Day 9, July 15 (part 1)-- Yellowstone, here we come!

As I type, we are driving over the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming on our trek to Yellowstone. Our goal is to reach it today, but it is hard to know what is realistic--neither of us has ever driven over serious mountains before! There is very spotty service here in the Cowboy State--sometimes there is absolutely no service, and at other times, it is full bars. Bizarre.

This morning, we left our beautiful Commanche campsite and headed into Wyoming for a quick visit to Devils Tower. Native Americans call it Bear Lodge, and there is a cool legend that goes along with it. As the story goes, seven sisters were out playing when all of a sudden, a bear began pursuing them. They climbed on top of a tree stump that spoke to them. The girls were just out of reach of the bear. The stump began to rise towards the sky and the enraged bear clawed all around the stump as it grew towards the sky. The seven sisters were lifted into the heavens, where they became the Big Dipper. Neat, huh? Another interesting fact about Devils Tower is that someone free-climbed it in 18 minutes!! Yowza.

Wyoming is gorgeous in its remoteness and isolation. We are now through the mountains, and what is on the other side is fascinating. A whole lot of nothing. Seriously, nothing. No houses, no animals, no trees. Jon- Mychal said that this must be the place in the movies that they send the President when the world is going to end.

Apparently, they cut young people a deal on land to come out and live here for a while, as the 20-something population is seriously declining. Any takers?