Go West Young Man... An Epic Journey...

Beautiful sunrise as usual today...

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Hit the road and made good time through Wyoming and Montana... Beautiful country. Saw small herds of pronghorn, and whitetails all over, and the hills and valleys are breathtaking...

I'll update when I get settled this evening...
 
Damn Phil. You’re going to need one of them wheel chair lifts on the side of the van to get in and out if you keep eating like that.

Looks awesome. Wish I was with you.
 
Ok... Where were we... I was leaving South Dakota for Yellowstone... Beautiful drive... Lovely countryside with a wide range of scenery. Saw some fire damage recovering in the pines that was interesting.

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Got to the Little Bighorn about noon... It was interesting...

Saw where Custer fell and was originally buried. Since moved to West Point...

Lots of graves... Some horses running around... Even a local native with a peace pipe doing some ceremony off by himself near one of the Crow headstones... I didn't interrupt... Then I hit a native run cafe across the street for an "Indian taco". Fry bread with gringo taco toppings... Delicious. I know why they're all fat now... 😂20210929_124733.jpg20210926_120009.jpg20210926_121103.jpg20210926_120335.jpg20210926_120642.jpg20210926_122149.jpg20210926_124726.jpg
 
Next stop... Pictograph State Park near Billings Montana... Amazing rock formations and such. At first I thought the pictographs were graffiti 😂... The big cave "Ghost Cave" was huge with these giant stone "heads" in it...

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more info for ya

publiclands.org

Public Lands Interpretive Association

The Public Lands Interpretive Association inspires and educates the public about the natural and cultural heritage resources of America’s public lands. Your purchases support projects on public lands. Your dollars will directly enhance your experience and help preserve these special places for...
publiclands.org publiclands.org

Campground Directory and National Forest Campgrounds

List of campgrounds found in national forests and grasslands across the United States of America.
www.forestcamping.com

State Parks | Montana FWP

Explore the more than 170 State Parks Montana has to offer, reserve campsites and facilities, and start your Montana adventure today.
fwp.mt.gov fwp.mt.gov


montana state parks.jpg
 
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So the next part of the drive was some of the most beautiful yet... The Beartooth Mountains and Shoshone National Forest into
Cooke City... Epic views of massive peaks and glacial valleys and lakes, ripping streams, pine trees taller than a Randy Travis song, and birches on fire with fall color...

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Ok... Picking up... Shit went sideways... I spent the night in the ER in some town in SE Idaho. I legit thought I was having a heart attack. Arm pain, chest pain, couldn't catch my breath, amped up and feeling like passing out at the same time... All the signs...

After hours of tests, it turns out my heart is strong. No issues. Looks like a combo of a gall stone and bad Chinese food (maybe just regular Chinese food) caused a reaction that presented like a heart attack.... Scary shit...

So... I'm back on the road after a terrifying sidetrack... I'll catch y'all up on Yellowstone, Idaho, Tetons, and Jackson Hole when I get a chance...
 
bigfelipe said:
Ok... Picking up... Shit went sideways... I spent the night in the ER in some town in SE Idaho. I legit thought I was having a heart attack. Arm pain, chest pain, couldn't catch my breath, amped up and feeling like passing out at the same time... All the signs...

After hours of tests, it turns out my heart is strong. No issues. Looks like a combo of a gall stone and bad Chinese food (maybe just regular Chinese food) caused a reaction that presented like a heart attack.... Scary shit...

So... I'm back on the road after a terrifying sidetrack... I'll catch y'all up on Yellowstone, Idaho, Tetons, and Jackson Hole when I get a chance...
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I'm really enjoying this thread. Please keep posting updates.

The weird part...I no chit had the same thing happen after hitting the Asian Bar at Harris Teeter last Friday night. Honest to God was 2 minutes away from having my wife call the ambulance. Exact same symptoms! It was a mental grind to get past it I promise you but it finally passed.

Anywho, as I've learned from road trips and it seems like you already had figured out, take time to soak it in, not just on a time frame to hit every destination. Safe travels!
 
At this point I was tired of the buffalo... They're like rats out here... One of the biggest bulls I ever saw false charged my van as I passed. He pulled up 6" short of hitting my passenger door and chuffed through the window... Scared the shite out of me...

A few more pics of the Valley heading into town...

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Big Felipe admiring Yellowstone...........
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bigfelipe said:
There were some incredible views and awe-inspiring landscapes but overall I didn't enjoy myself as much because there was SO many people there...
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People ruin just about every where we go to sight see. Doesn't matter where, there's always someone in the way of me taking a post card worthy pic. There again, reckon I could have ruined their hope of solitude as well lol.
 
Then I moved on to the Grand Prismatic Spring area... The steam coming off the hot spring beside the river at Prismatic was impressive... The sun could barely penetrate it...

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There's a crater with a spring next to that...

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Beyond is the bacteria mats and flows from the Grand Prismatic... Crazy looking stuff... Look for the hoof prints...

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So after that I needed a break and to clean up do laundry and relax some. So I spent the day in West Yellowstone outside the park... Did a little shopping, had some coffee and huckleberry ice cream... And since I saw no exciting animals in Yellowstone proper, I went to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center there. It's a nonprofit that helps re-home dangerous/ people-centric bears and wolves in lieu of euthanasia... It was fascinating. So I got to see 4 grizzlies, 2 packs of wolves, numerous birds of prey, rainbow trout (not sure why?), and... OTTERS!!!! Those things are retarded-cute...

Here's Sam. The biggest and oldest of the bears... Don't remember the others names ..

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This is a turkey vulture named Larry 😂 don't know why I find that so funny...
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Golden Eagle (nearly hit one flying past my window the other day) massive bird...
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Trout? I don't know what the trout tank is for... Cheap exhibit maybe? They had some whoppers though...
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And then there were the wolves... Man... Them ain't no dogs... You can see the intelligence. It's a bit unnerving when they stare at you. Like they're sizing you up... One (the alpha of one of the packs) took an interest in me. Even through the glass is was unsettling...

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Then I hit this Chinese restaurant next to the park... The sign was excellent... Couldn't read most of the menu but wound up with garlic pork and hot&sour soup that was amazing... and maybe contributed to my emergency room visit...🤷🏼‍♂️

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After that day I was kind of over Yellowstone...

So I ventured out into Idaho...
 
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