Day 7 - Yellowstone to Spokane, Washington

Yellowstone -

SUNSHINE, hooray! We really lucked out today. After loading up the car in a rush to beat the other travelers in the mass exodus from Old Faithful Inn we caught Old Faithful's show once last time. Snapped a few more pics - this time with clearer skies (yet still cloudy enough to love!) - and hit the road to search for bison and any other form of wildlife that dared to roam the roadsides or often, roads.

We drove a short distance to see the Grand Prismatic Springs, the largest hot spring in the US. As we were pulling in to the parking lot for this "historical site" Matt practically jumped out of the car. He was like a 5 year old who had just caught Santa licking the crumbs off of his beard after devouring a cookie ... there were at least 40 bison in the forest on both sides of the road and ALL OVER the road. I turned Newt around and joined the other cars lined up watching these beasts hoof down the road.

Matt snapped some incredible pics with his camera and I took a fun lil video that captured these beasts snorting away as they bumped each other down the road. (Another thing I will attempt to post in the future. Also have to make a separate post for Matt's pictures of  animals and other kodak moments from his supercharged camera 4000 ... my future list is getting long! I have a vacation to tend to for now).

We had a stare down ... he won. I hardly considered myself a contest for this seasoned pro!

After taking way too many pictures of these fine-furry-fellows (we just couldn't stop!) we returned to the parking lot to cross the bridge into the fog. Apparently the hot spring's colors are best in the spring due to the algae that forms. They were nearly impossible to see during this time of year because of the cold weather which produced a ton of steam which in turn fogged up our camera lenses almost instantly. There was a trail that you could hike to see the Spring from the top of the mountain. We decided against this .. one survival trek into Bear territory was enough for this couple. I couldn't take another hour+ of the jingle jangle bear bell and outside Foringer voice. Sometimes google images just seems more appropriate for moments like these (so here's a google image picture of the Spring (ohhh, ahhhh)

Before the Prismatic Spring is the Midway Geyser Basin. This geyser last erupted in 1985. Let me state this one more time. 1985!! Come on, that wasn't too long ago. Matt quickly called me on my ridiculous request to "make this quick" because "it could go at any time" (last time it erupted it blew hundreds of gallons of boiling hot water in the air for 40 some hours!!!!! disclaimer: don't take my #'s for the truth .. I'm going from memory here folks. Memory which my husband has expressed concerns about recently. I was quick to remind him 25-year olds rarely suffer amnesia. As a forever 25-yeard old I would be no exception to this rule.  Could it be I just don't always listen to him as intently as he may think I do?) Anyways ... back to my point ... Matt quickly reminded me that we just spent two nights sleeping on top of an active volcano. Touché, Foringer. Touché.
(This post is nothing but a bunch of side notes, sorry. It's like you're talking to me in person, isn't it?? I typed the majority of this while in a Portland laundromat last night (Tuesday). When we left there was a restaurant just outside of the laundromat named "Touché". Isn't it ironic, don't ya think?

Once we made it all the way around the hot spring (there's a nifty boardwalk that goes the entire way around it (you can see it in the bottom of the picture above) ... nice enough to TRAP US IN if that geyser were to erupt). When making our way back down the bridge through the fog we noticed that the Bison had actually followed us to the basin. They were now strutting through the parking lot, passing Newt, eating themselves silly all the way down the creek right. past. us. The creek that separated us from Newt. We were trapped on the bridge smack between the geyser that could blow AT ANY TIME and too many bison (as if one isn't enough for a nail-biting story!) Of course I crept closer and closer to the bison as they crossed while papa bison stared me down from afar while keeping watch over his herd (I'm going with herd .. I know a group of bison is not a school, or a gaggle, or even a flock .. herd sounds good enough for me). Snapped a great video of these beasts crossing our paths. (again ... future ... you know the rest.)

Back to the car, finally. Long drive through Yellowstone and many pictures from the car later we left the park through the original (North) entrance to Yellowstone.

Inside Old Faithful Inn

Onward North to Washington!

On our way up north the clouds were so powerful and so low in spots, 3D wonder! This pictures does not do it justice ... I think I drove 20 straight miles with my mouth hanging wide open.
So nice to have open sky (even better with this massive puffy clouds - my favorite!) after living in a tunnel of evergreens for a few days.

We stopped in Bozeman, Montana for lunch. Matt found a place on yelp called the Cats eye Cafe. Turned out they only served breakfast (all day until 3pm) on Sunday. No lunch options at all. Matt sold me on this place when he told me about their Quinoa salad ... unfortunately, this was not a breakfast option and therefor I could not order this on a Sunday. Tear.
Disappointed, I agreed to their one vegetarian option on the menu and could not have been happier with my decision! Matt loved his breakfast as well and ordered a side of coffeecake to go. Nothing like coffee cake in the car!

The Cats Eye Cafe ... their restroom was aptly named "the litterbox"

Arrival: Spokane (pronounced Spo-can) Washington. 

Yes, we mispronounced the name until we made it here and heard the locals correctly pronouncing it. No, we were not shunned. Or at least not to our faces. I prefer my shunnings behind my back anyway.

What a great little town!!! The hotel worker we checked in with could not have been MORE pleasant. Intelligent and witty, he actually had a personality. (Imagine our surprise .. actually, lack of surprise. We were finally "out west" after all). A welcomed change from the grumps in the woods. We stayed at the "Hotel Ruby" - a jazzy little remodeled artsy fartsy hotel right in the heart of Spokane. They had great artwork and quirky sculptures ... just lovely. The rooms were very clean, comfortable and chic. We visited a restaurant called the Flying Goat where we had incredible pizza (Driscoll - Olive oil, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, caramelized onion, pine nuts and oven wilted spinach) salads and microbrews. Great service and food (locally grown and organic. Brilliant!)

A mosaic of Jack Vettriano's "The Singer Butler" outside of the hotel.

We then returned to the hotel and decided to cash in our complimentary cocktail voucher at the hotel bar. I was surprised to find it someone filled as it was a Sunday and the town seemed to a be a sleepy one. The company turned out to be several men (and one woman) who were there following a show at the local Fox Theater.  We spoke with Wayne, a professional bass trombone player from Fresno California - (originally from Minneapolis I believe) who was in town playing with the Fresno Philharmonic orchestra. Wayne was a character and great to talk with him and the other company that may or may have not been in the band. Matt ordered a "Coffee and Cigarettes" cocktail which was definitely reminiscent of a bar-type atmosphere and I ordered a Manhattan with walnut bitters. The bartender served us freshly baked chocolate chip cookies - delicious but a bad move as that only made us stay longer. :)

The bartender, Kelsey, also introduced us to her friends. One an unemployed mother (27 years old) selling homemade jewelry from her duffel bag. Jewelry that she had "made for my mom until I got mad at her". No, I did not buy any angry mother jewelry even though she told me about all the wonderful ways I could wear it. Right. Matt was happily ignorning this side conversation as he continued his conversations with Wayne. (Wayne is the guy I referenced earlier who had climbed Devil's Tower - just incredible. That still blows my mind.)

The other, a guy was introduced to me as a professional tourist guide (or some jazz) for the Spokane area. His tourist recommendations were pretty brief, may have had something to do with the # of cocktails he had. Or it may be that Spokane simply is not in need of a tourist guide ... go to the park, it's all there! He was helpful though and helped us map out our morning exploration of Spokane before heading to Seattle.

Tomorrow, Seattle!