Woke up in Jackson Hole, WY and had a wonderful breakfast at the Pearl Street Bagels and then walked around for a little bit. Ran into an incredible nature photographers store and talked with his apprentice for a while. The apprentice went to school in Bellingham and his parents live in Anecortes and sell boats for a living. He gave me a few tips on where to go for some cool photos -- some nesting owls and some nice vistas. It was the wrong time of the day for the owls but I got some nice other shots. The best time for wildlife, is dawn or disk.
Started heading north just as the clouds were lowering. Not my time for a trip through the Rockies -- caught the 3:15 Old Faithful eruption. When my parents and I were vacationing, we knew a geologist named Robert Griggs (here and here). If the park rangers ever discover any trace amounts of organic dyes in the effluent of Old Faithful, it was because he dumped a few gallons of Fluorescein Dye in the mouth. I do not remember the eruption but from what I hear, it was a very very brilliant greenish yellow.
Headed North through Mammoth Hot Springs and the weather simply did not cooperate. Blowing fog and rain obscured all but bits of the vista. Bummer... And of course, around 8:30, after dinner, driving west on Route 90, I look back and it is drop-dead clear...
Exited through the north entrance of the park -- this was the original main entrance and has quite the nice collection of old stone buildings. Very imposing.
Passed through Gardiner, MT and then Livingston, MT. Gardiner looks like a lot of fun if you are in your 20's and 30's and do river rafting and fishing.
Dinner was a bit of a bummer as well as I had been planning to eat at the Naked Noodle in Bozeman but they closed at 8:00PM on Sundays...
Got back on 90 and saw a sign for the Outback Steakhouse, they were out of Prime Rib (my first choice) but I had a small sirloin and all was good. Finding the place took about 30 minutes as Bozeman has a very active city planning department and signage is one thing they really do not like to allow. This is cool for people that live there but for someone who sees an Outback sign on the freeway, exits the freeway and finds absolutely zero additional signage, this can be an exercise in frustration. Outback always has a separate sign in whatever mall they locate in so I was looking for that. Finally, after driving for about five miles, I went into another restaurant and asked.
Stopping for the night in Butte, MT. Head west tomorrow and play it by ear. I would like to stop at the Grand Coulee dam to catch the light show but it's an odd middling distance. Maybe next time...
Surf for a bit and then off to bed.
