Severe Storm Hits West Yellowstone

This afternoon between three and four o'clock, a large storm came through the area. It knocked down between 100 and 200 trees, according to town officials, and did damage to many buildings. Several people saw a funnel cloud spinning through the city.

We were home getting ready for work when dark clouds moved in. It was silent and then suddenly the heavy wind and rain started. We were fortunate no one had any damage in the rv park. Here are pictures of the City Park.

Heaviest hit was the Best Western, where the roof came off. You can see some rvs damaged behind the hotel.

View of the back of the Best Western.

The Yellowstone Park Inn and Suites also lost part of its roof.

Trees just snapped right in half.

The National Weather Service will be here Sunday to determine if there was a tornado. The storm appeared to hit the town from the southwest corner taking a diagonal path to the northeast corner.

For an article on the storm, click here .

For more pictures of the storm, click here or simply browse through the stack below by clicking on the stack.

To be continued...

Natural Bridge of Yellowstone

Today's trip was to the Natural Bridge located on the southeast side of Yellowstone Park. The trailhead begins at Bridge Bay Marina.

Dressed in our hiking attire, as you can see, we found what used to be natural wood before they cut it up and made a bridge out of it. This is an Unnatural Bridge and is just the beginning of the 1.5-mile trail to the Natural Bridge.

The Natural Bridge is a 51-foot high cliff of rhyolite rock that has been cut through by the process of erosion in nearby Bridge Creek.

On our way back, we noticed a dog driving this motorhome.

We had to get back home for movie night, but we managed to stop for some pictures.

These bison were grazing on the hill by the Fishing Bridge.

This is from the Arnica fire in September, 2009.

This is the West Thumb Geyser Basin. We only had time for a few pictures, but will come back to walk on the trails at a later date.

Behind it is Yellowstone Lake. With a 132-square mile surface, Yellowstone Lake is the largest lake above 7,000 feet in North America. 20 miles long and 14 miles wide, the lake freezes around December each year and thaws near early June.

We made it back just in time for movie night. Doug made pork chops...

and Candice made cheesecake. Yum!!!!!!!!

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Sandy and Dennis come for a visit

Today we had a visit from our friends, Sandy and Dennis, who were headed up to Glacier National Park. We took them a couple places off the beaten path of most visitors to the area...Big Springs and Mesa Falls in Island Park, Idaho.

The Falls were still flowing.

Right before moving from Denver three years ago, we met Sandy and Dennis at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds where they were camphosts for the summer. Then they joined us in Florida in the fall of 2008 and worked Epcot's Food and Wine Festival.

Standing in front of Mesa Falls' Upper Falls.

Picture of the lower falls. We all had a great time catching up.

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Grand Teton National Park & Jackson, Wyoming

Our destination today was Grand Teton National Park and Jackson, Wyoming.

We drove through Yellowstone heading south through the park. On the way, we captured the steam coming off the geysers on a cool morning.

About 11 miles from the south entrance to Yellowstone, one will find Lewis Falls.

Grand Teton National Park is about 20 miles south of Yellowstone.

Enjoy some views of the Grand Tetons.

This is not a Grand Teton. It is a moose.

This is an arch made of antlers in the town park of Jackson.

This is a fence made with logs and skis.

On our way back, we took Teton Pass which travels through Driggs, Idaho. Driggs' Spud Drive-In Theatre was featured as one of the top 50 American roadside attractions by Time Magazine. Read about the drive-in here .

A bison in a precarious spot...

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Looking West of West Yellowstone

It's neat sometimes how the clouds can make the mountains in West Yellowstone look like something totally different. From this shot it looks like there is a volcano nearby.
To be continued...