Montana Trip 2014 - Part III

This is the continuation of a trip my dad, friend Jacob, and I took at the end of July.

Day 4

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After a good nights sleep we all headed east, down to Jackson Hole, WY.   I was in a bad mood.  Not sure why, but I needed food and coffee.  When I'm hungry I don't take many photos.  Trying to find a good place to eat, that will appeal to everyone, and has easy accessibility for the bikes, proves additionally hard when your hungry and in a bad mood.  Luckily Jacob spotted Bubba's Bar-B-Que and just pulled over.  It fit the bill.  They had coffee and egg biscuit sandwiches the size of your face.  I started to feel better.  And I started to take photos again.

The Teton Mountain Range.  Probably my favorite mountain range after seeing it as a kid.  Didn't quite know why until I read the Wiki page.  There aren't any foothills.  You go from flat plains to _boom!_ sharp mountain peaks.

Who is that young lady? And how does she keep getting into all my photos??

 I told Jacob he'd get free beer after the photo shoot.  He perked right up.

The ladies didn't want to hang with the tough motorcycle guys, so after visiting the Tetons they headed off into Yellowstone Park while we continued to enjoy the scenery.  I wanted some pictures near Jackson Lake.

 One of my favorite pictures of the trip.  Wish I'd been able to get me and my dad in it, standing behind our bikes.

While we were busy taking photos, my mom, sister and niece drove straight to Old Faithful where we said we'd meet up with them.  They saw this old bus in the parking lot.

 There is a small story here, where shortly after they arrived, they didn't have to wait very long before Old Faithful erupted.

 This is the "zoo" that is Old Faithful while it's doing it's thing.  My dad, Jacob and I arrived just as it was finishing.  Imagine trying to find parking, in a small parking lot, when everyone and their distant cousin has already parked to see the show.  I circled the parking lot so many times that eventually my dad and Jacob bailed on me to find their own space. 

 Since the ladies had already seen the show, they moved on because Kaitlyn wanted to see mud pots.  Which left us waiting a _full_ 90 minutes before the next eruption.  This ate a large portion of our travel time and limited our sights of Yellowstone.   

 But hey, I got my selfie.

 Short on time, and tired of the crowds, we headed northeast out of the park.

 If you ever have a chance to travel the Beartooth Highway, out of, or into Yellowstone, make sure you take it.  Amazing country!  The mosquitoes at this rest stop ate us alive though:)

 I assumed this was Bear's Tooth peak..but after an extensive two minute internet search these two appear to be Pilot and Index peak.

 We reached the summit of Beartooth Pass.

 We're above the tree line here and I ran off to take some pictures.  As I looked back I zoomed in and captured Jacob as he was walking among the clouds.

 We found a geological marker embedded in one of the nearby stones, giving our elevation.

 I ran off to go stand in the snow.  Little did I know that the Bear's Tooth is just around the bend back there.  For those of you who can't see through mountains here's a better internet picture of it:LINK.

Don't even think I saw it while I was there.  Just means that we have to go back now.

 A bit down the road we finally made it to Montana!  Woo Hoo!

 Blatant disrespect of National Forest signage!

 After descending some of the steepest switchbacks I've taken on two wheels, we arrived at Perry's RV Park outside of Red Lodge, MT.  When we arrived the owner of the park decided to lead us, on the bikes, down a pretty rough dirt road to a insect laden campsite next to a river.  The highlight of these campsites was a couple of teepees that appeared to have been setup in the 1960's.  When we asked about the bug free cabin, with three cots, near the showers, for only $15 more the owner replied..."or you could do that".  We did that.

 After unloading the gear we headed into town and decided to check out the Red Lodge Cafe.  Great place!

 Had a super friendly staff, who even helped us with a group photo. 

 More pictures to come.  Stay Tuned!

Bonus Photos:

Rush hour in Yellowstone.  Sometimes you just have to let the driver behind you pass.

Wyoming towns love their antler arches.

Sad to say these are the last photos of my niece on the trip.  She and my sister had to fly out of Billings the next morning so they could get back to Phoenix due to my sisters job.  My mom continued on and met us at the next stop which will be covered in the next post.  Thanks for reading!