Out and About in West Yellowstone -- Yellowstone NP

We have been in West Yellowstone a number of times, starting sometime in the Dark Ages, when we took a winter trip into Old Faithful for a ski adventure. West Yellowstone is the entry to the Park from the west... as a result it is a tourist town, -- with 7 Fly Shops, countless hotels and restaurants, and, to support the ever increasing Chinese tourists, 6-7 Chinese restaurants, mostly new ones.

We are here for the fishing. It was not necessarily our first choice, but calling around to a lot of fly shops in other locations, we would that most rivers are dirty and very high. Most suggested that it is best to fish the Firehole, Madison, and lakes in YNP.

So here we are.

Alicia in the Firehole River --- and surrounded by geysers and steam vents.

Kevin in the Firehole

We think this guy is Bruce --  a Friend of Bucky, Buzz and Bob who we encountered on a previous trip. Bruce didn't care a lick that we were there, just kept on munching.

Alicia in the Nez Perce River.

Off to the West

 This post is a litle bit of catch-up as we are currently in West Yellowstone MT.

Anyway, the rain in Michigan caused us to alter our plans and head west a bit early. The plan had always been to take the ferry across Lake Michigan, since I really like the idea of being on a ferry. We took the SS Badger from Ludington MI to Manitowoc WI. 

We then stayed in Fountain City WI, followed Fargo ND and finally Miles City MT .. each a relatively short 6-7 hour drive (comfortable).  The entire trip was in overcast weather and we arrived in West Yellowstone in threatening skies. We got the tent set up just before it started to rain --- again

We have been told by a few people that it has been raining here as well......  

The SS Badger

Exiting Ludington harbor

Hanging out on the fantail

The Yellowstone Bluffs B&B --- in Miles City -- I look a lot like it is ready to fall in, but it is actually about 100+ft back from the river.

What's a dog to do?

WAY to many choices. Likely to cause a lot of anxiety in the dog world.

A real General Store

We were driving around on a wet overcast day and came across the Old Mission General Store

Has a bit of everything (look closely): ice, coke, milk, pizza, ice cream, fresh eggs, soup, chili, liquor, pastries, cold beer to go (is there cold beer to stay?) and ..... espresso.  A REAL general store!

Red Barns of Northern Michigan

It seems that all the barns here in Northern Michigan are red. Not sure if it is a requirement, or if the stores only have one color of barn paint (red), but that's the way it is.

The older, more rundown structures are the most interesting for photos. So here are a few.

This one looks relatively "new"  - the new ones are really red.

Starting to fade away

Finally not a red one -- likely was red, but completely faded away.

Sign

There are a lot of odd signs that we come across while driving.  This is an interesting one.  I considered the advice to be pretty obvious.

The Pancake House

House for really small people? or does it just pop up for use?

Transportation that goes with the pancake house