Tonight Cooper and I are in Bozeman, Montana. Nice town. There is an old part and a new part which makes sense since it is a gateway of sorts to the Yellowstone N.P. People can stay here and then drive 90 minutes into the park so the new motels are a result of that proximity. The old area is cool, it looks sort of like the downtown of Alameda, about a mile long, one main street, a mix of old and new restaurants, pubs, shops, bookstores, Indian crafts (not readily available in Alameda) and some nice old architecture. I could possibly live here although the winters are probably brutal. But you can still buy a house here for under $300,000.00.
Enough about that. Below are a few photos I took with my new teeny camera. Seriously, I need more practice. I would have added more but perhaps tomorrow. My computer is pretending it has power over me and will not load any more photos. Little does it know that I can throw a glass of water on it and make it die. I have that power and if it continues with this attitude I might have to show it who is really the boss! Ha! Watch out for water in your face, 'puter!
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Yes, I know I need to show you photos and I will, hopefully tonight. I had to buy a new camera (don't ask) but since it cost me less than $90 I am not too unhappy about it. But I have to load the software on the computer and then download stuff, so be patient.
Yellowstone Park is gorgeous, of course, and massive. And very crowded. Cooper and I were in the park by 8:30 this morning and spent about six hours driving various roads, taking photos, taking little walks, and we still could have spent more time. It's confining with the dog because you cannot take dogs on any trails and they must be either in the car or less than 100 feet from the road at all times. Obviously I didn't get to take too many hikes but I did leave him alone a couple of times to see some vista views. Huge scenery, huge mountains and rivers, boulders, everything a national park really needs. In some ways it is not as dramatic as Yosemite but it still has jaw-dropping views. If Yosemite was the size of a tea cup, Yellowstone is the size of a salad plate. It is almost twice the square miles of Yosemite.
I expected crowds and for the first couple of hours the traffic through the park was light. By 11:30 it had increased dramatically, to the extent that most of the parking lots that overlooked some grand waterfall or view were packed. I didn't even bother getting in the car queue for the Old Faithful Geyser, you can see it probably better on youtube. But even with the cars (and can we talk about those humongous things that are larger than SUV's, they are about 30-40 feet long and they never pull over and they can't turn and they are all driven by old, retired people who are afraid) the day was great. I didn't see as much wildlife as I wanted but I did see buffalo, deer, some dead jackrabbits, hawks and some creature that must have been from Kansas, with sandals and high white socks and two fanny packs that were sagging with god knows what and a checked shirt that almost, but not quite, covered his extended belly. A checkered-belly fanny-packer, that must be what it was called.
There were still some residual wildflowers (they bloom very late in high altitudes), blues and pinks and yellows and there were fields of gold with blue streams running through them that made you think of heaven. A lot of people were fishing, mostly fly-casting and that was nice to see, a national park with people doing more than double parking to snap a shot of a buffalo. There are geysers all over the place and thermals that give off steam all the time. It reminded me of the trip Tom and I took to Portugal and we were on one of the Azores Islands, Sao Miguel I think, and everywhere you walked in town there was water boiling up out of the ground. I was also reminded of the islands off Sicily, especially Volcano, when we hiked to the top of the sleeping volcano and steam was blowing out of holes in the ground, smelling of sulphur. Since Yellowstone has a huge volcanic history, it's no wonder it also has a caldera that is still active.
Ah, to be on the road. I know I have said this before but I am always in awe of the glorious beauty and variety of our country. It's that way in any country, of course, and I have had the great fortune to see it, as mentioned above. But I don't think enough of us take the time to just explore the USA. You all know I am not one for touting the virtues of this country but it is so diverse geologically and topographically and culturally that I think everyone should take a long road trip at least once in their lives and see some of it. I stopped in Laramie, WY because my camera had a bizarre error message on it. At the gas station where I filled up I asked if there was a Best Buy or a similar place. The woman looked at me with a small sense of pride and said "No, we have small stores here." She directed me to a Radio Shack a couple of blocks down and the young guy who was running that shop was great. It was nice to know that there is a medium sized city without a Best Buy or a Walmart or Target.
It's also why I like to find small motels if I can, or small coffee places that are owned by a person, not a corporation. (Although I must admit, Starbucks has saved my sorry ass many times.) Same with food. I don't eat much at chain restaurants for the simple reason that I like to know a person is cooking my food, not a corporate clone.
OK, that's all for my preaching. I am going to post this blog and try and get some photos and post them later this evening. Thanks for reading, the three people who I know do faithfully. And those of you who do sporadically as well.
Here are two stock photos for now.
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Drove from Golden, Colorado to Dubois, Wyoming, which I call Blanche. I keep looking for Tennessee Williams, or at least someone yelling "Stella" on the street but I suppose that isn't going to happen. We drove in on Hwy 287 and it was part plain and boring and part beautiful, land formations with red and tan and white striations and green valleys with blue streams running through them. This town Blanche, oops, Dubois, is small, just some motels and gas stations, lots of shops with Indian crafts. It's about an hour from the south entrance to Yellowstone Park. Turns out you can't take dogs in the park too much but we (me and little Cooper) will figure that out tomorrow. Perhaps we will have to depend on the kindness of strangers!
I had a brilliant thought the other morning that I thought I would share with you and you can share it with people who are on a serious food budget, or are homeless, or unemployed and watching their pennies. On Tuesday night I stayed at a chain motel in a row of three other chain motels. They all advertise a free breakfast. Now, we all know how crappy these breakfasts are, right? But here's the thing: when you walk into the breakfast lounge, no one ever asks if you are a guest of the hotel. No one knows who you are because the morning shift is not the shift who checks people in. Therefore, anyone can walk into any of these motels and have breakfast! (Not that they would want to, but that's another story.) The least noxious parts of these breakfasts are the fresh fruit and the bowls of small containers of decent yogurt. If a person looked clean enough and not too creepy or needy, that person could easily come in, get some fruit, some yogurt, perhaps a muffin, maybe a cup of coffee, and just walk out the side door like they were going to their room! Voila! Free food! Is it stealing? Well, yes, but I am sure the motel owners, if they had any kindness or morals, wouldn't really mind. And a person without food gets to eat something good. Win, win. Sort of.
Finally, I don't think I ever mentioned the Texas tradition of highway road stops dedicated to Jesus. Not kidding. There are huge billboards out in west Texas reminding drivers when they are coming up and they even have diners with names like "Heavenly Burgers: the Lord's Best Burger!" Again, not kidding. You can stop, pee, have a Jesus burger and probably even gas up your car! Salvation, sustenance and fuel, all in one spot.
OK, time for bed. Cooper and I are getting up early to hit the park before the RV's clog the roads.
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Drove many miles today, through Texas, a little of the panhandle of Oklahoma and all the way through Colorado. Nice drive for the most part, all small roads, two lanes, but the speed limits on those small road are 65 MPH. Nice. Was going to spend some time in the national park here, near Denver, but I have decided to hit the road tomorrow and go through Wyoming and spend Friday and some of Saturday in Yellowstone, which I have never seen.
Tonight we are in Golden, Colorado, the home of Coors beer and many other breweries. I didn't plan on being here but the weather was too wet and too foggy and it became too difficult to figure out where I was going. (I am not good at reading a map while driving 70 MPH and got tired of pulling off the road to read the map. It was the first time I longed for a GPS and hopefully the last.) It seemed better and safer to just get out of the car. We are actually in a small hotel on Main Street in Golden. The weather cleared up early evening so Cooper and I had a good walk along the river.
If I wasn't tired I would attempt to send some photos from today but maybe tomorrow. The following will suffice: the first one is a giant (like ten feet) metal sculpture of a trout. It looks better in person and I might take a photo of it tomorrow myself. The second is just the golden arch over Main Street.
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One forgets how big this friggin state is! We spent last night in Amarillo, about six hours from Grand Prairie. Up early to hit the road again. Am still mulling over where to go today and how to get there but I think my four brand-spanking new tires will take me where they think I should be. I will let you know at the end of the day where we were and what we saw.
I am leaving the land of the Lone Star, Long Horn Steer and Double-Discounted Six-Pack this morning! Saying goodbye to the Land of the Triple Digit Temperature Marathon and the questionable logic of Governor Perry.
Instead of heading due west to California, I am taking a circuitous route, going north and west through the top of Colorado, then north into Wyoming and Montana. I'm not sure how long I will extend this journey as there may be a bit of work for me soon in the SF Bay area, but as long as I have the time I will continue to take some back roads and visit some states I have yet to see.
Texas has been an experience. If you have read any of my blogs in the past two months you already know about the weather. And wouldn't you know it, yesterday was the first morning I walked outside with the dogs at 7:00 and it was cooler outside than inside! The temps at night fall to around 68, which is lovely. Still in the mid 90's during the day.
However, TX has been more than just hot weather. Not a lot more, granted, but the people are really nice, the Mexican bakery has delicious tortillas (better than in California, actually) and I have made some tasty dinners, including a great salsa with peaches, fresh corn, the last handful of cherry tomatoes, a little jalapeno and some lime juice. With a bbq pork tenderloin it was perfect. I also read tons of books, made some new recipes and watched way too many episodes of "Chopped" and "Kitchen Impossible."
I am looking forward to hitting the road, as usual, and will send some photos back to you when I can. As they say in Texas, au revoir for now!
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Yes, I have been ignoring my blog for lack of much to say and because last week I actually was busy for three days! Jenn was in Philadelphia to visit Hurricane Irene and she passed a catering gig on to me, all by myself. Sixteen people, menu mostly created by the hostess, in Dallas on Saturday. I spend Friday morning getting lost in Dallas to buy the groceries she needed from the vendors she chose. Friday afternoon was spent prepping and cooking, as was all Saturday morning. Lots of courses, lots of work to get ready for the dinner. I was at the dinner location in the late afternoon, finished preparing everything, serving and then waiting for them to all eat so we (myself and one server) could begin the clean-up. Since all the dishes, glassware, flatware and serving pieces were "special" none could to into the dishwasher so all were done by hand. I got home about thirty minutes past midnight, exhausted.
But the money was good and Sunday was a day of rest. It was good for me to do it. I was hesitant about taking on such a challenge because I had never cooked for that many strangers before, by myself. It is one thing to cook for your friends and family and it never matters if there are 8 or 18 or 28. It's always fun and no one cares if the green beans are a little overcooked or if the bread is store-bought. But if someone is paying you to make a delicious dinner, it has to be spot-on, those green beans need to be perfect. Plus cooking for strangers in a strange home means you don't get to have a glass of wine while cooking, you don't get to laugh with your guests, you can't assign tasks in the kitchen ("Martha, will you come and stir the corn while I carve the meat?") and no one offers to do the dishes. The atmosphere is completely different. But I did it, it was very successful, the guests and the hostess were quite happy and I got a chunk of change to put in the bank.
Of course, money comes, money goes. I now need 4 new tires on my car before I take off for the west coast. Sigh. My unemployment benefits have ceased and I still don't have a job. I spend a couple of hours each day applying on-line and am keeping my fingers crossed that something will come my way soon.
We are in for another triple digit temperature day. In fact, every single day I have been in Texas the temp has been over 100. When I was in SF for 5 days the Texas temp dropped to the mid 90's but zoomed back up the moment my plane landed back here. According to the weather map, the entire US is being baked to a crisp right now. The only areas not blazing hot are the very edges of the northern parts of the coasts, both left and right. And Governor Perry here in TX doesn't believe in global warming! What a guy!
I wanted to be on the road back to coolness by now but with the new information about the pitiful state of my tires, it looks like I won't be hitting the road for another day or so. And then it's Labor Day weekend, and I don't want to be driving along with all the rest of the Americans so I might wait til Sunday or Monday. Jenn is seriously lobbying for me to stay ("....but there is no reason for you to leave other than the crappy weather and so why don't you just stay another week or so......") but I am jonesing to leave. So I will. Soon.
A book review is forthcoming, as is a new recipe. Stay tuned.
Zucchini fritters, coming soon.
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