Travelogue: Day 3, West Yellowstone, Montana

Yellowstone Park Bear Safety Guide: Carry a bell and ring it as you walk along the trail to avoid startling a bear. If they hear you coming they'll run away, but if you startle them they'll attack. Carry pepper spray as a precaution. If bears are in the area, you can identify which species are near by their scat. Black bear droppings smell like huckleberries. Grizzly bear droppings have bells in them and smell like pepper. –Adapted from a t-shirt in a souvenir shop

8:21 am
Wow. Vacation day three, already. It's going by too quickly. And I'm getting into some bad habits; staying up late and sleeping in late. It is hard to sleep in a strange bed, though.

Mr. Bug's brother is doing breakfast today. He's doing made-to order omelettes and they look fabulous. Each family has prepared a meal and it has all been really really good.

Mr. Bug's family reunion is over, so we'll be packing up and vacating the house we rented. I think everyone except for us is headed home. It has been a really fun couple of days.

{Mr. Bug's parents, Sondra and LaMar, LadyBug, Mr. Bug, Grasshopper, Elizabeth}

11:27 am
Mr. Bug's brother and his family live in Rexburg and have just bought a new house so we are going to stop by and see it since it's on the way.

1:23 pm
We stopped at the Wal-Mart in Idaho Falls for some travelling snacks and oil for the Trooper. In dog years, it's a 126 years old, so it needs a little TLC.

Grasshopper is officially addicted to McDonald's Apple Pies. Guess where we ate lunch? Still no Boardwalk. We have, however, won any breakfast sandwich except a McMuffin and an 8x8 Shutterfly album.

2:59 pm
Mr. Bug's brother's new house is beautiful. We had a potty break {there's just no getting around it} and we're back on the road. West Yellowstone, Montana, here we come!

Only 80 miles to go.

4:05 pm
I dozed off there for a bit. Did I miss it? Are we in Montana yet? No one knows. I probably missed it.

And I've learned my lesson. Dramamine 30 minutes before travel, no. matter. what. Otherwise, I end up with a migraine.

4:09 pm
Welcome to Montana! Yay! I didn't miss it. 10 miles to West Yellowstone.

4:17 pm
We have arrived in West Yellowstone, Montana — Destination: Adventure.

4:23 pm
The weather is really nice. It is slightly overcast with a nice breeze going. Grasshopper has decided that he's moving to Montana since it isn't as hot here {today} as it is at home.

5:02 pm
There is something irresistible about a hotel swimming pool.

7:13 pm
We're going to find some dinner and do some touristy things.

There were three other painted buffalo statues around town, like the one above. I wanted to stop and get a photo by each one, but no one was game. Grasshoppper would only consent to being in one photo while we were out. When they were in the pool earlier, he asked me to take his photo at least three times. Teenagers.

After we ate at Pete's Rocky Mountain Pizza and Pasta, LadyBug and I hit the souvenir shops pretty hard. Mr. Bug and Grasshopper were over that after we went into two places and spent quite a bit of time on the benches while LadyBug and I searched for the perfect trinkets to bring home. She settled on a Yellowstone pin. I haven't settled on anything, but I think I'll probably go back to one of the shops tomorrow and get some earrings made from moose antlers. They are made by a local woman who goes out and collects antlers that the moose have shed. She cuts and sands them, bleaches them and then hand paints them. They are a bit pricey at $40 a pair.

About 80% of what they sell in the shops are things you can get just about anywhere. One place had some really pretty earrings made from colored shells found in Hawaii. Another place was selling Russian nesting dolls. I'm sure that a fridge magnet that says, "Yellowstone" will find it's way into my suitcase, but that is a run-of-the-mill keepsake. I want to bring home something special too; I want to bring home something that I can only get here. And I want it to be something that I will use, not something that is going to collect dust. We won't be coming back here. I don't know if I will run across earrings like this again. But I want the night to think it over, because we still have a couple of days to go and who knows if there will be something better farther on down the road.

11:27 pm
Up past my bedtime again. But we're on vacation. Who has time for sleep? But I'm thinking it is going to be a little hard to get back into my routine next week.

Off to bed . . . looking forward to the next adventure.