My apologies for not keeping up on this blog. Doing most of the driving I record the daily points and excursions into my daily journal and then transfer them here.
Tuesday September 10, 2019 - Missoula, Montana to West Yellowstone
Today was a long day of driving with a view of cranes along I-90. Deciding to head south at Belgrade we fuelled up and bought some dinner items. The drive out of Belgrade on 85 went north for a few miles giving me cause to wonder if I had made a wrong turn. Eventually 85 became 191 and we were heading south.191 follows along the banks of the Gallatin River with some very picturesque views and some minor construction delays. We were both amazed at the traffic coming toward us but when we went through Big Sky the traffic ceased. Most of the traffic was coming from highway 64 which goes to a ski area. We reasoned that there must be some major construction up that highway. We arrived ay West Yellowstone at about 5 pm and after spending almost an hour looking for a motel that was not booked we found one of two remaining very expensive rooms at the Yellowstone Westgate Hotel. We learned there is no "off season" in Yellowstone so book you reservation ahead of your arrival. Once into our room we were both fairly tired and relieved as the stress of finding a place faded into relaxation.
Wednesday September 11, 2019 West Yellowstone to Top of the World Motel
This morning we left the Yellowstone Westgate Hotel at 10:15. We did a drive through the park with a stop at Old Faithful geyser. It was rainy but we wanted to see as much of it as possible so we drove along the shore of Yellowstone Lake and eventually came to highway 212. My original plan was to stop for the night at Cooke City but once again there were no available accommodations so we set off for Red Lodge, but about 20 miles or so a truck stopped us and told us the road was barricaded due to snow. While it rained in the valley it snowed in the mountains. For those readers that have never been on this road it climbs to almost 11,000 feet. Well, now what shall we do? The closest city was Cody, Wyoming about 80 miles away, We turned around ready to head to Cody when we passed a sign " Top Of The World Motel". This was a quaint, old building that had 4 joining rooms in one building and a market in another. We got room 2 with all amenities necessary. We were the only customers there. With such quietness we went to sleep leaving the bathroom light on as a nightlight. I felt a little like I was camping; Falling asleep after a game of Scrabble I thought about our route out and hoped the snow would melt and we could make it to Red Lodge the next morning.
Today we saw Pronghorns, bison by the hundreds, coyote, and a big bull elk and his females.
