Christmas and Yellowstone

Hi again everyone,
We hope you have had a great christmas and a very happy new year. We have, although new years eve was uncharacteristically quiet.

We spent 3 nights in the Bighorn mountains over Christmas. We arrived on the Saturday afternoon and there was plenty of snow so we were sure it was going to be a white christmas. On Sunday we went snow mobiling for 7 hours and it was a lot harder than it looked. Unfortunately it was only early in the season and the trails had not been groomed yet so it was a lot of hard work but good fun when you finally got going. It was spoilt a bit by the weather which was windy with snow showers throughout the day. The next morning (Christmas day) we could hardly move we were so stiff and sore.

Christmas day was pretty quiet. We were surprised that there was no big celebration but we think Thanksgiving has more of that than christmas. We spent the morning opening presents that Jess had bought from everyone in Australia so thanks for that. We then went out and made a very short, fat snowman. I don't think we would have won any awards but it was good fun anyway. Jess and Gae also had a go at making snow angles.
Christmas lunch was a buffet at the lodge which was nice, all you can eat but no turkey !!





On Boxing day we were in the car and off across Montana to West Yellowstone on the western edge of Yellowstone National Park. We really liked a town called Bozeman on the north west corner of the park and the drive from there to West Yellowstone was spectacular.
West Yellowstone was a fun place, plenty of snow and you can ride your snowmobile around the streets as if it was a motorbike.
On Wednesday we had organised for a snow coach tour of the park. This was done in an old canadian coach built in 1957 for work in northern Canada and then relocated to Yellowstone for the tourists. Scenery again was great and there were plent of elk and bison for us to look at. Unfortunately Yogi and Boo Boo must have been asleep and we didn't see any wolves or moose.




Yellowstone is a bit like the north island of New Zealand with all the mud pools and geysers although Gae and I thought New Zealand was a bit more impressive (we wouldn't say that here). Stopped and watched 'Old Faithful' do it's thing which was pretty good.




On Thursday we had organised for a snow mobile tour of the park and we were lucky enough to have a guide for just the 3 of us so it was our own private tour. The snow mobiling was much easier than Bear Lodge as the trails were nicely groomed and we were able to get away from the crowds and get a bit closer to nature. On one occasion we had to ride through a herd of bison on the trail which was a bit scary, they were close enough to touch.






Friday was a 'rest' day so it was off to the shops for some retail therapy. Gae has begun collecting small stuffed animals so I guess the grand kids will benefit one day. We also went to a Grissly and Wolf Display Centre where nuisance animals are relocated if they are causing too much trouble out and about.




On Friday night Jess started to come down with a sore throat and unfortunately had to spend Saturday in bed. Gae and I hired two snowmobiles and took off on our own through the national forest that borders the park. It was a great day and heaps of fun.
On Sunday (New Years eve) we were back in the car for the 9 hour drive back to Gillette. We drove the whole way through snow as there had been a big storm come through while we were in West Yellowstone. Just about all of the northern USA was a blanket of white. Suffice to say that after 9 hours in the car and Jess still not 100% we passed on the new years celebration and were all in bed by 9:30.
Next week we are off to South Dakota to look at Mt Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monuments so will update the blog on our return.

I've attached another web album that shows a few more photos of our tip. Click on Gae and Jess below and select 'Slideshow'

Hope you enjoy it.

Christmas in Yellowstone