Beginning our wanderings to Yellowstone and beyond - May 16-18

The Beginning: Toward Yellowstone and Beyond

May 17, 18:  Diane’s trip musings

May 17
Rain, rain, rain! Raining in Syracuse when we took off; raining in Detroit when we changed planes; pouring buckets in Billings, MT, when we arrived to claim very soggy luggage. Tom felt that we were lucky to only have two corners on one suitcase soaked through---I wasn’t feeling quite so lucky as I was the one with wet clothing!

May 18
On our way to Gardiner, MT for our four days in Yellowstone National Park adventure. Changing lanes, we hit a 2-D skunk and some of it apparently attached to the car---essence of Pepe le Pew. Now finding a car wash was priority # 1, so we did a bit of a detour.

Turned off on an exit for Greycliff—no car-wash, actually, no town. However, we had passed a sign for “Prairie Dog Village” on the way into “town” and thought, why not?

Back tracking a couple of miles, we entered the prairie dog domain. We were able to drive right through the middle of the rodents’ residences. Much to our surprise, Prairie dogs chirp---sound more like a bird than a mammal. They appeared to talk with each other---I suspect commenting on the smell of our car, perhaps thinking “the biggest skunk I’ve ever seen! And so ugly!”. They seemed to scold us for disturbing them. They looked like a living Whack-A-Mole game when just their heads popped up and they peered from the holes. That didn’t sound too sporting, so we stayed in the car. Really fun break from the drive and interesting.

      Greycliff Prarie Dog State Park

Tried Big Timber and found a car wash this time. They are apparently a bit fussy about what you can wash off a car there, but it did not say a word about skunk essence, so we were good!

 Carwash in Big Timber, MT

    We found a Bakery Café in Livingston that looked promising for lunch. It was kind of a quirky little place, sort of out of the way behind a hardware store. I had a flatbread with artichoke hearts, Kalamata olives, a slew of veggies, and some other stuff I forgot. I think it had about an inch of cheese melted on it. I could feel my arteries hardening. Tom had a chipotle chicken sandwich with roasted red peppers. It was a really fun place and quite good. Friendly folks abounded. It’s fun to find places where the locals eat. They are usually curious about the strangers and strike up conversations, though I am glad I can’t hear what they say after we leave.
       Saw two herds of bison in fenced in area and one of some kind of elk or deer we didn’t recognize. We wondered if they were being raised for meat, or just happened to be in a field with a fence near the road, just hanging out.
    Tom was fascinated by a large black and blue bird with white breast and long tapering tail feathers. We never did a good picture of one---they are really fast! Found out later from a cashier in a Yellowstone store that it was a black billed magpie. She showed us a picture and sold us a “identifying animals and birds in Yellowstone Park” brochure. Bet she moves a lot of the brochures. It accompanied us for the rest of the trip, frequently consulted, and identifications “discussed” with enthusiasm.

Black-billed magpie (not our picture)

    Checked into the Comfort Suites in Gardiner (I mile from North gate of Yellowstone) in late afternoon. Tom outdid himself this time---two huge rooms and enormous bathroom. All furniture is natural wood and leather. Spacious and beautiful. Makes up for last night’s stay in a damp, perfume-y, tacky room---hung about with wet clothes (To be fair, the wet clothes may have contributed to the dampness).
    In front of the hotel are wrought iron benches where guests can sit to enjoy snow-capped peaks looming over them---wonderful view!

View from benches in front of Gardiner hotel

    Off to Yellowstone early tomorrow! The adventure is about to begin.