Opa & the Tourist Blanket
Day 17: July 17, 2017: Great Falls, MT: 391m/630km
We jumped on the road about an hour and a half after getting up, which is roughly our usual pace to eat, change, and pack. We drove through the Tetons, Opa told a handful of stories about passing them in the fog and rain and that this was the clearest day that he has seen them in a while. Opa even asked strangers to take our pictures for us. After our little photoshoot we made it towards Old Faithful.
We went cruising through the hills and curves of Yellowstone. Traffic began to come to a crawl when Opa said, "Whelp, must be some animals in the road and the tourists have to stop for pictures, I guess." Sure enough, we cam to a clearing in the valley to see a massive herd of buffalo grazing along the side of the road. He asked if I wanted to stop or if I wanted to keep driving. I figured with all of the traffic, animals, and our limited gear for safety that it would probably be best for us to just continue on. He chuckled and said that we would find more animals with less traffic that we could watch later on; which sounded like a more solid plan than the possibility of a charge and us struggling to maneuver around the tourists and buffalo.
We made it to the parking lot without much of an issue in regards to animals or traffic after that. It's one thing to hear him complain and grumble about campers and RVs on the road, it's another to hear him complain and grumble about them and the pedestrians in the parking lot.
After parking the bikes and replacing the helmets with caps we wandered over to the theatre area to join the waiting crowd. We had timed it perfectly! Only 15 minutes until the geyser would blow.
--(I got a video of the geyser but I am struggling to transfer it and have a clear resolution. Maybe I will add some stills of it later.)--
We watched the geyser, Opa made sure that I was getting a video of it to share with everyone. He practically raced into the lodge which had a gift shop, and of course, ice cream. We each finished our ice cream while meandering around the lodge and looking at all of the work that has been put into maintaining it. Before leaving we stopped at the gift shop to look for any bumper sticker that might work for my bike or on the garage doors of his "toyshed." I had almost given up hope of finding a sticker until I started digging in the very back corners of the shop. I bought my sticker and went to the restroom, leaving Opa to wander the shop or go to the restroom, or whatever else Opa feels like doing.
I come back to find Opa holding this large bag with his goofy grin beaming, showing that he was tickled with himself. Before I could ask what was in the bag, he pulls out this brightly colored fleece blanket. He had purchased a tourist blanket for me, "Well, you know, in case you get cold. It's gonna get really cold, you know?"
We settled in to a KOA in Great Falls. I did laundry while Opa showered and went to bed. I used my new blanket as a pillow.
We jumped on the road about an hour and a half after getting up, which is roughly our usual pace to eat, change, and pack. We drove through the Tetons, Opa told a handful of stories about passing them in the fog and rain and that this was the clearest day that he has seen them in a while. Opa even asked strangers to take our pictures for us. After our little photoshoot we made it towards Old Faithful.
We went cruising through the hills and curves of Yellowstone. Traffic began to come to a crawl when Opa said, "Whelp, must be some animals in the road and the tourists have to stop for pictures, I guess." Sure enough, we cam to a clearing in the valley to see a massive herd of buffalo grazing along the side of the road. He asked if I wanted to stop or if I wanted to keep driving. I figured with all of the traffic, animals, and our limited gear for safety that it would probably be best for us to just continue on. He chuckled and said that we would find more animals with less traffic that we could watch later on; which sounded like a more solid plan than the possibility of a charge and us struggling to maneuver around the tourists and buffalo.
We made it to the parking lot without much of an issue in regards to animals or traffic after that. It's one thing to hear him complain and grumble about campers and RVs on the road, it's another to hear him complain and grumble about them and the pedestrians in the parking lot.
After parking the bikes and replacing the helmets with caps we wandered over to the theatre area to join the waiting crowd. We had timed it perfectly! Only 15 minutes until the geyser would blow.
--(I got a video of the geyser but I am struggling to transfer it and have a clear resolution. Maybe I will add some stills of it later.)--
We watched the geyser, Opa made sure that I was getting a video of it to share with everyone. He practically raced into the lodge which had a gift shop, and of course, ice cream. We each finished our ice cream while meandering around the lodge and looking at all of the work that has been put into maintaining it. Before leaving we stopped at the gift shop to look for any bumper sticker that might work for my bike or on the garage doors of his "toyshed." I had almost given up hope of finding a sticker until I started digging in the very back corners of the shop. I bought my sticker and went to the restroom, leaving Opa to wander the shop or go to the restroom, or whatever else Opa feels like doing.
I come back to find Opa holding this large bag with his goofy grin beaming, showing that he was tickled with himself. Before I could ask what was in the bag, he pulls out this brightly colored fleece blanket. He had purchased a tourist blanket for me, "Well, you know, in case you get cold. It's gonna get really cold, you know?"
We settled in to a KOA in Great Falls. I did laundry while Opa showered and went to bed. I used my new blanket as a pillow.
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