Yellowstone........ Alone!

Five years ago, my father-in-law, Howard, introduced me to a place that I had only read about and had always wanted to see. . . . . Yellowstone National Park. Since that summer I have been back three additional times and every time I have been in the company of different people. Once with my family of Sara, Nick Jr., and a 8 month old Lilly, once with my little bro Alex and my cousin Chris, and this past month I made the trip . . . . . . by myself. Every trip has its memories, highlights, and of course, pictures. I learn a lot more about the park and its wildlife every time I ago and this most recent time was no exception.

Passing through the Yellowstone Arch is always a special moment for me. It is located north of Mammoth Hot Springs and is in the Montana area of the park. There are always elk grazing along the road up in this area and this trip I was able to see a Bald Eagle soaring in the sky as I passed through this historic Archway. It really is an amazing time. You then KNOW you are in not only the first national park in the world but the most unique.

I drove nearly straight though to the park the day in a half before, starting at 6 in the evening. I arrived just north of the park to a rest stop in Montana at about 11:30 at night. It's a 27 hour drive but I made a few stops at the Badlands, Wall Drug Store, and Deadwood in South Dakota. I slept in in my car every night because I found out that most of the park was closed and only two campgrounds were open but were at full capacity. IT DID NOT RUIN MY TRIP THOUGH. I spent the early morning hours of the first day driving through Iowa where I saw the first of many sunrises. It filled the sky with orange and sparkled through the early morning mists. Deer were everywhere and bucks were more abundant than I had ever witnessed. Its fall so they are in the rutt. It was a long but amazing trek. I finished a historical fiction series of books on cd about Atlantis that was awesome so it made time fly by.