i believe that this is our fourth night in wyoming....cody, two nights in yellowstone and then tonight - yes, that's four. i thought, when we pulled up to our motel this evening, that we were in colorado...but i guess not yet. who knew? i also thought that the super 8 motel we were staying was a motel (hint in the name of the chain) but ABN informed me, as we tried to decide which hotel/motel to crash in for the evening, that the definition of motel is one in which you can drive your car up to the door. i am not a fan of places where you can drive your car up to the door, so we settled on this hotel, which is called super 8 motel...it's been a long day :)
yellowstone was gorgeous. to everyone who insisted that one day would not be enough - you were right! we are so glad we listened. as someone who has possibly never been to a national park before (i hear the regency in nyc doesn't count) i was shocked by the culture that everyone else seemed to understand but me. the first night we stayed in another camping cabin, similar to the one in custer state park. again, i was happy with my flushing toilet, even if i did have to leave my private digs to go. when we pulled up to the cabin site ABN pointed to larger cabins and told me that he had decided we could do without our own personal "pit toilet." the idea of there being a personal pit toilet so close to where i would rest my head made me want to vomit in my mouth, why would anyone ever want to stay there i asked only inside my head, and agreed that ABN had made the correct choice. i found out 24 hours later that ABN was lying (who's surprised?) and that in fact no one would stay in a one room cabin with a personal pit toilet (or as i like to call it...poop hole). i also learned that telephone poles are made out of trees...but i digress.
again we shared dinner under the stars (and by shared i mean ABN, me and the mosquitoes...you should really see my forehead) and enjoyed the gorgeous night...and laughed as a caravan of horses carrying travellers returning from their cowboy dinner...it reminded me of the weekends my family spent at alisal ranch (i think we were trying to do our version of camping...it was closer than weekends at the biltmore!).
we spent yesterday driving around the western side of the park (so big). we stopped and walked around, saw more buffalo and of course, old faithful (where there happens to be cellphone service). oh, the day before i had a near run-in with a lone buffalo who had wandered onto the path ABN and i were walking along. as ABN told me to stay calm and still, i nervously headed as far away from the bison as i could get - straight to the edge of the cliff. i was definitely terrified and there were undoubtedly a few tears - and ABN captured the whole thing on film...gotta love him. of course, once the buffalo passed we saw that he was being followed by a family of hikers who thought that it was the most hilarious episode they had ever seen - again, i think this points to me just not "getting" the culture of it all.
and then it started to rain. it never rained hard and i don't think we ever really got wet...but it was raining and well, my mood...changed. last night we were camping - real camping. and we set up our tent in the rain. and i was cold. and we were smack in the center of a group camp site...with loud families who didn't know each other but were meeting up as part of some group and camping together (if someone knows what this is can you please explain?). there was no fire and it was cold (did i say that?) and i was intimidated by two 14 year old girls, and because there might be bears we had to leave all of our stuff in the car which was fine for us but meant that each time one of the 14 year olds went to get something from their car they beeped their way in and beeped their way out. and it was loud. at one point ABN was a hero and told some kid named mike to shut up. but i was cold and my knee hurt. this morning i was not any better after going to brush my teeth and being accosted by 7 asian women who were all talking loudly and shoving me out of the way. ABN insisted that i eat and got me coffee and forced me to shower...which did end up helping.
we spent the afternoon in jackson hole - an awesome cheeseburger, shopping (more like browsing) and an oil change. tonight we are in a HOTEL (motel) right outside colorado (it's confusing) because while we were supposed to camp again, i think we ALL realized i needed a night off.
oh, and here's our revised travel schedule....
7/2 - grand junction colorado
7/3 - durango, colorado
7/4&5 - santa fe, new mexico
7/6 - sedona
7/7 - palm springs - it will be hot but it will be SO FUN!
7/8-12 - LA
7/13 and beyond - SF
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