LAST POST

Mara wrote about Yellowstone, but I just want to add a bit about the drive. We drove south from Bozeman and entered the park through the west entrance. While in Yellowstone, we saw Bald Eagles, Ravens, Bison and several Pronghorns. We departed through the east entrance and drove toward Cody. The eastern route takes you down the edge of a mountain that I was not aware we had ever climbed. The road curves along the edge and many of the barricades were missing. It was not clear if this was because of snow, rain or cars plummeting over the edge. The drive to Cody is stunning, I highly recommend the route. From Cody, we went to Billings. We didn't have much time to tour Billings, but we did find a cliff that overlooks the town. Mara sat along the edge to enjoy the view, while I shuddered in fear (note the smashed, rusted car at the base of the cliff).

From Billings, we drove to Bismarck. On the way, we stopped in Medora to see the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame. Lots of cowboy stuff, Mara rode a horse. Medora is very nice and "western", so we wandered the town for a while. Along the way, we also found this giant sculpture of birds. Nearby was a field of hay bales. Mara tried to jump onto one.

Wednesday, we drove to St. Paul! We got home at about 4:30 and then headed off to the Twin's game.

Over 27 days, we (I) drove 5178 miles. The average MPG was 51.4. We filled the tank 11 times. I believe the total number of states visited on this trip was 11. During last year's trip we went to 12 states. So, we have been to a total of 23 over the past two years. Mara has also been to South Dakota, California and Nevada, so she has been to 26 states so far and she is only almost 12. Just imagine where she will have been when she is almost 24.