Terry Taylor, snake hurdler
West Yellowstone, Montana: We are camped tonight just outside
Yellowstone National
Park. Our drive today was without too much excitement (more later on that),
but our morning started very well.
I decided to jog the scenic loop inside
Craters of the Moon National
Monument. Not to be out-run, DT decided to run from the campground to
complete the the scenic loop (and back). I would run 3.1 miles. DT would cover
6.2.
DT is a serious stud.
He ran from the campsite, and I drove the Honda a scenic overlook along the loop
and pounded the pavement - with my very cool GPS watch, of course. The three
mile course included 970 feet of altitude ascent (and 970 feet of decent). The
entire run was over 6000 feet in elevation. I walked during several sections of
the jog.
I also did a little hurdling.
Think of me as the
Lolo Jones of the fat, middle-aged, menopausal RVing set. Not too
impressed? Lolo Jones (LSU alum) is a professional 100m hurdler. A
really, really good 100m hurdler. Maybe the above photo does not do her
justice? Miss Jones is working in that photo. Maybe you would prefer a
more casual photo?
Thought so.
Why
was I hurdling on my little 3.1 huff & puff jog this morning? Well, I
suddenly came across something on the road that I thought would be
better to jump over than step on.
A bull
snake.
Sometimes called a gopher snake, this particular snake was about three
feet long and thicker around than a quarter coin. I scared him more than
he scared me. After I jumped over the snake, I stopped and watched as he
(she?) slithered away into the sagebrush.
The bull snake is one of five snakes commonly found in
Craters of the Moon National
Monument. The bull snake is not venomous - it is a constrictor. The bull
snake looks
similar to a rattle snake and they know they look similar to a
rattle snake and will actually pretend to shake their tail to
scare you away! Isn't that just amazing?
The rest of our day was not very exciting. We drove from
Craters of the Moon to Idaho Falls and then headed north to West
Yellowstone, Montana. We stopped a few times for road construction and
chatted-up a few of multitudes of bikers on their way to
Sturgis
for the motorcycle rally. (We have seen hundreds of motorcycles every
day on this trip!) Before heading into the national park, we stopped to
top-off the tank ($2.99 per gallon) in Ashton, Idaho.
Do you think the future
WGA knows there is an entire town named after him?
And so this is our home for the next four nights - the
Grizzly RV Park
in West Yellowstone, Montana. We are virtually feet from the entrance to
Yellowstone
National Park!
And this is our home for the next four days after a big
thunderstorm rolled in this evening. As you can imagine, we are having a
quiet night. We are very tired after our runs (DT especially), so we are
watching the Mariners on DirecTV.
Nothing like Chicken Parmesan on a bed of arugula and
organic heirloom tomatoes to make a girl forget about snake charming.
Until my next update - from Yellowstone! - I remain, your Montana
correspondent.
RV Park:
Grizzly RV Park. We feel this is the best
big-rig park for a visit to Yellowstone. Just
outside the west gate, the park has 50-amp
pull-through and back-in sites. Wifi, laundry,
bathhouse, playground, dog walk area, store -
everything you will need, plus all the amenities of
West Yellowstone, Montana - post office, shops,
groceries, restaurants, tour companies, museums,
etc. We are paying $48 per night.