Whatever day this is (completely lost track at this point, there is no differentiation between weekdays and weekend days) started with a somewhat limited playground session, but since we were still in Idaho, it was time to pay one last homage...
Leaving Arco, we got to see Numbers Hill in the daylight. Turns out every year since the 20s the graduating class of the local high school climbs up and paints their year on the rocks.
We learned a lot of other things about Arco and the surrounding area, some of which you can find here. Arco's decor has a lot of nuclear tie-ins, and brags of being the world's first town powered by nuclear energy. Now we understood why there were a lot of INEL (Idaho Nuclear Engineering Laboratory) sites in the absolute middle of nowhere. Driving through terrain like this,
then seeing all manner of 'Keep out, classified, government clearance required' signage made us feel like we were in an episode of X Files.
It was even weirder when we found out that the world's first fatal nuclear accident occurred here in the '60s. If you were looking to find a very isolated area of the country (Atomic City has a population of 29 - in the Holland/Zeeland area, that's considered a family), this would be an ideal spot to see if a nuclear plant worked.
Safely out of Idaho (although we believe we passed through the lawless section referred to earlier in the blog), we were approaching the west entrance of Yellowstone when we ran into yet another construction stoppage.
This was made all the more frustrating as we watched these guys passing us, jumping off the road and onto 2 tracks at will. Next year we may have to add one of these to the arsenal and tow it behind the Jeep.
Once inside Yellowstone, we were greeted by surprisingly few giant motorhomes (our gameplan to use the less frequented West Entrance paid off - if just briefly) and lots of scenery like this.
While we were headed back to the parking lot, I stumbled across this Jeep a few parking spaces away. It was sitting on 40s (not these 40s) compared to our 37s,
and immediately conjured up childhood images of these
It also allowed me to take the position of 'yeah, 40" tires are ridiculous, that's why I went the conservative, responsible route with 37s' with Kimberly. It was not convincing.
Next up - Old Faithful. This was difficult for me, because on one hand it is everything I love - a unique, fascinating, beautiful natural feature, seen here between eruptions.
On the other hand,
Yeah. Luckily the payoff was well worth it.
Afterward, we headed in to check out some more exhibits
then embarked on a mission to go see some bison. Unsuccessful on the south end of the park, we headed up past the east entrance where supposedly a herd of 1500 hung out.
We found them. I got close enough for this,
Kimberly got close enough for this,
Then this guy let me know that my time was up.
He then decided to let everyone know who runs Bartertown, stopping traffic for a good 10 minutes.
As we exited Yellowstone, we were treated to some crazy imagery, but the fading light and our eagerness to get to our campsite kept the photos in check.
Driving through this also kept things interesting.
Arriving at our campsite just outside Cody, WY, we had this view from our site.
It reminded me of this scene - then it was time for dinner & bed.
Tomorrow - driving most of the day, with a stop at Mt. Rushmore.
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