Vandrea Does America: Day 41 (Tuesday 7/31/12)- Yellowstone, WY + Bozeman, MT

After getting bitten by mosquitoes all week, burnt in the sun and almost burning down the campground we decided it was time to leave Yellowstone behind. In an effort to make the most of our last day we made a few stops along our exit route. Some of them ended up being busts (like a very confusing hiking trail we ended up abandoning) but one in particular was one of the best stops of our time here.
All the gift shops in the park have postcards with aerial views of the geyser we saw next and with good reason. It's not only the third largest in the world but also (in my humble opinion) the most beautiful. When I had mentioned to Isaiah that I wanted to see the geyser from the postcards he said it was only viewable from the air. With a sigh of regret I had taken this news as fact totally unaware at the time it was a clever set-up leading to a grand surprise. As we walked upon the Prismatic geyser Isaiah broke out into a big smile and confessed his lie. Though the view from above is best, the Prismatic geyser can definitely be seen in all it's glory from the ground. Isaiah then went on to take the best picture from our time in Yellowstone, possibly even the best from the trip so far, one likely to be mounted on a wall in our future home (that's right it is unlikely we will live in a van forever).

Before exiting the park we drove through the Upper portion of Mammoth and walked through the lower part as well. The Upper rim had views of rock formations that looked strangely like marshmallows, thereby prompting Isaiah to name the water trickling down "Marshmallow falls." The Lower rim boardwalk might have been more enjoyable had the sun not been beating down and were less tourists around (that's right we mock tourists being, not tourists ourselves but "first time locals").
After a full week at Yellowstone it was a little strange to say goodbye but next was Bozeman, MT. Though Bozeman is not an especially unique it was the biggest town we had seen in some time and was exciting to visit for that reason alone. Isaiah seemed concerned by the confusing nature of this college town which seemed to either have ambitions of an up and coming upscale town with lots of construction going on or a dying town that had overreached (Coming into it the town was depressing, but on the other edges of it there were new looking and expensive looking, but ultimately half full shopping malls). I, on the other hand, was more concerned with the fact that it had a Joann Fabric store with clearance stickers.

Once I had refilled my craft supplies we ventured to the Bozeman library to research the town further. It was at that point that Isaiah turned to me and said "do you want to go to happy hour?" And that is how we ended up across the street at Montana Ale Works. I had a delicious quesadilla and raspberry beer and Isaiah had an ok meatloaf made up of, in true Montana fashion, cow, pig and buffalo. (It was actually the best meatloaf I have ever had. But then again it was still meatloaf. I realized after ordering it, that it all being mashed up together, it was impossible to know how much bison the loaf contained, which was the main draw of ordering it. I couldn't argue with it being wrapped in bacon though)
We finished the night off by getting wickedly hammered on Dr. Pepper and Coke and watching 21 Jump Street. It may have been the late hour or the caffeine but we thought it was hilarious. (It was stupid. But surprisingly entertaining and aware of its stupidity. Our judgement was, safe to say, off. We also thought drinking 2 gallons of soda in 15 min at 10 o'clock at night was great. We finally got to sleep at 3 or so).