Yellowstone has been an adventure.

The first day we drove mostly in the north part hoping to see wildlife.

And we did. A ton of buffalo! Those guys are EVERYWHERE. There were even several traffic jams because they were darting back and forth across the road.

And we saw Mammoth Hot Springs, which was cool.

And the best thing of all, we saw bull elk!

I’ve been dying to see some my
Entire life and it was the one
Thing I was really
Hoping to see. So it was beautiful.

We also saw a cute little fox and some chipmunks.

Afterwards, we headed out to West Yellowstone to find our lodging. Along the way, I got pulled over for “taking a dangerous turn”.

The truth is, I pulled out onto the road but I thought the car behind me Ws sway further away and also
I didn’t realize it was a 70mph road (thought it was more like 40). So it was a misjudgment … And also the guy I pulled in front of happened to be a cop…

But don’t worry, I was polite as usual. “yes sir” “no sir” and all that. He was really nice just concerned that I might have gotten in a wreck or caused someone else one. So he just gave me a warning. And right after that he asks, “do you have a family member in the military or services?” and I was like “um.. I have a cousin in the airforce?” and he goes, “I was just wondering because you seem to be a very ‘yes sir/no sir’ kind of person and I’m not actually any older than you… And also your friend was laughing at you in
The back seat (Anxhela the 17 year old from Albania).

I was super confused and I said something like, “well, I guess it’s just a way we show respect in the south”. (or I think I’ve just always talked like that to cops in the few times Ive been pulled over). I didn’t know that was weird. I guess I’d rather be seen as weirdly polite than disrespectful when it comes to that.

So he was like “oh well thank you I appreciate that then”. And then he got all chatty with us when i explained that Erisa and Anxhela were from Albania and we were on a roadtrip to explore the US outside of Texas. And he told us a story of how he used to take Turkish friends to the park on the weekend. Nice guy, though. But the second time this summer I’ve gotten off on a warning on a road trip by overly nice police guys.

To make things even funnier, he drove past us a few mins later when we parked in town to cross the street for dinner. I guess jaywalking is allowed in Montana because he just smiled and waved as he drove past.

So then, we came to our lodging for the night. ‘Glamping’.

Basically camping but with real beds.

They gave us 2 lanterns and a can of bear spray (pepper spray for bears). Although she assured us there had never been a bear in camp, we were a little worried this might be the first. And he’d come straight for our tent. 😉

No bears. But during the night, Erisa kept snoring. And apparently it’s a similar sound to what I’d imagine a bear snorting outside of our tent to sound like because several times I jolted awake sure that there was a bear just feet away. That was pretty funny.

The whole camping thjng seemed like a good idea when we booked it months ago. But we somehow didn’t account for the 35 degree weather at night. We pushed 2 of our 3 single beds together to make a giant queen bed and absorb each others’ warmth. There were plenty of blankets but our faces were icicles all night.

In fact, today we’ve all been sick. I’ve got a killer cough and everyone else was Feverish until we Took hot showers.

We were all looking forward to
Our newest hotel and a hot shower. But when we checked in, we realized we were staying in a budget cabin with only a community camp-style shower. And we all wanted to cry a little.

So basically the only thing we did today other than eat and nap in the car was see Old Faithful and some
Other geothermal pool things.

My eyes are burning and I’ve sneezed like a hundred times since dinner so I’m hoping sleep and
Vitamins will work some magic.

Oh, and also, we drove across
The state border into Idaho for just a few miles this morning. Check that one off the list!