On the Road.

After leaving Vail, we traveled north through Steamboat Springs and into Wyoming. The sweeping landscape was lightly dusted with the first signs of snow from the week before. Maybe in another life, we could find ourselves owning a horse ranch in Northern Colorado or Wyoming. Watching a stunning sunset descend as we made our way in this isolated snowy landscape was transporting. Our first night was spent at the ritzy Super 8 in Jackson, Wyoming. Sorry folks no delectable delights tonight besides a warm cup of hot chocolate from the neighboring gas station, but the Super 8 was very affordable and pretty clean.

The next morning however was beautiful with low lying clouds over a no less than perfect landscape set in tranquility. After scraping off our first frost of the season we arrived to the more historic part of Jackson where we grabbed a delicious breakfast from The Bunnery; we got the Glory Bowl which had 2 eggs, toast, hash browns with sauteed mushrooms and onions. It would have been a great place to sit and people watch while enjoying a yummy breakfast, but we knew a long day was ahead of us so we got it to go. On to Grand Tetons National Park! This set of mountains were just gorgeous. Being our second time, the sight just doesn't get old and the couple inches of snow and teasing clouds only further dramatized the view. After about a half hour just in awe of beauty we picked up the pace to get to Yellowstone National Park. We think that the Grand Tetons has Yellowstone beat this day in terms of majestic beauty. It also did not help that Yellowstone had 40 minutes of road construction and off and on mixed winter precipitation, yuck! Dan's car was not happy about driving on uneven gravel roads with 2 bikes strapped to the back. Anyways, many buffalo later we approached the exit to park with one last stop to the Mammoth Hot Springs. Besides the overwhelming smell of sulfur, we were amazed at the out of this world formations of mineral build-up. Really cool stuff.

After Yellowstone, the long part of the drive was ahead. As we entered Montana, it started to snow, and not just a little bit. Luckily the weather was warm enough to keep the roads clear. Well that is until we hit a small mountain pass just before Bozeman. The snow came down harder and there was slush on the roads. We made it to Bozeman where 20 or so text messages later, we got the go ahead from weatherman Brian that things would clear up further west. We had the best lo mein at a little Chinese restaurant in downtown before getting back on the road. I think the restaurant's name was along the lines of "China Dragon Palace"...I don't know. It had an all you can eat buffet but trust us, if you ever find yourselves there, just go straight for the lo mein. So luckily, our travelers made it past some nasty weather and now the only challenge was staying awake. The sights of big sky and rolling hills were gorgeous, but the sunset happened rather quickly. We stopped in Missoula to get a pick me up. Much to our surprise there was also a Five Guys! (Side Story: Five Guys originated in Northern Virginia in the DC metro area. With that said, Dan will rave about the deliciousness of the burgers and large quantity of fries you get with each order at every opportunity.) We decided to get a regular order of cajun, which by cajun we mean they sprinkle a ton of Old Bay seasoning on it, and by regular we mean that the two of us could not finish the one order. So, coffee and fries, we are ready for the final leg of this drive with a good six hours to go. Things became a little concerning when we noticed that Dan's car headlights started flickering every so often. We drove through Spokane, 4 hours left, we just wanted to be home. Things are going well, we switch drivers every hour. Katie finishes the drive as we roll into the driveway at 3:30am, 20 hours after we left the Super 8. Semi-Home, dog, foldable beds, sleep....