usa: illinois: chicago, mundelein, and a festival

My flight back to Chicago went as scheduled, then I took an uber taxi to Kelley's house. I didn't do much of anything the rest of the day, because I didn't have to.
The next day I went with Kelley to work in Arlington Heights, then caught a Metra train from there to Deer Park. I'd made arrangements to meet up for lunch with my friend Laura.
Laura and I met when we worked for the same school in Korea, we've stayed in touch ever since. We're both from the midwest originally, so we have more in common than just teaching in Korea. It was great to catch up with her.
After lunch I got on the next train into the city center of Chicago. I walked all the way to Navy Pier, I don't think I'd been there before. If I have, I don't remember it. From what I could tell, there isn't much to see or do. Have lunch, ride a ferris wheel, or look at the skyline of Chicago.

On the way to Navy Pier I walked by a beach, which was super crowded. I love beaches, but there is no way that would be a good time, even for me.
After Navy Pier I walked to Millennium Park, to see the Bean. It wasn't the first time for me to see the Bean, and it is super touristy, but I still find it fascinating. Everyone is trying to take the perfect photo for their social media profiles. I know that such a photo is impossible, but i did it too. I also took a photo of a guy in a Ronald McDonald costume.
In addition to the Bean I took a few minutes to check out a fountain area of the park. In this area were two digital photos, which regularly changed to show different faces. Nifty.
My train back to Mundelein got back just a few minutes after the post office closed. I probably should've paid better attention to the working hours, and planned accordingly. Sigh.

The next two days I stayed in Mundelein. Kelley and Jon were planning to host a seafood boil party, so we needed to get the house ready. I did some deep cleaning, shopping, and decorating.
The morning of the party I picked up some food and did last minute decorations. Who doesn't love lobster balloons and blow up lobsters? We also put giant googley eyes on the tree out front, just because we could.
Everyone who came to the party brought a side dish, so there was more than enough food. I ate too much, but I didn't regret it.
After the party everyone helped clean up.
A couple hours later we packed up several cars, and drove to the grounds for Ravinia Music Festival. I'd never heard of it, but Kelley and Jon had heard of a performer known for New Orleans style jazz music. 

The concert that night ended up being over three hours, not counting the opening act!
Apparently this festival is a thing, because everyone who goes brings a picnic and chairs and blankets, etc... Fun, and the music was good. Thank goodness traffic wasn't too bad on the way home, and I'm grateful Jon drove home.
It was a great last night with Kelley and Jon. The next day they went to work, and after packing up, I ordered an uber taxi to get to the airport. My driver didn't know how to get to the airport and didn't seem to want to keep his phone on to use GPS, so it was an adventure to get there. The ride was a LOT longer than it should've been.
This won't be the last time I spend time with Kelley and Jon, as they are my chosen family.
Getting back to Moscow was as planned. 

usa: north carolina: charlotte and the Biltmore

Getting back to Charlotte was easy, though didn't go quite as planned. My second flight was delayed a bit. It didn't make a huge difference though, I was still able to take an uber taxi to my host's flat.
That night we rode his motorcycle to dinner. Fun, but I had a hard time keeping my helmet from hitting his when we slowed down or sped up. Whoops! I love being on the back of a motorcycle.
The next couple days I didn't do anything new. I used the mini gym in the apartment complex and laid out at the pool in the afternoons. There is definitely something to be said for relaxing, and not getting stressed about seeing and doing anything.
Saturday morning I'd arranged for us to drive to the Biltmore House, near Asheville, North Carolina. I'd planned a meetup with my high school friend Nancye. Nancy and I have met up with each other in several places around the country over the years. 

We had to change the meetup time a couple times, but it finally happened. Nancye is as big a fan of postcards as I am, we exchanged envelopes of them when we saw each other. My host knew of my love of postcards, but was still surprised when he saw just how many I give/send to some people.
The Biltmore House was built by George Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. It has 250 rooms, and is huge, which makes the 6 year build even more impressive. The home is still owned by Vanderbilt's descendants.
At the time it had all the latest gadgets, including dumbwaiters, electricity, multiple bathrooms, central heating, a pool and home gym, a bowling alley, etc... I loved the library the most. The ceilings also caught my eyes. (Ceilings always catch my eyes.)

When you go through you have the option of renting an audio guide, we declined. I love the information, but find it overwhelming when I'm walking through a place. Plus Nancye knew quite a bit about the house, since she has an annual pass and has visited several times previously.
We went through the house in about an hour. I don't need to stare at something foreva to appreciate it, and we didn't have audio guides slowing us down.
After walking out of the house Nancye suggested we get ice cream. This is one of many reasons she and I have remained friends over the years :) One of the little stores on the property sells scoops, and a 'single' size was actually two big scoops. Yum.

The gardens around the house are huge, and are another reason for visiting the property. The landscaping is redone each season, and for special holidays. During our visit there was a special exhibit, a whole bunch of Chihuly sculptures. I'd already seen some of them in Seattle, but was happy to see more. It started raining while we were in the gardens, but it didn't last for long, thank goodness.
Lastly we walked through part of the wine area. There was a small museum dedicated to the family and its history through generations. There was also a gift shop, all I bought was postcards.
I drove back to Charlotte, fun.
The next day we took it easy. My host played pickup basketball, and I managed to escape being bit by mozzies.

The next couple days were just like my first couple days in town. I went to the mini gym and the pool. I really need a sugar daddy who will let me live that kind of life in between exploring the world.
My last night in town we went to dinner at a place called Bucca di Beppo. I'd never heard of it before, apparently it is a national chain. It is known for huge servings, a couple can easily share a meal. We might have gone a wee bit over that, hee hee. We shared an appetizer, each had an entree, and had dessert. The dessert was actually four different desserts. (This is totally perfect for me.) I would've been happy if someone had rolled me out of there in a wheelbarrow.
The next morning I flew back to Chicago, it was a direct flight.

There is still heaps for me to see and do in Charlotte, I hope to go back someday. 

usa: indiana: bloomington and around

Summer and fall fairs are a big thing in some states, particularly states with big agricultural economies. I remember always hearing about the county fairs and state fairs from friends when I was growing up, but I'd never gone to one until I was 21. (That was the Monroe County fair one summer.) I remembered hearing about the ridiculous food on offer, as well as the exhinitions and contests with various animals, crafts, foods, etc... With the advent of social media, I saw heaps and heaps of photos of all the fun, so I knew I needed to go, just to see one of these fairs.

I played around with where I wanted to go and when, and figured out that I'd have a chance to visit the Indiana State Fair, which takes place in Indianapolis every year, usually in the middle of August. Since I was going to be in Bloomington again, I ended up staying for a few more days, to do more touristy stuff and see more people.

I flew from Seattle back to Indianapolis, the flight was on time and smooth. Unfortunately my planned transport to Bloomington didn't work out the way I wanted it to, argh. I hadn't bought a shuttle ticket ahead of time because I didn't know whether I would make the one leaving 30 minutes after my scheduled landing. 

I was able to make it, but it was full, argh. It wasn't full with people, but with luggage. Sure, there were people on the shuttle, but the reason there was no space for me is that all the people had quite a bit of luggage. The new school year was just a few weeks away from starting, so there were international families and some domestic students already moving to Bloomington.

I got lucky in meeting two other women who had the same situation I did. All three of us needed to get to Bloomington, and there was no room left in the shuttle. 

One of the ladies downloaded the Lyft app using airport wifi, then called a ride for the three of us. It worked out to slightly cheaper for each of us, and was more convenient, woo hoo!!

Mom picked me up when I got to Bloomington, and we went out for dinner before retiring for the evening in her flat. The sunset that night was beautiful, it was a nice welcome back to the town in which I grew up.

The next morning I had breakfast with a lady I swam with, waaaaay back in the day. We figured out she had been four years behind me, so we'd never been on the same school team, only the same club team. 

We've had different lives since then, it was great to catch up. And any reason to have a meal at the Village Deli is always a good reason.

As I walked around the downtown area after breakfast I ran into a pair of sisters whose house while growing up was across the street from the house in which I'd grown up. Great to catch up with them, especially since it was unplanned.

The next day I spent a few hours with my sister, then applied for a new drivers license. Quite a few years ago the federal government of the US passed a law requiring more information in order to have a 'real ID,' which would soon be needed to fly domestically. 

Getting a real ID drivers license now involves a passport, social security proof, a pay stub, proof of address, etc... Since I don't live in the country, it wasn't super easy to sort out. When I did get my information sorted, I was thrilled they let me keep the same information on the license that I've always had on there. My license lists my weight from when I was a 16 year old. Needless to say, that number is just a wee bit different now.

The next day Mom and I went on a day trip to a small town in southern Indiana, called St. Meinrad. We didn't actually explore the town at all, we just went to see St. Meinrad Archabbey. 

It is a Roman Catholic seminary and monastery founded by Swiss monks in 1854. According to Wikipedia there are about 85 monks living there.

Finding a parkplatz ended up being the biggest challenge of our visit. We saw a few signs pointing in different directions for different parts of the monastery, but none of them mentioned parking. It was a hot and humid day so finding parking as close as possible to going inside was highly desirable. Eventually we got that sorted, and life was good.

We didn't get to see too much, as the seminary isn't open for visitors to wander around on their own. We did get to see a small cloister area, and more important the big church. While walking around we ran into a newly graduated priest, it was interesting to learn a bit about his experiences in the area.

The church is far bigger than you'd expect for rural Indiana.

Since we weren't there during a service, it was quiet and peaceful. I loved the stained glass windows, and the black Madonna in the back of the nave. After seeing the inside of the church we walked outside again and took in the side view of the church. This is when I realized just how big the church is. Crazy that it's in the middle of rural Indiana.

Before leaving the property we took a quick glance at the small cemetery. If I'm right, it was for monks who had died there, so it will never be big. As we were walking out of the cemetery I realized I could see at least two goals for a disc golf course. The rest of the course must be beautiful.

We drove back home and met my sister and nephew for dinner. Lets just say that eating dinner at a restaurant with a less than 2 year old is an adventure.

The next morning I drove to Scipio, a really small town in Indiana. My sister had been preaching there for a while, and I always love listening to her preach. She is sooo good at making her messages applicable to my life. From the reactions of the congregation, each of them felt the same. 

On the way out of town I stopped at a covered bridge, it's pretty much the only thing to see in Scipio.

The next day I met up with a teammate from high school swimming for lunch. We generally only keep in touch when I'm in town, but I like these catch ups. After that I went to the outdoor pool where I used to work. I'd arranged to have a catch up with another person from my swimming past. As luck would have it, I got to see a few more people beyond that, which was awesome. Swimming was a huge part of my life for so long, and there are still so many connections.

The next day mom and I did another day trip. As I mentioend at the beginning of this post, I really wanted to go to the Indiana State Fair, I convinced mom to go with me. Finding the parking area was the biggest challenge, as there are a massive number of people going to the same place, and the signage wasn't always clear.

We finally found the parkplatz, which was actually land temporarily rented from the Indiana School for the Deaf. Parking isn't cheap, they must make a huge amount of money from all the cars rolling through. Fortunately we didn't have to walk far to get into the fairgrounds.

I'd chosen this day because the entry fee was lower than usual, and a bunch of the concessions were having $2 specials. I'd already made my list of foods I wanted to try during the day. Fair food is not known for being healthy, I was prepared to eat all fried food all day.

That's pretty much exactly what happened. We started with deep fried sweet cream pie. This type of pie is supposed to be the Indiana state pie but I'd never heard of it until a couple years ago, so I don't know how true that is. The deep fried version was okay, not outstanding or awful.

Next up was a serving of tempura fried veggies. Zucchini, green tomatos, bell peppers, etc.... They were good, and the portion was huge. (Or maybe I was still full from the pie.) Then we saw the few animals left in one of the barns, which included some ginormous pigs. REALLY BIG PIGS. There were a bunch of piglets too, they're adorably cute.

By that point I needed liquid, and fast. I left mom in an air conditioned spot and went hunting. I ended up going with a lemonade of sorts, and getting a refill. It helped, a lot.

From there I found a giant slide, the price for going down that was not too bad. It was fun, and I'm glad I did it. I went up there by myself, I don't think they get a lot of single people doing that. Fun, too bad I couldn't do it over and over again.

After that I had one more food I wanted to find. It took a bit more hunting, but I finally found it: bacon wrapped grilled cheese. I was completely stuffed, so I had mine wrapped to take home. It looked beautiful :)

At that point mom and I were both done. The heat and humidity was awful, and I'm pretty sure both of us were very dehydrated. Note to self, go a lot earlier in the day next time, and drink a lot more.

I went to bed early that night, because I had to get up early to catch the airport shuttle. It was nice to have had good times with mom, family and friends, and make a few new memories.

usa: idaho: coeur d'alene

When I was younger (as in my age was still in the single digits,) my grandparents had a cabin on Lake Coeur D'Alene in Idaho. I have memories of one family trip to the cabin and the lake, I'm not sure if we visited more often. When I was thinking about where I might go during this road trip, I realized Coeur D'Alene was within reasonable driving distance, so I chose to visit again.

I arrived in late afternoon, after driving from Helena, Montana. I checked into my accomodation, then went to dinner at a chain restaurant not too far off the highway. 

As usual, I should've started to explore the town straightaway, but I didn't.

Coeur D'Alene is considered the capital of North Idaho, at least it seemed that way to me. According to Wikipedia, CDA is part of the Spokane Statistical area, but I didn't see that as I explored the city. I saw plenty of mentions of North Idaho, or CDA. The current population of Coeur D'Alene is around 50,000, and is spread out over the north shore of the lake with the same name.

The next morning I was up early so I could go to breakfast at a diner down the block. I'm a sucker for diners. 

After eating I discovered this diner had been on an episode of Diners, Dives, and Driveins, (which I've never watched,) which explained why it was a slightly upper class diner. The menu was pretty big, but I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. It was good but not great.

From there I walked. I walked all day. I checked what to see on travel apps, but CDA isn't know as a city with heaps of sights. From what I could tell, locals love to spend time on and around the water. I saw parasailing and kayaking, laying out and beach games. The marina was pretty big, I imagine it is pretty easy for locals to have access to a boat.

Back in the mid 19^th century a guy called Sherman (he was an army officer,) built a fort which he called Ft Coeur D'Alene. It was later renamed to Ft Sherman. There isn't much left of the fort, just a few buildings. One of them is a cute little chapel (which wasn't open,) and the former officers quarters.

The land of Ft Sherman is now part of the local university property. When I say university, I mean University of Idaho Coeur D'Alene, but I think several other nearby schools also offer classes on the property. 

North Idaho College and Lewis Clark State College are some of these schools, I think. Their web sites all say they are located on the north shores of Lake Coeur D'Alene, which doesn't really give me specific locations.

For a little while I walked on a trail next to a river that fed into the lake, it was quite pretty. The only problem was that the trail had no shade, and I started to suffer from the heat and direct sun. I'm such a wuss when it comes to weather now, at least hot weather.

At some point I turned around and walked back to the 'city center' which would probably be called the business district. Cute little downtown streets with cafes and shops. One of the coffee shops was called the vault and had a good chai latte and scone. There is never anything wrong with having baked goods for dinner.

After my dinner/snack I walked back to my hotel and called it a night. It was early, but oh well. In terms of seeing the city, I felt like I'd done that. If I ever go back I want to find hiking in the area, and find a way to get out on the water.

The reason I'd come back to CDA was to see the city so many years after I first saw it. In the end, it was like coming to a completely new city; I realized I had no memories of the city from before, I only remembered the cabin and the lake. Funny how memories fade over time.

usa: montana: castle town and helena

I was pretty proud of myself for how quickly I got moving the next morning, I left Karla's house not long after she did. Karla drove to work, and I drove away from Cody.

A few weeks earlier I'd seen a post on social media by another Garmisch friend of mine, she'd taken her kids to a ghost town in Montana. I found it on Google maps, and headed in that direction. From what little research I'd done, I knew Castletown is located on private land, only the road going through the area was public. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get off the road at all, but I had hopes.

It took me a few wrong turns to find where I wanted to go, but eventually I got there. The road going through Castletown wasn't in good shape, at all, meaning I had to drive quite slowly. As I got close I saw several signs reinforcing the information that Castletown is on private land, and I shouldn't go off the road at all.

I might've possibly ignored the signs. It wasn't easy to find a place to park the car, but I succeeded eventually. Since I knew I was breaking the rules I pretty much ran onto the land to find what remained of the ruins of Castletown.

Castle Town was incorporated in the late 19^th century, it was one of many towns created by the silver and lead rush of that era. One sight I found online said nearly a thousand claims were registered in the area. At it's peak, the city had a whopping 2000 residents.

When Castle Town was in its prime there were 7 brothels and 14 saloons! There was also a jail, stores, and a school. I'm not sure which buildings were which, as there is nothing left that would identify each building. (Not to me, at least.)

I've always found abandoned buildings fascinating, this time was no different. There was no identifiable trail to get to the buildings, I had to get through some tall grass and goodness knows what else. I didn't go very far into any of the buildings, as they were all very much on their last legs. I'm used to seeing abandoned concrete buildings, but these were wood, which was awesome.

I ran around taking photos, though I only looked at the buildings on one side of the road. There were a few on the other side as well, but they were further away, and I was pretty sure I'd have a good hike to get to them. 

I got back in the car and turned around to get back to a more major road. As I drove away I wondered who I would need to contact to arrange permission to explore the area properly. I hadn't seen a phone number, but the information must be listed somewhere. 

Sometime mid afternoon I got to my destination for the next couple nights: the capital city of Montana, Helena. It was easy to check into my hotel, after which I relaxed for a bit. Free wifi isn't always a good thing, hee hee. 

I should've gotten out into the city to explore a bit, but as usual, I procrastinated a bit too long. Whoops.

Instead of exploring the city I went to a chain restaurant called Perkins for dinner. I'm not normally a fan of chain restaurants, but I'm a sucker for pie, and this place has good portion sizes of pie. YUM.

The next morning I went to a local place for breakfast, called Steve's. It was a diner, so I was happy.

My first sight in the city was a European style cathedral, which is not at all what I expected in the capital city of Montana. St Helena Cathedral is big, with a high vaulted ceiling. There were plenty of stained glass windows, which always make me happy.

From the church I walked to the mansion in which the first governor of the state had lived. I wanted to go inside, but you can only go on a tour, and the next one was several hours away. I didn't want to wait, so maybe I'll see it if I return to the city.

As I walked the streets in this area of the city I noticed that a number of the homes were quite grand, and had historical marker signs in front.

Walking to the city center was easy. Helena is the state capital, but it doesn't feel at all like a capital city. It is easy to walk, I didn't see a lot of traffic. As I've looked up information from Wikipedia, I've learned the population of Helena is just 30,000 or so, so that explains why there was so little traffic. 

I get the feeling Helena isn't known for anything in particular, but the state needed a capital city, soooo...

My walk to the pedestrian area of the city center took me past an old style soda fountain, I couldn't resist stepping in. My drink was totally worth it :)

I walked up a small hill to see an old fire tower on top. The grass was pretty dry, I don't think it had rained much recently. I can see why the hill was chosen as a good place to put the fire tower, as you can see pretty much the entire city from there. (The city isn't big, so anything that elevates you just a little is good enough.)

Not too far from the fire tower/hill was an area called Reeder's Alley. I think it was supposed to resemble what the street looked like back in the day, but it didn't look like anything special to me. It had different shops and whatnot in the buildings, so it was just a shopping district with old style decoration. Argh.

While standing on the fire tower hill I'd seen a building that looked like a mosque, it made me curious. I walked in that direction, and figured out it was a cultural center. Very cool.

Not too far from the cultural center was a small park with a victory arch/city gate looking thing in the middle. I set up my tripod and camera to take a photo, and go figure, it fell over as the timer was beeping the countdown. Argh. It didn't look good for my camera for a while, but I was able to get everything back to normal after a few minutes of fiddling around, thank goodness.

From there I walked to the State Capitol. It's another really grand building, totally out of place compared to the rest of the city. 

Across the street from the Capitol are ranch style homes, Helena really does feel like a small town.

I got to the entrance just in time to find the sign saying I'd missed visiting hours by 15 minutes, darnit. Thank goodness, the next day was still an option. Instead of continuing to explore, I walked back to my car (still parked next to the church where I'd started the day,) and drove to the same restaurant for dinner as the night before. More diner type food, more pie. I seriously considered getting some to go, to bring with me when I left town. 

The next morning I went back to Steve's for another breakfast, then drove out to the Gates of the Mountain rec area for a boat tour.

I thought I'd booked a ticket online, but the cashier couldn't find my name in his list. I pulled up my email confirmation only to find that somehow I'd booked my ticket for a week from then, whoops. The cashier said no problem, and gave me a ticket anywho. The boat wasn't quite full, so it didn't make a difference. Plus, he knew I wouldn't be showing up on the day for which I'd actually booked the ticket.

The tour was lovely. The guide spouted history and stories for most of the way out, then was mostly quiet on the way back. We learned some of the stories told by the Native Americans who'd lived in the area, as well as some of the history from fires and settlement. The guide pointed out a couple eagles in trees, which I loved.

There was a quick break when we all got off the boat at a campground of sorts, we had about 30 minutes to stretch our legs. This was not one of the campgrounds at which Lewis (but not Clark,) had stayed while exploring the region, before the US was the country it is now. 

That particular area is underwater, according to the guide. They're not exactly sure where it is, if I remember correctly what he said. The reason they know it is underwater is because the water level of the area is higher, since they formed the lake with a dam and flooding took place.

After the tour I drove back to Helena, straight to the Capitol. It was Sunday, around noon, middle of summer. In other words, I practically had the building to myself. It has a fantastic rotunda, gorgeous stairwells, and statues galore. A photographer's dream. I loved being able to wander whereva I wanted to go for the most part. I got to see the Senate and Representative chambers, as well as the old State Supreme Court, all of it awesome.

After walking out of the building I hopped back in my car, and started driving toward my next city: Coeur D'Alene.

I don't know that I need to come back to Helena, but Montana itself is pretty fantastic, I definitely want to explore more of the state.

usa: wyoming: cody, yellowstone national park, and bighorn national forest

I'm sure I've said it previously, but one huge advantage of keeping in touch with folks I've worked with around the world means I have new places to explore, and sometimes places to stay. I wanted to visit a state I hadn't seen previously, and see a friend, so this ended up being perfect for my next 'trip.'

Not surprisingly, I started driving out of Missoula a bit later than originally intended, oh well. My plan had a stop on the way to Cody, but it didn't work out the way I had hoped. On social media I'd seen a photo of a statue of 'Our Lady of the Rockies' high above the city of Butte, Montana; it was big and seemed worth a visit. 

I put it into my phone, and started driving.

When I got close I discovered a closed gate, argh. I tried going down another road, but that wasn't the correct way either. Using my phone a bit more, I discovered it was a sight you can only see by tour, which happens twice a day, and costs $16. I'd already missed the first time, and the second time was still hours away, so I gave up. Maybe I'll sort it out another time, but I doubt it.

Another stop was for petrol, near the border between Montana and Wyoming. I mention this stop because the petrol station I chose was a chain that uses a dinosaur as a mascot. 

I ended up seeing a number of stations of this brand in the area, always with a giant dinosaur.

Cody, Wyoming is a city of almost 10,000, in the northwest corner of Wyoming. (Wyoming is one of the least populated states, with only about half a million people.) According to wikipedia the city is about 95% white, and has a semi arid climate. The biggest industry in town is tourism, nearly everyone in the city is dependent on it in one form or another. Cody is the closest city to Yellowstone National Park, so heaps of people come through town on their way to and/or from the park.

I arrived in Cody (my first visit to Wyoming!) around 1700. Karla and I had arranged ahead of time to meet in the parking lot of a store that was easy to find, because her house was new and not yet marked on google maps. I followed her to her house and got the grand tour, I loved the way it was arranged. It was great to catch up with another friend from Garmisch, it always ends up feeling like just yesterday that we all lived and worked together.

After a while we went to the country club for dinner, it was nice to see the deer on the golf course. After dinner we went to Walmart to stock up on food for the next couple days.

Yellowstone National Park is the country's first national park, it was established in 1872. The park stretches over three states, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, but most people enter through Wyoming. The park is huge, and is best known for all the geothermal sights. The centerpiece of the park is Yellowstone Lake, which is in an ancient caldera of a supervolcano. It hasn't erupted recently, but has erupted a few times in the last couple million years. Wikipedia tells me half the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are in this park.

The next morning we got everything into the car, and drove all the way to the park (50 miles, stopping a few times along the way because I wanted to take a photo of the stunning scenery,) before realizing Karla had left her national park pass in her house. Whoops! That didn't stop us from taking a team photo near the park sign, hee hee. We drove back to the house, picked up the pass, and continued driving out the other side of town.

Instead of driving back the way we'd just come, Karla suggested we go somewhere else for the rest of the day. (We'd already lost a few hours because of all the driving.) 

On the way to our 'next' sight we passed one of the internment camps where Japanese Americans were held during WW2. I hadn't ever researched all the locations of those camps, and I definitely hadn't realized the locations still exist as tourist sights of a sort. It's a part of US history most Americans prefer to ignore, or whitewash. If we'd had more time, I would've liked to visit the sight to see and learn more. Alas. It's already on the list for my next visit to this area. 

Karla knew the right roads to follow to get to Bighorn National Forest. Though it is called a national forest, I saw very few trees. The forest covers several mountains, we drove up rather steeply, my ears popped a number of times, and the car engine wasn't quiet. The reason we decided to visit was to see the Medicine Wheel, a sight of prayer and ceremony for Native Americans.

Though the medicine wheel has long been used by Native Americans, no particular group publicly claims to have built the original Medicine Wheel. It is a large stone structure made of white limestone, laid on top of limestone. 

It is near the top of the mountain, nearly 3000meters up! Scientists have dated it back to pre Columbian times, is almost 25 meters in diameter, with the stones laid into 28 spokes from the center to the rim. To enter the area you pass a hut manned by National Park rangers, who give you a bit of the known history, as well as some requests and rules for how to behave. Since the sight is still used for prayers and religious ceremonies, it is important to be respectful as an outside visitor; there are also boundaries outside the wheel, and only those performing rites or rituals should go inside the boundaries.

We followed the trail from the parkplatz to the wheel, and though the trail was flat and we weren't moving quickly, both of us were breating hard. The wheel is at a noticeable altitude from where we started the drive!

After looking around for a bit, and being careful to stay on the marked trail, we went back to the parkplatz and drove down. While going up the accelerator is pressed to the floor of the car, on the way back down you ride the brakes the whole way.

For dinner that night we stayed in, Karla cooked.

The next morning we packed the car again, making sure we had the park pass with us. Even though we'd already done the drive once, it was just as beautiful the second time around. When driving from Cody to YNP you drive through Shoshone National Forest, another forest without many trees. I really need to learn how land is qualified as a national forest if it doesn't have a lot of trees.

Yellowstone National Park was the

I could go on and on about everything we saw, but I'll say it like this: we saw some of the highlights of Yellowstone National Park. 

We drove the ring road that goes around Lake Yellowstone, this road takes you to some of the best known sights of the park. The next time I visit the park I want to spend more time in smaller parts of the park, so it isn't just an overview.

For many of the sights you can pull into a parkplatz, walk 100 meters or less, take photos of something amazing, then get back in your car and keep going. When you enter the park they give you a map which makes it quite easy to keep track of where you are, and what specific sights you want to see.

We saw waterfalls and thermal vents, we saw rainbows of minerals in water, we saw bubbling mud, etc... My favourites were all the spots with clear blue water, I couldn't get enough of those. My favourite of the blue water holes was quite close to Grand Prismatic Spring, which is beautiful no matter where you're standing when you see it.

One of the most famous sights in the park is Old Faithful Geyser, we stayed to watch that as well. It's not as stunning as I'd hoped, but the fact that eruptions are fairly regular makes it fun.

There are benches on one side of the geyser, people start getting there early before each eruption.

I can see why people would spend a full week or more exploring the park, there is soooo much to see. There are also quite a few hiking trails, though we didn't have time to see any of them. Clearly, I need to go back, probably quite a few times. Summer is a busy time of year at all the US national parks, I think fall would be best? 

By the time we got home the sun had gone down, and we were exhausted. It was a long day of fantastic sights, but so worth it. That being said, we ordered pizza for dinner :)

The next day we were still tired so we spent most of the day on a sofa in front of the TV. I'm a sucker for Law & Order SVU, so we watched a marathon of those episodes. Relaxing is sometimes just as good as getting out to see new places.

That evening we went to another thing people come to Cody to see: the rodeo. 

During the summer months there is a rodeo in Cody every night, heaps of tourists come to watch. During the performance I realized just how sexist rodeos are, which was a disappointment. It was interesting to see, and I'm glad I saw it, but I'm also pretty sure I won't go again.

I'm so glad I went to Cody, it was awesome to spend time with Karla, and see a gorgeous (new to me) part of the country.