2017 Epic Road Trip: A Lot of Driving (Some of it Interesting)

After a couple of days in Minnesota, we set out again for the next part of our journey to Yellowstone: across North Dakota and a night in Billings, Montana.  We tried to carefully map out our journey to keep the drives about we miscalculated and the drive between Minnesota and Montana was 13 hours! And although I was excited to drive through North Dakota and check another state off my list, it was not a very exciting state.

 Me, driving in North Dakota

Theodore  Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, so there was something to see.

Unfortunately, since we misjudged the time we needed to drive, we ended up getting to Billings very late and we didn't get to see much of it or enjoy the really nice pool at the hotel.  We planned to buy food and do some prep before our camping but we also had high hopes of getting into Yellowstone early enough to snag a camp ground.  All the while, I'm checking the weather and seeing temperatures in the 30's and rain!!! I wasn't sold on the camping idea to begin with, and I definitely wasn't loving winter temperatures, also, it rains every. single. time I camp.

We headed out the next morning much later than we planned and not feeling very optimistic about getting a camp ground in Yellowstone.  I wanted to spend as much time as possible in Yellowstone, so I was feeling a little disappointed.  Yet my disappointment faded as we started down the Bear Tooth Highway, leading toward the Northeast Entrance into Yellowstone.  While it was rainy and cold and cloudy, I could still tell it was breathtaking, and the rain and snow and clouds made it a little more breathtaking.  

 We started going up in the rain...

 We rose higher into the clouds...

 And it started to get foggier... (and I was really glad Spencer was driving)

 And then it was sheer drop offs on one side, up switchbacks and we could only see about 20 feet in front of us...

 Then we were suddenly up in snow!

 And it his 34 degrees! (I was really not feeling like a happy camper at this point)

 We dressed for summer and now that seemed a little inappropriate...

 Finally we hit the summit, with incredible vistas on either side of Bear Tooth...

It was quite the novel experience to be standing in snow on June 29th.

By the time we got to the bottom of the other side, it was raining again, and still cold and pretty late in the afternoon, and even though we tried, the only camp sites available in Yellowstone were 2 hours on the other side of the park.  So now we had to try and find a campground in Montana near Yellowstone and all without the help of Google or really any technology because our phones stopped working.  It was cold, wet, our plans were falling through, and I was not a happy camper.