NJSD

After Elko we had a wonderful visit with cousins Laura and Chris in Portola CA followed by two amazing days in Yosemite. We’ll write about those experiences and add lots of pix in the next few days, because we now have 4 days to rest and explore the SF bay area while staying with our dear friend Diana. Some of you may remember Diana as the tall beauty in the red dress who sang at our wedding nearly 19 years ago. We are thrilled to have this time to stay in one place for several days, slow down just a bit, and enjoy the cool climate and all the fun and wonderful things to see and do here. We have some plans already and are scheduling meet-ups with cousins and friends. 

Hallelujah! 4000 miles and almost three weeks from the start, we are roughly at the midpoint of our travels. The car has performed perfectly and we are all getting along and all tremendously giddy with enjoyment and gratitude for the opportunity.

View from our window in SF Mission district

Dalia has embraced map-reading and helping with navigation – very necessary as the parks and remote areas often have no cell phone or wifi services. She is also very engaged with seeking out places to visit and things to do, while remaining flexible when plans need to adjust to reality. 

We arrived in Elko and found our hotel, right across the street from a Boot Barn. We tried on some fancy (and expensive) authentic cowboy boots and my mom bought some ankle boots for dancing. It was so fun, and the people there taught us how to pronounce Nevada like a true local. (Neh-vaaaah-duh,  NOT  neh-voh-dah). I’m excited for tomorrow because we might get to visit an art fair in the park before we leave for Portolla, California. We might also go to a ghost town, Virginia City, near Reno. Looking forward to more adventures in new places!

​​​

[wpvideo pO7oy5Rh]​​Old Faithful

[wpvideo j8UqCqJ8]​​other colorful geysers

[wpvideo gBayN7sL]​beautiful waterfall and cliffs

​[wpvideo eZmyuAsU]​

Today we drove from Yellowstone to  Elko, Nevada. We drove through Idaho and found a Bosnian café to eat lunch, where my parents sang Bosnian and Macedonian songs and the people working there joined in! They loved it and were so happy and grateful to share some of their culture. It was an amazing, unexpected experience. I can always count on my family to bring their music wherever we go. 



This park is stunning!  Stunning, I tell you!  Highlights for me were amazing views of rivers and lakes, mountains, waterfalls, steaming and spurting pools and geysers all over the place, and the great variety of flora and fauna.  I love the park’s policy of forbidding visitors to pick the wildflowers.  I also appreciated the sustainable, earth-friendly policies of the parks, lodges, and local businesses.  We even had a divided garbage receptacle in our lodge room, separating recyclables from compostables from landfill things.
Being this close to nature reminds us how fragile the ecology is.  Signs posted near some of the sulphurous mud volcanoes told how they used to spurt out high streams like Old Faithful, but because of recent earthquakes, they only burble and boil.  When we were in the Badlands of South Dakota, we were told that they didn’t exist 500,000 years ago and probably won’t exist in another 500,000–they are eroded at the rate of about one inch every year.  In Yellowstone, we saw majestic forests of different sorts of pine trees, then whole fields that had been burnt, as well as combinations thereof, where new growth was regenerating among old and burnt trees.

We entered Yellowstone from Montana – the northeast entry. The mountains were gorgeous with snow beside the road at Beartooth pass at just under 11,000 feet. We were delayed by a herd of bison lazily crossing – got to see them up close.  We stayed two nights in a beautiful lodge in Canyon Villlage at about 8,000 feet.  Everyone is healthy and very impressed by the geology, wildlife, and wildness here. No cell or wifi service in much of the park, roads are narrow without guardrails, max speed limit 45.

Yestrday we explored the southern loop (rivers, lakes, geyser fields, mud pots, paint pots, wildflowers, and views of the Tetons and the Apsarora mountains. In Yellowstone we’ve seen bison, deer, elk chipmunks, some interesting birds, but no bears so far. Previously we saw prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, and longhorn cattle. The weather here has cooperated with just a few showers and beautiful cool temps. Saw Old Faithful erupt at 7:08 pm as predicted, in the rain along with a small crowd of 200 or so, then went on to view sunset just before 9pm at Norris geyser field. Great day!!!

This morning we depart West via Idaho a stopover in Elko. NV, on the way to Portola, CA. Today’s drive is 450 miles or well over 8 hours.

If we don’t post Yellowstone pix right away we beg your understanding – we’re focused on great days packed with sightseeing plus no wifi and limited cell phone service.

​[wpvideo H0L2Qufq]​

-Dalia

Mount Rushmore

Devils Tower

Badlands

Sunset at the Rodeo in Interior, South Dakota

Rock Shop in Hill City, SD

Crazy Horse

Yesterday was action-packed! We left the beautiful Badlands of South Dakota and visited Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Devils Tower. All three monuments were so spectacular, I have never seen such big amazing sculptures and rock formations. After a walk at Devils Tower we stopped at the Arbuckle Lodge in Gillette, Wyoming. Our next stop is two exciting days in Yellowstone! I’m really looking forward to seeing the geysers like Old Faithful!

-Dalia