The Benefit and Enjoyment

Day 14 of our trip found us with yet another lengthy drive allowing us to appreciate the reason behind Montana's motto -- "Big Sky Country." The sky really does seem bigger here. As you may have guessed, there's really not much of interest to report. We began the day in Conrad and ended the day in Livingston, never leaving the state of Montana -- even when briefly crossing into Yellowstone.

Really I'm not sure how we thought we'd be able to pull into Yellowstone at 5:30 pm in the month of July and get a campsite without having a reservation. Maybe we were optimistic because we had just pulled it off at Glacier the night before. Glacier was slightly less populated than Yellowstone would turn out to be. Instead we ended up having to head back north to the small town of Livingston (Gardiner, MT located just at the entrance to Yellowstone was COMPLETELY booked up). Before we did that we called the reservations department and ensured that we would have a place to camp for the next two nights. Bridge Bay and Canyon campgrounds will be our homes for the next two evenings.

The highlight of the day would have to be our arrival at Gardiner. Truly, Mark was beside himself jumping out of his seat like a child excited. The reason for this is that Gardiner is the location of the Roosevelt Arch entrance to Yellowstone. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the arch that would welcome tourists from the train into the park. Inscribed in the top of the arch are the words "For the benefit and enjoyment of the people" taken from President Roosevelt's speech at the dedication of the park during his great western tour where he also met up with John Muir and camped with him at Glacier Point in Glacier Park. Needless to say, Mark is a HUGE Teddy Roosevelt fan.

Our evening was capped off with dinner at Outlaw's Pizza in Gardiner. Apparently "The Best Pizza in the West." It was pretty good, but I don't know if I would call it the best. The atmosphere was certainly unique. Tomorrow we begin our two day exploration of Yellowstone.