Moving to Eastern Wyoming Ayers Natural Bridge

Sunday July 8th!
I woke up 7:30 this morning, which was a little later than I had planned, but oh well. I packed up all of my things, which I don't mind doing, but I HATE rolling up my tent when it is wet! I got all of my stuff together and out of the park in less than 20 minutes. It is a 6 hour drive to the East side of Wyoming, to Ayers Natural Bridge State Park, with hopefully a free campground. I left the park and headed south. because I had wrote down that that is where the highway would be, unfortunately I drove 30 miles south and then realized I was headed in the wrong directions, so with an hour detour, I made it back to the highway, right outside of my camp. I hauled ass out of the Teton range! The mountains turned a cool red and orange color as I drove, but after I passed those the state turned rather boring. Just a lot of plaines and really tiny farms.

I listened to digital ash and thought about how great all of the Bright Eyes albums coincided with my trip, and how happy I am to attach new memories to these old albums. Digital ash has always reminded me of right before I started going to High Tech High International, waiting in line at Soma at 6am with Alex, saving spots for Sophie, Scarlett, and Schuyler who either, couldn't or wouldn't ditch school to come sit and fly kites with us. It also reminds me of hooded sweatshirt walks, and drinking out of red cups on the beach. Listening to Lifted floods me with memories of countless dance parties, and our College Day trip to Berkeley, where Alex and I sang Method Acting, driving everyone insane with the "On and on and on and on, on and on and on and on." Every album brings back so many good memories, but they almost make me sad, because they were all so long ago, and I miss my friends and my last 2 years of high school. Seeing Bright Eyes, and Saddle creek related bands four times in a row. Now I can listen and not just think of the distant past. I can remember yesterday when I drove through all of wyoming. I drove fast and only semi conscious, yearning to be 16 again, until I sped past a highway patrolmen, while chugging a gallon of raspberry lemonade. I slowed wayyyy down, and watched him flip a u-turn to follow me. I drove the speed limit for about an hour until he gave up on me and went back the other way. It is incredibly boring driving 65 mph in the middle of nowhere with nothing to look at. I was driving past the town of Casper when I saw safeway had gas for $3.19 a gallon! woooo! So I pulled over, and filled my tank. There was also a Wendy's right there!! So I decided to indulge in some fries and a chocolate frosty! It was delicious! However, when I got the Ayers Natural Bridge only about 30 miles away my stomach started to hurt and I felt really really terrible! I checked in with the cute elderly couple that works and live at the park, and I pitched my tent @ campsite 3, on the GRASS! there was grass, it felt so good to lay on v. just dirt or rocks! There were a ton of families having picnics at the bridge and swimming, but I decided to take a nap to hopefully feel better and then I would join in on the fun. I fell asleep for 2 hours and when I woke up I felt just as bad if not worse than I did when I started my nap. I just hung out in my tent and watched the rabbits run by for a while.I changed into some shorts to go swimming in and headed towards where I could hear the kids splashing around. The bridge was pretty cool, but the little lake stream thing that was happening was really dirty. It was the first water I had come across while camping that wasn't crystal clear. Maybe I got spoiled but it kind of grossed me out. I waded into it anyway and it felt really cool. I was probably only up to my knees in the water when this little girl held up a fish and said "Eww were swimming in dead fish water!" then she threw the fish at her friends and they kept splashing around, laughing. Although I am sure every lake, stream, ocean, or body of water I have ever been in has had dead fish in it, I was thoroughly grossed out. I quickly walked to the other side, where I saw a swing.

I got on it, and was really happy that it was so tall! At first it felt great, I miss the swings, but I quickly got really nauseous. I think the after effects of fast food and dead fish water, really did not sit well with me. I could not handle the back and forth, and up and down, which made me so sad, because I fucking love the swings! I climbed to the top of the bridge instead, which had a cool view of an old power house, and the red mountains around me. 

I started to head back down from the bridge and fell for the first time on my trip, which is kind of shocking, since I have the worst balance ever. I was bleeding, but it didn't hurt at all. I headed back to my tent, glad that no one saw me fall, and called my mom. She asked how my car was running and I said great. She told me to check my tires, and they were totally bald. I panicked a little, and called 100 tires stores. The only place that had tires that would fit my car was Big O Tires, and of course they only had premium ones, unless I wanted to wait 3-7 days. Gah. They said I could try going to a bigger city, but I would have to drive 6 or so hours to Rapid City, and I didn't want to risk having a blow out in the middle of Wyoming. SO I settled on paying the $550 dollars for new tires :( Ugh. Oh well, it needs to be done. I would have to wait until morning to get them changed because the park closes at 8pm and it was already 7ish. I snacked a little on almonds and filled out postcards. The park emptied out, and I was the only one left camping. It was a nice change of pace, from Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. I wasn't too far form the old coupld who maintained the park, so I wasn't completely alone. As I read my book, the cute old man came of and said "You in there little lady?" I said yes, and he warned me that I needed to be careful of raccoons. I couldn't help but laugh. For the past 8 days I had to be worried about bears and cougars, and now my biggest threat was Coons. Don't get me wrong, raccoons scare the crap out of me, but really? I sat in the grass a little outside my tent until it got dark. Then I read by headlamp. My eyes hurt really bad, so I decided to stop reading, even though I only had 15 pages left of my book. I decided to check out the stars, since it was the first night I wasn't too exhausted or the weather wasn't too bad to see the sky. As soon as I looked out my tent I could hear the swing going, which terrified me, because I was the only one in the park. It was probably just the wind, but none the less it scared me into not staring at the stars. I wrapped myself up in my sleeping bag and blanket and I made myself sleep. 

End of Yellowstone to The Grandest of Tetons

Saturday July 7th!

I woke up at 7 am literally saying "Okay okay, I'll get up," talking to no one and my tent at the same time. I packed up all of my things, like I do everyday, and headed to the Old faithful/The Teton range. I felt really really dirty. I don't know if it was just the heat, or that I struggled with the charcoal covered fire pit for so long last night, but it was the first time I felt really uncomfortable, and I had just showered yesterday morning. My day was starting off strange, I was still a little grouchy from the night before. I drove the 20 something miles to Old Faithful, and got there 3 minutes after it had erupted. Blerg, of course. So I sat in the sun for an hour feeling grungy and hot until it exploded. I watched kids run around putting their hands in the run off from the previous geyser, feeling more and more irritated with parents. I watched a little two year old jump off the boardwalk and take off for Old Faithful, while her dad filmed it. Are you kidding me?! The highlight of the hour wait was having a little french family sit next to me and listening to them talk. I wished I was in Paris again.
After a while it began to erupt, and that was pretty awesome. It started in little bursts and the crowd oohed and awwwed. Then there was a full blown eruption, and I am glad I got to see it, but then I got the hell out of there. I jumped in my car and spent the next hour and a half driving 36 miles, ugh. There was one point where I pulled over because a heard of Bison were kicking it in the street and in a field.

They were cute, and I sat watching them roll in the dirt and just have a great time, until they got out of the road and then I continued my drive to Grand Teton.

 I got to Lizard Creek campground, and felt relieved. All over the internet people said that Lizard creek was very peaceful, and a quick walk to Jackson Lake, and Although it wasn't as close to the Teton Range as the other campgrounds, you could still see the mountains and it was free! However when I pulled into the campground there was a fee deposit box, and the campground was $20.50, what the hell! I was not having this day! I decided if I was going to have to pay more money than to stay in yellowstone, I might as well camp on the lake! I was pretty pissed off! I thought I was going to have 30 or so extra dollars and I could splurge at a lodge on hot, greasy food! Now I would have less than $10, which in these tourist traps, buys you close to nothing! I continued on the jam packed trafficy road, and gave up on driving when I got to the Colter Bay campground. I was given campsite 306 in the N Loop for 20 bucks. I set up my tent on a bunch of rocks, because thats all there was and I called my mom because luckily I had cell reception. I told her I was having a bad day and vented for a while, and she responded with "Oh, you are fussy!" Then I started crying! My first real cry of the trip. 8 days is a long time for me! so way to go. It was the first time I really really wanted to camp with someone! I was hungry! Although it was only noon, and I had plenty of energy, I didn't want to move. So I drove the couple of blocks to the lake instead of walking. I went into the visitors center and stared at things I couldn't afford to buy. I found this book called "Deaths in Yellowstone"Since I am drawn and fascinated by things like Death, War, Genocide, and shit like that I opened to the book just to see if it was worth reading. The first story was about this guy who was checking out the Norris Geyser Basin and his dog jumped out of his car and lept into a hot spring. When the dog started to yelp the guy took off his shoes preparing to jump into the spring! Everyone was telling him not to do it and he responded with "Like hell I'm not gunna jump in there!" and he dove head first into the 200 degree pool. He swam all the way to the dog and tried to grab him, but gave up and climbed out of the pool. His friend ran to his side and tried to help him back to the car. The guy who jumped in kept saying "That was really stupid, I was really dumb" Yeah NO SHIT!!! What the fuck?! I mean seriously you have to be a god damn moron! Everyone knows those things are boiling! That's why you go to Yellowstone! The guy made it a few steps to the car, before people tried to take off his clothes to cool him down, which literally peeled the skin off with it, and then he died! Ugh! The Author continued to tell stories of moronic deaths like this and said that there are more deaths in yellowstone that occur by people jumping or falling into the hot springs than there are by bear attacks! What Idiots! I know you can't help it if you fall, but if you stay on the boardwalks, it's nearly impossible to fall into the boiling water! I thought off all the kids who were jumping off the boardwalks in yellowstone, with out their parents warning them that it was dangerous, and it made me so sad! As I continued to read I learned that most of the hot spring deaths were adults! Jesus.
All of a sudden a lady that worked in the gift shop came up and tapped me on the shoulder. She asked if I needed help and I realized I had already read about 20 pages of the book. So I pretended to check the price, which I already knew was $16.89, more expensive than I could pay, and then I just bought my $3 in postcards.
For some reason reading those stories made me feel better, maybe because no matter how unprepared I was cooking wise, I wasn't dumb enough to die in a hot spring. I packed up my backpack, which was a whole new routine now that I wasn't hiking in the mountains. I still kept my bear spray, but instead of a rope, extra water, food, and a knife I just took a book and my journal. I headed out for a leisurely 2 mile loop around a little island in the lake. I walked across the land bridge, and it was awesome! As soon as I got to the island this huge gorgeous butterfly led me down the trail. I started going down a trail that veered off of the loop, because I was preoccupied with this butterfly, and it seemed to want to take me in a different direction. It led me straight to a clearing in the woods that overlooked the lake and the tetons! I sat down and decided to play some music and write a bit. I cheesely put on Modest Mouse "Blame it on the Tetons" and it felt great! I listened to the whole Good News For People Who Love Bad News Album.

Not a single person came by and I loved it! I saw a few people on Kayaks on the lake and it looked so peaceful. i read about how you can go inner-tubing down snake river, and I think I would like to do that next time! I hung out on my own little private beach  for quite some time, and then slowly made my way back to the visitors center. On my way back I saw a family swimming in the lake, and I really wanted to ump in. I didn't have my bathing suit on though, and I knew there was a thunderstorm coming tonight, and my shorts wouldn't have time to dry out before tomorrow, and it is way too hot to wear pants. When I got back to the visitors center I didn't go in because I was afraid I would buy that book. I went to the grocery store instead and I was dead set on getting something terrible for me with my remaining money! I walked past donuts, ice cream, cheetos, and so many other umm things. I couldn't decide on one so I settled for cherries, a salad, and raspberry lemonade, what?! Bye $9. I sadly walked out of the grocery regretting my decisions, and headed for Jenny Lake, the drive was gorgeous. The mountains just kept getting closer and closer, until I was right underneath them!

I got to the Jenny lake parking lot and it was so crowded that I couldn't even get in, so I just turned around and headed back. I guess I didn't need to see the lake, the mountains were cool enough. The drive down there had been worth it. 

I got back to my campsite and called a few people, and just hung out on the phone, talking about my trip and complaining about how hungry I was for a cooked meal. All of a sudden this cute little dog named jackson came over to my camp and was running circles around my tent. His owner came over and kept apologizing for walking onto my site. I said it was no problem at all and told her that her dog was really cute. She asked if I was alone, and I said yes. I told her about my trip, and she said I was really brave and that she couldn't do it alone, and she was only camping for 2 days. That made me feel awesome, about that same time my mom texted me and said that her and Alex were proud of me, all at once my day turned great. Jackson's mom must have heard me complaining on the phone, because she came back over and asked if I wanted to join them for dinner. Oh my god! They made Brauts, beans and corn! I was so hungry and hot food sounded so good that I almost wanted to eat all of it, brauts included! I went over and formally met the couple, James and Lynn, from Denver Colorado. I guess Colorado is on fire right now so they decided to come camping in Wyoming. They talked about how they had gone fishing, but didn't catch anything. I was bummed, b/c honestly I would have eaten some fish if they had cooked it. I ate my beans and corn, and told them about my trip. A crazy thunderstorm started and we sat under the canopy that James had gotten from his work for free. The thunder was so loud and the rain only lasted for about 10 minutes, but it was pretty perfect. I really love thunderstorms, you could hear the rumbling start far away for about 30 minutes before it got to us. Once it mellowed down, they gave me an extra piece of corn, some pretzels and some bread, since I told them I ran out of bread and I had bought that huckleberry jam. It was awesome! They were really sweet! I actually felt kind of full, and headed back to my tent. I tried to talk quietly when my mom called and I told her about them, but it didn't really matter, because they got into a fight and started yelling so loud that they wouldn't have heard me anyway! Bummer! For the first time on the trip I wasn't tired at all when the sun went down, so I put on my headlamp on and read for a while, until the batteries died. It was too dark to find my spare batteries without my headlamp, so I just laid there until I fell asleep.  

Yellowstone

Finally have some computer time! SO I shall continue my Yellowstone story telling...

I walked past these two geysers that were just billowing with steam, so much so that even being 30 feet away the hot steam was misting all over me. It felt awesome, but also kind of disgusting, because it was so hot out already. It really reminded me of a girl scout trip that I took a long time ago. I stood there just letting the memories of elementary school rush over me. This specific trip has always kind of stuck out in my mind. I don't remember exactly where we went, but I remember Teresa Skala's mom saying that we were going to the middle of nowhere to camp, and I thought that was a real place. It was really really hot, somewhere in the desert. I have quite a few vivid memories from that trip, but the one that the geysers brought back to me was of a long hike through the desert. I had run out of water, near the end of the hike, and I was so excited when we came to a shady spot, with not only a spicket but a mister. I ran up to it only to be sprayed by a hot mist. Ugh it felt so uncomfortable. While thinking back on these girl scout times I started to think that this lesson that I am "learning" now about friends, I already knew in elementary school. During this particular trip I was stuck in a tent with Stacey Silverman, Bryn Wilson, and Ashley Swink, who were best friends for the week, and who loved to try and make my life a living hell back in those days. They were very mean to me in school and I was forced to camp with them, share classes, and a lunch hour. I remember being upset or hurt when they bullied me in the heat of the moment, but I feel like once I left school I quickly forgot that these people existed. I had my real friends and my great family. I knew those people wouldn't surround me forever, even though I was stuck with most of them throughout high school. I think I should revert back to a kindergarten mentality and fuck all of the stupid ridiculous people.
Back to Yellowstone... I finished walking around the Norriss Geyser Basin, and I was sad to read that one particular geyser called "The Minute Geyser" used to go off every 60 seconds, but because people are awfully destructive, and threw rocks and dirt into the geyser, it has become clogged and only erupts every 5 or so minutes now. I didn't know this when I hung out by the amazingly blue and yellow pool. I was probably there for about 3 or 4 minutes before continuing on, just my luck.

After all of that I headed north to Mammoth Hot Springs, which was the way I came into the park earlier. Those springs were pretty cool. It looked like a cliff made of white sand. There was a plateau at the top of the hill, that was just covered with hot springs, and red and orange waterfalls bubbling down the white cliffside. It was so Alien looking! Steam Everywhere. It was incredibly hot. I walked the boardwalk around the springs, and was just amazed at how close I was to scalding water. 

There were also these amazing ginormous Dandelions growing, and I wanted to pick one more than anything, but they were just out of reach. I wanted to lean over and grab one, but I could picture myself tumbling over the rail and sliding down the hill into the sulfur water, leaving with 3rd degree burns, just to make a wish that my trip turned out well. I let my mind wander around a lot, day dreaming. Anyway, I walked around in amazement and in frustration with the ridiculously slow and unhappy people around me. After I toured the hot springs I drove up to the gift shop to get some change for my campground. It was soooo busy, so I went to the restaurant and ordered a salad for $4. I overpaid. It was very little iceberg lettuce with one slice of cucumber, doused in ranch dressing. Oh Well. I was just bummed that I was trying to be healthy, when french fries were only $2 and they came in a heaping serving. I ate the salad regardless, got my change and headed towards Canyon Village. The drive was gorgeous, just never ending natural beauty. I was okay driving slow with all the traffic, there was just so much to look at. Mountains, after cliffs, after rolling hills, after plains, and forests. I didn't bother pulling over at any of the .2 or .3 mile hikes because there was no parking anyway. However, I did drive to the petrified tree. I pulled down the road surrounded by meadows, and when I arrived at the parking lot, it was of course full. I backed my little car into a tiny space on the side of the road. There were so many people, and I could see the tree from my car. To be honest it looked really boring, like a stump, that hmmm... let's see, was petrified. I was about to just get back in my car and leave when I saw this guy pointing into the trees. There was a brown bear, with 2 cinnamon colored black bear babies. The mom was leading her cubs down the trail, that was relatively close to us, but headed in the opposite direction. Everyone was scrambling for their cameras and I , with my shitty Iphone was clicking away. I got a few pictures, but I mostly just watched the little bears tumble there way down the steep mountain side. They were adorable. I was pretty excited that my first bear sighting was not 1, but 3 bears, and I was surrounded by a dozen of extremely loud people. After the bears gathered behind a bush, out of sight from the onlooking tourists, I got back in my car and headed for Canyon Village. About 5 minutes later I came to another stop. A guy had parked his car in the middle of the road. He was pointing out his window, and I followed his sign towards yet another bear! I didn't even bother with pictures, but I watched the bear forage for food, until we had a little bear jam behind and drove on. Just around the bend, another bear jam! This time there were at least 40 cars stopped in both directions. Everyone had just parked their cars in the road, and had gotten out of their cars to take pictures, even though in every newspaper, and brochure it said not to stop or get out of your vehicle. I pulled over, instead of leaving my car in the middle of the lane, and walked up to see what was going on. In a huge meadow on top of a rock was a baby bear, and then a mama bear smelling flowers. Fully aware that these bears can run 10 times faster than me if they wanted to, and all of the people that could potentially piss them off, I went back to my car, pulled back into traffic and waited for my turn to be up close and personal, behind the shell of my little yaris. I got a few pictures, but mostly just stared, and took a video. 

It took me almost an hour to get out of that traffic. Some people were getting very angry, threatening to run people over, but I was perfectly content watching the bears in safety. That made 6 bears in like 10 minutes. When I finally got through, I was so close to Canyon Village. I was listening to Cassadaga that was giving me permanent chills. 

I found the turnout for Lower Falls, which is the largest waterfall in Yellowstone. There was a 3/8ths of a mile hike down to the crest of the falls and I saw quite a few families say "oh this is a long one, maybe we should skip it" Ridiculous. I walked down there, and it could have very well been the most amazing thing I have ever seen!

 Although it was a short hike it descended 600 feet in no time, and I thought about hiking up to Avalanche Lake and how it was only a 500 foot ascent over about 40 minutes. I was a little nervous about the trek back up, but this was really my only hike in Yellowstone. The closer I got to the falls the louder the water, I could see the river flowing swiftly, but couldn't see the falls yet. As soon as I got to the crest I was in awe. The water was so clear, yet this lime green jello color. It was rushing so fast, and not only did the color resemble jello, but as it cascaded over the falls it resembled jello as well. I stood there at the corner of the falls, just mesmerized by the water. It looked so peaceful, but so chaotic at the same time. Huge fold of jello careening over the edge, while billions of other molecules of water flailed and scattered, looking terrified as the plummeted, not being able to congeal peacefully. Near the edges of the waterfall, gallons of water were caught on rocks shooting into the air as if they were struggling to not fall over the edge, which they quickly did. It was intense to say the least. This was just the beginning of the fall, that I couldn't peel my eyes away from. If you looked towards the bottom of the falls, the water was smashing into the lower canyon river, it was disastrous. Broken green jello, turned into an immense amount of white water rushing through the yellow and orange canyon walls. I think this was the highlight of my day, and of yellowstone. I hung out for a while wanting to collect a few purple flowers hanging over the edge of the waterfall, but imaging falling over the rail, and having the hundreds of tourists, videotaping me fall instead of helping me back to safety.  So I left the flowers and hiked back up the 600 feet. I couldn't knock the smile off of my face. Others were huffing and puffing up the switchbacks, but I made it to my car in less than 10 minutes. It took me less time to walk up than it did to get down. I don't know if I was just preoccupied by the beauty of what I had just seen, or if it was easy because I had expected the climb to be really difficult, but either way, it was a breeze.  I left the lower falls parking lot and drove to another "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone" overlook, and it was beautiful, but nothing compared to what I had just seen.

I headed back to my camp listening to Lime Trees (My favorite song of all time) over and over again. I saw a few bison, they were huge! 

I got back to camp and wanted a hot meal sooooo bad! I tried to start a fire, which I only accomplished for a measly 10 mins. Just long enough to heat up a pot of beans, kind of. It wasn't satisfying at all. I expended much more energy than I consumed. I was getting a little grouchy, from a lack of filling hot food. I thought about how much longer I wanted to spend in the park, and I decided the only thing I still wanted to see was Old Faithful, which I could stop at on my way to The Grand Tetons tomorrow. So I read a little, and mentally prepared myself for tomorrow, very excited to camp at a free campground, and fell asleep. 

Hello Wyoming!

Hello Internet world! I am currently hanging out at a Starbucks in Casper Wyoming while I get new tires put on my car. 

I guess I will just pick up where I left off, my drive day to Livingston MT. Back tracking just a little bit, I love Montana. I really like the North western part of it the best, but the whole place just makes me happy! The rolling hills and tall grass, where a nice change of scenery after the mountains (even though I would prefer to be surrounded by lakes and mountains forever.) Just when I started to get sick of yellow grass, tress started to sprout up again. I was right outside of Butte and the hills started to be flowered in baby trees. It made me wonder why there were only baby trees around and why they grew in such tiny spurts. It kind of reminded me of the Desaparecidos song Greater Omaha when Conor sings "The Traffics kinda bad, they're widenin' easy street, they're plantin' baby trees to grow to shady peaks" I got really excited for Birthday times in Omaha with Alex and Scarlett! 1 more month!

Anyway I was wishing I had a Desa Cd with me, or I had it on my phone when I rounded the corner and saw Butte. It's such a cute little town! I really wanted to stop and check it out, but it was getting late and I wanted to make sure I had a place to stay for the evening. I really need to visit there next year, when Mindy and I come to Montana for my birthday. The town looked like something straight out of an Old Western/There Will Be Blood. It was this tiny brick town on a hill, and then it was gone :( I drove through a few more small westerny towns, but none were as quaint and adorable, and then I arrived in Livingston. Like Charlie had told me, the town was so cute! All the buildings were brick, with murals painted on them, and awesome old neon signs. There were a lot of bars, one was even called Whiskey Creek Saloon. There was also a Wells Fargo! Fantastic. I headed straight to the Murray, where Charlie had told me to check out. Just seeing a hotel got me excited to sleep in a bed. I had been debating all day whether I should splurge and get a room, or just camp in Gallatin National Forest. The second I stepped foot in the Murray I was convinced I needed a Hotel and maybe 3 more showers. I went straight to the bar, because I really wanted to eat! I got a Jameson on the rocks and some fries! both were delicious. I really wanted to get about 4 more of each, but decided I could drink the whiskey I bought for my trip and not spend all my money at a bar. However the fries were really tempting. Also, like I stated earlier, people in Montana really like their ice cream, I wanted some so bad, but  I fought off the urge. I sat for a while watching the locals come in and order their bud light and talk about 4th of July. I stared out the window, all of a sudden exhausted by the days drive. I decided that before I ordered more food I should go check into a room. I mustered up my energy and walked into the lobby, they were all booked up.. dun dun dun. The lady at the counter looked at me like I was crazy, and told me that everywhere in town was full for the weekend! BUMMER! I didn't even know it was the weekend. I guess I'd have to go back into the forest and camp. I wandered around looking for a coffee shop that I could sit down and type all of this up. It was 8 o clock and I knew I only had an hour of daylight to set up my tent somewhere, but I didn't want to! I saw the Parkway Motel about 4 blocks away and went in to check on availability just in case. As soon as I walked up I knew the lady at the Murray had been right and I didn't stand a chance, the whole courtyard was full with a family reunion, but I went in anyway. BOOM I got a room for $86 dollars (That's going on the Credit Card)! Success. I checked into room 23 and left the door open, because the room was freezing and it was so hot and nice outside. As I was unloading my shampoo, that I had just bought earlier for 88 cents, my pajamas, notebooks, and finally my computer, this elderly couple kept asking me about the mileage on my car. They were cute, and I am pretty sure part of the family reunion. I wanted to join them in bbqing, and pretend I was at Dana Point with my family, but I enjoyed listening to their conversations outside my door instead. 

My room was really cool. I had a huge bed, to toss and turn in, and there was a huge painting of a moose above my head. The bathroom was painted the same color as the tub, and my favorite color, Teal! I typed for hours listening to the newest episode of the bachelorette play in an tab behind my blog. It was the hometown dates, and every time those play I think if I was on the bachelor and I made it that far I'd win for sure, because my family is fucking awesome, and who wouldn't want to be a part of it. Anyway I typed until 3 am and set an alarm for 7:30

FRIDAY JULY 6th!

I woke up at 7:30 ish and took a shower knowing it would be my last for a little while.  My hair still didn't feel all that clean so I quickly braided it and got all my things packed into my car, while listening to the newest Delta Spirit Album. I don't have the CD and it's not on my phone, so I played it on repeat for almost the entire 11 hrs I spent at Parkway Motel. 

Anyway I left for Yellowstone at 8ish. I was so sad to be leaving Montana, much more sad than I had been leaving Seattle. I wanted to just drive back to Glacier, but instead I stuck to my plan and drove the 52 miles to Yellowstone National Park. I stopped at the bank on the way out and withdrew $60, I knew Yellowstone would be expensive.  I stopped in the last Montana town before the park just to say good bye, and I filled up my already almost full gas tank just so I could be there a little longer. It's funny to see towns that only exist because of tourist attractions, like this one. There was literally nothing for miles before it, and then all of a sudden there are gift shops, and bars.I called my mom really quick before going into the park and then I drove under the Roosevelt Arch which welcomes you to the park.

Entering Yellowstone felt really strange. I was already in this completely other magical world. I flashed my National Park Annual Pass, like a pro and as I drove up the first moutainy hill in the park this gorgeous Eagle soared right next to my car as if it was guiding me in. Every corner I rounded, it stayed right there with me, flying over the edge of the cliff that I was driving on. The place was ridiculously beautiful, it was so massive. I quickly learned that Yellowstone is a cluster fuck of all things naturally insane and spectacular!

It was only 10am when I entered the park and I wanted to drive straight to the Norris campground to ensure I had a place to pitch my tent.  As I drove past amazing sight after amazing sight, there were waterfalls of boiling sulfur water, mountains with steam just pouring out of them, cool lakes with hot springs dumping into them, boulders 3 times the size of my car, and everytime I drove around a ountain bend you could just see trees, lakes and mountains for miles upon miles. I had a weird thought where I stupidly said to the land "You are so luck Theodore Roosevelt made National Parks" I thought of how destroyed this place would be if it wasn't protected. We humans like to destroy things that don't seem "normal," and nothing about yellowstone is normal. I then quickly rephrased my thoughts knowing that I was the lucky one, not the land. When we are all dead and gone Yellowstone will still be there and nothing can change that it sits on the hot spot of geothermal activity. I drove the 21 miles of amazing landscape. Had I been in a city without the spectacular views I would have been fuming with road rage because it took me two hours to get through those miles with traffic. When I got to Norris I was honestly surprised that there where still campsites available! I wanted to camp in the A loop because it sat right along a stream and field where I have heard bison like to graze. Unfortunately there was only one site available there, and it was reserved for handicapped people. I should have just taken it, becuase the couple who later inhabited the site definitely not handicapped. Regardless I settled for Loop B site 25. It was tucked away, kind f, behind an RV. Yellowstone itself is great, but there ware just way too many people. It was so crowded. I had gotten used to the isolation of the mountains, and I was surprisingly unhappy with the crowds. I went to pay my camping fee of $14 a night. I was trying to decided if I wanted to stay for 2 or three nights like I had originally planned. I knew I couldn't tkae 3 nights of this campground. I campground host came up and asked if I needed help, and I asked if he had any change because I only had 20's. He told me to go to the visitors center and  get change, I told him I didn't want to loose my spot and he said "Don't worry Darlin' you can pay later this evening." Fantastic, this gave me time to see how much of the park I could explore today and decide how long I wanted to stay here. Luckily and disappointingly Yellowstone is a national park for the lazy tourist. There are roads to everything, there is really no need to hike at all, nor are there many trails to follow that last longer than 1/2 a mile. I'm sure I could have found real trails but everything was so busy, it wouldn't have been worth it. I like to hike at my own pace, and people would just be clogging up my nature! I drove 1 mile south to the Norris Geyser Basin and walked all around the Hot Springs. It was amazing. The ground was totally white with pools of Blue, Red, Yellow, and Green water that somehow managed to still stay crystal clear. There were steaming streams that made me think of how much the dinosaurs must have loved this place. I could just imagine dino's traveling miles for their family vacay at the hot springs. I wonder if dinosaurs used these 200 degree pools as hot tubs, and if this was like a little dino resort. 

My smell is finally coming back to me, and the sulfur smell gave me little pangs of loneliness. It reminded me so much of countless summers swimming and riding horses at Warner Springs with my grandparents for a Birthday/Anniversary celebration. For the first time I really wished I wasn't alone. I wanted my family around a ton. Yellowstone is beautiful, but with all the people around it makes it hard to focus on anything. I think having my family around I would have been able to feel a little more at peace, and be able to talk about all the wonders of the park. I don't know if my grandparents have been to Yellowstone before, but I feel like it is a vacation we probably should have taken years ago. I sucked it up and tried not to feel lonely with all the asian families next to me taking pictures with their Ipads and I continued through the geyser basin. I was really shocked at all the terrible parents there were at this park. There were so many kids jumping off the boardwalk wandering way too close to the hot springs. I wanted to slap these people! 

Anyway it was beautiful to see and hear these pools. The sound of the steam rising from the earth was incredible. It sounded a little like what I imagine hell would sound like. 

OH I have so much more about yellowstone, but I just got the call that my car is ready, so now I am headed to Mt Rushmore! More soon! 

Last part of Montana :( Don't be so amazing, or I'll miss you too much

WED JULY 4TH!

One month till my birthday! It's 7 am and the wind has not let up!

It's insane out there! The skies look clear though! Let's see what I can get accomplished today. 

Alright, so it's still freezing out, but it's sunny and clear. I hiked the 1.8 miles to Red Rock Falls, which I am currently sitting on a rock in the middle of. It's amazing there is water streaming all around me! I can finally see the meadows I've been hearing so much about. Little yellow and blue flowers everywhere. I was the first person here today, even though I passed about 4 groups of people that left before me. I sat in the middle of the falls for a while just enjoying the sun. Those four families eventually found me and I kind of stubbornly didn't move out of the way when they cam to take pictures. I don't know I just didn't want to get up it was so perfect. Eventually I realized more people were just going to keep coming and I wouldn't spend any time here alone so I headed back to the visitors center to see what other hikes I could take.

I bought myself a tea debating whether or not I wanted to hike the 4 miles to Iceberg lake. As I was waiting in line to buy my tea, I overheard the ranger saying it was really really snowy, and she didn't recommend it. The Grinell Glacier Trail was also closed. So I guess when I come back next year for my birthday I will have to spend more time on the East side at Many Glacier. So I headed back to teh west side listening to my 1 Roman Candle song that I am allowing myself and the Sufjan Song "They Were Night Zombies" I stopped at a store that had a huge sign that said Indian Jewelry; Turquoise! So I stopped hoping to a buy a ring, but they really only had earings. I bought a postcard to decopauge with and I mailed some post cards out. It is Gorgeous out today so as I was driving back up Going-To-The-Sun-Road I couldn't help but stop every few seconds to take pictures. Turns out my fucking Camera isn't working! Until I get to a city Iphone photos will have to do.

I stopped at Sun Road to hike to Baring Falls, and then on to St Mary's Falls . Right at the trail entrance there was a sign that said that the place was frequented by bears! I tried not to let it freak me out, and I thought I was doing pretty well, the clank of my keys against my backpack made me feel a little safe, until a bee flew by my ear and the sound of something that wasn't made by me nearly made me suffer a heart attack right then and there. But I kept walking, because the views today are just sooooo amazing!

St. Mary's Falls was just amazing. A rush of white. It wasn't a super huge waterfall, but it was so powerful. I sat on the rocks for a bit thinking about how I have to move out here and how life is way to short if I want to live all the places I want to live. Indy, 

San Diego, Italy, Amsterdam, Montana, and who knows how many other places I find, as I continue driving around. Oh man I thought about all of this as I hiked back to my car, and how I am going to pack the rest of the year with nothing but amazing shit I want to accomplish. Time to really start living! 

I keep forgetting to mention that I love hikers! Everyone says hello as you walk by, and often they stop and ask where you are hiking to, or how far you made it. I don't know if it's because they want a break, or they are happy your not a bear, or if its just because we obviously share a common interest. Whatever it is, I love it. I love being out here. Anyway I ran into this elderly lady. She stopped me to ask if I was hiking alone, and I said yes. She said "it aint as bad as they say it is" I told her I agreed and that I came out here a little scared, because everything I read says "DO NOT HIKE ALONE" She asked me where I was from, and I told her, and I made sure I also said that I fell in love with Montana. She said "I fell in love with Montana when I first came in 1963, and now I live in West Glacier." I think she's me. She told me that Two Medicines is her favorite part of the park, which I am unfortunately going to miss all of :( I have to spend a lot of time there next time, because of her. We wished each other good luck, and I was feeling much less afraid, and just really really happy. The next guy I ran into wanted to show me pictures of the BEAR he just saw! God Damn! NOOO! No matter how cute and great those photos were, I do not want the chance to take one. Another guy in his group made me test how quickly I could pull out my bear spray. I asked them to wish me luck and I kept going, in the direction of the bear! Shit. As I walked back all these people were looking for the bear, really? what a bunch of idiots! I hauled ass out of there and made it to my car in one piece. I jumped in my car to head back over the pass. I made one last stop at the east side to see Jackson Glacier. It was pretty crazy. I mean all the mountains are covered with snow, but seeing a glacier is pretty different. It is crazy to believe that these amazing valleys were just filled with ice at one time, and now all that remains is this little circle of ice surrounded by snow. Going over the pass was so much more amazing this time. It was my 3rd time crossing it, but my first time that I felt good and could see clearly. The sky was clear that it almost looked hazy. Like my eyes couldn't believe there was something that pure out there.

My eyes really don't know what to believe. All 

the waterfalls are in full force today, and giving my car a good wash. I got to the Avalanche trailhead at 3pm and set on the 2.4 mile trailed. I hauled ass through the first 1/2, but Ascending 500 feet in 15 minutes while your sick, is kind of killer. I can Almost smell again, and there were faint smells of cedars, and it was giving me a little bit of energy. I didn't let myself stop even though I wore myself out so early on. I got to the lake and its just fucking ridiculous! Not that I expected anything less. There are 5 god damn waterfalls streamed down that mountains that completely surround me. Of course the water is crystal clear. I was visited by some tiny chipmunks and a Blue Jay. I enjoyed some time pretty much alone at the lake, until this guy came up and asked me about myself. I told him I was taking a road trip hopefully across the US and he was like "Someone in your family must be wealthy" I said "No I have just saved all my money for traveling" he kept saying "Well someone has got to have a lot money for you." what the hell! He almost infuriated me but then I looked at the waterfalls, and remembered why I came here alone. 

After hanging out at Avalanche lake for a little while I hiked back down hill, halfway through I saw an adorable deer a few feet off the trail just eating leaves. I got back to my car and I accomplishe hiking 12.8 miles today! I wish I could have done that the past few days, but at least I did it today. Happy 4th of July to me. I rode back to Apgar Listening to Bottle Up and Explode, Blue Collar Red Letter, and Black Tables, Life is good! I do not, DO NOT want to leave tomorrow. I can't wait to come back already. I called mindy and she answered the phone saying "I was just talking to you in my head." I almost cried for the first time since I left Seattle. Most people wont understand, but I just think thats the sweetest thing in the world. I do that with her all the time haha. I was also surprised that once I got into an area with service I got quite a few texts. I didn't really feel like spending time waiting in Apgar responding to texts, because I haven't set up my tent yet for this evening. But for those of you who texted me, you guys are awesome. And every last one of you are in that handful of people I really like that I mentioned in my first blog. Anyway. I got back to fish creek and got settled into campsite B65. I like the C loop better, but this will work. I had a little whiskey and read my book in the sun. 

JULY 5TH!

Man I still never got to see the stars in Montana what an Idiot! I think I am headed for Missoula today, jake says it's pretty awesome.

So I drove pretty much all day. I thought I would stop in Kalispell and say hi to my future home, but I felt so gross and I wanted to shower so bad, so I drove on. I listened to my Ipod on shuffle, and every song just works perfectly with montana! I passes a ridiculous amount of huge beautiful lakes! I was really sad to leave Glacier this morning, but I know I will come back and I am happy to be in Montana for one more day. I love Montana, I love that sometimes the highways are pink. I love that the speed limit is 75, I love how great the clouds look, and how blue the sky is, I love how everyone here calls me darling, I love how in every small town there are just enough things that I could imagine living in each one of them, movie stores, banks, mexican food, post offices, thrift stores, I love how everything turns purple in the evening. I love how every town is different and so amazing. I love everything! 

I pulled over somewhere before Missoula and I took a shower for the first time in 6 days! Oh man that felt amazing. I scrubbed and scrubbed, my washcloth was black ugh. I washed my hair 3 times. I shaved my legs too! I put on 10 layers of lotion and moisturizer when I got out of the shower. It felt so nice to be clean, that I actually put on a nice shirt, just because I could. I stopped in Missoula all refreshed and went to a Camera store. The guy looked at my camera and said he could keep it over night and if he could fix it it would be 100 dollars, or he could send it to canon and it would be 240, but he didn't know what was wrong with it! What the hell! I obviously couldn't stay there so I just kept driving with my broken camera :( I'll have to fix it as soon as I get to Indy. I kept driving with just one other stop to get gas. I thought a lot about a ton of things that I can't remember now because I have been typing for hours, and I haven't written anything down, but I'll remember tomorrow and write it my journal and then put it up here later. I know that Butte looked awesome, and I want to go there next time I'm here. I also want to visit the Old Montana Prison. Now I am in Livingston in a cute not so cheap motel. I really need to go to bed because it's off to yellowstone tomorrow!