We're back in Wi-Fi range again on July 5, but I'll just pick up our story with where we left off . . .

It was Sunday evening, June 29, our last night with the Lee's. Adam and Patti took us out to look at the stars in Colorado. Ever since I was in Estes Park in 1987 with our high school trip out west, I have felt the stars look bigger and brighter out here. (I wonder how they compare with Texas?)

On Monday morning, June 30, we got up early and did the last-minute hustle to get everything packed, loaded and ready for our long drive to Yellowstone. We said our good-byes to Patti and Addison (Adam was already at work) and departed Longmont at 8:16 a.m.

We drove north, crossing into Wyoming and skirting around Cheyenne. Then we headed northwest for the rest of the day toward Yellowstone National Park. After a couple of hours, we stopped at a neat rest area where we saw stone tipi rings preserved there and a pronghorn mom and baby wandering around.

Wyoming is a big state! Along the way, we saw tall wooden fences built back from the highway. At first I thought they were to keep the wildlife off the road, but we eventually found out that they are to block snow drifts to try to keep the roads open in the winter. There are miles and miles of this fencing, but they say it is cheaper than trying to plow the road. We saw another windmill farm (like in Kansas) but these mills were actually turning. And we saw thousands and thousands of cows in the wide-open pasture land. The amount of vacant, empty land is really incredible. Many times we were the only car you could see on the road. We saw some incredibly beautiful mountains and hills (buttes?)

Under protest from Jon, we stopped in Rawlings for an early lunch at a McDonald's. Debbie felt that it would be the last bit of civilization for a long time. It actually turned out that she was right. (I can admit it when I'm wr - not right.)

In the afternoon, we must have been climbing in elevation, because we began going through snowy areas. The Wind River area was extremely beautiful. It looked like scenes out of the Grand Canyon! If we ever make it back to this part of the world, we hope to stay a day here and do a raft trip down the Wind River.

We were slowed down in the late afternoon by construction work in the mountains just before the Grand Tetons. Traffic was reduced to one lane and the driving was a bit difficult. After getting through the construction, we pulled off for a bathroom break at a gas station. I took the opportunity to study the map.

UNBELIEVABLY, there was a knock on my window. I turned to see a good friend of mine from seminary and ministry - Tal Lewis! Tal and I had car pooled to Ashland Seminary together back in the mid-90s, and our families always had dinner together every year at Conference. Tal and his family are now ministering in the Cortland, Ohio, area and had picked the same window of time as we did to travel to Yellowstone! Neither of us knew that the other would be out here, and here we just happened to see each other at a little gas station in a remote section of Wyoming! Our families were glad to see each other, we exchanged travel itineraries (they had just been in Colorado Springs[!] and were planning a week in Yellowstone and then home through the Dakotas) and caught up a little, and made a plan to get together at their campsite (in Grant Village in Yellowstone) for a cookout dinner on Wednesday evening. Very cool!

We came to the Grand Teton sign and took our picture. We enjoyed exploring the Tetons for a couple of hours, travelling up to Lake Jenny for some incredible pictures. When we entered the park, we saw a dazzling, golden-colored cloud that was catching the late afternoon sun. I stated my opinion that it was snowing; Debbie insisted that it was pollen blowing off the trees. Later, we asked a Ranger, and Debbie was right! Twice in one day! (Did you really think I'd be able to post these stories if the opposite were true?)

We ate a nice meal at a campground area in the Tetons before heading north into Yellowstone National Park. Here is where we first began to see some amazing wildlife. We saw a bunch of cars pulled over with people out with binoculars and cameras. We saw what they were all looking at: a baby moose and its mother! Along the way, we also saw a coyote running along the road and several elk grazing.

We also noticed that there were many areas still burned out and desolate from the 1988 fires. Young pine trees are growing along the dead trees, but they are still pretty short. We later discovered that much of the Park looks like this. In some areas, there are little or no young pines yet.

A minor tragedy hit us when we stopped to try to take a family picture at the Yellowstone South Entrance sign. Mosquitoes attacked! They were vicious - you could see them swarming! I guess it is too much to expect the National Park to spray for mosquitoes, but still! While trying to get the picture, our family broke ranks and ran back to the van for bug spray. Running back to our picture spot, Katherine tripped as she approached the curb and went down hard. She cut her knee very badly and lost a lot of skin. Debbie patched her up with our first aid kit, but she howled the rest of the way in to our cabin.

We arrived at Old Faithful at dusk (too late to see the geyser that day, unfortunately!) but got settled in a really nice cabin with adequate space and clean facilities. We agreed this would make a good home base for us over the next several days!

Since I'm having troubles with our internet connection, I'll post pictures in the next message.