Yesterday we tackled an eight or so hour drive across the waistline of Idaho to Montana. West Yellowstone. But before we got there we decided to swing into Twin Falls to take a peek at Shoshone Falls. I only have two words to say about Twin Falls. Why in the hell is Twin Falls NOT the capital of Idaho? It has so much more going on than Boise it's ridiculous. AND it's about a billion times more beautiful- because of the valley carved out by the snake river. But oh well. I can't spend any extra effort figuring out Idaho.
So after a looong drive we pulled into West Yellowstone, Montana. Big Sky Country! We checked into the Three Bears Lodge, located on one of the main drags of the city. West Yellowstone is best described as being exactly like one of the touristy trap ports o'call you'd step into while on a Cruise. Half bad restaurants, stores brimming with miscellany that say "Yellowstone" all over it. Lots of tourists from everywhere crammed anywhere they can be crammed into...
This morning, the Dodge Four woke up at O' Six thirty sharp and bee lined into Yellowstone. Now, we've been to Yosemite. But Yellowstone is one of the most beautiful places in the United States. (Always will have a soft spot for Hawaii, though.) I won't go into the details of everything, because none of my descriptions will do any of it justice. It's a lot like the Grand Canyon in the sense that pictures and words can't accurately describe it. Ever. Only by being here, by seeing and hearing and breathing that place- will you any idea of the majesty it beholds. Which is why I'm happy that dragged my kids here. I will never forget turning that bend of road and seeing an entire horizon of columns of steam from all the geysers and springs rising into the morning sky. Right there in my dome. Forever.
So we hit all the popular hot springs and geysers. So alien and dangerous and beautiful. Then we drove over to Old Faithful. Wow. There is an entire tourist complex built around this one geyser. It's fantastic. But the National Park Visitor Center was splendid. The exhibits and Ranger talks and everything they had on display were just wonderful. Chase completed another Junior Ranger program, and received a patch. Charlie, later at the Canyon Visitor Center, did essentially the same thing, but for the Young Scientist Patch. Now, I try not to get too rah rah over things- but experiencing Yellowstone really made me think about what a wonderful thing our U.S. National Parks are. There is nothing like them in the world and it is really something to be proud of. It is our government working at it's most sincere form...actually FOR the people.
After Old Faithful, we jumped back onto the lower loop and went looking for wildlife. We saw Bison. Lots of Bison. But no angry bears or ravenous moose. Oh yeah, we saw some female elk, too. But mainly Bison. Which was supreme. Although an angry bear from a distance would have been great, too.
The lower loop took ALL day. But it was worth it. I really wish we had more time here. I would love to see the whole park. I want THAT much time to spend here. But a single day trip will have to do for starters.
So at the end of the day, after we left the park, we hit a center for "rescued bears and wolves" The girls got their wild animal fix and I hope our admission fees do actually go to the benefit of the animals. There was one moment where Chase stood, watching the wolves, and one wolf stopped right in front of her...then the rest of the pack sort of stopped too. I'm not sure if they were about to raise their paws in solidarity to Chase or they saw her as a little tasty morsel. Who knows.
Thus, we were hungry at the end of our day of adventure. But West Yellowstone really doesn't have much to offer in terms of "fresh" cuisine. It's mainly burgers and fries and other things that are fried. Tiffany had found out about a fish and chips place- but it was closed. So we opted for this other restaurant she read about on Yelp. Cafe Madriz. It was just outside of town- away from the drag of gut rot burger joints. It was a very small, rustic establishment with wooden picnic tables set up inside that served authentic Spanish tapas style dishes. The owners were husband and wife- the wife being from Spain. And let me tell you. It sounds odd to say that this little restaurant's food could give any West LA restaurant a good run for it's money. Every ingredient fresh. Everything personally cooked by the owner. We had a dish as simple as scrambled eggs and asparagus that tasted creamy with just enough crunch from the vegetables. Every bite left you feeling warm. The secret ingredient? The eggs were freshly laid by the chickens behind the restaurant. The Paella... UN. BE. LIEVABLE. I've never had Paella this good and fear I never will again unless I come back to Montana. You read that sentence right. To finish things off we had fresh lemon pudding for dessert, but it was actually more of a fresh honey yogurt with freshly ground lemon zest. The tartness left you feeling light and happy. It was the best meal of the trip. It was the best meal I've actually had in a long damned time. And I found it on the Montana Border.
Cafe Madriz. Come up here and make your mouth happy.
Ugh. Got less than five hours of sleep. Got a long haul tomorrow. Until...then...
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