After a couple of days in and around the charming town of Jackson Hole, it was time to hit the road.

Unfortunately the weather gods were not smiling on me and my view of the Grand Tetons was completely obscured - possibly a good thing as it meant I kept my eyes on the road! And what a pleasure it is to drive in this part of the world - wonderful scenery (weather notwithstanding), straight and fast roads, and hardly any other traffic, although this is possibly due to the time of year. Before I knew it I was up to the park entry for Yellowstone, paid my $50 and was on my way into the park. This is per standard vehicle and valid for a week, so pretty good value.

Of course, you can spend many days exploring this vast national park (and many do) but unfortunately I was on a tight schedule so I just stopped off a couple of times. Firstly I took a lunch break by Yellowstone Lake and scoffed the lovely tuna bagel I'd bought back in Jackson Hole. I then took a wander outside in the freezing conditions. The view across the lake was pretty non-existent but you could imagine how stunning it would be in the summer. You practically tripped over geothermal pools and I even stumbled across a few friendly elk (at least I think that's what they were - we don't see many of them in London).

























I then took the southerly route towards Old Faithful and was lucky enough to time it to coincide with the next 'eruption', which takes place roughly every two hours. Quite a crowd had gathered, although I imagined it would be much busier in peak season. The plume of water and steam would have appeared even more spectacular with a blue sky backdrop, but it was very impressive nonetheless, and I felt privileged to have witnessed it - something of a bucket list item ticked off.















There is a small interactive visitor centre, gift shop and hotel around Old Faithful, although the latter was closed at this time of year. Quite a good set up all in all. You can tell just how busy it gets in the summer by the sheer number of parking spaces available!

My plan after that was to head straight to West Yellowstone where I was overnighting at the Holiday Inn, but I kept getting distracted by the beauty around me...



























I arrived at the Holiday Inn West Yellowstone later afternoon after a really enjoyable day. This was just a brief night stop but I was pleasantly surprised - comfy bed, decent wifi, small gym and pool, good burger washed down by a good local craft beer. There was also free coffee in the lobby the next morning. What more could I ask for?

Next up - deeper into Montana: The Resort at Paws Up and Ranch at Rock Creek.

Any questions or comments welcome.