Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The Trip

It was neat to see Yellowstone in winter. And a lot less crowded. Snowmobiling is a fun way to see the park, although, from what our guide said, it may usually be colder and so possibly not as fun. It was a beautiful day, hardly any wind, and we stayed warm in our lovely rented suits and helmets.



I would recommend driving your own snowmobile, though. It was more comfortable to drive than to be the passenger.
We saw a beaver, river otters, elk, eagles, a coyote, a fox after a rodent, and, of course, buffalo. There were also bears and wolves in captivity. Here are some pictures - I'll try to limit myself to a few...

















We were so worn out when we got back to the hotel, funny since we were on our butts most of the time. Stephen had made dinner reservations for that night so we couldn't laze about, though. I wish I had pictures of dinner! Seriously, the courses were arranged beautifully and in complementing dishes - different styles for each course. The colors were amazing. The food excellent. I didn't know a chef could really make that much of a difference, it really is an art form. The food became an experience in and of itself. Oh, and stuffed as I was (I couldn't eat all of the main course), I couldn't stop eating the dessert. Divine.
By the way, we ate at the Bar N Ranch. I don't think I would ever stay there, just because it was so, I don't know - over the top? It was uncomfortable in it's extremes of comfort and decor or something. I couldn't put my finger on it. The rooms even felt erie to me. Hard to be down to earth and be yourself in that atmosphere.
Anyway, I recommend this experience to you all. Something different to do with people you enjoy.

7 comments:

megan said...

oh my gosh it looks so beautiful! Cool that you captured the fox. I hated snomobiling when I went, and I came back so completely bruised from being slammed into the front of the snomobile (i was passenger in the front). I know what you mean with not being able to feel comfortable in that over-the-top fanciness...is ostentacious an accurate word for it? But it might be kind of fun to pretend for a little while that you are celebrity or royalty or something, eh?

plugalong said...

Ostentacious. Perfect. If I would have thought of that I probably would have spelled it wrong ;].

plugalong said...

By the way, when did you snowmobile? Did you go to Yellowstone? Maybe your snowmobile wasn't a double seater? Also it was smooth sailing on the roads, I don't think it would be good at all to ride double doing any other kind of snowmobiling.

micquel said...

those are some nice shots. Sometimes I just love winter landscapes. Right about now, thought, my cabin fever starts to kick in and I want spring. I want to play frisbee!

Anyway, I've never been snowmobiling, but I'm sure it would scare me because I'm scared of four wheelers and motorcycles. Similar, isn't it?

plugalong said...

kinda, but at least you land in snow rather than asphalt.

megan said...

sorry it took me so long to comment to answer your question...I went snowmobiling in winter of 1997, just after I got my mission call. I went with this cute, shy boy who had invited me, named Danny Stratton. He was such a nice boy, I hope he found an equally nice girl. :) I don't know if it was a double seater, but it was definitely not road snowmobiling. And Danny is not a small person, either, so I had some really gnarly bruises.

megan said...

p.s. no, it wasn't in yellowstone, either, it was somewhere here in Utah, I think, some neighbors cabin somewhere really snowy, but I have no recollection of where it possibly could have been.