Sunday morning we said goodbye to Carl, Jay and Ashlan. We left West Yellowstone, heading west. We were heading to Salt Lake City to catch a plane. Jay and company headed back into the park on their way to Colorado.
We quickly turned south into Idaho. The first part of our drive was through national forest land, two lane roads, with lots of small towns to slow down for. I didn’t mind though, because after a week of national park driving even slowing down to 45 MPH still felt like going fast. Then we hit the interstate. You got to love a 75 MPH speed limit. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
Our route back to Saint Louis connected through Las Vegas. When we left West Yellowstone the temperature was 55 °F. It was 85 °F in Salt Lake City and it was 108 °F in Las Vegas.
I haven’t been to Las Vegas for so long, that I can’t remember. I had a window seat and got a good view of the strip on our final approach. The whole town looked hot, dry and dusty, a city built upon broken dreams and five dollar lobster. The airport had slot machines in it, which I had expected. What I had not expected were their number and the overall garishness of their appearance. I was a bit put off by them and didn’t even wager the quarter that I had planed to. It just seemed a waste of money.
We boarded our flight to Saint Louis and were seated when the captain announce over the PA that we were just waiting for one more passenger. That passenger, Will, arrived and proposed to flight attendant Emily, who accepted. They kissed and embraced at the front of the aircraft, in front of everybody and to a round of applause. The captain came on again and welcomed everyone to Southwest Airlines, the love airlines.
Awwww. But if Will was so late, could he find a seat?
And if he is dating a flight attendant, couldn’t he get an “A” boarding pass?
So glad to hear you made it easily.
I was a little worried with the 1/2 hour later departure.
We stopped at Old Faithful to use the restroom.
Didn’t see it erupt, but were able to park right next to the building.
I was a little worried too when we started off. However the pass shown on the map just West of West Yell was an easy one, at least westbound, and the road before the interstate was better than I expected. The 75 mph speed limit also helped, and I’d planned the time (conservatively) to arrive there about 2 hours before departure. We got there with almost another hour to spare.
Which building did you park next to? The Inn with the flags on the top does have a jaw-dropping lobby, but isn’t the first one you come to from the road.