North Dakota to Arizona Road Trip

 After a fun and memory-laden trip to Grand Forks it's time to take the long-drive home.  It's a daunting thought - driving for another 3-4 days.  But, what is a road-trip without some sightseeing? We decided to make a slight detour through Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and Grand Teton National Park (GTNP).  

We left Grand Forks on a beautiful fall afternoon.  Our first stop for the night is Bismarck.  We decided to stay at the same Best Western hotel where we stayed a few days ago.  I've been to Bismarck a long time ago but I don't remember anything about the city.  I had a dorm friend, Paul Peterson, whose family owned a bar there.  I visited him once.  We had dinner at the nearby Wiang Thai Restaurant.  A nice conversation with the owner following dinner.  She was obviously understaffed and looked tired.  All we can offer is some emotional support.

The next morning we drove and stopped in Medora.  This time we went into Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  It's a smaller version of the Badlands National Park.  We spent less than an hour there and then we are headed to Billings, Montana.  Crossing into Montana the landscape changed slightly to more rolling hills.  We arrived in Billings and checked-in to the Best Western Hotel downtown.  It was a Sunday and many of the restaurants were already closed.  We decided to take a short walk to a Perkins restaurant.  It is a diner, similar to a Denny's, and just as mediocre.   In the morning we had breakfast at the Stella restaurant and bakery next to and owned by the hotel.  

Because of recent floods in YNP some of the entrances were closed.  The eastern entrance is opened, which means we have to enter through the town of Cody, Wyoming.  It's only about a 2-hour drive from Billings.  We gassed up the car before we entering YNP.  Our reservation for the night is at the Canyon Lodge, at the north-central part of the park.  We tried to cover the northern part of the park, driving as far as Mammoth Hot Springs.  The next morning we drove towards Old Faithful Inn, where we'll be spending the night.  I was surprised to get a reservation at this historic inn with such short notice.  There must have been a cancellation and I was just lucky.  Staying at this Inn is a special experience.  The only downside is we have to share a bathroom down the hallway.  

This is my second trip to YNP.  Most people don't realize how big the park is.  The maximum speed limit on the main access roads is 45 mph.  As such, it takes a long time to go from one part of the park to another.  There is a reason for a slower speed limit.  Animals are crossing the roads.  You have to watch out especially for bisons.  They own the park.  The love to walk along the road.  When they do that all traffic stop. They can do a lot of damage to cars.

Bisons walking along the road

Beautiful Stream in the park

Deer Crossing Road

Grand Canyon of YNP

Lobby of Old Faithful Inn

Another unique attraction at YNP are the hot springs.  They are everywhere and you can always smell them - the sulphuric or rotten-egg smell.  They vary widely in activity, color, size, and amount of steam.  Some of the well-known attract a lot of visitors. Old Faithful, the most famous of them, puts on a show every couple of hours or so. Below are pictures of some of them.

Old Faithful

South of YNP is another beautiful National Park - The Grand Teton.  Driving south on the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Highway you see the mountain range to the right.  It's a beautiful sight.  We stopped at the town of Jackson, Wyoming, strolling around for a couple of hours and stopped to take a picture at the main square.

The Grand Tetons

Jackson Town Square

We continued west through Idaho, then south towards Utah, spending the night at another Best Western Hotel in Provo.  This is home of Brigham Young University, one of the elite universities in Utah.  

The last leg of our journey took us through the redrock country of southwest Utah.  Passing through Kanab we remember a very good Mexican restaurant that we enjoyed - Escobar Mexican Restaurant.  We stopped to have lunch.  Finally, we drove Page, AZ, then all the way to Flagstaff, ending our trip there.

Escobar Mexican Restaurant in Kanab, UT