Saturday, June 23, 2007 Yellowstone National Park

What could be more all-American than Yellowstone Park and a rodeo in Jackson Hole, Wyoming? Maybe add mom’s apple pie – but my mom doesn’t cook anymore. We got an early start for Yellowstone because we knew we were traveling a bit further than we did the day before. We traveled the south rim of the canyon in Canyon Village, and did the walk to Artists Point. I can see why the artists like this place – you don’t have to work at finding something to be artistic about – just look anywhere and you’ll find it. Stunning landscapes, but unfortunately, the camera just doesn’t pick up the distance or the color to do it justice. The walk there was only about a mile, but it was some serious ups and downs, so we walked back via the roadway. As we were walking back, I noticed one of the bison walking toward me through the woods. I tried getting a couple pictures, but all I got were woods. As I made my way far enough from it to feel as though I wasn’t in danger – it just came walking up to the road and stopping any traffic that might have been coming. Kind of like they own the road – and they do!! We continued on the park road to Roosevelt Lodge for lunch, and then turned around to head home. As we gassed up in Canyon Village, there was a huge crowd on the road with cameras in hand and rangers standing by. This usually means bears, but this time it was a moose and her calf. Louise managed to get some good pictures as we drove by. Actually, we came to a halt in the road as all the cars and trucks we jockeying for parking spots. The day was clear and the roads were clean for the most part, but in areas where there was loose gravel, it always seemed to be in places that had no guard rails and a drop that made Louise cringe, along with wind gusts that put you all over the road. Not a good thing when it’s only 2 lanes. The temperature fluctuated with the rise in the mountains and canyons, and of course got colder as we traveled along some of the larger lakes.
We got back to the motel for a short rest, and walked down to the fairgrounds for the rodeo. There must not be much to do around here on Saturday nights, because the place was packed! Louise had never been to a rodeo before, but seemed to have enjoyed one of the west’s great sporting events. The one thing she didn’t like is the bull riding. Actually, it was what happens to the rider if something doesn’t go right. The final round saw one of the cowboys hardly making it out of the bucking chute, only to land on his head after his helmet came off. He was PLANTED. Didn’t move a muscle! After the ambulance came to cart him off, the announcer said he was awake and talking, but he sure looked dead to me. Another cowboy got his hand locked in the rope, and couldn’t let go. He got sort of swung around and kicked up. They had to help him off the ground and out of the arena. He needed a hospital too – I hope they got him to one.
After the rodeo, we went to get a bite to eat; only to find that just about everything closes down in this town at about 10:00 – on a Saturday! We eventually split a sandwich at a converted Denny’s and called it a night.
Other than cleaning the bike and doing laundry tomorrow, it looks pretty much open. We’ll see what kind of trouble we can get into.