A Side Trip to Wyoming

I traveled to Wyoming after spending a bit of time in California with my oldest.  I was heading out to meet our younger daughter who had been working at a wilderness, backpacking, and riding camp outside of Dubois, Wyoming, the town which has the most remote post office in the continental United States.  It's one and a half hours east of the Grand Tetons.  Letters from New York to camp take seven full business days to arrive.  The camp entrance is along a road that's often closed well into the spring due to dangerous weather-related road conditions.  Moose and pronghorn antelope graze around camp, sometimes wandering through the cabin and tent clusters.

A view on the way to camp

Some have asked why my daughter -- a suburban girl -- wanted to be stuck in the wild for weeks.  Well, as the infirmary assistant, she was getting great experience.  Right now she'd like to go into medicine and this is in keeping with that plan.  Also, this quote, which she wrote on one of the infirmary white boards, sums up her feelings well.

Despite some of the hardships of the job, she loved it.  She even trained with Guardian Flight to assist in the event of a helicopter med-evac.  Regrettably, she had to leave after seven weeks. She's received advance organic chemistry and genetics school work to do, as well as some online training for her lab job that starts in the fall.  At camp, there's no wifi or cell service, so remote learning wasn't an option.  She had to leave early.  Tears were shed.  She loved the people and the adventure.  But she knew she had to come home.

We had an extra day to explore before heading back to New York and decided to visit Yellowstone.  We had a great day, including a close encounter with a bison.  (I posted this on social media, but I'll share here as well.)

There once was a bison who liked to play follow-the-leader in traffic. All the cars would line up behind him. One day, he saw a dirty red car on the other side of the road and decided to investigate. He got very close to the car so he could look into the window to see who was driving. “Ah”, he said, “Vivien’s driving. I’ll hang here a moment to chat.” For once in her life, Vivien was speechless. He got bored and moved on. The End. #yellowstone #giggledhystericallywhenhehleft

Playing follow-the-leader

Getting closer  

                                    

                                        He's right next to the car, close enough to touch (but I didn't)

We saw some of Yellowstone's incredible, bizarre, and beautiful sights.  

A glimpse behind the Upper Terrace in Mammoth Hot Springs

Biscuit Basin

A u-turn in the Yellowstone River

Yes, that's a grizzly digging for grubs.  It's fuzzy because my lens isn't strong enough to get closer .
It'll do; I wasn't getting closer!

The day ended with a dramatic storm over the Tetons. The winds whipped across the fields and the lighting positively crackled.  One large, thick bolt reached down from heaven and danced on the tip of the Grand Teton, the tallest mountain in the range. 

You can see the storm coming in from the left

The rain eventually fell so heavily it obscured the mountains

A lovely view as the rain cleared

After three weeks on the road, I'm home.  It's been fantastic, but I'm very glad to be sleeping in my own bed and using my own washing machine.  After a chance to see America in its infinite variety, I'm refreshed and restored, ready to tackle the stacks of mail and chores that piled up while I was gone.  Bring it on.