Across America Day 6- Yellowstone

Our next stop on our trip across America was Yellowstone.  Neither Kevin or I had really been and seen all the things that tourists go see.  I find geothermal activity quite fascinating, and Kevin had been DYING to see buffalo roaming through the bread basket of America, so this was to be a wonderful day. We were well rested from our stay in a seedy motel in Cody Wyoming, but it had a bed and a shower and made this pregnant lady so much happier.  

 On our way into town, the Eagle scout spotted a giant moose just chilling in a field. 

 Our first geyser, the Dragon's cave.  It smelled like dragon breath too, but it made loud noises and made a ton of  steam.  I think any time I saw the ground steaming for the first like 2 hours, I got super giddy, until all the sulphur started  giving me a headache. 

 One of the Gem's of Yellowstone is their Grand Canyon.  It was pretty impressive.  We stopped for a family photo. 

 A nice little shot of Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon

 I felt better so I was willing to hike.  Kevin told me we were going to go to the bottom of the falls seen in the above pictures.  I wasn't so sure, but we hike the 320 odd steps down to the bottom and Voila! There is the view.  Was it worth it? It wasn't as bad as I thought it;d be. On our way down, people were parked along the side of the stairs gasping for air and looking like they would die in moments, but I guess long legs help a bit there. 

 You can see some of the steps.  On the way down, some lady looked at me and said "oh you're pregnant! You are going to have a healthy baby."  I think pregnancy has made me overly sensitive. I looked over at Kevin and asked him what she meant by that?  If she is saying I am fat, I will push her off this mountain.  I chose to believe it was because I was doing something active, but she still better hope we never see eachother in a dark alley.  

 While we were there, it was HOT and DRY.  We saw a couple fires, and so the smells of sulphur and smoke encircled us all day. They seemed to keep the flames under control for the most part, and luckily it didn't stop us from seeing what we wanted to see. 

 Kevin's dreams came true.  He got to see his buffallo.  We actuall saw a mini heard of them, but this was his favorite.  He is expelling some liquid waste, and of course we had to go and interrupt him for a picture.  And I know you are concerned, but don't worry, Kevin got his bison burger later too.  He was a happy boy. 

 I thought the colors of the springs were incredible.  They say the different colors are caused by bacteria.  I don't usually like bacteria, but they do make for pretty pictures, bad smells, but lovely to look at. 

 Another picture of one of the springs.  They were so clear too. 

 As we pulled up, we got our first spotting of an active geyser.  I didn't keep my cool very well and this pregnant woman rushed off to make sure she got to see it spray.  I know most of them only go off at random, and I was not about to miss it.  Kevin still makes fun of me for my nimbleness.  I guess I deserve it for all the rock-loving teasing I give him. 

 Just a bunch of shots of the springs and the crazy bacteria-algae surrounding themt. 

 This is the largest geyser. they said when it is active it shoots out 4000 gal/second. 

 Grand Prismatic Spring

 What would a trip to Yellowstone be without seeing Old Faithful. Apparently the geyser gets its name from being so accurate when it will go off, You know within about a 20 min window of when Ol' Faithful will blow.  And she did.  

The fetus and me. 

 Kevin wanted to make me a widow.  He walked out on the ledge over the canyon and wanted a bunch of pictures.  Apparently he doesnt want to meet his spawn . Good thing he lived. I kinda like him. 

 These were some groovy little mud geysers.  They just bubbled.  It was pretty interesting. 

I have about a thousand pictures like this.  Kevin LOVED the wavy ridges outside the springs. 

Across America Days 3-5

Well, after we finished at Pictured Rocks, we headed out.  We were now further away from our final destination than when we started in Chicago,but we weren't in an excessive hurry.  We drove through Wisconsin and most of Minnesota.  After a stop in Minneapolis in a real Hotel, with a real bed and shower, I was recharged and ready to move on.  We were off to South Dakota to check out the Badlands, Blackhills, Mount Rushmore, and a few other national monuments.
We made it to the Badlands National Park with only about an hour of daylight, so we did a quick drive through and stopped very quickly at select locations and then moved on.  They were quite beautiful, but I was hot and glad that I wasn't spending all day in 100+ degree weather without shade hiking in the formations.

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Once we were done with the badlands, it was time to make Kevin's dreams come true.  We were almost to Mount Rushmore!!! My hyper American husband has talked about going since I met him, and I was never going to take a trip to South Dakota for any reason, but since we were driving across the country, it was the perfect time to make my man happy and go see all the rocks that he wanted. I think he has reached his Zenith.  He is self actualized and can die a happy man.  We camped in the Black Hills and got up at the crack of dawn so that we could be the first people to arrive at this amazing display of American exceptionalism.
Kevin showed some impressive tolerance as we pulled in and it was packed with foreigners blocking his way and walking into all of his pictures.  Don't fret though, we got plenty of pictures.

Once we were finally finished at Mount Rushmore, we still had plenty of daylight to burn, so we were off to our next adventure.  We wanted to hit up the 2nd largest cave in the world, so we headed to Jewel Cave in the Black hills.  Since I was carrying the fetus, I was too large to go spelunking (you had to fit through a tiny concrete box as seen below).  We ended up settling for a cave tour.

We were just trying to make the most of our time, so once we were finished in the cave, it was time to move on.  We drove all the way up to Wyoming near the Montana border to check out The Devil's Tower National Monument.. It felt like it was 200 degrees outside, I had camped too many nights already and this was an extra hour or so out of our way, I was dirty, I am sure I was smelly, and 30+ weeks pregnant.  I was not a happy camper, BUT let's look on the bright side.  It is a GIANT rock in the middle of nowhere.  I know someone who LOVES rocks.  In fact, I am just hoping this trip that we took full of rocks does not encourage someone very cute to try to go back to school to become a geologist.  Say a quick prayer for me. Kevin was in Heaven (yes, good rhyme, I know). There is a ton of Indian folklore about this rock because of it's strange groves in it. So not only did we drive up to it, but we hiked around it. I think I deserved an Oscar that day for my performance on trying to look even slightly interested and I deserve something else for going on an additional 2 mile hike around the monument in 200 degree weather.   I was not in a good place at this point and yes, I made sure we had a hotel this night.  In hindsight, I am glad I went, in part because I never have to go again, but it was a pretty cool place.