The road trip continues. It seems I left off by giving you a quick glimpse of the Devil’s Tower, which we visited on Day 4. For those of you who don’t know, the Devil’s Tower is in Wyoming and figured prominently in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I wouldn’t exactly call myself a huge fan of the movie or anything, but ever since I saw the movie years ago, I’ve hoped to see the Devil’s Tower. Of course, since it’s in the middle of nowhere Wyoming, I never thought I would. Well thanks to the Great American-Canadian Road Trip, that’s changed now.

The Tower was really amazing. Yes, it’s just a volcanic intrusion exposed by years of erosion, but it’s still a dramatic anomaly in the landscape. I can see why the aliens would want to hang out there ;-)

Before the trip to the Tower, we spent the evening in Sundance, WY, former home of the Sundance Kid. So of course, we took some pictures with the town’s commemorative statue.

I think this photo’s going on my CV. Badass!

Days 5 and 6 were spent in Yellowstone National Park. We didn’t have time to explore the park all that thoroughly, but we got to see a fair number of some of the park’s most breathtaking sites. By far the most awe-inspiring of these was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The canyon walls are steep and brilliant in color, and the falls at the end of it are spectacular. Although I think the best part is just how close you can get to the edge of the canyon–nothing like a healthy dose of fear to really make you appreciate the power of nature! Honestly, my pictures don’t really do the canyon justice. I’d go back to see it in a heartbeat.

Other highlights from Yellowstone include the sulphur cauldron and mud volcanoes, Old Faithful, and the Mammoth Hot Springs. These last two weren’t actually that spectacular–Old Faithful isn’t all that impressive as a geyser, it’s just fairly regular in its eruptions, and a lot of the hot springs seem to have dried up because the thermal vents shifted in recent years. The roiling mud puddles were pretty cool, however. I love seeing the colors produced by the microorganisms growing in the pools. But again, also a little scary. The puddles I had really wanted to see were actually closed because the trail gave way recently and some poor woman’s leg broke through the thin surface crust and into scalding hot water underneath! Another highlight was seeing all kinds of wildlife. We saw deer, elk, marmots, bison, and a bear. Oh yeah!

This guy likes hanging out by the stinky sulphur cauldrons. Don’t ask me why.

Alas, the trip hasn’t been all fun and games. As most of you well know, I’m usually about as pale as a ghost’s ass. This means two things: 1. I don’t tan, I freckle and right now my arms are disturbingly freckly. 2. Despite slathering myself with sunscreen several times daily, I’m still getting a sun rash on the back of my hand. It’s nothing serious, but it’s itchy, annoying, and it makes me look like I have some kind of hand herpes. See folks, I avoid the sun for good reason.

Yes, I really am a vampire.

Now we’re on the last legs of our journey. Not too many points of interest on the agenda for the next few days, just some full days of driving toward Vancouver. Hopefully, all will continue to go as well as it has been and we expect to arrive in the next two days.