Day Tripping - Day 3

Except for her bizarre attachment to the wee morning hours (read, before 10 a.m.), Betty is a great travel companion. She drives, I navigate, we never fight about what to eat, and she doesn't snore. And she's one of the most expedient travelers, so Day 3 saw us covering Idaho Falls, Jackson Hole, and a good portion of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. And taking a boatload of pictures.

The full moon showed up a little early in Idaho Falls . . . apparently Betty's skirts and strong Idaho breezes don't mix well. Sorry, folks, no pictures.

Speaking of moons, Betty is also the first blogger (other than my husband) to have witnessed the samba panties in person. Eat your heart out, Waffles.

Speaking of waffles, we ate breakfast at Smitty's - they have meat waffles. I kid you not.

It was good food, but one of those places. Silver dollar pancakes were 6 for $4.50. Or 15 for $7.90. Who can pass up that bargain? Apparently not the fat woman at the table behind us - Betty could barely get her chair pulled back to sit down.

The falls were manufactured, but fake. Having seen most of Idaho Falls, we headed out of town.

The scene started to get prettier - the Grand Tetons seemed gather beauty around them much better than the sand hills of Nevada. Rolling hills, trees, farms, babbling brooks . . . you name it. Much easier on the eyes.

Midday found us in Jackson Hole. Washing down a couple burgers with a beer. But not just any beer. The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar Beer. At the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. With about 40 bikers on their way home from Sturgis. Apparently, Jackson Hole was a 2008 Sturgis Pit Stop. Really. Saw it on a T-shirt. Must be true.

We determined a couple things about Jackson Hole.

• It is cute and quaint (even if a little manufactured)
• The public restrooms smell like ass. I held my breath the whole time.
• You can buy almost anything "moose" here
• You can buy cowboy boots made of python. On sale for a mere $700.
• You can also buy a stuffed beaver rowing a canoe for $600. No kidding. I'd show you a picture, but they didn't allow photography. Probably didn't need some amateur taxidermist getting any funny ideas. My birthday is only a few months away you know . . .

We left Jackson Hole and headed north to Yellowstone. Other than the bizarre stop for road construction, we made great time and actually decided to try to see some things in the park before heading to our hotel. We stopped at the West Thumb basin, which is on the western shores of Lake Yellowstone.

Yesterday's collage/mosaic may have confused some of you . . . but then you need to see Yellowstone to understand. I kept expecting geysers like what you see in pictures of Old Faithful. What I didn't expect was the rest of the landscape that goes with this kind of geothermal wonderland. Without perspective (like the pictures yesterday), you're not sure if you are looking at a moonscape, a seascape, an underwater reef, or an infrared scan of the earth from space. The formations were unusual; watching water steaming and boiling and then running into a lake bigger than the eye can see was amazing. The sulfur smell was overwhelming in parts; the beauty and uniqueness unmatched. The colors were almost better than an underwater reef at times, made from varying strains of bacteria. The rock formations alternated between looking like caves, snow, coral, ice, and volcanic residue. Needless to say, the two of us had cameras snapping.

We made it to our hotel exhausted but satisfied with the visual wonderland . . .

Day 4 - Old Faithful waits!

Respectfully submitted,

The Wife

PS - Was it rude of me to try to convince Betty that the Puzzle Face Ranch was a Canada Goose farm? She quickly figured it out after she realized that regardless of how many geese had settled on the property for a quick swim, it would be hard to keep them there . . .