Rocky Mountain Roundup

We spent this past week with Eliza's folks in and around Jellystone Yellowstone National Park. No sign of Yogi or Boo Boo -- they were probably hibernating -- but I spotted Bigfoot at a grocery store in Gardiner, Montana, in the form of these snow shovels...

Obviously there was much cooler stuff to be seen, like Old Faithful and Mammoth Hot Springs...

Achtung! This nearby sign graphically illustrates the dangers of wandering into the park's many thermal features...

Eliza admires this deadly spring from a safe distance...

Ooh, a buffalo bison!

We saw many of these guys, along with elk, deer, coyotes, eagles, ravens, ducks, geese and other such critters from the snow coach we rode through the park for a couple days. Yellowstone is buried in snow during the winter, so snow coaches and snowmobiles are the only vehicles allowed in the park during the season.

Here we are in eight-degree weather, standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone...

The best non-Yellowstone highlight was an awesome day of dogsledding in Montana's Absaroka mountains. I plan to post a video shortly -- for now, check out these doggies, rarin' to haul Eliza and me up a forest service road...

We lodged at the lovely Chico Hot Springs Resort (though not in Warren's Wing, which has loads of Warren Oates memorabilia lining the walls; instead we stayed in suite 405 of the Lower Lodge). Chico's outdoor pool of sub-scalding spring water was a treat to soak in after a long day out in the cold.

Immediately adjacent to the pool is a bar saloon, which has a signed Evel photo on the wall...

Of course, every bar in Montana probably has an autographed Knievel photo, but whatever.

Then on today's flight home, I distracted myself from the sweaty-palm turbulence by snapping iPhone photos of the propeller outside my window. I'd seen this weird effect before, and sure enough, it worked for me too...

And now we're back. A zillion thanks to Steve and Kristina!

UPDATE

Here's video:


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