Wed Aug 5: On the Road to Somewhere in Montana.

Again the morning is clear and dry. So we decide to drive west to Cody instead of going north direct to I-90. The drive to Cody is across a high, rolling plain, but once at Cody we turn north and west to drive the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway to Yellowstone’s Silver Gate. This is a great way to go.It is a beautiful drive along the Byway and climbing up to the park entrance. The last few miles are a dirt road and the entrance gate is tiny, especially compared to the others we have used. There is no traffic and we get our lifetime, seniors park pass and are on our way in about 5 minutes!

The drive through Yellowstone over to the Mammoth Springs Gate is wonderful. We cross high valleys with beautiful

trout streams the whole way. There are many cars parked at the turn outs and we can see people fishing in the streams. We stop and Carolyn fixes BLT’s and we enjoy the scene for a while. There is a thundershower working just behind us and buffalo grazing in the meadow beside the stream.

At Tower Junction, the traffic picks up and so do the animal sightings and the park tourist activities.

Once we get to Mammoth Springs the traffic is awful. There is the usual herd of "elk" grazing on the main street’s grassy park. The rangers are hitting shovels together trying to herd them from the road and the tourists are going crazy trying to get close up pictures!

Once free of that mad house, we head up to I-90 through Big Sky country. It is late in the afternoon now so we decide we will try to find a campground at Butte. At 7:00PM, as it begins raining, we are lucky to find that there is a KOA that is reasonably nice with a space.

It has been a long day with some really nice scenery, but we are tired so, after our old standby, quick and easy New Mexico eggs, we turn in to the sound of rain on the roof.