I'm here! I can't believe I am actually living in Yellowstone National Park for the
next two months, but I am, and as much as I miss the fam and the boy and
wish they were here, having a great time. This has already been an awesome and eye opening experience and I've only been out here for.. well a week.
Tuesday [June 1st] was the day of departure for the three kiddies [myself, and the mountain men, aaron, and wes]. We drove a total of 1,000 miles on the first day, making it all the way to South Dakota! [Btw --> when traveling west it conveniently stay light out for much longer since.. well the sun sets in the west! Imagine that!
We made it to campsite number one just fine, I shouldn't say campsite though, it was just off highway 90 on a little country back road. It was
not by any means a campsite! I was a little scared since it was really only my first time camping out! I know I am sheltered, I blame the parental units.
We wasted no time day two, waking up at 5:30am, I guess we were still stuck on Indiana time since we woke up before our alarms, or maybe it was just our excitement! First stop was the Bad Lands! Lets just say I thought I was on the moon.
Twas a very neet place especially with some Led Zeppelin playin in the background! [the boys insisted that we play his music all the way through the Bad Lands!]
Wall Drug was next. The little town was nice only because it was the first time since we left tuesday morning that I was around people! Wall Drug was nothing more then a
tourist hot spot full of souvenir stores. The old western
town was known for its free ice water!
Mt. Rushmore was next, it was cool to check out, just like the pictures show. George had a bit of a cold though and we got a little drizzled on :] The trails around the monument were engulfed by pines and their scent was more than refreshing :]
Next was Deadwood, yes where the HBO series is filmed and based off of. Since I was not of age there was not much going on in the town that concerned me. Bars and Casinos polluted the strip, the town was like a cowboy's Las Vegas.
Continuing west we stopped at the famous "Devil's Tower" for a quick 2.8 mile hike around the
natural monument. Little unknown fact: yes you can climb the tower, but not in the month of June in respect for the Indian's spiritual beliefs. So unfortunately
we didn't get to climb the monstrous site.
A little run into Mama Grizzly in the Big Horn Mountains brought our long day of traveling to an exciting end. We had mapped out a campsite for the evening but due to the dark and snowy winding roads we called it quits at A campsite, that of which we would later find out was just a few miles south of THE campsite we had wished to stay at. We unwillingly parked the car, [car got stuck in the snow] and while the boys set up the tent, I scrambled to find warm clothes and tennis shoes [ i was still wearing flip flops hehe :] Although we did not actually site Mama Grizzly, we most def. heard her at our campsite. The boys roughed it out and slept in the tent but I was determined to live through the night and see tomorrow, so I chickened out and slept in the car... Shhh you would have done the same if you were in the snow capped mountains with the bears!
Day Three: After multiple animal citings in the Big Horn Mountains, we finally arrived to Yellowstone! Our third and finally campsite was at Mammoth Hot Springs. The Hot Springs were def a site to see, the springs were steamy and gave off the perfect warmth to our
chilled bodies. We turned in early for the night - who knew sitting in a car traveling for three days was so tiring!
Our journey out here had finally came to an end and Day Four we checked in. The past week has consisted of long work days and orientation. Although its been exhausting the breath taking scene before and all around me makes it all worth it. Blogging out here will be difficult due to the lack of internet signal. But hopefully I will be able to keep up. Today is the last long day of work I'll have before my two day break! We have plans to head up to Old Faithful and camp out for a night! More later <3>
