Days 16-24

DAY 16: 9 June
...yesterday we did the West Thumb trail through geysers and hot springs... the roads were blocked... we then drove to Old Faithful - saw the massive geyser erupt... it was snowing, raining and cold...

... We're driving through Yellowstone at the moment - just came from the Firehole Canyon drive, a loop just near our camp site at Madison. The first fall we saw, the Firehole River, was hypnotising... Today - Monora's Geyser Basin - desert plains of hot springs, mud spring, steam vents. Heading to Upper Falls - amazing!.. We did a hike of he north and south side of the rim...

... we just stopped to see a stone-turned tree stump, the 'Petrified Tree'.

DAY 17: 10 June
Met Robert, Rosemarie's roommate last night at the Blue Goose Bar... (we spent 2 nights with Robert and Rosemarie couch surfing)... Interesting book collections - Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Why Men Won't Commit, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Zen...

Quotes from the day:
Cara: It's a moose. And it's running! / Laure: It's a running moose!

We just crossed into Wyoming! Gardiner (where Robert and Rosemarie live) is in Montana. Yellowstone is in Idaho. Now we're in Wyoming. Salt Lake City is in Utah. We crossed 4 states in 4 days! Craziness. It's snowing heavily now. We're on our way to Cody and as we passed through the park we spotted a bear.. yay!

DAY 19: 12 June
Some quotes:
"The appearance of a rock, like the appearance of a person, tells you something about he sort of life it has had" - Mediations at 10,000 feet, James E. Trefil

Laure and Cara went horseriding with Pat and her niece Laura today (Pat and her husband Dan were our couch surfing hosts in Cody). Fiona, Ryan and I hit the Old Trail Town (museum) - re-constructed original log cabins where characters from the late 19th C plotted bank and train robberies.

DAY 20: 13 June
On the way to Gillette now. Left Pat and Dan's this morning... drove through Byron, now on the way to Medicine Wheel before hitting Gillette.

DAY 21: 14 June
Never made it to Medicine Wheel - road closed due to snow. Blew a tyre on the way from Cody to Gillette though!... We spent the night with couch surfing couple Scott and Monica. Nice people. Scary that they keep 13 guns under their bed...

...Nothing of excitement during the day - drove from Cody, to Lovell, to Sheridan... We just came from Devil's Tower now. A big flat rock. Pretty cool hexagonal column-like cylinders sling onto its sides... the name Devil's Tower was given by an explorer - the Native Indians called it variations of Bear Lodge...

... passed through Deadwood where the was a music festival going on. A historic town. So many bars. Men and women twirling, dancing in pairs, fold out camping chairs lined up in rows, motor bikes, grey beards, pokie machines, yellow lights, black and white pictures...

DAY 22: 15 June
Last night we arrived at Rapid City, after driving through the beautiful Black Hills. We met Chris, couch surfer host, at his place where another 2 couch surfing groups already were. 2 girls heading to Seattle... and 3 others in a group - Monica, Joey, Shaun. They were a lot of fun. We went camping with them and Chris because there wasn't enough room in Chris's small apartment to fit us all!... Camping was so much fun. such a random Idea...We played Mafia... Fiona and I made pasta...

... We visited Mt Rushmore... The Ranger went on and on about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence...(*explicit*) conservatives. Road boards anti-abortion - 'Your mother was pro-life'. (*explicit*) paraphernalia.

Just got out of Jewel Cave... We did a drive by Crazy Horse, the Indian Mt Rushmore...

DAY 24: 18 June
So road trip is over. I'm back in Berkeley and just got back from dinner at La Meditrranae with Ashley and coffee/hot chocolate with Emmi... 17th was my last day on roadtrip. I flew out of Rapid City at 12:20pm. On the 16th the french girls left from the Greyhound station. Incredibly we ran into the waitress who served us the night before...It was sad to see the french girls leave...

... The afternoon was pretty chilled... I explored some of historic downtown. This is when I discovered Art Alley - blooming with vibrant colours, touching sketches and powerful political messages... we went down to Rat Shack... I scored some great finds, a bag and boots and 2 Sturgis tops...I was keen to go climbing!... Rock climbing was FANTASTIC!...Chris recognised no boundaries when it came to trusting others.... He trusted me, a beginner, with his rope as a belaying partner for a climb he knew would be outside his comfort zone... he also trusted 2 strangers with his apartment while he went out camping... Beer soup and beer bread at the Old Firehouse for dinner. Good music. Good food...

...This has been an adventure. Incredible. The people.... the laughs. The stupid jokes. The police and the rangers...the spontaneous moments... exhaustion. Exhilaration...