CHEYENNE, WY.  We have been busy traveling lately, so this blog has been neglected.  On the 2nd and 3rd, we were in Livingston, MT, about 40 miles north of the north gate of Yellowstone NP.  Our original plans were to spend a week there, but the weather turned pretty bad.  We saw the forecasts while in Salmon and decided to stay there longer.  Salmon was very nice, and we got a lot done there, but visiting Livingston and Yellowstone longer in good weather would have been great.  Entering Yellowstone from the north gate is much more interesting for me than entering from the south gate.

While in Livingston we drove around the area after arriving in the afternoon of the 2nd.  We got some nice photos of ranch country with mountains in the background.  Below are some examples.

Then we left for Yellowstone on the 3rd and spent the day mostly in Mammoth Hot Springs.  The springs were not as active as I remembered them 45 years ago when I last saw them.  Snow was everywhere this time, and the juxtaposition of snow and boiling hot springs made for many interesting photos.  While there, we got to see herds of female elks.  There was only one bull, which bugled twice as we watched him guard his large harem of cow elks.  The lighting was excellent.  Below are some examples.

Minerva Terrace

Upper Terraces

Canary Spring

Bull Elk

Many Elk Cows Grazing Everywhere

Roosevelt North Gate Viewed from Inside Park

 

Roosevelt North Gate Entry

Roosevelt Meant for the American People

 I am sorry to say that too many Americans I know refuse to visit our national parks because the parks are so crowded all the time.  Even two weeks before we entered Yellowstone people in Salmon who had returned from the park said that it was still mobbed that late in the season.  After the heavy snow storms, things were pretty much cleared out, so we had no problem getting in and travelling in the park.  But it is widely understood that particularly Asians in huge numbers are crowding out North Americans who wish to visit these parks.

It was a long drive in dismal weather on the 4th as we headed to Buffalo, WY for the night.  It was an equally long drive here today, but the weather was clear and sunny, but very windy.  A very tiring drive.  We went grocery shopping tonight and will attend church tomorrow at what appears to be a good PCA church 12 minutes from here.  At least the web site gives a good impression. We have attended some pretty disappointing PCA churches on our trip this year.

One of the ironies of our long stay in Salmon, ID was that it allowed us to visit Betty's old Lutheran church three Sundays in a row!  The final Sunday they were voting on their selection of a new pastor, since the one that we had visited before (and with whom Betty had worshipped for years) had accepted a call to a church in Kansas months ago.  Thus the pulpit was being filled by pastors from nearby Hamilton and Stevensville, MT.

On Monday we leave for North Platte, NE for one night, then drive to York, NE on Tuesday for another one-night stay.  On Wednesday we drive to McPherson, KS so that we can visit nearby Lindsborg, the hometown of Gene Sundberg.  This is a Swedish Lutheran farm town with annual festivals celebrating their heritage, but we shall pass through too early to experience one of those.

Then we shall continue to wend our way across the country on our way back home.