western road trip

pete and i did not have a lot of time together this summer. when we did, we made the most of it and spent LOTS of time with each other...in the car or in an airplane. 

our first trip of the summer was a road trip from spokane, washington, to seward, nebraska. essentially we were traveling from one (foley) family gathering to another (neukirch). we only had four days to drive 1600 miles so we set some travel goals and were on our way. our first stop was chico hot springs, montana. chico is just north of the northern yellowstone entrance and is a place i was introduced to in 2006 when two dear friends got married. and there are hot springs...what else could you ask for after six hours in the car? 

mammoth hot springs

we spent the next day making our way around yellowstone. for such a short time in the park, we managed to cross nearly every large mammal off the list - black bear, bison, grizzly bear, elk, bison, moose, coyote, and bison. the moose we saw had her calf with her...pete thought that might be our chance to see a pack of hunting wolves, but no luck. i wish we had three more days to spend there.

 juvenile male bison "play" fighting

 a beautiful coyote prancing through the wildflowers

 mr. elk, in full velvet

 upper yellowstone falls

 grizzly bear rooting around for food

marmot!

moose (look for her calf in the grass behind her)

 geysers! 

 thermal pools and geysers!

pete tracking a black bear in the valley below

on day three we drove through big horn national forest, which was beautiful! wild flowers abounding and geologic features that even two biologists could appreciate. we ended day three with a walk through mount rushmore and delicious indian food in rapid city, south dakota. (who knew?!)

 wildflowers in big horn national forest

 the fifth head... :)

the men of mount rushmore 

on our last day we drove through the badlands, inaugurated pete to wall drug, enjoyed the sand hills of nebraska, and arrived safely in seward for more family fun!  

 the beautiful but foreboding badlands

 the saddest sheep ever!

 a parliament of owl babies!

 plague-carrying prairie dog

jackalopes and donuts for breakfast at wall drug

we had lots of quality time in the car listening to podcasts, but we had fun seeing such beautiful and diverse places. definitely better than a fly over!