Colorado, from a New Yorker's point of view

Today is day three in Yellowstone, day five of the road trip.  It’s about time I start writing.

Yellowstone.  I’m sitting in my room all alone  I should be in the pub.  I want to be in the pub.  However, I was told I can’t go to the employees only pub.  My plan was to just walk over, the worse that could happen is that they kick me.  However too many people know I shouldn’t be in the pub.  My breakfast server, invited me to the pub.  He wanted me to play darts and pool.  The feeling wasn’t unanimous among the other employees.  Actually it was unanimous, just in the other direction.  The staff was very cool, I got drinks & shots bought for me every night I was there.  But it was clear I wasn’t welcome in the employees only bar.

After spending years in the hospitality industry I consider myself one of them more than I consider myself a tourist.  I’d rather hang with the staff then with the tourists.  I hate tourists, I love travelers.  At some point I’ll have to write about the difference.  There is something about the hospitality industry that I miss.  It is such a love hate relationship.

I’ve wanted to get out of town for a while.  I was supposed to go to Peru.  (Sidebar – Grand Manier is a beautiful on a cold winters night.)  I thought about heading to Vancouver.  I wanted to go to Vancouver.  I want to go to Vancouver.  I decided that without knowing what type of camera equipment I could bring it wouldn’t be worth the trip.  I’d hate to rent some sick L series glass and then be told I couldn’t bring it in.  Shame on the Olympic committee.  Their website indicated that tourists could take all the pictures they wanted, as long as they weren’t professional photographers.  So, as an amateur I can rent and use a 300 2.8?  How many strobes can I set up?

Without knowing these answers I decided to head to Yellowstone.  I figured if I find a job soon and I will regret not traveling.  Peru and Vancouver would probably have been cheaper, but whatever.  Nothing is as cheap as your first estimate.

I spent two nights in Jackson Wyoming.  Jackson is a cool ski town.  There is not much else going on, but it is good if you love the outdoors.  I went to the million dollar cowboy bar, which a famous institution.  The bar stools are all saddles.  You would think that a “million dollar bar” could invest in a POS system that could keep track of food and beverage individually, but no.  When I wanted to eat I had to walk to separate corner of the bar and place my order.  I don’t care if they are two separate businesses.  Make it work.  The Atomic Cowboy in Denver makes it work.  Their elk burger was good, but their real specialty was their elk chili.  During the day I explored Grand Tetons National Park.  As you can see from the pictures the park is absolutely gorgeous.  In the background there are these huge, jagged mountains.

Yellowstone is also very cool.  The wildlife is amazing as are the geothermal features.   I definitely want to head back in late May or early June as soon as the park roads are plowed and fully open.  During that time of year you can see bears, which are hibernating right now.  You can also see all the new born animals.  In the summer the park is over-run with tourists and the bears move to higher elevations, which make them harder to spot.

Here are some pictures.  I’m not going to bore everyone with the specifics about the wildlife or the geothermal features.  You can Google it if you are interested.  I will just say walking about the geothermal features is like being on another planet.

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