http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , Montana , Gardiner en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:33:43 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:33:43 +0000 September 27 2009Well we made it to Old FaithfulhellipHerersquos what happened. We all hoped and prayed all night that the road to Old Faithful would be open this morninghellipand it was. This meant that we could get to see her after driving one and a half hourshellipwhich we did. On the way we kept seeing all of these interesting sights but we didnrsquot stop because our plan was to g http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-440326.html September 26 2009ldquoTake off that Ranger hat so I can slap you across the face.rdquoToday was somewhat disappointinghellip.the fire in Yellowstone continues and the road to Old Faithful is closed. To see it we would have to drive around the park the northern route to get there. This would take three and a half hours one way We decided to drive north to a town called Livingston a plac http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-440044.html It's been around a week of riding since our last entry and we've covered around 1500 miles or so from British Columbia down through Alberta and into the 'lower 48' via Montana. We've done around 4500 miles so far and our buttocks have taken on a shiny leathery complexion.As with most blog entries we can divide it up into 3 broad categoriesThe bit about the sceneryThe 'educational' bitThe http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-428158.html drove to gardiner http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-424743.html We did not have internet service in Glacier National Park the past two days so unfortunately I couldn't post anything. We are currently in Gardiner Montana just outside Yellowstone National Park. We spent Monday driving about 500 miles from Billings to Glacier. Monday we explored Glacier and drove the Highway to the Sun. Today we drove about 500 miles from Glacier down to Yellowstone Nationa http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-414301.html Heading up north passing from Nevada into Utah we stayed in Salt Lake City. If any place in America can be the absolute polar opposite of hedonistic hustle and bustle of Las Vegas this is it. Wide open streets perfect little houses majestic white official buildings and flowers in bloom everywhere you look make this one of the prettiest cities we've visited so far and the fact that the inhab http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-401545.html Oh wow.Sorry to those who were looking for updates this is the first time I've had wireless on this trip. Actually we had it in Iowa but I was too tired to get anything accomplished. I'm going to give a short run down of my past weekMonday Got up at 5am packed the car picked up Henri and left on our adventure. Our first stop was Chicago and we stayed with Mom's friend Wendy. I'll give a b http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-399031.html 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 sa http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-399028.html Today we had found out was thanksgiving in America Canada celebrates on a different day earlier in the year. We realised that none of us really knew what thanksgiving was. I have just googled it and apparently Thanksgiving Day is ... a harvest festival. Traditionally it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general.As we checked out of the hotel we walked passed the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-388835.html We stopped in Polson MT last night as it was getting dark and the road wasnrsquot safe with all the animals that could potentiall be crossing. It was a nice evening and we could finally hook up online to check email and could finally get cell reception which we never had in Glacier up to that point. We had passed Flathead Lakethe largest lake west of the Mississippi which was very coolit http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-325717.html Today Friday we again had two exceptional adventures. Richard has wanted to visit the Beartooth Plateau for 5 years and he finally made it. Beartooth is east of Yellowstone over an alpine pass 10900 feet high. However its most outstanding feature is granite rocks tested to be 3.3 billion years old. This is 75 of the age of the planet. Imagine rocks still in existence after that period of weath http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-322968.html Sun and warm winds greeted us this morning for our 1st day in Yellowstone. Well almost Beartooth Pass was closed because of snow ice and heavy fog so no 3 billion year old rocks for Richard to collect today.. Instead we visited two amazing sights Mammoth Hot Springs and the Yellowstone River Canyon at Artists Point. First we had to get past the park gates and a grumpy park warden taking his http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Gardiner/blog-322607.html