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Back from Vacation

In 7 days:
Badlands
Black Hills (incl. Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse)
Eastern Montana
Beartooth Pass (a road climbing up to 11,000 feet – a scenicly terrifying way to get into Yellowstone)
Yellowstone
Sleeping outside under the stars (no tent, long story)
More Yellowstone
Eastern bits of Idaho (incl. Victor, ID which is on the west side of the Tetons)
Jackson Hole, WY
Grand Tetons Park
Yet more Yellowstone
Return to Eastern Montana
Back through South Dakota and terrifying but brilliant storms.
Home.

I love mountains and the west. I haven’t been out west since 99 and really forgot how much I love the fresh smell of pine forests. I even enjoyed our second night of camping that actually involved sleeping in a tent.

The Drive From Hell

Ordinarily when the authorities say things like “avoid unnecessary travel” I do just that. Oh, sure, in the middle of winter when there’s just been a huge snowstorm it’s fun, no it’s mandatory, to put on the winter clothes and test your driving skills in ridiculous amounts of snow.
Saturday, unfortunately, I HAD to drive, up north to retrieve Adam from his week of camp Grandma and Grandpa, Spooner site.
I left home at 9:18am on Saturday and finally hit the opened portion of 90/94 at 12:20pm. It was bloody awful. And it wasn’t just the stop and wait bits. No, it was the idiot guy in front of me driving his teal Honda civic with a really loud, huge muffler. So everytime we got to inch forward, he of course, had to make a loud, annoying vroom vroom noise.

New and Exciting Medical Terminology

Costochondritis.

“Costochondritis is an inflammation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone (sternum). It causes sharp pain in the costosternal joint — where your ribs and breastbone are joined by rubbery cartilage. Pain caused by costochondritis may mimic that of a heart attack or other heart conditions.”

It’s pretty damn uncomfortable.