We woke up early again on the third day in Yellowstone to get a start on a long car ride out to the Lamar Valley, one of the park’s premier wildlife viewing areas.  Normally it wouldn’t be a long drive from the Canyon Lodge, but the Grand Loop Road was closed between Canyon and Tower-Roosevelt due to the still burning Antelope Fire.  We didn’t stop for breakfast, just snacked in the car along the way.  It didn’t take long on our drive for us to spot more bison and elk, as well as a group of trumpeter swans.  The morning sunrise provided some great photos.

Once we made it out to the Lamar Valley, we immediately saw a ton more bison, by far the largest herd we had seen in the park.  Further down the road, a group of people were all sitting at a roadside pullout with scopes pointing toward a nearby treeline.  We stopped to checked it out, and were told that there was an animal carcass at the treeline that had attracted both grizzlies and wolves in the past days.  We sat for a while hoping to catch a glimpse but left once it was too late in the day to expect much activity.

We then drove back toward Tower-Roosevelt and checked out the northern parts of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, along with Tower Falls.  Back on the road towards Mammoth we spotted a very playful coyote that provided some great photo opportunities for a few minutes.  Back in Mammoth, we were greeted by a few elk who had claimed their place on the manicured lawns of town.  We stopped for lunch at the Mammoth Hot Springs Dining Room for what became the best meal we had in the park.    After lunch we walked around the Mammoth Hot Springs area before continuing the drive back south to make the loop toward Canyon.

Along the way we stopped at the Sheepeater Cliffs, before driving all the way back down to the Hayden Valley.  As it was already approaching sunset, we were quickly greeted by a large herd of elk, along with a bull who appeared to be the largest we had seen in the park.  We also spotted a few more coyotes while staking out the valley for wolves.  We did spot the same wolves as the night before, but again they were very far out and impossible to photograph.  To round out the night, we drove all the way down to the Lake Lodge Cafeteria for dinner.  Even without table-side service, this cafeteria proved to offer better food than available in the Canyon Lodge.  The drive back to Canyon was dark, but we still were able to spot more elk and coyotes along the way.  It was a great day of wildlife viewing.

Yellowstone on Dwellable

After waking up at the Old Faithful Inn on our second day inside of Yellowstone, we quickly grabbed breakfast at the Old Faithful Dining Room.  We rushed through eating so we could run outside and catch an early daylight eruption of the Old Faithful Geyser.  Unfortunately, the predicting clock inside the Inn was not accurately updated, so we only caught the tail end of the eruption.  To make sure we wouldn’t miss anymore eruptions, we next made a quick stop at the brand new Old Faithful Visitors Center, which predicts six of the many geysers in the geyser basin.

We were told that Daisy Geyser would be erupting soon, so we quickly walked the mile long trail to it.  We waited for around a half hour for the eruption which lasted a few minutes.  It was our first of multiple eruptions that we would catch.  From there we continued walking a little farther out to the Morning Glory Pool, the first of many colorful, bacteria filled, hot spring we would see.  We then continued to walk throughout the Upper Geyser Basin, taking the longer route back toward Old Faithful.  Once there we waited another fifteen or twenty minutes for another Old Faithful eruption.  Pictures don’t really do the geyser much justice, but it can shoot up to 180 feet in the air!

After having our fill of Old Faithful, we packed up the car and drove over to the Black Sand Basin area.  Before exploring that area, we actually walked back over to the Upper Geyser Basin that we had already seen, so that we could catch an eruption of Riverside Geyser.  We found a nice place to sit and wait for Riverside, which is only predictable to within an hour or two.  While waiting we were fortunate to catch an eruption of Grotto Geyser, which was quickly followed by the Riverside eruption.  We didn’t get to see a rainbow at Riverside, which is what makes it famous, but it was still another cool eruption to watch.  Having our fill of geysers for the day, we continued back to the Black Sand Basin area for a quick visit, and then on to Midway Geyser Basin.

The primary attraction at the Midway Geyser Basin is Grand Prismatic Spring, which is the park’s largest and deepest hot spring.  A friend told me that the view from the geyser basin wasn’t very good, but we decided to check it out anyway.  He couldn’t have been more correct though.  So we backtracked to the Fairy Falls Trailhead, for a two-mile roundtrip hike up to a ridge for unbelievable views of this very colorful thermal feature.  I would highly recommend this short hike for some of the coolest scenery you can see in the park.

From there it was on to the Lower Geyser Basin to check out the Fountain Paint Pot, and a few other geysers and pools.  The Fountain Paint Pot is a mud pot, which is basically a mud filled hole that has many vents through it causing the mud to create gooey bubbles.  Again, photos don’t compare to actually sitting and watching this feature for a few minutes.  It is by far the weirdest thermal area in the park.  From here we had definitely had our fill of thermals for the day, so we started the drive over toward the Canyon Village, where we would stay for the next couple of nights.

Along this drive we encountered many bison, some of which were just standing in the middle of the road.  They seem to be completely fearless animals, but it provided for some nice photo opportunities.  We also made a couple of detours to check out the Firehole Falls and Virginia Cascade, before finally reaching the Canyon Lodge.  After checking in, we ventured back out and drove south toward Hayden Valley, which is a great wildlife viewing spot.  We spotted many more bison along the way, and even some wolves far out in the distance.   Once the sun had set, we headed back toward Canyon and had a mediocre dinner at the Canyon Lodge Dining Room before retiring for the night completely exhausted.

West Yellowstone on Dwellable

We woke up early two Sundays ago to start the drive north to Yellowstone.  On the way up we decided to take I-25 to Casper and then US-20 all the way into the park through Thermopolis and Cody.  We had lunch at the Thermopolis Cafe, which was a nice little home cooking place.  We also stopped near Cody to check out the Buffalo Bill Dam.  From there it was on to Yellowstone, which we entered through the East Entrance station.

Once inside, we continued the drive along US-20 toward our destination for the night, the Old Faithful Inn.  We stopped along the way at the Lake Butte Overlook, Mary Bay, a hike along the Storm Point Trail, and some wildlife spottings around the Fishing Bridge Junction and the West Thumb Geyser Basin.  Eventually me made it to the inn, though it was a little later than I was expecting it to be.  The park had already captivated us and we had only just begun.  Fortunately we were able to catch an eruption of Old Faithful just after sunset, before having dinner at the Old Faithful Inn Dining Room.  From there it was off to get some sleep for an early morning again the next day.

Cody on Dwellable

While back in Cincinnati two weekends ago, I also got the chance to ride in a glider plane.  A friend of Kim’s family has asked me multiple times to take a ride with him, and I finally found the time to do so.  I also brought along my dad for a ride, and he actually got to go up twice!  We met up with a big crowd of members from the Caesar Creek Soaring Club in the early afternoon, and waited our turns.  It can take a little time as they only have a handful of gliders and only two tow planes, but we eventually got to take our rides.  I must say that it was really cool!  Once you are up in the air, it’s amazing how the glider can still gain altitude using ascending air currents.  My ride was just about an hour-long, with perfect weather, and lots to see from three of four thousand feet up.  The most amazing part is how quiet gliding can be without an engine making all sorts of noise.  Here is a video of my dad taking off in the yellow glider.

Also a couple of photos I took during the day.

This past Saturday, the Tour de Fat came to Denver bringing it’s traveling festival full of bikes, entertainment, and of course New Belgium beer.  Kim and I decided to bike up to the starting point, City Park, early in the morning to arrive in time for the 10am bike parade departure.  We barely made it in time, and found some friends of ours along the route.  The parade is just a really large bike ride, covering around six miles of the downtown Denver area.  The large crowd and many stop lights made it rather difficult to actually ride a bike at times, but we all made it to the end around two and a half hours after starting.  After the parade everyone headed back to City Park for various performances, exhibits, and beer from New Belgium.  I would have expected more beer booths than provided, which led to really long lines, so we didn’t stick around for too long, but we had a good time anyway.

After celebrating our friends’ wedding in Newport, Rhode Island, we spent the next day exploring parts of Connecticut.  Rhode Island was my forty-fourth visited state, and Massachusetts was number forty-five, making Connecticut number forty-six.  Rather than taking the interstate between Newport and Mystic, CT, we drove the entire way on highway 1, which included a couple of scenic moments.  It wasn’t nearly as pretty as I had hoped, but it was better than the highway, which we later took back to Providence for our flight out.

Our friends Tracey and Kevin came along for the adventure in Connecticut.  Our first stop was for lunch at the famous Mystic Pizza.  Prior to our trip I had never heard of the movie with the same name, but I was able to view clips of it on the restaurants TV sets as we enjoyed some pizza.  It wasn’t the best pizza I had ever had, but it was good enough to satisfy a very hungry group of four.  After lunch we decided to check out the Mystic Seaport.  Admission was a little pricey, but once inside I realized there was a full day of entertainment available.  It was a little hot for my liking, but we gave our best effort to see as much as we could and actually stayed all the way until closing.

After the Seaport, Kevin decided to start his drive back to New Jersey, leaving Tracey to explore with us for the rest of the day.  Eventually we made our way over to our hotel in the nearby town of New London, and after getting settled, decided to drive back over to Mystic for dinner at the Captain Danial Packer Inne Restaurant and Pub.  After checking out the upstairs menu, we decided to eat at the more casual downstairs pub.  Fortunately many of the dishes served upstairs are also available downstairs and at a discounted price.  This was another of my favorite meals!  The Lemon Peppered Chicken was delicious.

The next day we explored the boardwalk of another nearby town called Niantic.  Part of the boardwalk was closed, but we still enjoyed the limited time on the rocky shores of this tiny town.  We had one last meal at Dad’s Restaurant before making our way back to Providence for our flights out-of-town.  We had a great time exploring New England, and I’m happy that there are now only four states remaining that I have not yet visited.

Mystic on Dwellable

My friends Karen and Aaron were married in Newport, Rhode Island at the beautiful Belle Mer Island House a couple of weeks ago.  It was a wonderful time with many close friends, wonderful food, and delicious drinks.  Before helping them celebrate their wedding vows, we also spent time exploring Newport.  We had a big group dinner at the Brick Alley the night before, which might be my favorite meal of the trip.  I would highly recommend the Triple Hot! Hot! Hot! Buffalo Pasta. Earlier on the day of the wedding, we took a tour of the famous Breakers mansion and enjoyed a nice lunch at the Marina Cafe & Pub.  I really enjoyed our time in Newport, but the large tourist crowds and traffic congestion made me happy to only be spending a couple of days there.

Newport on Dwellable

Before ducking out of Massachusetts and heading back toward Rhode Island for the wedding a few weekends ago, we made a quick stop in Cambridge to see the Harvard University campus.  I didn’t take very many pictures of the campus, but it was cool to see, and we even sat in on a tour for a bit.  We attempted to grab lunch at Mr. Bartley’s Gourmet Burgers, but the line was insane.  Instead we ended up at the Cambridge Common for great food and a wonderful beer selection.  I don’t recall what everyone ordered, but my Uncommon BLT was excellent!  After lunch we headed toward Rhode Island with a quick stop past the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  We didn’t even get out of the car, just drove through, as we were running out of time.  Here are a few pictures from the day that was filled mostly with travel.

Cambridge on Dwellable

After checking out Fenway on our first night in Boston, we spent the majority of our second day walking the Freedom Trail.  We started in Boston Common and made it all the way to the USS Constitution, which I’m told is about two and a half miles.  It certainly felt like it was longer than that, but the effort was well worth it.  The amount of history along this trail is unparalleled, at least as far as the U.S. goes.  I would highly recommend the walk, and I think you’ll agree after flipping through these photos.

Boston on Dwellable

If you recall, we recently spent some time in New England.  The first activity we took in was a baseball game at the legendary Fenway Park.  My friend Jay secured some tickets for us from StubHub, and though they were located in the second to last row, we were all excited to see the stadium.  I was prepared to see lots of history inside the stadium, but I wasn’t ready for just how small it really is.  Despite being in the top rows of the outfield, we still felt close enough to the action.  We spent about half the game in our assigned seats, and the other half of the game walking around the park and taking it all in.  Here are some pictures from our experience.