Sat, May 7, 2011

Saturday, May 7, 2011

When the front desk clerk tells your husband her mother thinks he is the sweetest thing and his wife must be a very lucky woman… well you are going to hear that story many times over the rest of the day. – Donna Downey

We were going to try to make it to West Yellowstone today which meant a mostly driving day but it still turned out to be a very pleasant day.  Although we didn’t make a lot of stops the roads we chose were very nice and we saw a great diversity of terrain and plenty of snow as well.  We saw as much diversity in the weather today as we did in the landscapes and the scenery.  We had a little bit of it all… sunshine, warm temperatures, gentle breezes, cloudy, cooler temperatures, sunshine, warm temperatures… it just depended on our altitude pretty much.  We finished the day, however as we neared West Yellowstone with cooler temps, clouds, and just a little snow and even a little hail.  It was just pea sized and only lasted a minute so no damage done. 

We arrived in West Yellowstone about 6:00 pm. After a long day of driving we were tired and ready for a comfortable room so that was our first and what we thought would be our last stop for the day.  But after getting the room we couldn’t stand not to go into the park for just a little while so off we went.  The light was very dim and not suitable for any decent photography but we made a few spottings.  We saw elk, buffalo, buffalo calves, watched a pair of coyotes playing, and saw an immature eagle trying to fish in the Madison River which made the drive worthwhile.  There was a lot of snow in the park and a number of the overlooks we passed were not plowed.  It was very wet with the snow melt and you could tell by the gaunt bodies of the buffalo and elk that it was a hard winter for some.  

There is a forecast for some more winter weather so tomorrow morning we will check it out again and make a decision as to whether we should stay in the park all day tomorrow or move on ahead of the weather and come back thru the park possibly on the way home when more roads and pullouts would be open.

We had a good day today despite all the driving and are well tonight.  We hope you all are too.

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger