Day 14

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September 26, 2009
“Take off that Ranger hat so I can slap you across the face.”
Today was somewhat disappointing….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 place Anthony Bourdain had done a show on. We were hoping to first go to Little Big Horn and hit Livingston on the way back. After driving about an hour we realized that Little Big Horn was another two hours! We went directly to Livingston instead. We visited a little restaurant named Pinky’s that Bourdain had highlighted. Donna recognized the owner right away from the show and after a very pleasant conversation; she told us she was closed! It was Saturday and she’s only open until noon on Saturday! Bill was sad ….he really wanted a pasty a meat filled turnover. The lady did explain that we were saying “pasty” incorrectly…we were pronouncing it “Pastey” which the woman kindly pointed out were women’s breast adornments!!! The correct pronunciation is “pasty” with a short a….I was mortified and decided right then and there, when in doubt, wait in the car! Anyway...she suggested a restaurant a few blocks away, where we went, parked and then found out they were also closed! We drove back to Gardiner and ate lunch there, stopped over at the entrance to Yellowstone and asked about the fires. The Ranger reported that the roads continued to be closed. Bill smiled politely and turned the car around and then uttered the quote above!!!
Today’s Road Lesson: A pasty in the hand….

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