Deer Lodge, MT - Jackson Lake Lodge, Moran, WY: 300.9 miles, 9hrs drive time

Crossing the Continental Divide no less than six times today gave me some time to think back to the meaning of following in the footsteps of others and in the benefit of experiencing a wide range of what the world has to offer. It seems to me that every trip that can be made has been; the difference in trips has to do with the people involved, the experiences they bring with them, and their ultimate vision of what the trip should be. In terms of our next few days in Grand Teton and Yellowstone, I had no real plan - we'll be figuring that out as we go.

Getting here today involved a significant chunk of driving, once again, along Interstate 90. I am still quite amazed at the speed limits on I-90 through Montana, which hit a maximum of 75 miles/hour for cars. Now, I'm typically only going 60 miles/hour in any circumstance, since it helps to keep my gas mileage numbers up, but I have to say that moving at 75 miles/hour (which we tried last night) is a very good method of getting through Montana quickly. It's not that there's nothing in the state, really, it's that what is there is spread few and far between. Traffic, too, exhibits this characteristic: you could go for miles without having another car behind you. This is in very stark contrast to a lot of driving in Washington (at least, the western part) - you can't be anywhere without at least ten cars around you at any time. Interstate 90 gave us our first pass over the Continental Divide today.

The smoke continued to follow us for a good part of the day, as evidenced in the picture at right. There were times when we could smell it in the car, and there were definitely times when we got out of the car and got a good whiff. Despite this, we actually had no problems on the route and actually had some wry humor amongst all the asphalt.

Opportunity passed us by.

As we started down Highway 2 towards Yellowstone, we passed by Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park, something that looked like it could be a very worthwhile endeavor - just not for this trip, since we decided it would take far too much time. This is a visit we may have to earmark for a later trip through Montana, should one ever be planned. Personally, I don't believe I've seen any caverns, so this would be an interesting side trip for me to take should I find the time.

As we turned down Highway 287, I could swear I heard Whizmo and Gizmo's motorcycle engines passing by me and both of them cursing vociferously at me for my 60 mile/hour driving; alas, this was likely only the road noise in my ear. Following in their footsteps, we made a stop in scenic Ennis, a town that is set up to have a very western feel to it. We decided to stop, browse, and eat before we continued on. It was at this point that I realized that I could no longer avoid the possibility of running into mooses in stores. Past Ennis and through Yellowstone (and especially in Grand Teton), moose likenesses (and, hopefully, mooses) are about as common as sliced bread.

You'll just have to trust me - this is a moose. Yes, that is my reflection. Ach.

Inquiring locally about the possibility of lunch, we were promptly directed to Yesterday's and told to try the sour cream and chive fries. Availing ourselves of the recommended opportunity, Amanda ordered the sour cream and chive fries and a Coke while I ordered the turkey bacon swiss melt special with french fries and a Hawaiian shake (which, if I recall properly, was a combination of strawberry and pineapple ice cream). These were all very good choices - score one for the locals!

Visiting Earthquake Lake, Reynolds Pass, and Targhee Pass in short order (adding another two crosses to our Continental Divide count), we proceeded into West Yellowstone, which really is a tourist dive. (Before I forget - Mike, if you read this, Butte is sort of a hole.... the part we were in, anyway.) Crossing quickly into Yellowstone National Park, we ran upon our first "wildlife traffic jam" in very short order, encountering elk and bison.

Bison ain't moose.

We also passed by two bison just taking a very slow jaunt down the road in the opposite direction with a very long trail of cars behind them for at least a mile.

Stopping in the Fountain Paint Pot area, we witnessed a number of burbling and steaming geysers, including Fountain Paint Pot itself, which is basically just a burbling pool of mud. There were at least two geyser eruptions while we were there, both rather small. The ones billed as the most spectacular ones in the park (including Morning geyser) were steaming, but alas, no eruptions from either. The sulphur smell soon overwhelmed us, and we decided that we had had enough wandering around the park for the day and made a straight beeline for our lodgings.

Yellowstone is a very beautiful park, but when you want to get somewhere, you want to get somewhere, and you tune out a lot of the scenery. That, combined with trying to figure out why your fellow drivers are such expert morons at times (a question that might best be left alone), tends to make time crawl when you want to be at your destination. We bypassed Old Faithful for tomorrow morning and made our way through to Grand Teton National Park and the Jackson Lake Lodge, crossing the Continental Divide twice within Yellowstone itself.

We checked in at about 7:00, found our room, unwound a bit, then went off to the dining room, which didn't have any tables available until 8:30. We killed time by shopping in the Lodge's gift shops, picking up a few shirts and smaller items. We made our way back into the dining room for dinner, which was absolutely spectacular. They had a special of buffalo and mashed potatoes, which sounded a lot like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - of course, I ordered it.

Now, the best description of duck that I ever heard was from my father, who said that duck was like chicken, but not. Buffalo, then, is like steak, but not. Our waiter, a very amiable person, agreed with my assessment, having tried the dish (and indeed, talked me into it). This was served with Montag blue cheese, apparently some of the best in the world. Very tasty. We followed that up with dessert. There were two choices for the dessert wine: one was priced at $21 per glass, the other was priced at $9.50 (and was, in fact, ice wine, which I've had before). I originally ordered the $9.50 Bonny Doon "Vin de Glaciere", but, as my waiter told me as he brought the tiny glass of wine out, they were out of it, so he upgraded me to the $21 wine, but charged me the $9.50 I would have paid for the Bonny Doon. The name of that $21 wine escapes me even after asking the waiter once again what it was called, but it's from one of the best wineries in California. I will likely never run into that wine ever again (and if I did, I wouldn't recognize it), but it was very, very good.

Tomorrow, we head off to Yellowstone once again.