More Yellowstone Adventures: Days 4 and 5

Bozeman, Montana, was our destination (a bus would be picking up Alan and other workers and taking them to Gardiner, Montana, where they would spend a couple of days in training). The drive from Sheridan to Bozeman went fairly quickly, and we were at Bozeman before we knew it:

We arrived in Bozeman a day before Alan was scheduled to leave, so we had some time to drive around. There are all kinds of businesses in cute facilities:



And more cute houses to see:


Even the Wal-Mart was scenic, and we went in to get Dee Dee some more pajamas. There was a “Montana gifts” shop in the front of the Wal-Mart and it had the cutest things. I got a T-shirt for Pod (I can’t wait until she’s big enough to wear it), plus there was a little more shopping that occurred. The clerk in the shop was very sweet and I learned a lot about Bozeman from her.


We eventually got tired, so we headed back to the motel, where I took a picture of Alan:


We watched the local news on television, and I’ve always said that if you really want to know about an area, just watch their late news or buy a paper. Back home, at the time that we left, one of the top stories was about a man who had beheaded his wife with a chain saw (while she was still alive) and then had thrown her body into the street. The lead story on the news in Bozeman was about the fact that Montana’s governor was happy that Montana is one of the very few states that still has money in the bank (about $400 million). There were also stories about an exercise program for some school children and another about some important legislation that passed to help veterans (apparently some Montana Senators/Congressmen had helped to work on it). On Thursday morning, the top news on the radio was about two grizzly bears being relocated because they had become too comfortable around people. What a contrast!

It had started to snow late in the day, and Dee Dee took this picture while looking out of our room:


On D-Day (Day 5), Alan woke up bright and early, and was ready to go:


The bus station was directly across the street, and there was already a little flock of people waiting to begin their summer work season at Yellowstone. The bus finally arrived and everyone huddled close to listen to the instructions:



Before I knew what was happening, I heard someone say that they wanted the workers who were going to Old Faithful to load up first. Alan helped heft his bags into the baggage compartment, and then disappeared into the bus. I didn’t even get to hug him good-bye and embarrass him to death!


It didn’t take long at all, and pretty soon, the bus pulled out of the station, and my baby boy was gone:


I had told myself that I wasn’t going to cry, but I ended up breaking that promise!

Dee Dee and I waited for awhile to leave, because it had been snowing all night, and it was still snowing. There were reports that the mountain passes were cause for concern, and since we knew that there was a mountain pass between Bozeman and Billings (if it is technically a "mountain pass" by Montana standards, I don't know -- but there was a stretch of road that sure felt like one), we actually had considered staying another night. However, there was some kind of graduation in town, and our room was already spoken for; the clerk told Dee Dee that most likely ALL of the hotels in town would be booked, so the decision to leave was made for us.

Snow was coming down when we left:





Even once the snow let up, the roads were somewhat curvey:


With a little bit of “ups” and “downs”:


At one point, we had trouble seeing a truck that we KNEW was just ahead of us:


Want to know the exciting thing? We did it! We actually drove through the snow and sludge and wind. Maybe those who live with this all the time will roll your eyes and think, “Whatever!”, but it was pretty exciting for this Texas girl to know that she could get around if she had to.

Another thing that was neat for me was an observation that Dee Dee made when we stopped at Big Timber to stretch our legs. There was snow all around, and the wind was just slightly blowing, and as she got out of the car she said, "It doesn't really feel cold at all! It should, but it doesn't." This is something that I had told my family members after our trip to Yellowstone, only to have them look at me as though I had totally lost it. Now my mother was learning what a dry cold feels like for herself.

Mom was intrigued with all of the houses nestled among the trees and hills:



And she also loved all of the interesting rock formations:


At the end of Day 5, we seem to be out of the snow and hope to make lots of progress tomorrow. I hope my boy is having a good time! I thought of him all day.