We all hi fived before getting into the two taxis which drove us back home to down town Milwaukee and for the hundredth time we chorused in unison "Yellowstone Stones" which translates into something like "Yellowstone Rocks”. I know I couldn’t stop thinking and smiling about the events of last 4 days, believe me if you were the 9th, 10th, 11th person along on this trip along you would have been smiling too.
On day one, we entered the Grand Teton national park at the break of dawn. It was cold and beautiful, with a magenta and blue sky above our heads and the moon hanging like an incandescent lamp above the snaggle toothed Tetons. The Jackson Hole lodges resembled the Swiss chalets with soft orange and yellow lights making the buildings and the trees glow. The YMCA hostel facility were we freshened up was something to mention. It was a modest arrangement with dim lighting, a shower and no heat. But it had 4 comfortable bunk beds in each room, making the hostel rooms very affordable and very desirable for a quick shower and a quicker nap. Our next stop, Lake Jenny one of the many lakes in the Grand Teton outback was a delight. As the day turned from a cold September morning to a warm September day; the crystal clear glacial water was too tempting to resist wading along and keeping on our shoes. The park without a doubt had a magnetic draw for photographers, wildlife enthusiasts and rock climbers. For the rest of us, the peaks were mostly a backdrop of surreal beauty.
Day two of the trip began with a stopover at the Yellowstone Grand Canyon. The canyon is carved out by the meandering Snake River which falls magnificently as the canyon upper and lower falls. The top of the upper falls is visible from a barricaded wooden deck, where tourists flock to get a safe view of the magnificent drop. But all thanks to some adventure enthusiasts amongst us we did cross over the barricade and sit atop the rock jutting out over the fall so that if you sat hanging your legs on it you could feel the water spray. We then mostly drove and stopped randomly at beautiful spots, hiked the lost lake trail. Ooh-ed and aah-ed at the Yellowstone wonders and clicked like a gazillion pictures.
Came day three at the park and the weather had been our friend despite the constant warnings from weather.com of showers, clouds and snow. Things turned out to be pretty good. Evenings and nights had been chilly but the days warm and sunny. Early morning we stopped by the Yellow stone lake, caught a heard of buffaloes having their early morning drink. We took some pictures jumping about in bursting Bollywood style. We spotted a white wolf playing by the lake side with two of her pups.
Another grand attraction of the park was the Yellowstone Caldera or the Cauldron, a home to the Old Faithful geyser. The Caldera is a gamut of hot water geysers, which go off every now and then. Old Faithful true to its name and will a full house erupted in its full splendor. It gushed out hot water and steam for about 5 minutes before it decided to rest again and prepare of the next show 80 to 150 minutes later.
Day four was all travel. The drive from Yellowstone to Salt lake City was 7 hours long. Which included 4 stops at the en-route gas stations to refuel our Ford, Explorer. Restock our water and snacking supplies. The 7 hours seemed shorter than its 420 minutes. Time flew by humming Strings, listening to some standup comedy on YouTube, appreciating a little bit of hip-hop, and participating in some intense palmistry sessions.
We were in Salt Lake City with finding an Indian restaurant on our list of top priority items. You would cut us some slack if you knew some of us just ate the fancy sounding Trout Almandine or Vegetarian Lasagna for the last three days. We did find a Nepalese place, the food there qualified as Indian and delicious. Later, on a full stomach we managed to get a few quick pictures in front of the Utah Capitol building and the SLC Northerwestern Mutual office before making a dash for SLC airport.
Our itenary from Salt Lake City to Milwaukee was via Phoenix. While travelling from Salt Lake city to Phoenix we flew over the Grand Canyon. Even though most of my friends were fast asleep I thought it was breathtaking to see Colorado snaking its way through the Canyon. It looked spectacular. Flying from Phoenix to Milwaukee I do remember a not so friendly air hostess, who complained about a glass of spilled tomato juice, the dude who thought everyone in the airplane was checking him out, the rock band artist with lovely long black hair who tipped the air hostess with a twenty. Then there was a bevy of tough cross word puzzles, short naps and some pricking and prodding not to let the others sleep.
Now wouldn’t you call that a trip to remember :)
