23 days, 11 states, One minivan, 4300 miles

[queenie82]

I'm a little off the ball...I have no idea what you guys are talking about??

Anyway
1. Which one of the 5 castles is your favourite and how would you rank them?

The most beautiful castle is Paris. It just has an elegance not found with the others. It's sort of a compromise between Disneyland and Magic Kingdom.
It is often said that Cinderella castle is too big. And I do see their point. But I find Sleeping Beauty Castle a bit small.

Hong Kong is the same as Disneyland as far as I can tell. But they had these metal ribbon decorations that sort of took it out of proportion. They actually call it Tinkerbell castle in the park guide
This is a night shot...

2. Outside of the two in the US, which one of Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong would you recommend to anyone else?

Tokyo is the most unique.
Paris is great. But if you were only going to choose one and had been to both the US parks. I'd go to Tokyo I think.

Hong Kong as a destination is very expensive so I wouldn't bother with it unless it was a stopover as part of a Europe trip.

I do have a soft spot for Paris. And there will be far less language barriers. (Although some of the CMs could do with better English.)
But I Tokyo is simply amazing

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks Queenie. That's a gorgeous shot of Tinkerbell Castle!!

Okay. Tokyo is a pretty easy sell for me to DH.
Now, I just need to print some money.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Wow that is an awesome castle. I did not know they were different. I love the way you express yourself in riding roller coasters. Keep up the great TR.

 

[queenie82]

Wow that is an awesome castle. I did not know they were different. I love the way you express yourself in riding roller coasters. Keep up the great TR.

Thanks. The rest of the report won't be that exciting. I started the trip report mainly because it was a release reliving those turbulent days. But I will get to the rest of the trip in time.

For now...please go to http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2670653

 

[queenie82]

Ok...well after some prodding by PrincessinOz
Well....more like sharp smacks on the head
I've come to this decision...

I'm uploading some photos from my 'bear' encounter.
I will put some random bits on the TR I think. I basically got stuck in Chicago. It is quite a task going through the stuff I did there. So I just stopped.
So I'll skip to Yellowstone and put some random 'encounters' and highlights I think?? Sound like a plan??
No promises...but that is the new plan

Being October the bear jams weren't too bad. This encounter was a side of the road one. Our second bear encounter. A baby black bear.
We followed the guidelines and stopped on the other side of the road and didn't approach too close. Or course baby bear had other plans and was looking for mum. I was keeping an eye out for mum too!!!
All was going fine...
He was over there...

Looking for mum

Then...
he decided to cross the road...





towards me....




most specifically me....

I backed away towards the car calmly but being a baby he doesn't walk in a straight line. He wandered and then bolted. I was about 6ft away at his closest. Something like that.


Our first bear encounter was a great experience. He was up near the petrified tree and there is a fairly large pullout up there. He had STARTED down the bottom of the road so people were all parked along the road. We were aiming for the tree so drove to the top.
Gradually he moved his way up and Mr Ranger was on scene. We asked him if we could park and watch in the pullout and we did. We had a clear shot and it was wonderful watching him. (The bear not the ranger)

Random photo

 

[PrincessInOz]

Firstly,



And then you....



And now me.....



Just keep going! Just keep going!




Before you know it....this will be you and me....

 

[queenie82]

Firstly,



And then you....



And now me.....



Just keep going! Just keep going!




Before you know it....this will be you and me....

You just couldn't resist starting a new page with your post could you

For those wondering what she's yammering about please return to the bottom of page 3
Thank you
:

 

[PrincessInOz]

Just a reminder....

Your job is to .


Mine is

 

[queenie82]

There are a few ways to approach and travel through Yellowstone National Park.
As we were starting in Chicago we were coming from an Easterly Direction. We had wound our way up through Miller (where they make Miller Lite beer)

Minnesota (stopping in at Mall of America as well as Minneapolis proper)

and South Dakota (errrr....passing through...oh right the Big heads!!, Badlands and Needles Highway)

Badlands

Needles Highway

With Needles Highway I'm beginning with 2 very important photos. The tunnels you must pass through to partake in this drive. I believe there were 3. The reason for this is partially Shushh who will be travelling in a BIG van.
We were in a Dodge Grand Caravan.....and we had inches clearance all around. It was comfortable enough...but TIGHT...
An typical SUV would probably be ok....but I wouldn't go much bigger.
To add to the fun the tunnels are in 2 way road sections although only one vehicle wide. So you put on your headlights and blast the horn as you go through. Really conducive to the enjoying the beautiful natural environment surroundings....but....safety first!!
I would try and ask someone who knows the road and area about the vehicle you intend to use before going on this road. It is a single lane (one way) narrow road at times as well.

I don't want to discourage people. I just want to warn. I'd survived Chicago so I was ok by now. But although a BEAUTIFUL road with lovely landscaping. It is something you just need to be aware of.

(to be continued...)

 

[queenie82]

(continued from above...)

Big Heads...nuf said

Wildlife trail

Our First Bison encounter

Then we found the rest of them...

We stayed the night in Cody. A nice enough place. Not a lot to say really. A place to rest the weary head of the Designated Driver...

What was interesting though were the lovely sites to see between Cody and Yellowstone. A lovely drive really. I unexpectedly found myself pulling into parking bays regularly to hop out and take photos. What we saw...up next

 

[queenie82]

The Road From Cody to Yellowstone

Attempting to capture the Autumn Colours...

Who's dat hiding over there...

We were nearly at Yellowstone

 

[PrincessInOz]

Do my eyes deceive me?

Big Heads...nuf said

.........Did you just leave me this opening??????




















Seriouly good photos of the amazing countryside ! And you just got stuck in Chicago for all this time!



I'd forgotten about those tunnels in that route. Thanks for sharing!


Yellowstone next

 

[queenie82]

Do my eyes deceive me?




































.........Did you just leave me this opening??????




















Seriouly good photos of the amazing countryside ! And you just got stuck in Chicago for all this time!



I'd forgotten about those tunnels in that route. Thanks for sharing!


Yellowstone next

hehe...I have a big head...I never deny that...so yep a big opening left for you

And yes...a psychological barrier Chicago. I can't explain it.
Here the pictures tell the story and for whatever reason it is much easier...at the moment at least. I leave the right to have another mental block

 

[queenie82]

Welcome to YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK!!!
We had a truly beautiful day when we arrived. This National Park is vast and beautiful and really quite diverse.

These photos below show a LOT of dead trees...
I'm not sure THESE are technically dead though....I just can't remember their status. They have been doing thinning. But I can tell you WHY there are so many trees that look like this...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gre...bark-pine-ravaged-throughout-yellowstone.html

Part of the article

A decade or so ago, big pockets of rust started appearing as the green pine needles succumbed to infestation and disease. Since then, it's become worse: Unable to fend off invading armies of mountain pine beetles, large swaths of the forest have simply died. An alarming part of the high-elevation landscape across the mountains of Wyoming, eastern Idaho and southern Montana is gradually turning eerie and gray.

In spite of this it is still a beautiful park. But it is very sad

These birds are bloody big and very creepy. Too many and it reminded me of "The Birds"

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's sad to see those trees! I've got a picture of Lake Yellowstone at sunset on my "rogue's gallery" wall and you can see the pine trees all looking healthy!

 

[queenie82]

First stop was into Stinky time....

These seriously STINK!!!

The thermal pools we went to later weren't so bad. But this.....NASTY!!!

If this is what Dragon's Breath smells like I don't want to meet one

 

[queenie82]

After Stinky Town we continued on and spotted many more Bison.
All over the place. It's really quite easy to find them it seems. But I do believe it does depend on the season.

We didn't see any Moose. [Well...I think around Tetons we saw one in the far far distance...but that doesn't count] No Grizzly bears. Only 2 Male elk (lots of females in one area) But Lots of Bison.

MY ROAD

After that we went to our next batch of stops. In and around Upper and Lower Falls. There are various viewing areas and different 'levels' to see these falls.
The 'rocky' areas at Lower Falls I believe were called "Artists Point" due to the colours but although I always tried to take a photo of signs I didn't capture one for here.

It's all in the same section though.

First up - Upper Falls

Lower Falls

 

[heidispidi]

These pictures are fantastic. Am I the only one to find those bison very cute?! I love everything volcanic, and would love to return to the US one day, if only to visit Yellowstone and the Washington region near Mt St Helens Thanks for sharing this lot of pics!

 

[queenie82]

These pictures are fantastic. Am I the only one to find those bison very cute?! I love everything volcanic, and would love to return to the US one day, if only to visit Yellowstone and the Washington region near Mt St Helens Thanks for sharing this lot of pics!

Thank you for the compliment
I think the Bison are VERY cute

I love Desert areas and Mountains. I ADORE the Bungle Bungles and surrounds in WA, Monument Valley etc.

I also love Volcanic areas but I have to say this was a bit too.....fresh
I prefer Volcanic as found in Hawaii.

But this is a BEAUTIFUL area of the world. As I say I was really surprised on the area between Cody and Yellowstone.

Just a few more photos from Lower Falls

Before returning to a gas mask area...

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm enjoying my internet tour of Yellowstone. Thanks for absorbing the pong.

Great pictures!