Our trip to Roberts, Montana was supposed to take about four hours with a stop for lunch in Cody, Wyoming. About 80 miles out of Thermopolis, the hotel we had stayed in called Cheryl to tell her she had left her laptop behind. We flipped around and headed back to Thermopolis to pick it up. The night before, we had enjoyed an excellent dinner at the One Eyed Buffalo on the main street, so since we arrived back in Thermopolis for an early lunch, we ate there again. Then, we began our planned four-hour trip over again.
We only made a brief stop in Cody for postcards and shot glasses. Then, we pushed on.
Cheryl had mapped a scenic drive to Roberts using the Chief Joseph Highway and making a turn east on 212 to go to Roberts. We climbed up and over the mountain, seeing some beautiful scenery in the process. The highway was twisting, narrow, and gravelly, but the scenery was worth it for me! The good news about not having to drive is my ability to look around and enjoy the beauty of the route.
As we came to the end of the Chief Joseph, my opportunity for pictures took a turn for better. Doug’s day of driving took a turn for the worse. Highway 212 East was still closed for the season. We had likely missed the signage that told us that information. Later, we learned that Highway 212 is also known as the Bear Tooth Highway. Cheryl knew that it was closed, but she didn’t know that 212 was the Bear Tooth. Whoops!
Instead of hauling out paper maps like we would have once done, we did what the modern travelers do — ask Google Maps to reroute us. The new route added 189 miles to the day’s trip (Sorry, Doug) and took us through the northern sections of Yellowstone National Park (Yay for Pam!). I suspect not many people wind up accidentally going to Yellowstone, but we did just that.
We approached Yellowstone in the early evening, and the animals were approaching their feeding areas. One of our first finds was a fox who looked like he had lost his best friend. He came right up to the car and looked up at us with pleading eyes. We moved on. We learned this from the three bears.
As we rolled on, we found coyotes, deer, pronghorns, elk, bison, black bears, and eventually, grizzly bears. There were so many people watching the bison and the bears that the park had rangers at the sites making sure people weren’t blocking traffic. I jumped out to get a quick shot of the grizzlies, and the rangers were not happy. Thus, it was a very quick shot.
We were all watching for wildlife and several times, the question was, “Is it a rock or an animal?” Cheryl and I both saw something that looked like stones — but maybe not. I was looking through the lens of my camera and saw movement. Doug eased back a bit for a better view and I took some pictures. Sure enough, those rocks were animals — this time! Then the question was whether the animal was a pronghorn or antelope. Often called American Antelope, these are actually pronghorns. Wikipedia explains it this way: “The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American antelope, prong buck, pronghorn antelope, and prairie antelope, because it closely resembles the antelopes of the Old World and fills a similar ecological niche due to parallel evolution. It is the only surviving member of the family Antilocapridae.“
By the end of the evening through Yellowstone, we had seen just about every critter I was hoping to see except for a moose, a caribou and, Cheryl tells me, a musk ox. I would have to wait for the far north for caribou and musk ox, so where was the moose?
By the time we left Yellowstone, it was almost dark. It had been a long day, and we still had many miles to go. Dinner was potato chips, and an AirBnb was waiting for us in Roberts. It was nearly 10:30 when we arrived there. The cabin was nice with one bed room and a bunk house. The bunk house was a separate cabin which was very nice — except the bathroom was in the main cabin. We had initially planned on going to the Battle of the Little Bighorn Monument the next day. It was a three hour trip. I had been there before, way back in 1989, and Doug and Cheryl decided they could catch it another time. We spent the day recovering from the long ride in the car the day before – an extra 369 miles on top of the 310 miles that was originally planned.
We had a relaxing evening of playing Doug and Cheryl’s favorite card game, “Hand and Foot,” and got a good night’s sleep in preparation for the next day’s drive.
I will still in the middle of my good night’s sleep when someone pounded on my door at about 7:15 am. Doug yelled, “Pam, get out here with your camera! There is a moose out here!” Well, my camera was inside the main cabin, so while I was getting outdoor clothes on, Doug grabbed my camera. Meanwhile, Ms. Moose did not move. She was very content just munching away on the shrubbery that was right outside my bunkhouse and next to the car that Doug was about to start loading for our journey that day.
