Niagra Falls - Canada

After visiting the info centre and a few hours rest in our room, we headed down to see the falls. We are on the Canadian Side, which gives us a view of both the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls. The view from capitol hill is opposite the American Falls and about a kilometer from horseshoe falls. Both look spectactular especially the closer, American Falls. Its a bit of a shame how commercial the place is. Capitol Hill has 3-4 wax museums, Imax, mini golf, casino's, hotels and fast food everywhere. There are also 2-3 other tourist areas all on the Canadian side. We found a restaurant for dinner, the Secret Garden, which was quite reasonably priced and and had an (obstructed) view of the falls.

Our hotel, Glengate Hotel, is about a 20min walk from the main strip. The hotel is clean and cheap, although we were a bit disappointed. We paid extra to get a better room but the room we paid for wasn't available for our first two nights. Our first room only had a small window, was very dark, no fridge and was smallish. The second room was much nicer, spacious, better lit and a king size bed. Both rooms had a Jucuzzi and 3 tv channels. The hotel has WiFi but no public computer, we dont have a laptop! There are plenty of cheap looking hotels closer to the action with similar rooms and include breakfast that we would probably recommend.

Tuesday was Damien's birthday, and the room being so dark we slept in. My morning coffee was served in my birthday present, a Yellowstone travel mug with a bear on it, in the Jacuzzi. We then headed down to Denny's for breakfast, bacon, eggs, sausage and pancakes all on one plate!

After breakfast we went on the Maid of the Mist boat tour. It was only goes about a kilometer, about 20 minutes. The boat basically drives past the American Falls and right into the middle of Horseshoe Falls. The spray from the falls travels a long way and being in the actual horseshoe, it is hard to see and you get soaking wet. We were standing right on the front of the boat, it was really good fun!

After the tour we visited the Table Rock area which is at the top of the Horseshoe Falls. The views of the falls were just amazing. So much water, running so fast (over 100kph in some spots). We visited a few restaurants in the area looking at booking a table with a view for dinner. The Skylon Tower wouldn't take reservations, so we ended up at Edgewater, with a table on the balcony overlooking the falls. The rest of the afternoon we walked along Niagra Gorge for a bit and had a rest in the hotel room. While we were strolling along Christine had this Muslim guy demand she take a photo of him and his friends, very rude, I was about to tell him we wouldn't do it, but Christine ended up taking a photo anyway after insisting he said 'please'.

The drinks at Edgewater were great, Christine had a cocktail sampler (4 mini cocktails), while I had a few beers and a glass of red. The food was ok, Christine had the Salmon while I had a Chicken and Ribs plate. The view was great, we watched sunset and then the lights on the falls. On the way back to the hotel we grabbed some doughnuts and Christine had some candles which we lit.

Wednesday was Canada Day! This meant bigger crowds but also fireworks over the falls. We spent the day on the north side of the falls. We have purchased an adventure pass which gets us 2 days on the shuttle and 4 attractions including Maid of the Mist. Also on the pass was the white water walk, which as the name suggests is a walk, along some white water rapids below the falls. It involves a 70m elevator ride to a boardwalk and then a 300m walk to 2 viewing platforms along the gorge. It was nice but not spectacular, definately wouldn't bother unless it was free on the pass!

Next stop was the whirlpool which is a nice part of the river where it does a 90deg turn, again very touristy, with a cable car set up. Interestingly this is the site where Niagra Falls formed, in the last 12000 years it has actually moved (eroded) 7 miles up stream to its curent location. Erosion no longer continues at the same rate due to human interferrance, they have diverted a lot of the water away from the falls.

From the whirlpool we walked along the river to a golf club where we had a light, late lunch. After lunch we completed the northern loop on the bus.

After another afternoon rest at the hotel we had mexican for dinner. Again we were unimpressed with the food and margarita's, but we are a long way from Mexico now! After dinner we headed down to the gorge to watch the fire works for Canada Day. These were good to watch and a lot lower than usual, as they launch them from the river level and we are about 70m above the river. On the way home we got some more doughnuts and ate them in the Jacuzzi in the hotel. Christine also did an experiment in the Jacuzzi and learnt that if you burp under water it makes bubbles... it was very funny to watch!

Our final day at Niagra Falls was spent finishing off our adventure pass activities. We have done it in 3 days although you could do it easily in 2 days or one if you were rushing. Journey behind the falls was the first adventure for the day. This was very cool, from the top of table rock (horseshoe falls), you take an elevator down through the rock to a series of tunnels. At the end of the tunnels are 3 viewing platforms. The first is about 10 meters from the base of the falls, very wet. The next two are actually inside the falls, although you cant get to the edge of the tunnel as they are blocked off for safety. The last adventure was a 4d cartoon movie about the falls, kinda fun. You get blasted with air and water and the ground shakes. It was made more amusing by the fact the a little girl was terrified and crying. In the afternoon we sat back and had biscuits and cheese on a table overlooking the falls.

We pack the bags and had an early night as the alarm was set for 5:30. We needed to walk about half an hour to catch a bus at around 7am.

To get the greyhound the next morning we had to walk from Canada to the U.S.A.! This was fun, accross a bridge with a view (last glimpse) of the falls. We then had a 9 hour bus trip to New York.

Chicago

We only had to trave 2 hours to get to Chicago, so this bus ride wasn't so bad. We ended up walking to our accomodation once we arrived, as we couldn't find the local bus we needed. The HI hostel in Chicago is really nice and in a great location, near Millenium Park. After getting some groceries, we went to the Art Institute for the evening, free admission (thur & fri night). This is in an amazing new building and has all different styles of art, some crap, and some really good! Christine enjoyed the galleries.

Next morning we signed up for a hostel led city walking tour. This was really good, as the guide talked about the history (the whole of Chicago burnt to the ground about 100 years ago), and the architecture.

After the tour we headed down to Millenium Park and wandered along back to the hostel. The park is big and has a number of stages and sculptures. One sculpture in particular was like a giant 'bean' made of silver, that you could walk through and see your reflections in, it was very cool. The park also has a large water fountain and is the site of the 'taste chicago' festival which has just started.
After lunch and coffee we headed back to the Art Institute to quickly to see a few things we ran out of time for last night. We had to be back at the hostel by 6.30pm, as some nice Girl Guides were going to cook dinner for us, spaghetti...mmm...

Saturday morning we jumped on a bus and headed up to Lincoln Park. We strolled through the park for a bit but the main attraction was the Zoo. Its been a while since we have been to a zoo, and this is a pretty good one, and free. The highlight was seeing the beaver and otter pools from the underwater viewing windows. There were also kangaroos, lions and tigers, bears, a reptile house and an african section.

Halfway back to town we got off the bus to go to the beach. In the underpass under the road to the beach was some crazy naked guy getting arrested by the police. The beach was busy as it was a nice sunny day. Unlike at home the beach was actually concrete with a bike path along it. Its not ocean, its on Lake Michigan. You can dive off the concrete into the water which is about 3 meters deep. The beach was actually quite nice and had views of the lake and the city in the background. We walked along and found a 'sand' section where Christine was able to have a paddle.

Our next stop was the John Hancock Tower, where we took the lift to the 96th floor which is a bar/lounge. This gave us great views of the lake, city and sunset, although the weather had started to get a bit cloudy, storms expected tonight. The restaurant below was quite classy, we looked a bit out of place in our beach gear, while other people were dressed up for a night out on the town. Unlike the observatory in the Hancock building or the Sears building there is no fee to enter the 96th floor, guests are only expected to buy one drink! So we had beers and watched the sunset over Chicago and Lake Michigan.

Once we had finished our drinks it had gotten dark, we headed to Gino's Pizzeria for dinner. Chicago is famous for its deep dish pizza, and we had a few recommendations to go to Gino's. After lining up for a table where we met some Canadian girls on a shopping holiday, we were seated at a booth. Gino's is also famous for the graffiti on the walls. Guests can write or draw on the walls, so Christine drew a picture of 'roo' and a map of Australia with 'The Sheridans' written inside it. Bruchetta and a 20oz beer helped with the wait for the pizza, nearly and hour (which they told us it would be).

The pizza was different but very nice. It was about 2inches high. The base is thick and deep (like a pastry on a quiche), but the texture was a combination of pizza base and scone mix. The topping was 'upside down' cheese on the bottom and lots of sausage, salami, capsicum, olives and tomatoe - Yum! Our waitress Michelle was also very friendly and enjoyed meeting 'little mate (roo)'.

Sunday morning we checked out of the hostel and stored our bags, we have a night bus to Niagra Falls leaving at 5pm.

We took the bus down to Navy Pier which we hadn't got around to seeing yet. Typical american pier, ferris wheel, rides, fast food, wax museum and a movie theartre. We liked the fountain at the start of the pier where we could have a splash.

We then headed back to millineum park to check out the Taste Chicago festival. This was about a hundred odd local restaurants which had set up stalls in the park and had 5 or 6 menu items and 2 tasting plates available. We tried a few of the tasting plates including a boneless rib sandwich, italian doughnuts and baklava. We then returned to the hostel and had some left over pizza for lunch.

The bus to Niagra Falls was via Cleveland and Buffalo. All up it took about 15hr, the last bus from Buffalo to Niagra was only supposed to take an hour but ended up taking 2.5hrs. All of this didn't seem so bad after speaking to some guys who had taken a bus from Las Vegas to Chicago, about 50 hours! Time seemed to go quickly, especially the second half where we managed some sleep.Arriving at Niagra at about 10am we walked the 3km with our packs to the hotel, this included a breakfast stop at Tim Hortons. Suprisingly when we arrived at the hotel they gave us a room immediately.

Milwaukee

Our AirTran flight to Milwaukee was very pleasant with friendly hostesses and free softdrinks and pretzels! The bus to the hotel was not so smooth, as we were rushing, we got on the right route, going in the wrong direction. We made it eventually, just in time to miss out on happy hour at the pub next door! After settling into our room we had a few drinks and a burger in the pub, before watching some TV in our room.
Next morning we ate at the hotel, included in the price, good breakfast - frosted flakes, pretzels, doughnuts and coffee. I couldn't fit in a chocolate muffin, so I'll take that for morning tea!
The accomodation was a bit further from downtown than we had hoped, but it was only one bus, which left from right out the front. First stop was the tourist info centre, turns out there is not a whole lot to do in Milwaukee, although a huge 12 day music festival is starting the day we leave!
We walked along the riverside walk for a bit which was very nice and had a number of sculptures, including one of Fonzie, as Cheers was based, but not filmed here. We then walked to the Miller factory from downtown which was quite a hike in the heat (finally some sun, about mid 30'sc). The tour of the factory was ok. Cascade Brewery in Tasmania was heaps better. We did get 3 free beers, free pretzels and free postcards all on the free tour! We briefly checked out Michigan Lake (huge) and the art gallery back in town before trying a cheap mexican restaurant we had been recommended but we weren't that impressed, were getting a bit fussy!
Next morning Christine had a bit of a sleep in, so Damien headed downtown by himself, and then back out of town (otherside) for the Harley Davidson factory tour. This was good although it was only an engine plant, not a bike assembly plant which may have been better. Also half of the tour was off limits due to the upcoming release of a new engine.
Meanwhile downtown Christine checked out a 'la-de-da' shopping area and the art gallery again. She also made friends with a pilot who may be in New York around the same time as us.
After meeting back up we bused it back to our hotel for happy hour food and drinks.

Odd Spot - Its weird but for some reason Damien keeps getting asked if he is German. Once was in a national park, and they said it was the way he wore his scarf that they thought that. Some one else heard my voice and then asked! Must be the blonde hair, blue eyes and good looks!

Seattle Pt 3 - Nude Cycling & More Baseball

Saturday was the summer solstice festival in the Freemont area. When Kristy returned from the lab, the four of us headed down to the festival. We were just in time to see a nude old guy dancing up and down the steet, great idea this was... Shortly after that there were hundreds of people in body paint riding bikes and skateboarding down the street. Finally the street parade arrived with costumes and floats, a bit more 'normal'!

After all of the excitement, the girtls headed downtown for some more shopping. The boys headed back home to get ready for the baseball. We headed to the baseball stadium early to get our free T-shirts, Woo Hoo! A few beers and some buffalo wings in a nearby bar filled in the time until the game. In a high scoring game the Mariners went 2-0 up in the series much to Juzzy's delight. We had a few beers after the game in the Triangle Pub and then ended up in some Gangsta Night Club for a bit. When we arrived home we found the girls watching movies, eating chocolate and having pillow fights in their underwear!

Damien cooked up a storm Sunday morning, muffins, bacon and eggs.This ended up being a bit rushed as we were heading to a 1pm baseball game, with the girls this time. All week Juzzy had re-assured us that mariners would win on Sunday, as their best pitcher was playing. A clean sweep of the series was in the bag! As the game got closer, Juzzy got more nervous and less confident. Mariners were actually down early, in a low scoring game. Luckily a few late runs saw them take a late lead and hold on in the last inning to win by one run, series sweep 3-0!

Dinner and drinks downtown to celebrate before heading home for an early night.

Juzzy and Kristy kindly escorted us to the airport on Monday morning. After check in and a coffee it was time for some sad goodbyes. While it was hard to say good bye, looking on the brightside, at least we had had a great week catching up with them. Hopefully we will catch up somewhere in Europe to continue the 'Damo & Juzzy World Drinking Tour'!

Seattle Pt 2 - The Market, Mariners & Margarita's

With Kristy at work for the week we intended to do our sight seeing of Seattle in the next few days.

Our hostel, the Green Tortise was in a great location by Pike Place Market in Downtown Seattle. It also had free breakfast daily and dinner 3 nights a week. The only downside was the guy in our room who kept closing the windows and turning on the noisy fan at night.

We spent a fair bit of time at the market, with the famous fish shop where the employees throw the fish and seafood to each other, on both sides of the counter. Christine bought herself a lovely necklace and a few other things. We also got a chance to use skype to catch up with a few family and friends.

Tuesday night the boys were nice enough to let the girls have a quiet movie night. While this was happening the boys headed to a pub in town for a few games of pool and then 'sit and go' poker. All in all the poker was a great success, we played about 5 tables. Early on it wasn't looking so good after Damien went 'all in' on the first hand (with a flush), and got beaten. We bounced back however, Juzzy finishing with a 1st and 3rd and Damien a 1st and 2nd, Go Team Australia!

We returned to see how the girls were, to find them in quite a silly mood. They had finished a bottle of wine and half a bucket of frozen margarita mix we had made earlier in the day!

Wednesday we did a guided Canoe tour of Pugnet Sound, which is one of the many water ways in Seattle. This was led from the hostel, and despite advertising it as a 1-3pm tour we didnt get back until 5.30pm (we were meant to meet Juzzy and Kristy at 4.30, sorry mate!). Apart from the organisation of it all, the actual 2 hours of canoeing was great. Our lovely guide, Lizzy, was a qualified architect, so was able to tell us a lot about the city and buildings we were paddling past. We also saw a seal in the water and the first rain in Seattle for 30 days, lucky us!

After the tour we rushed back to meet Juzzy and Kristy, after all we had an important date, we were taking the girls out for a nice dinner.

Sadly the girls were a combination of rushed and tired and did not enjoy Hooters as much as we had anticipated.

Thursday we thought we would drag Juzzy down to our level. He met us at the hostel and joined in on a hostel led 'dead mans' tour. The tour was quite interesting, and different, not only did we get a guided city tour, but also saw the graves of Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Lee and the house of Kurt Cobain. Our guide, Elicia, was a hippie/punk with pink hair and tattoes everywhere. She was very friendly and was able to answer our stooopid questions.

Dinner tonight was spag bolanaise and the red wine we bought in Walla Walla...mmm...

Friday we continued our musical tour of Seattle, at the Experience Music Project. This is a really interesting and interactive music museum. Their was an Ipod narrative tour of the history of music in Seattle, a big section on Jimi Hendrix, hundreds of old guitars, instruments and albums. The interactive area had all sorts of instruments that you could learn the basics on. The ticket also got us into the Muppet Museum and the Sci Fi Museum, not much time was needed there!

We ate at a Mongolian restaurant in the Uni District, cheap noodles, meat and veggies! After dinner we headed to Juzzy and Kristy's to watch the Seattle Mariners, the local baseball team. They are starting a 3 game series against Arizona, it was a low scoring game with the Mariners winning with a big home run late in the game.

Seattle Pt 1 - Greetings, AFL & College Parties!

After breakfast by the lake we checked out of our cottage and headed north towards Seattle. While we had nothing we really wanted to see, we intended to cruise slowly up and sight see along the way. A combination of the weather still being overcast, not really seeing anything that sounded too interesting and the anticipation of getting to Seattle to see our great mates, Juzzy and Kristy, meant we pretty much drove straight there.

After unloading the car and finding a park in the busy uni district, it was time for a beer! When Kristy arrived home from work the boys took charge of dinner, and walked down to a local Thai restaurant and served it to the ladies.

We still had the car as we had arranged to spend the weekend out of town with Juzzy and Kristy, at either San Juan Islands or Leavenworth Village. Sadly, Kristy was working on the weekend so this did not eventuate. Instead on saturday afternoon we took a short drive to a waterfall and a couple of wineries.

Dinner was in the local Irish pub (for old times sake, and they have AFL on TV). The pub soon got pretty noisy with a band, so the girls headed home for a movie. The boys stayed for a bit longer (3 quarters), before moving to Earls Bar for more beers and very cheap cocktails. As the night progressed into the morning we made some new friends and (somehow) ended up at a college graduation party. Arriving home a bit after 3am, Christine was getting a bit worried, since all the bars in seattle close at 2am, but we had had a good time!

Sunday seemed like a great day to lay about and not do much! The girls went and did some shopping and then returned the hire car. All in all we were only just short of doing 3000 miles.

Mt St Helens

After the night in the brew pub Christine wasn't feeling so good, so we skipped our second day in the wineries and headed to Mt St Helens, a dormant volcano that had a major eruption in 1980. It was a fairly big drive with nice scenery along the Columbia River most of the way. After a few sight seeing stops we headed to the South side of the volcano for the night.

When we woke up the next morning, it was drizzly and overcast, our accomodation only had 5 tv channels and no weather channel, OMG! No worries, we hoped it might clear up in the afternoon.

Our plan for the morning was to visit Ape Caves which, unlike the name would suggest, has no Apes! The caves are a series of underground tunnels which were formed by the lava flow of the volcano. We thought we were so prepared, we had warm clothes on, had water, and our torches (there is no lighting in the caves).

We were soon disappointed. Our torches, which are about the sice of a AA battery, weren't exactly giving us a whole lot of light, especially Christines as the battery looked like it was about to die. We made it about 3 meters into the tunnel and couldn't see a thing!

Lucky for us, as we were about to leave, a guy from Oregon arrived who was uber-prepared, he had about 4 spare torches, and was happy to lend us a couple.

The actual tunnel went for about 0.5 mile. It was really quite amazing being in a cave without lighting or a guide, not a sound. The rock formations were great, in some parts the tunnel was about 10 meters high then it would split in two caverns, an upper and lower, which would be about 2-3 meters high.

Unfortunately when we returned to the surface the weather had not improved. We had lunch at a waterfall in Lava Canyon. Much of this track was closed after the viewpoint of the waterfall, due to weather damage. We also visited Ape Canyon (you guessed it, no Apes), which leads directly up to Mt St Helens. It was also carved out by mud, lava and land slides from the eruption. Dead trees still lye scattered through the canyon.

While we were sitting enjoying the view of the clouds in front of Mt St Helens, it started to rain, and then thunder and lightening, and then hail. We scurried back to the car.

Given the weather we gave up sight seeing and headed north. We found some accomodation in a tiny little cottage (but with a high roof), right on the silverwater lake.

The next day we headed up to the Mt St Helens observatory, which is the man part of the volcano that tourists visit. It was still overcast, cloud cover to 4000ft, which isn't ideal when you want to look at a volcano that is about 8000ft high. Still if we dont do it today, we probably never will do it, so up we went!

Mt St Helens isnt actually a national park (they actually call it a monument), we found that this makes it much more difficult to find out information about the place, and what to see and do while there. We did get a few hikes reccomended once we were actually at the observatory (cloudatory). We also got a weather update, thunderstorms expected after 11am, we found this out at about 10.50am!

While the recommended hikes were a lot longer than what we wanted, we decided to at least start some of them, try and get closer to the crater for a view. Our first walk initially headed up on an exposed, narrow and rocky track, thats what you want with lightening forecast. Our aim was to at least see Spirit Lake which is at the base of the volcano. After a bit over an hour we did get a decent view of part of the lake, but still no better views of the crater. While we wanted to continue on, we really didn't want to get too far from the observatory in case dark clouds rolled in over the lighter shade of gray clouds. About half way back we stopped and had our lunch, still with a view of the clouds in front of the volcano.

Back at the observatory we listened to a couple of really good presentations by a ranger (who's name i cant remember). Their was also some interesting exhibits in the visitors centre to look at.

After a few more stops heading back down the volcano, including another longish walk around the mud slides and debris from the eruption, we grabbed some burger patties and buns to BBQ for dinner down by the lake.

While we are both glad to have made it to Mt St Helens, we can't help but feel a but annoyed that in 2.5 days in the area we didn't actually get to see the crater. We do have a post card with it on it if any one wants to see...

Walla Walla - wine region

Our initial itinery had one day of wine tasting in the Walla Walla region, but being a day ahead of schedule we thought we might take our time and make it two days.

Our drive from Hells Canyon turned out to be much shorter than originally planned, so we were in town and ready to go by about 2pm. We tasted wines at Canoe Ridge and Zerba wineries. Sadly a few others we stopped off at were closed, recovering from a big wine festival held the day before we arrived. Zerba was especially good, with a few really nice reds, and a cute little puppy dog to play with. We bought a bottle to take to Kristy up in Seattle.

After some snacks in our hotel (something like Budget Inn Walla Walla, worst customer service so far in America, but nice rooms), we headed to a brew bar in town.

We met a local guy, Reggie, who was a very interesting guy. We shelled peanuts and threw the shell on the floor, which was really doing christines head in, sooo dirty!

Christine did however really like the beers, so we stayed a bit longer than we expected.

Hells Canyon

The drive from Yellowstone to Hells Canyon was a big one. I think it was about 650 miles and took about 13 hours. It rained almost the whole time, which made driving a bit more difficult, but we also made better time, as we did less sightseeing. M&M's, doughnuts and an hour gained in changing time zones meant we were at Enterprise (Oregon) just after dark.

Next morning we made a late start, then just explored Hells Canyon. Although it was not what we were expecting, it was still quite nice. The scenery was more like green rolling hills than sharp rock cliff edges.

We drove up to a lookout and then along the canyon and down the rim into the valley. This was a bumpy dirt road, that ended up taking about 2hrs, in a hire car... It was getting late so we headed back to the cabin after this drive, instead of continuing back up to a different view point. No loss, we later found out the road was closed half way up due to snow.

The cabin is funny but nice, the roof is all of about 7ft high.Tonight we dined at a little family run Mexican restaurant (the same one we ate at last night), great food, beer and margarita's. After dinner we had hoped to have a few more beers in a local bar, but the first one we found was closing and the other wouldn't serve us (some strange local law), so we headed back to the cabin, at about 9pm!

Yellowstone National Park

The drive from Grand Teton was relatively short, both National Parks are next to one another and as an additional bonous the weekly visitor passes are valid in both parks. The weather is still not great, cold, cloudy and drizzle. We made a few short stops in Yellowstone at a waterfall, Yellowstone Lake, Mud Volcano and Sulphur Cauldron.

Our main aim for the day was to find accomodation as we had not organised this. We were hoping to stay in the park, like Grand Teton, but the prices quickly ruled this one out. The visitors centre was really helpful giving us a list of phone numbers and a phone to make some calls. We ended up deciding on 'Hillside Cottages', just outside the north gate. Since we entered through the south gate we had to drive the length of the park, but that was ok.

Day 1 - With 3 days in Yellowstone we thought that we would have a day up north and then one in the canyon area and one at old faithful.

Our first stop was only a short drive from the north gate, Mammoth Hot Springs. This is a series of boardwalks (mum would love it!) leading up and around a heap of thermal pools and hot springs. They are very nice, all different colours and stages of life (from dormant to new formations). Some were very spectacular, especially with steam rising off them. We also spotted a Jack Hare, which was cool, like a rabbit but with longer legs and ears.

After lunch at Wraith Falls it was off to see a petrified tree (tree which has been turned to stone). On the way we pulled over with a bunch of other cars, a Black Bear was meandering along the top of a hillside. It was no where near as close as the Grizzly at Grand Teton but still the highlight of the day. After a few minutes he disappeared over a ridge.

Then not 10 minutes down the road, on the way to the petrified tree, another traffic jam. Again we pulled over, and saw another Bear! This was a lot closer (20-30m) from the car, although a ranger on a power trip, was herding people like cattle! Before we got moved on we got a decent photo and saw him stand upright and scratch his back on a tree, very cool! We sat in the car for a while just watching from a distance, until the bear eventually moved off into the hills.

By comparison the petrified tree was quite unexciting.

The rest of the afternoon we intended to do a hike in the Lamar Valley, although we never made it! A series of stops led us to see a Big Horn Sheep within meters of a Red Fox which was bounding all over the place chasing squirrels. We sat on a rock for about an hour and a half waiting for Badgers to come out of their holes, they never did, but in the same spot was a Pronghorn Deer, patrolling the area, on the look out for a pesky Coyote. She had a day or so old baby hidden in the field, which you could only see when she returned to it, every hour or so. Apparently the baby doesen't have a scent for the first week, so that its harder for predators to find them.

We kept driving in hope of seeing a Moose or Wolf, saw some more Bighorn Sheep in the distance and some young Prong Horn Deer playing in the fields. Heading back toward home we saw some Bison with calfs rolling in mud, 3 male Elk with big Antliers. Then finally a Moose grazing in a lake and some more deer playing in the foreground.

The wildlife in Yellowstone was so amazing. There was so much and all the babies had just been born. There is a lot more than what we saw in Yosemite, although the walks and waterfalls in Yosemite were more spectacular.

Day 2 - Today was forecast to be the better of the next to as far the weather goes. We thought that we would use this day to explore the Geyser area as there might be a bit of sitting around.

The drive to the old faithful area is about an hour through the park. This was made even longer by the 2 bears we saw playing by a lake. They were a bit far away, but still very exciting. We also had to stop as a herd of Bison were on the road, some nice close up photos and we stopped briefly when we saw a coyote on the side of the road.

When we arrived at the Old Faithful Geyser, we only had to wait about 20 minutes for it to blow (they are able to roughly predict 5 of the geysers in the area). We enjoyed our lunch while we were waiting. When it blew gas and water were shot into the air about 30m high, this goes on for about 5-6 minutes.

We did another boardwalk over and around some more thermal areas, which led us to the Daisy Geyser, which luckily, blew about 5 minutes after we got their. This one was very similar to old faithful, although not as high but a bit wider. Very powerful!

At the end of the boardwalk was Morning Glory, a very deep pool with an amazing range of colours (reds, greens, yellows and blues). From morning glory we were about a mile and a half from the shops and car. So naturally, this is where we were when it started raining, and then hailing.

After a coffee and warming up, we headed to Castle Geyser. About 10 minutes and a bag of M&M's later, it started to blow. This one was probably the most amazing, the first 15 minutes it blows water about 20m into the air, and after that it continues to steam for about 30 minutes. At different times rainbows would form under the steam and mist. This was the last geyser we watched before heading back home to the cottage.

Day 3 - We had an early morning today, headed to the Canyon and waterfalls for a ranger led walk at 9am. Of course on the way we saw 2 more Bears on the side of the road! After breakfast in the carpark, we headed over to where everyone was meeting.

The walk was along a canyon between the lower and upper yellowstone waterfalls. It was quite a leisurley pace and the ranger had a few interesting things to say about the canyon falls and park in general.

After the presentation had finished we continued along the path to Artist Point, a viewing platform of the canyon. This had some amazing views of the canyon and the river that runs through it. To finish the walk we took the trail to Lily Pad and Clear Lakes, rather than return the same way. This took us along some more thermals and mud pools, as well as a couple of nice lakes. Towards the end of the path it got a bit wet and muddy, fine for us in our hiking boots, but not the fat american girl coming along the path in the opposite direction. Christine had a brief chat to her, reassuring her the track dried up just around the corner. Not soon enough tho, she fell flat on her face in the mud just after we passed them, looked sooo funny. Then she asked Christine if she had a roll of paper towel, yeah cos thats what we carry on a 6-8 mile walk! Definately the highlight of the morning!!!

We did a few other short walks to views of the falls and the canyon. We wanted to eat lunch at one of the view points but it was raining so we sat in the car and watched the approaching storm.

One of the last walks we wanted to do, tower falls, was closed just before the end so we didn't actually get to see the base of the falls, kind of annoying!

We intended to just head home as the rain had set in but ended up making another stop, we had seen some big horn sheep on a sheer clif face, and took a closer look. Turns out they also had tiny lambs as well, on the edge of this cliff.