Can you hear me now?

Can you hear me now? Not in Yellowstone, or most of Wyoming for that matter.

From Cody, WY rt 20 took us to the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The passage was not the easiest, especially at 3:00am.Though we couldn't see most of our surroundings, we did notice steep grades and even a dam that we drove over as we passed through the mountains.

Entering the park, I was a little scared to see a sign that read "extreme danger: grizzly bear frequented-site". I was more scared, though, when a deer charged at the rover and ran right at our rear wheel, until darting away at the last second.

Because the official park entrance is not open at 3:30am, I pulled off on a turnout to park Winne and get some sleep. Rest was not had easily, though, as thoughts of hungry grizzlies plagued my weary mind.

We awoke Saturday morning and cruised through beautiful Yellowstone National Park. We passed towering snow-covered mountains, endless mirror-lakes, rolling rapids, and a few buffalo-- just on the way to the RV park, where we got squared away and then set out for more exploring.

We first hit the boiling mud-pool area, which looks like something straight out of a hollywood depiction of post-apocolyptic wasteland. The sulfuric gases prevent most life from taking root on the ground near the bubbling silver pools, and many fallen trees line the pathways. Don't get the wrong idea though, the scene was pretty spectacular, like nothing any of us had ever seen before.

We spent the rest of our day hiking around Yellowstone's Grand Canyon and waterfalls. What a sight-- words don't come close.

Dinner, sleep, and an early Sunday wake-up. We hit Old Faithful and the hot springs. Though impressive, Old Faithful didn't hold a candle to the many other natural wonders Yellowstone has to offer. The deep blue-gren hot srpings, on the other hand, were very cool and we hiked three miles checking them all out.

Lunch and we set sail for Vegas, passing through Grand Teton nat'l park which rivaled Yellowstone in its aesthetic beauty. Treacherous mountain passes challenged the rover. We made it safely out of Wyoming though (notwithstanding two more close-calls with deer), through 30 miles of Idaho, and more mountains in Northern Utah.

As I write we are refueling in Nowhere, Utah, 112 miles from the Nevada border and another 120 from America's playground. More details to follow-- stay tuned.

L