State #11...Montana

Saturday morning came bright and early!  Although the race didn't start super early for me.  I actually didn't arrive at the starting line until 6:15...late for a race.  I walked to the starting line to get my legs warmed up; got there in time to fill my water bottle, use the potty and start running!  I didn't take many pictures of the course though.  It was so hard!!  The course was one that went through a forest and by a stream, but I was only focused on my feet in order to make sure I didn't trip.  The first 5ish miles were on a gravel road, but then miles 5-7 were uphill!  And rocky!  And the rocks kept going!!  But nonetheless, I kept going and finally finished.  I think this is the 2nd most difficult half I have run.  (Lake Powell and the sand dunes is still the hardest!)  At the finish line, I received my Yellowstone medal and then the last three medals of my Grand Quad!  It was a little emotional to be honest.  And I didn't realize until then how tired I was!

 

My Bison Double Medals

While I was running, Dave went fishing.  This was the first time he could fish without me waiting for him to finish.  He had a good day. 

And while he was fishing, I shopped and ate!  After cleaning up, I was hungry!  I started my eating day by getting a huckleberry muffin!  Super yummy!  Then a little shopping before getting tacos at the Taco Bus, Taqueria Las Palmitas.  

I was able to buy my share of hucklebetty items before heading to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center.  I finally was able to see a live grizzly that didn't run away from my camera!

I was thinking of heading back to the hotel to rest, but I really wanted some French Fries!  So I headed to Bullwinkles.  I didn't only want junk today, so I got a salad with my fries!  And some really, really good huckleberry cheesecake!!

I finally got some rest at the hotel before Dave came back.  We headed back into the park to take pictures of my medals before we went back to Bullwinkles for dinner!  Dave got a steak, but I got some trout in honor of the fish Dave had been catching!  I did refrain from eating more cheesecake.  

Bison Double medals...the Yellowstone 5K and Half

The Grizzly Double Medals...the Grand Teton and Yellowstone halfs

The Grand Quad Medal

The Grand Quad Medals...all four races

All eight medals from all the races and the double medals....

they were a little heavy!  And they got me stopped for a bag check at the airport!

Dave got one more chance to fish in Yellowstone!

It had been an awesome trip, but we were both pretty tired.  And we had to get up at 4 to get both of us to our two different airports for our flights home.  Dave's flight left at 8:30 and landed at 11:30 with two layovers, but time to eat.  Amy's  left at 1:40, after a 7 hour drive to Salt Lake City, and landed at 9:30 with only one layover and no time to eat.  Not sure who had the best time getting home!  Either way, it was worth it to have had one of our best trips ever!!!    

Moving to West Yellowstone and part 3 of my Quad

Friday we left our cozy little hotel room and headed to West Yellowstone, MT.  After having a fairly warm week, it was rather chilly today.  Our plan was to see some more parts of Yellowstone before we got to West Yellowstone to run the 5K.  The main place I wanted to visit was Artist's Point in the Yellowstone Grand Canyon.

We did get stopped briefly by the bison crossing the street.

On the way we stopped again at Roaring Mountain because it was roaring much more than it had been the first time we saw it.  The smoke came out of fumaroles...my new geyser knowledge!

We made it to the Grand Canyon area and it was absolutely beautiful!  Our first stop there was at Artist's Point and a view of the lower falls.

We went to see the upper falls next and saw a rainbow!

We then hiked down to the brink of the lower falls.  It was totally incredible to be at the top of the falls!

We also made another waterfall stop at Virginia Cascades.  This was also where Dave found another spot to fish!  

After viewing the waterfalls, we made our last geyser stop.  At Norris Geyser Basin, we wanted to see Steamboat Geyser, just in case it erupted.  It had erupted 2 times in May, but not today.  When it does, it goes 300 feet in the air and can cause damage to the cars in the parking lot!  Maybe it's a good thing it didn't erupt as we were standing near it!

There was another boardwalk to walk around and more geysers to see.  It still reminded us of a wasteland...and did I mention the sulphur smell??

This was really our last stop in Yellowstone for the day!  We went straight to the bib pickup for the race and then to check into our hotel...The Moose Creek Inn.

Then it was time for our 5K!  Dave ran his hardest and finished in the top 10% of the runners.  I used it as a way to get my legs loose for the next day!  It felt good to be 3/4 of the way finished with the Quad!

Dave got a PR on his 5K!

Race #3 in the books!

For dinner we went to the Slippery Otter Pub.  The regular food was decent, but the jalapeno wontons with huckleberry dipping sauce were fantastic!!

 

We had one more night before the Yellowstone Half....time for some rest!