Out West Trip: Day 31 (Red Lodge, MT to Jackson, WY)

Today’s Highlights:
A summer solstice snowball fight. Seeing a bear. Getting stuck in a bison induced traffic jam. Picking up Evie.

beartooth pass - 21 jun 2011

I got up early for a conference call, then we started getting ready to go. It took a bit longer than hoped, but we were headed out of Red Lodge by 10am. We drove up and up Beartooth Pass until we were surrounded by cliffs of snow. We got out of the car at one point to have a summer solstice snowball fight. Soon after we entered Yellowstone, we were in a mess of cars; people had stopped every which way to watch a bear ambling about. We stayed on the east part of the park, heading south through Canyon and the mud volcanoes. Chloe called Mindy and gave her two realizes and a whopper.

beartooth pass - 21 jun 2011

When we left Yellowstone, we got stuck in a traffic jam; a dozen bison were charging back and forth across the road. Despite the delay, we managed to get to the car shop before 5:30 and picked up Evie! We transferred all our stuff from the rental car into Evie and then drove to the airport to drop off the rental car. Back in town, we stopped at Smith’s to get a movie and some food for dinner. We checked into the KOA and set up the Kabin for dinner and sleeping. We cooked dinner on the grill and then watched a movie before bed.

yellowstone - 21 jun 2011

Trip Stats:
Roadside Attractions: None. (Total: 23)
States: Montana. Wyoming. (Total: 14 – GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, CO, CA, NV, WY, ID, MT)
State Plates Spotted: Alabama. Alaska. Arizona. Arkansas. California. Colorado. (Total: 51 – includes DC)
Miles: 287 (Total: 7126)
Gallons of gas bought: 38.9 (Total: 426.1)
Poptops Spotted: 8 (Total: 48)
National Park Stamps: None. (Total: 14)
Miles walked: 3 (Total: 71)
Dollars saved with NP pass: None. (Total: 195)
Continental Divide Crossings: 1 (Total: 7)
Time Zone Changes: None. (Total: 9 – EDT, CDT, MST, MDT, CDT, MDT, MST, PDT, MST, PDT, MST, MDT)
Security checkpoints: None. (Total: Border. Petrified Forest. Agriculture. Dam Security. WY Hwy Patrol.)