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Where exactly is the middle of nowhere?
May. 13th, 2012 05:00 pmI hope you are all having a nice Mother's Day. Mother's Day is about saying thanks to the women who teach you and care for you, even if they aren't your physical mother. So say thank you! :)
Yesterday we went to Yellowstone. Yay! I love it when the season opens. There was MUCH less snow than last year this time, owing to a very mild winter. This time we went back to the Old Faithful basin, which is actually quite fascinating, except that in high season, it's impossible to find parking because OF is like Disneyland or something. There is tons more to see than just Old Faithful (although we did see it go off). The biggest geyser in the world is there (yes, bigger than OF, although it doesn't go off much), and tons of other interesting ones. We ended up doing a three hour hike and seeing geysers, nasty-looking bacteria mats, etc. Then we walked back by the Old Faithful Inn, which always looks like a piece of Hogsmeade to me.
We were pretty much tired after that, so we drove along to other parts of the park for whatever else we felt like seeing. That's the key to making a trip with a lot of people work, especially if they are small people: pick one big thing you are going to do no matter what, and then with whatever time and energy you have left, enjoy something low-stress. So we drove past West Thumb and over Fishing Bridge towards the east entrance, and up to this overlook on the Yellowstone River. It was a really cool view. The trees were all burned there, which was kind of apocalyptic-looking, and you got on this high hill and looked over this huge, frozen lake. A sign said that that place was the most desolate spot in the lower 48 states, the furthest from any real road or permanent settlement anywhere. So, we really did go to the middle of nowhere yesterday!
On the way back we stopped at Artist's Paint Pots because there is this tremendously slurpy mud pot that is so gross you can't help staring and staring and staring. It's always quiet there at the end of the day, and so nice to take the short hike up the hill and look at these things. Then it was the long drive home through trees and mountains. SO nice. I love where I live!
Yesterday we went to Yellowstone. Yay! I love it when the season opens. There was MUCH less snow than last year this time, owing to a very mild winter. This time we went back to the Old Faithful basin, which is actually quite fascinating, except that in high season, it's impossible to find parking because OF is like Disneyland or something. There is tons more to see than just Old Faithful (although we did see it go off). The biggest geyser in the world is there (yes, bigger than OF, although it doesn't go off much), and tons of other interesting ones. We ended up doing a three hour hike and seeing geysers, nasty-looking bacteria mats, etc. Then we walked back by the Old Faithful Inn, which always looks like a piece of Hogsmeade to me.
We were pretty much tired after that, so we drove along to other parts of the park for whatever else we felt like seeing. That's the key to making a trip with a lot of people work, especially if they are small people: pick one big thing you are going to do no matter what, and then with whatever time and energy you have left, enjoy something low-stress. So we drove past West Thumb and over Fishing Bridge towards the east entrance, and up to this overlook on the Yellowstone River. It was a really cool view. The trees were all burned there, which was kind of apocalyptic-looking, and you got on this high hill and looked over this huge, frozen lake. A sign said that that place was the most desolate spot in the lower 48 states, the furthest from any real road or permanent settlement anywhere. So, we really did go to the middle of nowhere yesterday!
On the way back we stopped at Artist's Paint Pots because there is this tremendously slurpy mud pot that is so gross you can't help staring and staring and staring. It's always quiet there at the end of the day, and so nice to take the short hike up the hill and look at these things. Then it was the long drive home through trees and mountains. SO nice. I love where I live!
