1136 September 17, 2024 Rainy Scenic Ride
I returned to Bozeman last night. The Celebration of Life for Jorge Liatis in Atlanta was a beautiful service for a well loved man. I am so appreciative that I had the opportunity to be present.
I woke in the middle of the night and saw the almost full Harvest Moon, brilliant in the velvety sky.
This morning, I had a chance to walk in Bozeman. I did a large loop around the fairgrounds and then walked through the Cannery District. This area was the site of factory for canning peas. At peak season, 300,000 can of peas were produced every day. Now this is a high end shopping area.
I was back on the road with my favorite partner. We left Bozeman and traveled Route 191, a scenic byway. The rain started shortly after we left. It was chilly and cloudy. The road followed the whitewater of the Gallatin River. The treetops, mountain peaks, and tall cliffs were blanketed by a thick layer of fog.
We drove through the town of Big Sky, Montana, a ski resort. I am very grateful that it was not snowing!
It was still a nice ride though the slap of the windshield wipers made it difficult to take pictures!
The road curved slightly and took us through the northwestern portion of Yellowstone National Park. The skies cleared a little and we got hopeful! The autumn colors have definitely turned since we were here last week. The shrubs and grasses are more golden.
We arrived in West Yellowstone at around noon. We set up in the rain and rested awhile.
At 2pm, we went to the IMAX Cinema to watch “Yellowstone.” The music and cinematography were wonderful. The movie showed the history of the park and the interface between man, wilderness, and wildlife. One of the early explorers characterized Yellowstone as a place where nature decided to display all of its most peculiar aspects.
We had hoped to go into the park with our dinner this evening but the rain kept coming. The forecast changed and changed and changed again.
I did use this rainy day to get more mundane stuff done, so all was not lost.