We’re not in a huge rush. Our flight leaves at 4 pm so our target arrival time to the airport is 2 pm. We figure we can’t really fit anything major in today and on top of that we all saw and did what we had wanted to up to that point anyway. Our bags were packed, and we were organized for the plane ride: fanny pack ready for personal items at security check, belt removed from my pants, neck pillow hanging off our “one per person” personal items. My fishing pole, which once sat in the trunk ready to deploy at any pullout, was disassembled and trapped in a hard-sided luggage smushed in between a mix of hard and soft souvenirs, gear, and dirty laundry.
Checklist: We needed to pick up food since there wouldn’t be any offered on either of our flight legs. I also wanted to check out some thrift stores that I saw but missed on the last trip to Bozeman to mail out our Covid tests. The last thing was to gas up as close as possible to the airport. On top of everything, we figured we might maximize the experience by geocaching our way there (internet permitting.)
And so we said goodbye to West Yellowstone and headed to Bozeman.
We started geocaching immediately. A few nights ago in West Yellowstone we tried to look for this one night at 10 or 11 pm. Although it looked like it was just a block away from homes on the map, when we got there I was worried I might get 1) mauled by a bear or 2) jacked by troublemakers. I don’t want to get all political up in here but that was the one time during the trip I wish I had a handgun. (Assuming I knew how to handle one, that is.) That first night we went there, the GPS showed it being on a “jeep road” and like I said it was only a block away from civilization. It was a rutted out dirt road with a few wide puddles I didn’t want to get stuck in. That night it was the kind of road that evoked a movie-like fear. When we got out of the car and the interior lights went out, it was pitch friggin black. For a second it was amazing. I could see a strip of star-covered sky in the open area above the road not covered by pine trees. Then I worried about dying again and so we dug out. What was weird was that the speed limit sign on that road said 45 mph for snowmobiles. In our car I couldn’t drive faster than 10.
Anyway that long story should have been in another post but what I was getting to was that we figured daytime would feel much safer, and it was.
Next one, same road.
At it again at a totally different spot along the way. These roadside mail boxes must service the entire neighborhood. We tried a couple others along the way but didnt take pictures. One was at a marijuana dispensary that was under construction. Success. We did not succeed at “grandpaws secret fishing spot.” We geocached like it was our last day in town.
There was something unexplainably heartwarming and down to earth about seeing the kids sitting on some randos used furniture reading books outside of a thrift store.
Do not underestimate the sandwiches at Pickle Barrel. My order was surprisingly heavy. I was wondering if we took someone else’s order.
I got a few pickes to go in a paper bag. Pickle Barrel ended up haunting our journey with pickle juice. The sandwiches came in a paper bag, and between the veggies and sauce and bag of pickles, everything in my backpack ended up smelling like pickle!
For our “warm” travel meal, we got lunch from BBQ 3. Brisket sandwich, burnt ends sandwich, catfish hoagie. Sides of mac and cheese x2 and fried okra. The boys loved the burnt ends, and I couldn’t believe the catfish stayed crunchy in the box. It reminded me of the McDLT sandwich McDonald’s had way back when for a short time.
Earlier in the trip at a stop off that reminded me of Tantalus, I found that I suddenly had full cellular phone reception. While sitting in the car and thinking about my dependence on the internet, I remember looking up and seeing a single feather poked onto a fence, someone or some force placed it there. They placed it there for me. For me to find and take for guidance. Guidance in case our GPS stopped. In exchange we gave it an honored spot in the vehicle. We even returned the rental car like that hoping it might help guide its next renter into adventures similar to what we did. You’re welcome, traveler.
The WOO family page 