Today’s class: History, geology, and a little biology

That’s what Keig travels are all about! Whereas other couples of a certain age are wine tasting in Napa and taking Viking river cruises in Europe (I actually want to do THAT one) we are enjoying greater Yellowstone in our little NEST.

First stop on Thursday’s itinerary was Bannack State Park’s ghost town. This is a site on The Old West Trail that Steve researches (see www.oldwesttrailcountry.com). Josie likes this deserted mining town better than nearby (more commercial) Virginia City.

Lunch on a random Montana river, gorgeous as ever.

Next stop was Earthquake Lake. This is where a 1959 massive midnight earthquake knocked down the entire side of a mountain, burying a river, highway, campground, and also creating a new lake. Quite a geological story.

Then a quick stop at Yellowstone (inside joke: Yellowstone is massive - there is no such thing as a “quick stop”.) But we got to see some geyser action - honestly the whole place is so wonderfully primeval. We also successfully covered several items on our animal bingo card, including our first roadside sightings of my beloved bison, elk, and a coyote we initially thought might have been a wolf.

We ended the day doing some “real” camping, which means we had a wonderful campfire in a super quiet campsite in the woods. Of course, I still was able to microwave asparagus risotto with chicken sausage for dinner, so it wasn’t exactly roughing it.