Jellystone

3 May - Managed to get to Yellowstone at a pretty early hour, which put me in a good mood. It's an absolutely increidble park - once I went through the gates and got past the steep inclined road that leads into the Wyoming part of the parkits like being in a different world. There is so much geothermal activity in the area that it's really quite terrifying - especiallyafter reading Bill Bryson's overrated history of the world, it's hard to imagine that entering Yellowstone is entering the mouth of a gigantic volcano - there were thermal springs all over the place and also several hills that were continuously outgassing steam and it looks like the mountain is on the verge of exploding. There was loads of wildlife all throughout the park - bison (including some herds with calves and a lone gigantic bull who blocked the road for about 5m), elk, deer and wolves. Apparently Yellowstone is also home to a great mythical sometimes seen in films and mockumentaries called the 'grizzly bear'. Everyone i've spoken to is convinced that it exists but I won't have a bar of it - i've been looking out for them every time I go into the mountains in BC and over here but am yet to catch a glimpse. I don't know, maybe they're all out stealing pickernick baskes. Still, there's something about seeing animals out in he wild that just puts a big stupid smile on my face that I can't get rid of of. The Not-So-Grand-Canyon of Yellowstone was also very impressive as was the faithful old geezer which is the main attraction of the park (had to wait 45m for him to blow his top but it was certainly worth it). There was no way in hell that I was going to spend a third night in the car so drove as far as I could and made it as far as missoula on the montana/idaho border. Got pulled over for speeding again on the way (never try to overtake a state highway policeman in montana) but he was very cheerful about it (once again, only going at traffic speed but wasn't going to argue especially with such a jovial chap).