Day 43
8:44 AM MT.

After a memorable night (I’ll get to that shortly) we wake up to frigid -3 degree temperatures smack dab in the middle of Yellowstone National Park.

We had a comfortable night sleep in Dale’s cabin located in central Yellowstone near Lake Village. The cabin is “cozy” (as they say in the real estate business) and we were forced to go without any cell phone reception, internet connection, or any other multimedia for the night! I have to say, it wasn’t easy to be totally detached from the world. We’d spent the previous 43 days constantly connected to blackberries, laptops, and telephones, and last night we found ourselves completely removed from society up in the mountains.

We wake up extremely early to see a bit more of Yellowstone and hit the road for our longest drive of the trip so far. We leave Dale’s cabin and make our way towards the South Entrance to Yellowstone. Before leaving the park, we stop at a few more beautiful sites including Yellowstone Lake. It was almost magical watching the morning mist lift off of the water.

While most of the roads are clear, the remnants of a recent snowstorm remain on the final stretch of road out of the park and it’s a bit treacherous. We creep out of Yellowstone at about 25 MPH but make it safely into Grand Teton National Park where we stop a few more times and then head on towards Denver.

It’s easy to get numb to the amazing natural beauty that exists here in Yellowstone. I am just in awe of everything I’ve seen and so thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to experience all that this great nation has to offer.

Big shout-out to the minivan which has carried us safely and with gusto over almost 10,000 miles now. Here she is in all her glory as we get ready to head towards Denver.

-Matthew