"Stir" takes to the road again!

[Stir Young]

Hey, its me, Gary Young! You know, the smart alecky guy who was gonna go out west??? I thought I might try doing one of these blog thingies about my trip to Yellowstone Park and back.

So who is Stir? Well, that's been my nickname since I was in high school. I was originally called "Youngster" by one of my friends, I guess because I only looked about 12 years old when I was a Junior. As time went on, "Youngster" got shortened to "Ster", or "Stir", as I prefer to spell it, and people just ASSUMED that the shortened variety came about because I "stirred" up trouble. Why, nothing could be further from the truth....c'mon, you know me....I'm a peacemaker!

Well, anyway, about 2 years ago, I embarked on a quest to find people whom I'd worked with in Yellowstone Park in the summer of 1969. It became a cooperative project as I found others, and they started looking too. Along the way, we've been able to account for about 12 people, and the idea for an employee reunion came about. That reunion took place on August 14th and 15th 2009, in Gardiner, Montana, and the story that follows will hopefully tell a little about the summer of 1969 in Yellowstone Park, and my journey back there 40 years later.

And just who is that mischieveous looking guy up above? Why that's me, in the summer of 1969, of course.

[blondie 11]

Gary. now I have enjoyed your trip this far. I want to know about how the guys looked. What you ate, everything and anything that happened. Please continue, we know you are there and you got back.

[Stir Young]

I was waiting here at the Northeast Entrance.....waiting to buy my "Senior Pass". Being old does have some advantages!

[Stir Young]

The drive over the Beartooth Pass, to the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone National Park was wonderful....hard to describe in words! A co-driver would have been nice, so I could have rode shotgun and gawked at the scenery. There were a couple of road construction delays, but not much of a wait at all.

Cooke City looked to be an interesting place to check out, but I regret to say, I didn't stop. There are several motels and places to eat, but with its nearness to Yellowstone Park, I could see why I couldn't get a room there. I also noticed a sign at the service station advertising gas at well over $3.00 per gallon.

The town of Silver Gate was very small, really just a wide spot in the road. I passed through there, and very quickly came upon a Yellowstone National Park sign.

After 40 years, I'd made it back!

[Stir Young]

This picture was taken from the top (or very near to the top) of the Beartooth Pass. There were no trees up here, and it was windy and quite chilly. The road started going back down shortly after leaving this spot.

[Stir Young]

Here I am at a scenic turnout on the Beartooth Highway. It was very windy...I guess thats why it looks like I have my shorts in a bunch! HaHa! A guy, with his grey hair in a ponytail, and from Arizona, took this picture with my camera, and I used his camera to take one of he and his wife. I didn't know it at this time, but the road was going to go up a lot higher before it started back down.

[Stir Young]

My room at the Locomotive Inn was huge! It had 2 king sized beds. It also had an almost overpowering smell of cleanliness, like a whole can of Glade had been sprayed in there. I wondered if maybe someone had smoked in the room the night before, and the staff had made it "non-smoking" again.

The lady at the front desk told me that there was a nice Mexican restaurant next door, so I went over there to eat. It was a little hard to find, as the entrance was in the back of a commercial building, and when I got to the door, I saw a sign that said it was "Open evenings". As it was only about 4PM, I decided to try the Taco John's on the other side of the motel. We don't have any Taco John's in my area, so this was to be a new experience. I must say, I enjoyed the food pretty well. when I got back to my room, the smell of Glade had subsided greatly.

I had made reservations at the Yellowstone Village Inn, the reunion gathering site, for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. I had planned to just wing it, and stay whereever I ended up the upcoming three nights. Shortly before my departure, I had read several things on-line indicating that finding lodging was no problem at all in and around Yellowstone. Something told me, however, that it would be prudent to find something for the next three nights now.

I called the reservation number for the Mammoth Inn, right in Yellowstone Park, and was quickly told there were no rooms available for the next three nights. I got the same answer from two motels in Cooke City and one in Gardiner. I called the Yellowstone Village Inn, and they had a room available for Wednesday, but I would have to vacate that and move to the room next door for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I wasn't in any position to turn it down. I took the Wednesday night reservation.

That left me still needing a place to stay for Monday and Tuesday nights. The reservation clerk at the Yellowstone Village Inn told me to check at the Absaroka Lodge in Gardiner, so I did. They did have a room available for those two nights. I took it, and I felt like I had dodged a bullet. H-m-m-m, perhaps it IS prudent to get reservations!

In the morning, I headed out of Laurel, and picked up US212 heading for Red Lodge. I was in a valley, but some major hills were starting come up on either side of me. There was a fog, or mist, up higher, so I couldn't really tell fully what it looked like.

I never made it to Red Lodge in 1969, but I was surprised to see that it had a look of affluence, like somewhere along the line it had been "discovered". When I worked in Yellowstone Park, our Head Cook Betty, was from Red Lodge. She stayed with her chihuahua Corky in a small travel trailer next to the kitchen and dining facility. I remember she said her son brought the trailer over before she started work in the late spring, and he took it back in early autumn.

It was rapidly turning into a beautiful sunny day as I started up onto the Beartooth Highway. This route was going to end up at the Northeast entrance to Yellowstone Park, after passing into Wyoming, back into Montana, and through the towns of Cooke city and Silver Gate.

As I started going higher and higher, back and forth over switchbacks, the views became absolutely breathtaking. I was finally in the mountains!

[Stir Young]

[Stir Young]

I began to formulate a plan, as I headed through Eastern Montana.

If I could make it to somewhere around Billings, I'd have a easy drive the next day into Yellowstone Park. That meant more time for wandering around the park. I was starting to get more and more excited to get to Yellowstone Park. So I kept driving....I really would have liked to stop for the day, but the thought of making it to the park the next day kept me going. I stopped for gas once, but kept on going!

I made it to Billings finally, and determined that if I made it to Laurel, just a few miles further, I could head into the mountains in the morning on US212, the Beartooth Highway, and enter Yellowstone Park through the Northeast entrance.

Accordingly, I took the Laurel Exit, and quickly saw a motel that looked promising.....the Locomotive Inn. It looked to be too big to be a Mom and Pop, but it wasn't a chain motel either. I checked in to my room, and tallied up my mileage.....I'd driven 669 miles on this day.

[Stir Young]

RUDE!!

Can you tell whats on top of the sign? Yep, its the VW bus!

[Stir Young]

So I pushed on.....I quickly got to the western border of NoDak, and crossed on into Montana, and the terrian kept getting more "western Like"......hilly, rocky outcroppings and coarser vegetation. Many of the interchanges had signs reading "No Service".

I stopped once at a rest area, and there was a sign that warned of rattlesnakes.....now that creeped me out big time. I finished my business and got back in the car, heading westward again.