For those that felt my trip to Yellowstone was a bit brief. There was a reason. My hope was to return to the park on Day 13. But first I needed an oil change.

I woke up around 8 am and headed across the freeway to the quick lube. There was a line already, so I left the car keys and walked over to Wal-Mart. There I bought the new Train CD (like you couldn't have guessed) and the new Tim McGraw. The Train CD was soon to become the most played CD on the trip.

Yellow Flowers (Yellowstone NP, WY)

The attendant told me the used oil looked fine and there were no losses over the drive, so I happily drove on. I took I-90 to Livingston and cut south on US-89. I stopped at the local Albertson's to buy another 6-pack of Aquafina so I'd have some water in a pinch. Then I fueled up, while the prices were somewhat cheap.

The drive down the highway was pleasant, although not as nice as US-287 north of West Yellowstone. As you pass the tourist town of Gardiner, Montana, you pass through the gate entrance to Yellowstone in Montana. Not long after you pass into Wyoming. This is where I happened across some more elk.

Buffalo (Yellowstone NP, WY)

I was a little disappointed that I had seen so many elk, but so few bears. But in a matter of minutes I found a black bear. It was totally by chance. I had decided to drive up the little road to the Petrified Tree. There were a ton of cars parked there and people looking into the dead trees. I wasn't sure why. As I drove back down the hill from the unimpressive Petrified Tree (basically it is a stump with a fence) I spotted the black bear down the hill.

I slowly pulled the car up and joined the group of people staring at this wonderful beast. We were all stretching our zoom lenses to the max, but he wouldn't move closer or turn his face to us. My picture of him looks like a black dot. Not too impressive. I gave up and moved on toward Tower Junction.

Mr. Buffalo (Yellowstone NP, WY)

The road was closed to the canyon so I could only go so far. When I stopped at the northern part of the canyon, I stopped to talk to a man who was watching an osprey and her young in a tree. I watched and talked with him for some time. He was quite knowledgeable about history and the region.

When I returned to the car and headed back the way I came it, suddenly I found another large grouping of people and a traffic jam at an overlook. Suddenly I saw the fruit of my labors, a grizzly bear cub, grazing on some daisies. There was a Park Ranger there keeping all the idiots from moving too close.

The wittle bear cub (Yellowstone NP, WY)

Apparently, a woman had been attacked by a bear in the park the day before. When she dropped to play dead, it nibbled on her ear and then left. If that were me, I think I would have had a heart attack or something.

I stopped in my car and snapped a couple of pictures. The cute little guy was totally undisturbed by all the commotion around him.

As I followed the highway, I caught sight of more buffalo and was asked by an oriental man to take his picture with the animals as a backdrop.

Inspiration Point (Grand Canyon, WY)

I made my way back to Mammoth Hot Springs and stopped at the convenient store. There I bought some trinkets and a stick of beef jerky for my lunch. I again was in a thrifty mode and didn't want to spend all day in the crowded cafe, waiting for lunch. When you are on a flash tour like I was, you have no time for trivial things like...what would you like on your hamburger.

My next stop was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Basically it is a huge hole with plenty of overlooks. Okay, so it's more than that. In fact, it was quite awesome. It made me less sad that I had missed the real Grand Canyon in Arizona.

There were many points at which to take photographs. None of the ones I took could give you any idea of how deep this canyon really was. The two waterfalls were both over 300 feet high. One level had a geyser underneath and the falling water forced up the pressure from the geyser, making an interesting spewing effect.

Artist's Point (Grand Canyon, WY)

Beyond the canyon, I made my way back to Yellowstone Lake, where I had been a couple days before. The rest of the drive through the park was basically uneventful. I again saw ducks, but again they wanted nothing to do with me, so my pictures really were not very good.

The drive along US-20-14-16 out of Yellowstone is a pleasant rolling drive. There is one point where you make quite a decent from the higher elevations of the Rockies. There was not much in the way of gasoline or food along this trek, but I had sufficient supplies to get me to my nights stay in Cody, Wyoming.

While on my way past Sleeping Giant Mountain, I discovered a wonderful valley, that featured what I later found out to be Elephant Rock. To me, it looked like two faces or statues, like the ones at Easter Island. The formations were incredible and I pulled the car over to snap some pictures of the shaped red rocks.

Past Elephant Rock, I continued through the river valley and noticed many rock shapes that reminded me of Mexican Hat Rock in Utah. The mountains were littered with different tilting and balanced rocks. Behind me, I could see the snow covered peak of Sleeping Glass Mountain. It was another of those locations that took my breath away.

Elephant Rock (Wapiti, WY)

Slowly, the land turned desolate as I passed the Buffalo Bill Dam. After passing through the tunnel, the landscape lost most of its luster and I was happy just to be close to my hotel.

When I arrived in Cody, it felt like I was really in the west. I was determined to have that steak I had been chasing for days. Surely there was a good steak place in Cody, Wyoming?

I stayed at the Best Value Inn, and although it's not much to speak of on the outside, the rooms were cozy and comfortable. I talked at length with the woman who checked me in. She said I should go to Bear Tooth Pass in the morning...that it was not to be missed. I told her I had heard about it and probably would go that way. I also asked here where I could get a great steak at a place that wasn't too fancy. She said, "fancy?" apparently, Cody is a pretty laid back town. She gave me a suggestion and I decided to walk to the place.

It was a nice cool, casual evening. When I arrived at the restaurant, it was alive with activity. From end to end I saw cowboy hats galore. I knew I was in the right place. I mo-zeed up to the bar and ordered me a steak and potato (oh I did get a salad too, but don't tell the other fellas). Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, just what the cardiac surgeon ordered. I was quite pleased and enjoyed a couple of Coronas.

While there, the girl at the bar was way too busy to get any conversation with, but I did talk to a nice looking waitress. I asked her if most people there were natives, she said they were, but she wasn't. She was from Connecticut. I asked her how she stumbled into Wyoming and she said her boyfriend brought her out there. But she soon dropped that burden and decided to stay on her own.

She said she thought she would miss trees, but she said she really got used to living out there and that it didn't bother her much.

I put my cash down for the meal and left happy. I made my way back to the room and watched a little TV. Next thing you know, I was down for the count.

> Day 14