Blizzard in May

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We woke up this morning and, after eating breakfast, went back to Mt. Rushmore. It is really cool during the daylight - easier to make out the features on all of the faces. Lincoln's eyes struck me because of the detail. Amazing.

Then we drove through rural southwestern South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. Now, I was fully expecting to hate this part of the drive, but I was pleasantly surprised. We saw oil wells working and the scenery kept on changing into one amazing view after another. Later on, we went on a road that took us from north-central Wyoming over to Yellowstone National Park. It is supposed to be the 52 most scenic miles in the United States and it didn't disappoint.

Then we got to Yellowstone. The nice lady at the East Entrance let us know that, since it was raining at the entrance, there would be "a little bit of snow" as we drove along. Well, she was wrong. About 1 mile into Yellowstone we encountered a blizzard. Extremely heavy snow with a strong crosswind. For the first mile it provided spectacular views of Yellowstone and it wasn't sticking to the ground. But we had a good 15 more miles in the snow. And it stuck to the ground. And there were 4-8 feet piled on the side. It was one of the hardest drives I've ever had, especially with the sharp curves and steep hills (both up and down). But we made it through, and had several other obstructions, including buffalo on the road. We finally left Yellowstone into Montana (Gardiner) nearly three hours later.

And so tomorrow we will go back into Yellowstone to see Old Faithful and some of the breathtaking views. Hopefully the weather holds up. And then it's out to Nampa, Idaho! :-)

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