Driving home through a Hurricane......

Yes we had been warned - the weather at this time of year in Wyoming is very unpredictable and expect some winds. We were given phone numbers from friends to call in an emergency and others just assumed that we would fly instead of drive.

We left West Yellowstone at 10.15 am in the snow and headed for home. Although their was plenty of snow about,  we seemed to be travelling well on our way back to Jackson Hole.

Out of the blue we were pulled over by a police car. Poor Garry had been clocked speeding 10 miles per hour above the speed limit. The officer was fascinated with our accents and gave Garry a warning. We were warned that we needed to carry our passports at all times if driving with an Australian drivers licence and also informed that our car registration information was for another car - a Ford. Garry was told to go to the equivalent of the RTA asap and have this rectified, because if we were stopped by police we could expect to be pulled from the car at gunpoint as we would be suspects in a stolen car. Just when things were getting a little boring on a long drive....

The pass on the final leg to Jackson was a little tricky - but with those great views.

After a super fast stop to buy some lunch to eat on the way we continued, hoping to make it back to the lovely Ferris Mansion in Rawlins later in the evening. But even best laid plans....

The weather started to deteriorate and driving through Idaho would have been a complete white out except for the road.

Back into Wyoming and the real fun began - high winds and lots of icy road.

Eventually we arrived in the town of Rock Springs - famous for outlaws and its gaol. As it was almost 7.00pm and we were still at least two hours from our destination of Rawlins we decided to stop for the night. We pulled into the Great Western or its alias - The Outlaw Inn and booked a room next to the pool. Next to the pool I thought - how can this be? In this weather? We were very surprised to find that all the rooms were spaced around an indoor heated pool. Very strange, but great as we could sit in our room and watch the kids swim.

While the kids were swimming we met all kinds of interesting characters who informed us that it was lucky that we stopped because we would have been turned back anyway because of the extremely dangerous conditions that were approaching Hurricane force. We were warned to be prepared to stay for possibly two days until the highway reopened.

The hotel contained all kinds of information about various outlaws. I really liked the informative place mats in the restaurant. I was shocked at the real image of Calamity Jane - most unlike Dorris Day!

We were informed at 1.45pm the following day that the highway was open again. We were packed and in the car in 20 minutes. Good bye Rock Springs.

Our joy was short lived as we arrived in Rawlins 2 and 1/2 hours later to find the highway closed again, preventing us from going any further. Winds of more than 100 miles per hour were causing Hurricane conditions. We stoped at McDonald's so the kids could play in the indoor park and we could search the net for accommodation. This was not an original idea as we discovered McDonald's full of others also looking to secure accommodation for the night. We could not find any accommodation available on the Internet and decided to go door knocking in search of beds. We were in luck - the third hotel we stopped at, had a room still available, so we bunked down again for another night, waiting for the highway to reopen.

The next morning we were relieved to find we could continue our journey home. But what a scary trip it was. We have never seen so many trucks on the road. The conditions were still extreme, very high winds and lots of snow and ice on the roads.

But this didn't stop the trucks from racing past us. We saw many accidents, as trucks and cars lost control in the very difficult conditions.

Finally, late afternoon we arrived home to Gaylord Street, feeling like true adventurers! We had a wonderful trip, filled with many special memories!

A Roadtrip to Yellowstone - Part 3.....

We found it very difficult to wake early today in preparation for another day in Yellowstone - today on snow mobiles. It was still really cold outside and had not stopped snowing since lunch time the previous day - it looked like a dump of six or seven inches overnight.

Everyone, except Garry had a cough, sore throat and temperature - not a great way to start a huge day! We were both worried about how Yas and Max would handle a full day outside on the back of snow mobiles, and were hoping for a drastic improvement in the weather.

We arrived at the Three Bears Inn just after eight am to get dressed in the special suits and other protective clothing which included balaclavas under helmets and beanies and both hand and feet warmers for the kids. Garry and I were lucky as our snow mobiles had heated handles and seats. Looking fantastic in our incredibly flattering down jumpsuits we had a two minute lesson on how to operate our machines and off we went!

Poor Yas was finding the going tough, she was very cold and wanted to go home. On the other end of the spectrum Max had declared himself a Ninja and wanted me to go faster. The snow stopped and the sun was shining and we were riding through beautiful canyons.

We again saw Eagles, Bison, Elk a Coyote and even a very large Black Wolf on our way to the famous Geyser - Old Faithful.

We were only a couple of miles away when I noticed Max falling sideways off the back of our snow mobile in the rear vision mirror. I luckily grabbed him with one hand and stopped - he had fallen asleep! I tried to wake him but to no avail, Max rode the last mile asleep. How he didn't fall is a miracle.

We waited for the Geyser to erupt and were treated to the most amazing sight - a herd of Bison wandering past the eruption. A lady standing next to us exclaimed that she had been traveling to Old Faithful for the past forty years every winter and had never seen Bison near the Geyser, We felt lucky to see such an amazing sight.

On our way back to the park entrance we stopped at another famous site that included Hot Springs, Fumarole's and Mud pots.

The following three photographs show the beautiful colours that are created by light refraction, suspended mineral particles and heat-loving organisms.

A Hot Spring contains superheated water which cools and circulates as it reaches the top of the pool and is then replaced by hotter water from below. The water below was estimated to reach up to 200 degree's! Our guide told horror stories about people who fell in and all their skin peeling away from their bones....

The following images are of the famous Mud Pots. These wonders appear in places where microorganisms help convert hydrogen sulfide, which rises from deep within the earth, into sulfuric acid. The acid dissolves surrounding rock into clay, which mixes with rising steam and groundwater to form mud of varying colours and consistencies.

A Fumarole is a vent in the earth's crust, (a steam vent). The steam rushes up through a series of cracks and fissures and out of the vent, sometimes with enough force to create a large hiss or roar.

We were once again treated to the most amazing site of a heard of Bison as we were almost out of the park. We turned off the engines and sat quietly, watching as they trotted right past us, really only  metres away. It was wonderful, they stopped and looked right at us. I especially love the sound of their hooves in the snow and their snorting. I was glad Max agreed not to call or yell out, "Hello Buffalo" to each animal as he did on the first day out the window of the snowcat. On the snowcat, Max amused the other tourists with this call, to the point that they were encouraging him to make this call out if Max didn't see an animal.

Yellowstone Park was more amazing than any of us could have imagined! We hope to return in Summer to see this beautiful national park in a different season. Wow!!!!!

A Roadtrip to Yellowstone - Part 2....

We spent the day driving, first through the state of Wyoming. Wyoming was full of vast open space with nothing between the spread towns. We stopped at the information center at Jackson Hole at around 2.30pm in the afternoon to double check on directions. We were expecting an hours drive to West Yellowstone - but we were very disappointed to discover that at least a three hour drive was still ahead.

So we continued to drive out of Wyoming and into Idaho. We thought that Wyoming was barren, but the big potato state was almost a blanket of white.

The Grand Tetons in the distance, driving in Wyoming

 

Arriving in the outskirts of West Yellowstone on dusk

We continued to drive into the state of Montana, arriving at the town of West Yellowstone at dark. We checked into our accommodation at the Kelly Inn and organised dinner and went to sleep in preparation for our big day touring Yellowstone Park the following day.

We woke early, and prepared to be collected at 8.00am, by our snow-cat. Along with four other couples and our tour guide Wayne we started our adventure, hoping for sightings of wildlife on a cold, snowy, minus ten degrees morning.

We drove for only a few minutes when we spotted the first Bison of the day, down by the river. It was truly a beautiful sight - the enormous animal in such an amazing setting. What a great start to our day!

This solo Bison was the fist of possibly one hundred or more we saw throughout the day. At times as I was leaning out the window of the snow cat photographing these amazing animals we were so close I could have actually touched them. They were strangely calm, often wandering along the groomed trails in small herds. It sounds silly, but we felt sorry for them  being out in the cold and the snow, their eyes looked sad.

A really amazing moment was when we had stopped to photograph a waterfall on the side of the road and we were a distance from the safety of our vehicle, when a herd came racing down the trail. We were within two meters from the Bison and Yas and Max were a little further up the trail. I was worried about Yas and Max's safety but they were just standing watching these animals in awe - particularly when two large males stopped and butted each other. Even though these are wild animals and can be very dangerous it was a strangely calm and beautiful moment, listening to their hooves in the snow.

We stopped for lunch in our snow cat in a very cold and remote part of the park. As you can see from the images almost a pure blanket of white. It was bitterly cold, but Yas was still happy to have a quick run around outside wearing next to nothing.

We arrived back at our hotel at close to six pm. We had an amazing day and saw Bison, Antelope, Eagles, Coyotes, Ducks and Swans. Yas and Max were fantastic, considering this was the third day straight in a vehicle. We traveled forty miles in and then back out of the park and were overwhelmed with the beauty and diversity. This surely is going to be a highlight of our trip,

A Roadtrip to Yellowstone - Part 1....

We left on our massive road trip to Yellowstone, immediately after school on Thursday afternoon – a massive 750 miles drive ahead of us. Our aim was to drive a four hour estimated drive to the town of Rawlins in Wyoming and stay overnight. We started well, missing most of the afternoon traffic in Denver and well on track.

We were warned by friends to be well prepared for the journey, with plenty of blankets, food and water in the car in case of unexpected storms with high winds and snow. The high winds and wild weather are famous in Wyoming, as the countryside is wide open with no protection.

About 200 miles into our drive we found out exactly why we were warned. The winds were excessive, not only blowing the car but also blowing snow both across our path and making visibility poor. Just to spice things up the roads were also covered in ice. The worst was driving through the Medicine Bow National Park.  Our trusty Subi performed well under the frightful conditions, in a temperature of minus 15 not taking into account the wind chill factor. We drove past no less than six semi -trailer accidents in the short space of ten miles.

Our estimated four hour journey, developed into a five and a three quarter hour challenge. We were so glad to finally at the Ferris Mansion Bed and Breakfast.  Garry and I carried sleeping children to their beds in the maid’s room. Their room was very close to our room – the Rose room. The three storey mansion was warm and inviting with soft beds and lots of pillows.

In the morning we woke and appreciated the beautiful guesthouse. We were served a fantastic breakfast consisting of homemade granola, fresh fruit, egg and bacon casserole and the house specialty – caramel apple French toast. Along with fresh orange juice, tea and coffee it was a great way to start the day. The kids enjoyed playing with Flapjack the cat and later the two dogs outside. We set off on a very cold and icy morning with a 480 mile drive through wild Wyoming ahead.