Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Rockin' in Cody

If you're ever in the vicinity, you owe yourself a stop in Cody, Wyoming.

In fact, if you're not a vegetarian, you owe yourself a cowboy brunch like the Buffalo Bill's Breakfast Buffet at the Irma Hotel. It's the best value this side of the Mississippi! More kinds of breakfast meat than you would imagine, the best seasoned potatoes, hotcakes, grits, green chili, tortillas, scrambled eggs, corned beef hash, french toast, and Irma's famous bread pudding with whiskey sauce. Everything was delicious and the service was great!

Check out the menu for any time of day.



The historic Irma Hotel, Restaurant, and Saloon was established in 1902 in the town that Buffalo Bill Cody had founded in 1895. Designed for travelers to Yellowstone, Bill called it "just the sweetest hotel that ever was."

This is the room in which we ate brunch:


The gorgeous cherrywood bar was built during the hotel's construction. Can you imagine how many gunslingers stopped off here? The place will really fire up your imagination. You might even want to stay a spell.

After our brunch, we needed to walk a little. I walked right in to Rockstar Cowgirl and met Karen, the most fashionable cowgirl on the planet and the owner of the boutique. She introduced me to cowgirl style, which both surprised and thrilled me by its exuberance. Absolutely go there if you are in town.


Karen sold me this beautiful abalone and freshwater pearl hat band/necklace. I don't own a cowgirl hat to put it on (more's the pity), so I wear it as a necklace. It is powerfully beautiful.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Water-Inspired Scarf

The little geyser pools filled with pale blue water at the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone inspired me to make myself a pretty blue scarf. This one is knit from a combination of two yarns: a lace-weight merino single-ply yarn and a sheer cotton tubular ribbon. It's light-weight, airy, and fun to wear. 




Friday, September 7, 2012

Geezers to Geysers

Not only are there lots of families in Yellowstone, there are lots of seniors. What could be a more a wonderful thing to do in retirement than to see the national parks! There is a special senior pass you can get if you are 62 or older. Also, if you are in the military there's a free pass. For all others there is an annual pass that is a good value. You can get the information here.

One of the impressive things about Yellowstone is the variety of landscapes. As a true water lover and a color lover, I was fascinated in particular by the geyser pools. See if you don't agree that there is something here for everyone.

Formations of hot mineral-laden water bubbling to the surface.

Rock river canyons

Waterfalls

Lakes

Old Faithful

Excelsior Geyser Crater

Grand Prismatic Spring

Sunset Lake

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Families to Fumaroles


Yellowstone is a great place to take your family. There is so much to do and see. We only had two days to visit, but a week or more would be better. You can camp there, stay in a nearby town, or procure lodging in the park. The kids will love exploring with you and taking their own photos as well.

We stayed in West Yellowstone the first evening. It's a cool little town very close to the West entrance to the park.

If you're a knitter, be sure to stop by the West Yellowstone Yarn Shop and pick up some bison wool.

Just look at the gorgeous fiber still on on this fellow's back in the heat of summer:


Also, when you are in West Yellowstone there is a walk up ice cream stand the has the best huckleberry ice cream!

The first part of the park that we explored was the Norris Geyser basin, which looks like a lunar landscape:


There are hiking paths so you can wander around. You really must stay on the path, because the water bubbling in the pools is more than boiling (up to 280 degrees Farhenheit/ 138 Celsius) and some of the ground surface is not very solid. In the photo below you can see one of the fumaroles (steam vents).



Here's a close up of one of the tiny thermal pools:


In the lower left of the photo there is a bubbling mini-geyser. That water looked plenty hot!




This is Crackling Lake: I fell in love with the color palette!




Monday, September 3, 2012

A Sunset Arrival

On our summer road trip, we arrived at West Yellowstone just before sunset. It wetted my appetite for what wonders we would see the next day.






Hope you are all having a glorious day!