Yellowstone!

I wrapped up my stay in Livingston with a breakfast at the 49er Diner. In a small strip mall, it's like Cheers for the breakfast crowd in Livingston.

I was in about 10, so it was the late breakfast crowd, mostly older farmers, ranchers and town folk. One older gentleman came in and grabbed a table behind me. The waitress asked after his wife and he said "she'll be along in a minute". Then he got up, went behind the counter and got the coffee pot and two mugs. He poured himself and his wife a cup. Then he sat down and waited for her. When the waitress asked for their order, he asked his wife, "What are you cooking?" and she proceeded to order for him. Too cute. He had been working hard down at the cemetery trimming weeds from around the headstone. Seems that Dawn's husband had been doing that but "he hasn't been getting around too well lately." He also wanted to keep the place nice since "he'll be down there soon enough."

This is the 49er omelet. Probably the best breakfast the whole trip.

I didn't want to leave Livingston but I had a tent spot reserved in a campground in Yellowstone. On the way south out of town I paralleled the Yellowstone River which was in full flood with some backyards full of water and a few houses and businesses with sandbags around them.  The Spring Creek valley on the way to Yellowstone is very pretty, worth a second visit. I made it in to Gardiner, Montana and stopped at the Yellowstone Association Store. After loading up on goodies for the family, I got some pointers from the staff there on where to look for wildlife. Suitably armed, I headed under the Roosevelt Arch and in to the Park. In Fort Yellowstone I saw the resident elk on the lawns and not too much later I encountered a bison on the road.

Neat little architectural gem of a carwash in Livingston. I'd expect to see this in a Vickery lecture. (A-school reference)

You damn right!

This is the Spring Creek Valley heading down 89 to Gardiner. Very beautiful country.

The Faithful Rover in Yankee Jim Canyon.

I've seen some of the coolest trucks ever in Montana. This Jeep (Willys?) pick up was in Gardiner.

Pork?

The Roosevelt Arch.

"For the benefit and enjoyment of the people"

 

They really own the place.

The petrified tree.

Sweet. That's hot.

You take all the time you need.

Tower Fall.

Just out of frame are the what felt like thousands of spectators.

The Lake House Restaurant at Grant Village.

The fire protection infrastructure in the park. Later I saw the lodges around Old Faithful had sprinkler systems on the exterior of the roof. Probably a post fires of '88 addition. (I still can't figure out why the pictures won't rotate)

I finished up dinner just in time to set in on Ranger Tom's lecture on Wolves.

I entered Yellowstone from the North Entrance in Gardiner as you can see above. I took the eastern side of the Grand Loop Road through the Park towards Grant Village at the South End. It may have been food coma from the excellent breakfast at the 49er diner, but I was extremely motivated to get to Grant Village, check in, set up the tent and take a good old fashioned nap. I did stop at a couple of places like Tower Fall and managed to see the wildlife above. But damn, that nap was good.

I cleaned myself up (put on a long sleeve button down shirt) and headed out to find something to eat. The options were a little limited, but I settled for the Lake House Restaurant on Yellowstone Lake. Not the most memorable meal, but I had my second Bozone Amber Ale. It's a pretty good beer, check it out. Afterwards, I attended the nightly ranger lecture. Ranger Tom gave a really good lecture called "Wolves are people too". Really good stuff.

Afterwards I bedded down for the night. Uh, someone at the lecture mentioned the possibility of snow that night. Snow!? It did get really cold, so I slept with a hat on and a fleece top. I made plans the next day to go a little farther afield, but that's in the next episode.