Yellowstone

Yellowstone - July, 1994

My trip to Yellowstone was actually a trip to what is termed the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain states, although Colorado and Utah were not on the agenda. I just call it the Yellowstone trip because that the was the furthest point on my trip from where I started, Albany, New York (otherwise known as the origin of the trip). I actually visited about ten states on the drive to and from Yellowstone (New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, and Iowa). However, for the purposes of this essay, I will just talk about four:

Why Yellowstone and these other places, you ask? I do not really know. All I know is that sometime during the winter of 1993-1994, a very cold and snowy winter in Albany, New York, I decided that I wanted to go. Me being me, I gathered all sorts of info, read, researched, and then planned the trip. And reserved two weeks of vacation time during the early summer, right around my birthday, to actually undertake the journey.

Planning in itself is an interesting activity. To determine where I would actually go on the trip, I sat down one night with all my books and maps around me. I also had several pens and pencils. The reason for this will become clear in a moment. I opened all my AAA tour books and magazines that the states of Wyoming and South Dakota sent me and began to read. As I read about a place that interested me, I made a mark on the map where that place was. I did this for about 2-3 hours. At the end of all my books and magazines, I looked at the map. Where all the marks on the map were, that's basically the route I took on my trip. Except in the cases where I really wanted to see something, like Chimney Rock in Nebraska, in which case I incorporated that into the route as well. I did manage to see about 90% of the marks on the map, so I think I did pretty well. In any event, it works for me. I still do it (like in 1998 when I went to Great Britain).

I took off on my trip very late in June after work on a Friday. I remember it rained that day/night. I drove 4 hours and I still didn't make it out of New York state. I reached Cleveland the next morning and detoured to the Football Hall of Fame. Of all the states not listed above, this one attraction was the only one worth mentioning.

What did I learn on my trip? Probably the most important thing is not to go to Yellowstone National Park in the summer time. It's very crowded. Another, you can get sun poisoning by sitting in a car if you sit in the sun. And sun poisoning hurts after a while. You will hit a lot of bugs and get them all over the front of your car and your windshield when you drive about 5,000 miles. So, somewhere in the middle of your trip, get a carwash (I got one in Cody, Wyoming). You can use a credit card at some fastfood restaurants in Wyoming. And you can gamble at the same restaurant chains in Deadwood, South Dakota. Finally, if you want to take a good picture of Mount Rushmore, visit early in the day; you will face west when you view the monument and will get a good picture of the sun as well late in the day.