Quist World Tour

Only one of us was sad to finish up our tent time at Yellowstone. Most of us were very much looking forward to sleeping under a roof again. However, Brian, who had conceded to the cold by wearing a t-shirt, nylon zip-off pants, and a hat to bed, was really the only one who slept very well. Most of us had a much better night that last night, but that did not make the rest of us feel premature nostalgia. Packing up the tent and gear is always a fun way to start your day, especially since it generally begins around 6 am when the rest of the campground is peacefully sleeping. That way the hissing and angry whispers among family members can really resonate best, making the most of the situation. When that fun was over, we packed into the van again and set off for Calgary, where we would spend the night before moving on to Banff National Park in Alberta. The nice part of this was that we took a different route out of the park, and we got to see some new views. All jokes about ca...

On Thursday morning, we repeated our early morning safari. This morning we experienced the same fog, the same other-worldly haze keeping some things obscured, and bringing strange beauty to others. The river attracts so many different kinds of birds, and there are just as many birders lining the road to spot them all. This morning’s efforts brought us a close-up view of a bull elk, a magnificent creature. Since he was right next to our car, you could see all the fuzz covering his antlers. Of course we also saw a herd of buffalo, but the newness had worn off by then. Natalie was still really hoping to see a wolf, and I’d have liked to have seen another moose. But that is just a symptom of the human condition, to be dissatisfied with the wealth around us, just wishing we could see more, something different or better. Back to the campground, where we had breakfast and another long, hot shower. It was slightly warmer and definitely getting sunnier, so most of us sat around the fire...

Day two at Yellowstone. After a restless night, I climbed out of the tent to see that after we’d gone to bed, the family from Japan had returned. They must have figured they could get a hotel room nearby, and I can only assume that 2/3 of the campers at the park were chasing down the same dream. With nowhere to stay, they had come back late in the cold, pouring rain, and set their tent up again. Kudos to them for making it through the night. They didn’t even yell at each other in the night or in the morning. The rain stopped, but the skies were grey. Our rather morose group of campers slowly got going (apparently we are not good at getting an early start on the day). It’s ironic that it took us so long to get started, since most of us really had not slept much and were mostly awake by 6 am! We decided that today was a good day to eat at the diner inside the general store near our campground. Having a friendly server set down a plate of hot scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon and ...

Our day of driving from Custer State Park to Yellowstone was mainly uneventful. I continue to be astounded again this summer by the changes one can see in the landscape over a couple of days of driving. We drove through Bighorn National Forest, which was just beautiful, twisting and turning through a small mountain range. Finally we arrived at Yellowstone National Park, so ready to get out of the car. We had reservations at Canyon Campground. After leaving the East Entrance to the park, we saw the sign that said “Canyon: 42 miles.” Not quite there yet. But it’s hard to complain about it. Even before we entered the park, we saw two moose next to a river. Inside the park, we drove through the Hayden Valley, where we saw bison and a mama black bear and her cub. The valley runs along the Yellowstone River, and the beautiful land teeming with birds and animals makes it clear why Yellowstone is called the Serengeti of the U.S. At Canyon we checked in for our campsites. When making...