Yellowstone! (Part 2)

We drove 165 miles out of our way.

I suppose it was my fault. With this one minor exception, Tanner performed his navigator duties with precision throughout the trip. But as we drove north from Rawlins, Wyoming, well, we both kinda stopped paying attention. I thought the road we were on went directly to Lander, so I assumed no navigation was needed until we reached that waypoint. I threw one of my old rock mix tapes into the cassette player, and challenged Tanner to a game of "Name that musician!"

He did surprisingly well for someone who wasn't alive during the 70s. And I couldn't really fault him for not recognizing Boxcar Willie or Leon Redbone. But what always amazes me is how accurate he is in guessing the year a song was recorded, even if he has never heard it before. I still think he has the talent to be an excellent record producer one of these days. But I digress.

We both were too deeply engrossed in analyzing and enjoying the music to notice the fork leading to Lander, and just kept on heading in a generally northward direction. The sky was still completely overcast, so I failed to see any sun-position clues that would let me know we had veered to the northeast. As we pulled into the town I thought would be Lander, I was surprised to see the sign saying "Welcome to Casper!"



Oops. We used GPS navigation for the remainder of the trip.

Fortunately, it was just a delay, not really a problem -- and we didn't have to retrace our steps. We had dinner in Casper and then got on a different road that would take us where we needed to go...the Hatchet Resort, just south of Moran Junction.



It was a cute place. Log cabin motif, friendly staff, hideously expensive gasoline -- everything you'd expect from accommodations at the edge of a remote National Park. The Grand Tetons loomed on the horizon, foreshadowing the wondrous mountain sights we expected to see tomorrow.

The manager was happy to see us; we were the last reservation, so once we arrived, he could call it a day and retire from the desk. We unwedged our suitcases from the tetris-game rear of the car, and settled into our room for the night.



We had planned to check in, wait until sunset, and then go back out to drive up the road to find a secluded spot from which to view the full heavenly glory and billions of stars in the Wyoming wilderness sky untouched by city lights. But because of our detour, it was already dark when we arrived, and also obvious that the skies were going to remain overcast through the night. Despite the absence of city light pollution, no stars were going to make an appearance that night.

I like overvarnished western decor and semi-authentic native artwork. The stone shower was cute, as well. The only problem is that the lone grounded outlet was in the bathroom -- so we ran the laptop on batteries until we were finished, and then plugged it in next to the toilet to recharge overnight. I checked my email and tried to learn a bit more about my smartphone, while Tanner practiced his transcription lessons to prepare for the new job he'd be starting when he got back to Bellingham.

The bed was comfortable, and I fell asleep easily. But sometime in the middle of the night, Tanner suddenly turned on the room lights. I looked up and could tell that he had something to say, but was hesitating because he wasn't sure how I'd react. "What's going on?" I asked.

"We have a mouse," he whispered. I mumbled a reply; "That's nice. Now turn off the light and go back to sleep." In a few moments, he did just that.

In the morning, I woke up before he did, of course. It was drizzling, and I didn't really feel like running, so I just wandered around outside, taking a few pictures.







I wandered over to the on-site restaurant and checked out the morning menu. Nothing sounded too exciting, so after a bit more walking in the drizzle and admiring the surrounding mountains, I returned to the room to roust the boy.

He got up with minimal prodding, and we were soon heading down the road. As we drove, he explained that he had eaten some Cheetos at bedtime, and then later heard rustling around the bag. When he turned on his flashlight, he saw the visitor, who then scuttled off. In review, he decided that the rodent was actually a rat rather than a mere mouse...and that it's probably good policy to not leave cheesy food items lying on the floor. Anyway, there was no sign of further invasion, and we had both gotten adequate sleep, so we looked forward to Yellowstone with great enthusiasm. (Unfortunately, though, I find myself unable to give the Hatchet Resort a full thumbs-up review, despite the homey cuteness of its design.)



It continued to drizzle, but we were still able to see the spectacular vistas of the Tetons. It didn't take us long to get into the National Park, and we soon found a place that looked good for breakfast.



We had a delightful meal of waffles, French toast, and scrambled eggs, and discussed our strategy for maximizing our tourist pleasures within the park.



Our first stop would be the official Yellowstone Visitor's Center. We finished our meal, took a quick pit stop, and once again climbed into our overloaded car. It was time to see some geysers!

Tomorrow's topic: Old Faithful! Have a great day!