The opposite of 'eventful'

(CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

5:49 am (MT) - Thursday - 41º F, humidity 86%, wind 5 mph out of the west southwest.....forecast high is 63º F......partly cloudy in West Yellowstone, MT......today's sunrise......

I was up around 5:30 am Wednesday so we could be ready to roll by 8 am.....we had 270 miles to cover before the end of the day to arrive at the offices of Delaware North that afternoon, and we wanted as much time to accomplish that as possible should our trip be anything but uneventful.

The weather Wednesday was night and day compared to Tuesday's winds......there was no wind whatsoever as we merged on to I-84 east.....I just set the cruise control and hung on as we floated ever eastward towards Pocatello, ID and I-15 northbound.  The first 70 miles seemed to evaporate before our eyes.....suddenly were pulling into a Rest Area just east of the intersection between I-84 and I-86 (we merged on to I-86).  I checked the tires as I always do once a day when we are traveling using my infrared temp gun to look for any tire running significantly hotter than the others.....they were all fine this day, which is what one would expect, right?  However, in the past I have caught tires running 20+ degrees warmer than the others of like kind and discovered early signs of tread separation saving us a blowout at a later date.  If a tire is running way hotter than the others it probably means it is beginning to fail.

Our next stop was at the Idaho Falls Love's Truck stop to top off our propane tank for the balance of the summer at $2.79/gallon.....we took on 25 gallons.  Idaho Falls was also where we left the Interstate system for US-20 which would take us the final 109 miles into West Yellowstone......

......US-20 is a nicely paved divided highway for the first 40 miles before it becomes a mostly 2 way highway for the last 60+ miles to West Yellowstone.....there are adequate passing lanes spaced out every 10 miles, or so.....

.....the snow pack is still pretty heavy in the local mountains, and all the rivers were flowing bank to bank (Snake, Teton, etc.).  After a completely uneventful drive we arrived at our destination, the Delaware North offices located just outside the gates to Yellowstone.  Since we will be attending a mandatory orientation meeting first thing Thursday we were allowed to park in their quite adequate parking lot where I now sit typing today's missive.......

......we are surrounded by a forest of lodgepole pines.  We arrived around 1:20 pm having taken just five hours and 20 minutes to cover the 270 miles with just the two stops.......the drive was completely uneventful.

Around 2 pm our friend Art arrived for the same purpose, and parked a short distance from us.  He joined us around 4 pm for the short drive back into West Yellowstone proper for an early dinner and some brews at the Slippery Otter Pub.......

......Yelp only gives them 3.5 stars on a couple hundred reviews......most, if not all of the complaints were about slow service.  We had no issue with that this day, and brews and food were exceptional.  We had, at Art's insistence, their Fried Wanton's stuffed with a delicious creamy jalapeño concoction.....OMG!

We spent part of the evening after returning to the Newell talking more with Art about things to see, and places to go over the next 3+ months......on Thursday he will be heading to Lake Yellowstone where he will work, and we will be heading to Mammoth Hot Springs.....these locations are about 50 miles apart, so we will have to make an effort to get together the rest of the summer.  Words are not adequate to express how grateful we are to Art for hooking us up with our jobs here in Yellowstone......you ROCK Art!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you need to buy something from Amazon, think of us.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.