Purple ZR-1 Road Trip to Yellowstone and the Pacific Northwest

[QB93Z]

We crossed North Dakota on I-94, basically a straight line for 350 miles:



The eastern portion of North Dakota is heavily agricultural. The are many very productive farms:





to be continued.....

[QB93Z]

In western North Dakota, we visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We toured the Southern Unit of the Park, an extensive Badlands area.





Since we were limited in the time available to visit the park, we drove the 35 mile loop tour of the badlands. We spotted some buffalo grazing on a hillside pasture:




We were greeted by a very large community of Prairie Dogs:




The power of nature to shape a landscape was dramatically on display in every area of the park:




We finished our trip across North Dakota and stopped in Glendive, Montana for the night.

Jim

[KILLSHOTS]

Jim is a MONSTER! Look how far he can push the rear end of Purple Z down with only his fingertips!

[QB93Z]

Hello from Yellowstone National Park. We had a problem getting working WiFi here in the wilderness. I am back on line and will be uploading some more pictures soon.

Jim

[C4Ray]

Enjoy your trip and be safe.

[C4Ray]

Living in Florida where it's all flat and wooded, it's easy to forget how beautiful the Mid-Western states are. Pics like these make me want to re-locate there.

[efnfast]

Thanks Jim.

[QB93Z]

On Saturday, we took the Yellowstone Rim of Fire Bus Tour. Since we were first-timers at Yellowstone, the eight-hour tour that covers the highlights of the whole park seemed to be a good choice.

Within ten minutes of leaving our lodge, we spotted a black bear with two cubs in a pasture area near the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The bear was distant and the cubs were too short to be photographed, but Lyndi got the Mama bear:




Here is a early morning picture of the Yellowstone River Upper Falls:




The Yellowstone River Lower Falls is the largest waterfall in the park, and this view of the Canyon was painted in 1870 by Moran, and presented to Congress the next year. By 1872, Congress passed a law establishing Yellowstone as a National Park. It was the first "National" park in the world.




As we left the Lower Falls area we came across a bison crossing a stream:






When he got to the far side, he climbed the bank, shook himself off and went back to grazing:



to be continued....

[QB93Z]

As we continued our tour through Hayden Valley on the east side of the Grand Loop Road, we encountered a large group of Bison. Lyndi got a good action shot of this male taking a "dust Bath"




The tour bus that we rode on is a 1975 International Motor Coach owned by the National Park Service. The bus has over two million miles on it, and was completely refurbished in 2009.




Here is a nice view of Yellowstone Lake from the Lake Lodge:




In the West Thumb area of Yellowstone Lake we observed some of the weird geological features that make Yellowstone so special. Here is a gas vent:





Another weird feature is this gas vent that rose from the lake shoreline and created a 190 degree pool at the edge of the lake. Rumor has it that fishermen use to stand on the edge of the vent and when they caught a fish, they would drop it in the hot pool to cook it.





Here is a photo of Kepler Falls. There are said to be over 1,000 waterfalls in Yellowstone.




to be continued....

[QB93Z]

In the Norris Geyser Basin area we saw some examples of the colorful hot springs. The colors come from minerals in the hot water refracting the light and from heat adapted microorganisms.




Here is a picture of Gibbons Falls:




And no tour of Yellowstone would be complete without a picture of Old Faithful:




Jim