(Again, this day's journal is actually stolen from Kathi and I just made a few adjustments and made it sound like I wrote it.......but I really didn't. Anything in italics are my additions and personal observations). Thanks, Kath, for doing most of the work!!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Kathi was up before me (ya think? Considering she went to bed at 10:15 and I stayed up until something like 1:30am??) but we were sipping coffee together by 7:30, and enjoying yummy Greek Gods yogurt. Realizing we had again forgotten to toss the states, we did so, and now have only 8 states remaining as our possible for next year’s destination. They are: North Carolina, South Carolina, Colorado, Oklahoma, Washington, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.
Kathi and I had both been rooting for Arizona, but since it is gone we really don’t have a favorite. We are, however, joined by a strong desire NOT to go to Oklahoma! Please let that puzzle piece land face down next time!!
Because of the morning blogging, journaling, and research, time got away from us and we didn’t leave the room until noon! On the way to the car we promised each other we would do better about getting out earlier in the mornings.
We are crossing both Wyoming and Montana off our list this trip, and the World Mark is indeed in West Yellowstone, Montana, but since Yellowstone National Park – where we’ve spent most of our time - is located mostly in Wyoming, we need to do some exploring of Montana as well. We drove 90 miles to Bozeman, a historic town in the southwest corner of the state which is home to Montana State University. It rained the first hour of the drive, but stopped about 30 miles from our destination. We wanted to stroll downtown, look in shops, and perhaps take a walking history tour, though we didn’t end up doing that. We eventually found the Visitors Center, only to discover it was closed, as were most shops and venues. Only then did we realize it was Sunday! Not the best choice of day to visit the downtown area of a town with a population of under 30,000. We decided to stroll a bit and regroup. It was then that we remembered the Girls Weekend tradition of bowling, an activity we had not been able to do since Philly 3 years ago, due to the lack of bowling alleys. Bozeman, however, is a college town, and what self-respecting college town does not have a bowling alley? Indeed, we found one easily, and it was only 2 blocks away from where we were standing when inspiration hit!
Off we went, to find that once again, we were where we were supposed to be. It was 2:30 by this time, and league bowling started at 4. Kathi had 90 minutes to try to actually win a game against Killer Lori Arnold, who – with only two known exceptions in the 14 year history of Girls Weekend – has delivered a sound beating to her every time. I started out great, and was 9
points ahead of her in the 3rd frame, but that didn’t last long. By the bottom of the 5th the score was Kathi – 50, Killer – 64. She never recovered, and the final score of Game One was 125-100. She was actually happy to even get to triple digits, since she had not touched a bowling ball since the last time we had played. Neither had I, but nevermind that. Kathi geared up for Game Two…and actually won (but not by much)! Unfortunately we didn’t have time to play the tiebreaker, because I'm sure that I would have won the third game and thus, the series, so we had to leave it at one game all. I WAS quick to point out that my total of the two games was higher than hers, making me the OVERALL winner of the day.
After bowling we strolled back down Main Street and actually found a couple of bookstores and a record store (yes, I said record store, and it looked like a hippy throw-back joint inside, too!) which were open. We spent an enjoyable hour browsing through those, then it was back to the car and back on the road. We got back to West Yellowstone at 6:45p.m., and decided to take a quick drive into the park, hoping to hear or see some animals. Dusk is one of the best times to catch them, but we saw nothing out of the ordinary. Our favorite elk herd could be seen off in the distance, by now looking like dark moving lumps. We found out from our chat with the park ranger yesterday that moose were actually considered to be somewhat rare, and we would probably have to go into Teton National Park to have much of a chance of seeing any. We would still very much like to see a bear from a very safe distance, but it’s looking like we’ll have to adjust our goals, substitute the coyote onto my list, and just be satisfied with that. Maybe if we get out early enough tomorrow we’ll have more luck.
After driving 10 minutes into the park we turned around and came back out, ran into the grocery to get a couple more items, came home to eat leftover pasta and pizza. While eating we watched Limitless, bringing to 4 the total number of hours the television has been on since we got here. It really is bliss to barely have that machine on at all, and only when we really want it. I pooped out first tonight, and was sound asleep by the time Kathi went to bed at about 11:30. And yes, you guessed it, we forgot to toss the states. Again.
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