the first and last days of the trip, before and after the 4 day hike.
while we were traveling incident free (an incident by itself) from Cleveland, our travel companions Libbi (a.k.a mom) and Moti traveled from Dallas and st. Louis respectively to meet us. Dallas has 2 airport, a mega huge one and a tiny monitor less airport, mom flew from there. a short connection and a very late plane made her nervous. they were supposed to meet in Denver for the next flight to .Bozeman. the Dallas plane left very late and was not scheduled to land before the Denver one would take off, lucky, the Denver flight was late as well and in the airport they still talk about the strange husband who distracted the stewardess, misplaced the pilot's keys, loosened some air in the plane tires and begged them all to make the flight delay just a bit longer so that my mom would make this flight, amazingly she did, how ever, moti's suitcase (from st. Louis, remember) decided not to fly to Denver, boring place for a suit case, but decided to go to Chicago instead, how come, no one knows, perhaps there was a reunion.
the next morning, we all met in bozeman, minus the suit case. we got a full size car after instructing everyone to pack less then usual. we met for lunch in a place that had matzo ball soup! i couldn't resist, but I wish I had resisted, no flavor, after gathering every one's belonging including the overdue case that arrived unescorted from Chicago (moti made a complaint about the missing case, and after he picked it up the next day, the airline didn't even bother to check if he got his stuff... you can always trust the airlines), we realised that we need a bigger car, since no one (my self included obeyed the instructions of packing light). so we got something bigger that eats too much gas and even in that , things were tight. at this point, moti realised he forgot his glasses at the hotel, and called, after many attempt to reach house cleaning, nothing was found, this was not his day.
well it was a trip after all and we headed towards our 1st hike, not far from Bozeman, it took us time to find this trail, and surprisingly, there was no gas station or any store at this exit, a problem for us without water, lucky there was a house by the trail, and we walked in. the owners were not there but workers did whatever they did and let us use the hose to fill up. shortly after we begun hiking few miles straight with some tiny creek crossing over bridges or rocks then the trail went up and up. not all of us are in shape and at some point we decided to head back shamefully without reaching the top. the way down was much easier and we passed a biker riding this hill to the top, insane people. we kept going east and passed a bear sanctuary, rescued bear that were seriously abused for years in private homes can be found here, these people should be shot! the bear are cute in their enclosure, but it did not mean we get to say we have seen a bear in nature.
after an avocado and recharge (+cappuccino) at sub way for some (and non avocado bagel for me) we headed south to Gardiner, the entrance to yellow stone.
dinner was at the lighthouse, this place was filled with photos of ships, lighthouses and mariner things, strange since Montana has no ocean, after asking the very enthusiastic waiter, we found that it is name after a similar business in this area...ahh, why that business was named the lighthouse we don't know. good food though.
next morning we entered the park and found a group of 6 elk , females and young, sleeping right outside the gates, this discovery was a promise to an animal full week.
we reached the information center\hotel and loaded up with maps and the must essentials such as cappuccino and ice cream and headed for beaver ponds trail. the trail goes up right away and after 190 meters!! world record distance, there was a request for rest and a break!, 190 meters... after the break we kept going and saw a big fox or a small coyote, we are not positive, either way this foyote ran back and forth and we were excited. this trail goes by several beaver ponds, 8k of trail with lots of not too steep ups and downs. we saw a few chip monks, squirrel, butterflies, very noisy grasshopper, which look like butterflies when they jump and make a very unique sound. and one snake, well I didn't see the Snake though I stood 2 paces behind the seer, who swore it was a snake. on the way back we passed a mother and cub elk walking in the forest and a woodpecker. we reached the end point, Mammoth falls which are geyser falls, and after leaving the cappuccino drinkers for a grazing session on the grass, we headed to see the interesting geyser pools and colorful bacteria that surrounds it. after this short hike we all went (after getting more cappuccino ) to a place where a boiling river meets a cool creek and creating a warm soaking area. we soaked for a while enjoying the warmth of the water, then passed by the visitor center once again, no cappuccino this time, and headed for a mile long trail to some falls, the trail and falls were not impressive, but we did see our 1st posing Marmot, sitting on a log, then eating and running around, very nice. after another stop at an impressive falls (with photos but no need for a hike ) we passed the visitor center once again, no drinks and headed south for West Yellowstone for the night. on the way we passed more geysers of various sizes. the MC lounge provided us with decent bison nachos (though we have not seen bison yet) and other good food.
Next morning, after good breakfast + cappuccino, (yes they are addicted) we returned to the park for faerie falls trail, the road goes by geyser pools of various shapes and geyser clouds can be seen where ever you look. the flat hike passed a growing forest and we actually missed a sitting bull elk at the side of the road, we headed back and saw it after someone told us, the brute was sitting and regurgitating its food without a care in the world, the falls were tall but not much water, but a chipmunk wanting food played with us and posed (got no food from us, it is a nature preserve, but did from others) , we also saw a few more Marmots. we decided then to not go directly back but make a detour, not a great move, it made the trail too long and w ran out of water in a very hot day without seeing any animals. we got to the car a few hours later thirsty but satisfied (not too thirsty), we walked to another geyser area, some places have boardwalks and you can get close to the mist and bubbling mud and clear blue pools of death.
dinner was bad, bison steak, lean they say, is just chewy mess. i wish they had lined a cow next to this lean steak for some flavor.
our last day started with a bald eagle, ducks and 2 bison standing and grazing. we reached old faithful for a map, and heard that a rare geyser, is about to erupt, we hurried there and watched beehive geyser (150% larger then old faithful) and one of the largest geysers in the world erupt , impressive and very lucky for us. we didn't stick around the see its more famous but shorter brother and went to a trail to a Small lake, on the way Moti saw a snake! I was a meter behind and didn't see it, the conspiracy continues. we had a picnic by the lake and watched a guy catch and release fish, cruel hobby.
we reached Jackson hole later that day and after a de-dusting shower, we walked in the pretty ski town and went to an organic place, all the stuff is organic and has lots of abnormal vegetables like zucchini, this is a treat for the rest of the gang but horrible for me, i ended up with kids meal pasta (in this place it is rice noodle with earth right butter...nothing is simple here) and a pity look from the waitress. but the rest enjoyed it, we kept walking in the city's many galleries and didn't get anything, we reached coco love- a gourmet chocolate place- one of the only 2 chocolate artist in the states according to the sign and enjoyed some treats (including cappuccino for those who drink the stuff) and went to bed after doing laundry.the next morning we would separate and the suitcase with mom and moti would return to Israel and we would begin our 4 day hike , which I already talked about.
p.s not sure where, but Alla also saw a snake without me seeing and in the 4 day hike, a kid named Jonathan also saw one- that is 4 snakes without me seeing wither one, conspiracy!!!
cheers... i will do the last days at later time
p.s mazal tov michal on your 6th 29 birthday
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