Day 28: Yellowstone, Wyoming

Well we’d survived the bears but barely slept again due to the cold – we had hoped more bodies would have increased the warmth factor but it hadn’t worked out. So, Mark and Andy had come up with a plan. Why were we wasting our time in Yellowstone when we could be enjoying the equally beautiful scenery of Glacier National Park, a stone’s throw from the Pollards’ lovely warm, bear-secure house in Whitefish, Montana? I came back with the ‘but we haven’t got time to drive back to Virginia, Mark has to be at work on such-and-such’ only to discover they’d sorted all that out as well. The plan was we’d sell the car in Whitefish, Mark would fly back at the weekend, the children and I would stay an extra week in Montana and fly back the following weekend. It was too good an opportunity to miss. So we packed up the cars and waved goodbye to Yellowstone. I wasn’t sad to leave. It had been a great place to visit but busy, cold and scary. Plus, there are only so many geysers and bison you can marvel at.

We decided to stick to the day’s plan and take the children to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Centre in West Yellowstone and we’d then do the 400mile drive to Whitefish. The discovery centre was fantastic, it’s a collection of ‘problem’ bears and wolves that are put on display rather than put to sleep (actually, most of the bears were the cubs of ‘problem’ bears who had been shot for attacking humans). The bears were incredible, especially watching them wrestle and play, but it did make me very glad to be leaving the campsite, there were just too many scary stories of bear encounters.

Next stop Whitefish, Montana. We set off mid-afternoon and stopped off at a small town called Ennis for an early supper. What a find! Ennis was a picture book copy of a cowboy town – complete with wooden hitches outside all the stores. We called into the local saloon - which had real live cowboys sitting up at the bar – and were blown away by the menu which served ploughmans and smoked trout pate!! This country never fails to surprise me. Five hours later and after one of the most beautiful drives we’ve done, we arrived in Whitefish all ready for warm beds and a good night’s sleep.

Today’s Tune: In a Big Country by Big Country
Wildlife Watch: Our first bear!!! But I missed it – Lisa and I were in a different car when Mark and the children spotted a black bear cub by the roadside.