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January 24 - 25
January 26 January 27 January 28 January 29 January 30 January 31 February 1 |
Wednesday, January 24 We left home about 8 and drove our usual route to Billings, MT. As soon as we hit the WY border, the wind picked up. And blew and blew and blew until Kaycee, 2/3 of the way up the state... I-25 was closed to light vehicles and high profile vehicles, so most semis were pulled off. A few went on however, despite the gusts up to 60 mph. Two semis were overturned or jackknifed on the highway. The wind was bad enough by itself, but it was blowing loose snow across the roads, sometimes decreasing visibility markedly. We covered the distance much more slowly than usual. Lunch was at Applebees in Casper, WY, and I discovered Allergen menus. Good idea! We got in to Billings almost an hour later than usual. Kelly joined us for dinner at Mackenzie River. And another allergen menu. Okay. I can have traces of dairy or very spicy..... The pulled pork was acceptable, at least. Thursday, January 25 We got up about 6 am. We both had a hard time sleeping last night – I kept wondering if this trip (and route) was a mistake... The road conditions the rest of the way to Yellowstone look pretty bad. We had breakfast downstairs then loaded the car and headed west. Yes, it was windy near Livingston, but not nearly as windy as Wyoming was yesterday!!! We turned south at Bozeman. First we drove to Big Sky Resort so Carl could be reassured of the route (very simple and well scraped). After getting some gas at the crossroads we headed south again. While we were there, I asked the people behind the counter how the road looked to the south towards West Yellowstone. It turns out that one of them had driven most of that route in to work that day and reassured us that it was kept plowed. By then, the snow had started falling a bit. It would get a little heavier as we traveled this 46 mile stretch to West Yellowstone... But, again, the snow plows were doing their job and people were driving sensibly – well, except for one jackass in a huge pickup... We got to West Yellowstone about 12:45 and I was able to check in right away! We unloaded my stuff then grabbed a decent bowl of soup at the corner pub (Slippery Otter). Then Carl took off back to Big Sky and I settled into the room. I still wonder if this trip was a mistake... The group got together at 6 for an initial meeting. Then we all walked across the street for dinner. I had a nice piece of trout (they left off the beurre topping, per request) and a glass of wine. It's a congenial group. The snow stopped while we were in the restaurant. It left a nice coat of soft stuff on the road for the walk back to the hotel. I crashed quickly... In the meantime, Carl was trying to check into his condo at Big Sky. He had arrived back at Big Sky safely and too early for check-in. They told him to come back at 5 pm... When he returned about 5:30, the condo still wasn't ready, so they offered him free margaritas until it was. Three margaritas later.... And off to bed. |