We decided to do some sightseeing in Bozeman today before we left for Yellowstone. To give something of the flavor of Bozeman, think of the TV show "Northern Exposure" -- the place has a lot more sophistication than you'd think for a small town nestled between mountains. We visited The Computer Museum, where we saw card punchers like the ones I used when I learned FORTRAN. We also saw a model of the first calculator I owned (Texas Instruments SR-11, which cost eighty bucks back then) and some computer toys from Andy's childhood.
We went to the Emerson Culture Center for the obvious photo opportunity, and we went to the Gallatin County Pioneer Museum, which was interesting. The lady at the bookstore there was very nice and chatty. Andy had already been to the Museum of the Rockies, and because it wasn't terribly interesting and because they had an entrance fee, we skipped that one.
We had lunch at Frontier Pies in Bozeman. I think Dutch Apple Crumb may be my favorite kind, and theirs is really, really good. Service was good too, and so was the rest of the food.
Back to West Yellowstone, where we fortified ourselves again with yogurt and cottage cheese, and I also bought my official Montana refrigerator magnet.
Again at the gate to the park, all we had to do was flash our receipt from a few days before, and we were in. Today at the park we saw more hot water doing funny things and more critters that we don't see in Missouri. I don't know if it's legal or not, but I took a sample of water from the river downstream from the geysers for the Chemistry students to analyze. My rationalization: if every tourist took a liter of water out of the river, I'll bet it wouldn't make any difference. I hope to post the hardness of the water on this site at a later date.
We arrived in the Grand Teton National Park later that day, and all I can say is wow. There are mountains, and then there are the Tetons. These are the prototypical mountains that we all colored in elementary school with sharp points covered in snow.
We stayed in a resort area called Colter Bay Village, and the amenities that Andy chose were the tent cabins. Tent cabin: half tent, half cabin. Two walls and roof canvas, two walls wood. One electric light inside, one outside. Concrete pad. Wood stove. Wood costs five bucks a bundle. We decided to set up our tent inside the tent cabin to keep out of the draft; the canvas walls don't come all the way down to the ground.
Dinner that evening was at the resort's restaurant, which was attractive and spacious. The service was obviously hired in the extremely recent past, but the meal was okay otherwise.
We shopped a bit in the village gift store after dinner; among the items purchased were huckleberry candles, matches, fire starter sticks, and a stuffed moose. Back at the tent cabin, I lit a fire in the wood stove and we called it a night. Well, it was, so that's what we called it. My sleep was disturbed a couple of times during the night by unusual sounds. I was imagining a bear snuffling around outside and how easy it would be for a bear to get through those canvas walls...