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!
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