While roaming through Yellowstone in our car, we got to see a few different types of creatures that I’ve rarely seen back East, including Bison (huge), Bears (huge), and Elk (huge). The most exciting has to be the bears, obviously. The danger mentioned in the previous entry is a huge reason why, but still they are cool looking creatures, and in this environment, fairly friendly to the tourists. One sighting was a bear just wandering across the street, stopping traffic, but not coming after any of the cars. Another was of three bears just chilling on the side of the road in the brush, letting people take their pictures and whatnot without the slightest rise in anger, which was pretty cool. It seemed a good reason to be less scared of them than the rattlesnakes, although if they do get their hands on human foods, they apparently get taken out because they acquire a taste for it, like the one that showed up in our driveway in Amherst. Other than that though, beautiful creatures.
One thing did pop into mind when seeing all these sights though. When taking into account the frequent stops for pictures on the main highway, not to mention that few to none of these drivers are from Massachusetts, I’m surprised that there aren’t more accidents. Honestly, people were just popping off the side of the road taking pictures whenever the fancy hit them, often times out of the blue when an animal was wandering nearby. How many pictures of elk do you really need, especially when you are endangering the safety of those behind you to get your 19th picture of an elk? Suddenly there is a nice set of antlers, and crash, there goes another car from New Mexico unaccustomed to driving with other people on the road. Just glad I learned to drive in a state filled with asshole drivers, who knew what they were doing, but still really kept you on your toes.
In regards to the non-wildlife aspect of Yellowstone, it was beautiful, except for the still lingering effects of a 1988 wildfire. It’s kind of crazy to think that almost 20 years later, a park like Yellowstone could yet to recover. It’s a scary example for the rest of the west, especially when you hear of 500 acre+ wildfires going up in Utah, California, and the rest of the west. On the more pleasant side however was the geothermal activity, steaming rivers, bubbling spots in small ponds, random steam points, and all topped off by Old Faithful. Many picturesque sites across the park provided many an opportunity for Kodak moment after Kodak moment. Still working on getting the pictures online, but for now you’ll have to take our word for it, some great photos.
On a Josh is a nerd alert, I’m starting to re-read the Harry Potter series in anticipation of the release of the seventh and final book. I know I’m a huge nerd for it, but I gotta say I’m fairly excited for this release. Not quite the level of excitement that Beckham will bring to US Soccer for the next two weeks, before they all realize he isn’t all that flashy on the pitch, only a good component to help a team win. All that little side rant means is that I’m not excited to the level of getting dressed up in Hogwarts gear or buying it the day it comes out, but still eager to finish the series after all the speculation since finishing book number six.
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