet out of the backpack. We had connections in both Detroit and Minneapolis and finally arrived in Billings, Montana about 12:30PM. When our bags finally came out at baggage claim, they were soaking wet. It had been raining in Syracuse and each city where we had connections and in Billings when we arrived. Apparently Delta did not have covering over the bags when they were moved between flights or when they were offloaded in Billings.
We picked up our rental car and discovered that Nissan Altima's seats are very low and not friendly to Diane's bad knee. I had borrowed the GPS from our daughter but unfortunately it would not charge so we will have to get a new GPS tomorrow before we head to Yellowstone.
We checked into the hotel and then Diane worked on drying out the suitcases after we got them unpacked. Fortunately, there were only two corners on one suitcase where the water leaked through, unfortunately, it was the suitcase with Diane's clothes. The outside of both were very wet. Diane used the hair dryer to dry them out After getting the suitcases dried out, we went out and got essentials for our travels, peanut butter, bread, zip lock bags, paper plates, etc. We had a quick dinner and went to bed early. Not really impressed with the hotel and may find a different one to stay at the last night of our trip before we fly home.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
We were up early and repacked the suitcases. We had breakfast at the hotel, checked outl, loaded the car, and headed to Walmart to buy a new GPS. I programmed in the location of our hotel in Gardiner outside of Yellowstone in the new BPS and we headed out. Unfortunately, when changing lanes to pass a car, I ran over a dead skunk and it apparently got up in the wheel wells and underside of the car. Not a pleasant smell. We decided that we needed to find a car wash to try and get the smell off the car. We took the next exit which was for Greycliff but discovered it was a very small town and had seen better days, however, at the same exit was a sign for a Prairie Dog Village so on the way back to the interstate, we turned off and drove into the Prairie Dog Village.
There were a lot of prairie dogs and most of them just popped out of their burrows, watching us and chirping at us.
I turned off the new GPS because we didn't want to listen to the ghostly voice tell us to turn around and get back on the highway. It was decent size and we saw several prairie dogs and their holes and took a lot of pictures.
After seeing the prairie dogs I tried to turn the new GPS back on but it wouldn't come back on. Ugh, now we have to find a Walmart where we can return it. We got back on the highway and got off at the next exit, Big Timber. They had a car wash and we were able to get rid of the skunk smell but there was no Walmart. The old GPS still had a little charge and we were able to find the closest Walmart, unfortunately, it was in Bozeman, MT, which was 25 miles past where we were supposed to get off the interstate to head down to Gardiner and Yellowstone. We got off the interstate in Livingston which is where we were supposed to get on Route 89 south to Gardiner. I decided to try and find a USB cable and see if I could get either GSP working with a direct link instead of through the Garmin cable. It didn't charge with either one. Fortunately, when we stopped, Diane noticed that there was a a coffee/shop bakery that sold sandwiches. I had a delicious avocado/chicken sandwich and Diane had a flatbread pizza with artichoke and other goodies. I decided that we really needed a working GPS for the rest of our trip so we headed to the Walmart in Bozeman to exchange the GPS. It turned out to be a very scenic drive with snow covered mountains with their tops hidden low clouds. It wasn't a bad drive and the speed limit on the interstate was 80MPH for most of the way. Of course Walmart did not have the same model as the one we bought in Billings that morning but for a only a few dollars more we got a new one, I plugged it in and it charged. I programmed in the address of our hotel, I thought, and were on our way back toward Livingston. As we headed back toward Livingston, the GPS kept telling to get off and turnaround and head west. I thought it had some different way to take us but decided to just head back to Livingston, the way we had planned. When we go off the interstate in Livingston, I checked the GPS and found that instead of Gardiner, I had programmed the right street name but it was in Poisin, MT which was about 3-4 hours away the other side of Bozeman. I reprogrammed the GPS for the correct address and found we were less than an hour from the hotel. We headed south on Route 89 toward Gardiner, passed the place where we had eaten lunch. It was a scenic drive and saw beautiful mountains with the tops still covered from the snow that had fallen the night before.
It was really strange to me that the two lane highway
had a 70MPH speed limit. About halfway to Gardiner, we ran into
construction where they are grinding the top surface off the highway and
getting ready to repave it. We had to wait about 20 minutes but finally
made it to our hotel in Gardiner.
We checked in and when we got to our room was very pleasantly surprised. It was a 2 room suite with a separate bedroom and a large bath. The bed was very rustic, most of it made from timbers and limbs. We settled in for the night and were looking forward to starting our exploration of Yellowstone tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Rather than taking several days driving, we decided to fly. We drove to Syracuse, NY on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 and stayed overnight in a hotel close to the airport so we would be ready for our 5:45AM flight to Billings, MT in the morning.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
We got up very early and had breakfast in our room and then headed to the airport. Fortunately when we checked the bags, they were both only 44 lbs. so we made it under the 50 lb bar. We were lucky, I'm not sure why, but our tickets were marked so we could go through the TSA pre-check and not have to take off our shoes or take the tablet out of the backpack. We had connections in both Detroit and Minneapolis and finally arrived in Billings, Montana about 12:30PM. When our bags finally came out at baggage claim, they were soaking wet. It had been raining in Syracuse and each city where we had connections and in Billings when we arrived. Apparently Delta did not have covering over the bags when they were moved between flights or when they were offloaded in Billings.
We picked up our rental car and discovered that Nissan Altima's seats are very low and not friendly to Diane's bad knee. I had borrowed the GPS from our daughter but unfortunately it would not charge so we will have to get a new GPS tomorrow before we head to Yellowstone.
We checked into the hotel and then Diane worked on drying out the suitcases after we got them unpacked. Fortunately, there were only two corners on one suitcase where the water leaked through, unfortunately, it was the suitcase with Diane's clothes. The outside of both were very wet. Diane used the hair dryer to dry them out After getting the suitcases dried out, we went out and got essentials for our travels, peanut butter, bread, zip lock bags, paper plates, etc. We had a quick dinner and went to bed early. Not really impressed with the hotel and may find a different one to stay at the last night of our trip before we fly home.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
We were up early and repacked the suitcases. We had breakfast at the hotel, checked outl, loaded the car, and headed to Walmart to buy a new GPS. I programmed in the location of our hotel in Gardiner outside of Yellowstone in the new BPS and we headed out. Unfortunately, when changing lanes to pass a car, I ran over a dead skunk and it apparently got up in the wheel wells and underside of the car. Not a pleasant smell. We decided that we needed to find a car wash to try and get the smell off the car. We took the next exit which was for Greycliff but discovered it was a very small town and had seen better days, however, at the same exit was a sign for a Prairie Dog Village so on the way back to the interstate, we turned off and drove into the Prairie Dog Village.
There were a lot of prairie dogs and most of them just popped out of their burrows, watching us and chirping at us.
I turned off the new GPS because we didn't want to listen to the ghostly voice tell us to turn around and get back on the highway. It was decent size and we saw several prairie dogs and their holes and took a lot of pictures.
After seeing the prairie dogs I tried to turn the new GPS back on but it wouldn't come back on. Ugh, now we have to find a Walmart where we can return it. We got back on the highway and got off at the next exit, Big Timber. They had a car wash and we were able to get rid of the skunk smell but there was no Walmart. The old GPS still had a little charge and we were able to find the closest Walmart, unfortunately, it was in Bozeman, MT, which was 25 miles past where we were supposed to get off the interstate to head down to Gardiner and Yellowstone. We got off the interstate in Livingston which is where we were supposed to get on Route 89 south to Gardiner. I decided to try and find a USB cable and see if I could get either GSP working with a direct link instead of through the Garmin cable. It didn't charge with either one. Fortunately, when we stopped, Diane noticed that there was a a coffee/shop bakery that sold sandwiches. I had a delicious avocado/chicken sandwich and Diane had a flatbread pizza with artichoke and other goodies. I decided that we really needed a working GPS for the rest of our trip so we headed to the Walmart in Bozeman to exchange the GPS. It turned out to be a very scenic drive with snow covered mountains with their tops hidden low clouds. It wasn't a bad drive and the speed limit on the interstate was 80MPH for most of the way. Of course Walmart did not have the same model as the one we bought in Billings that morning but for a only a few dollars more we got a new one, I plugged it in and it charged. I programmed in the address of our hotel, I thought, and were on our way back toward Livingston. As we headed back toward Livingston, the GPS kept telling to get off and turnaround and head west. I thought it had some different way to take us but decided to just head back to Livingston, the way we had planned. When we go off the interstate in Livingston, I checked the GPS and found that instead of Gardiner, I had programmed the right street name but it was in Poisin, MT which was about 3-4 hours away the other side of Bozeman. I reprogrammed the GPS for the correct address and found we were less than an hour from the hotel. We headed south on Route 89 toward Gardiner, passed the place where we had eaten lunch. It was a scenic drive and saw beautiful mountains with the tops still covered from the snow that had fallen the night before.
 | ||||
| Snow Capped mountains on way to Gardiner, MY |
We checked in and when we got to our room was very pleasantly surprised. It was a 2 room suite with a separate bedroom and a large bath. The bed was very rustic, most of it made from timbers and limbs. We settled in for the night and were looking forward to starting our exploration of Yellowstone tomorrow.
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