Yellowstone Adventure 2016 - The Getting There Day 4

  Well after 1,780 miles I reached West Yellowstone. I will be staying here tonight at the hotel my employer owns.  They give all their new employees a great rate at the hotel the night before reporting and believe me it is a nice one.  I think I will be sleeping well tonight.  I will be getting up around 7AM and checking out as they want me at the human resources office at 8AM on Wednesday.  I have already scoped out where the HR office is and marked it in my navigation system.  God bless you GPS. So there will be no getting lost tomorrow. 
  As for the drive today, well God saved the best views for the last day.  Even though it was the shortest day of driving, only 4 hours.  The views were spectacular.  The weather cleared up and the sky was really blue.  As I left Billings I came over a hill on I90 and there they were.  Lines of mountains with snow covering the upper fifty percent of them all.  The more I drove the bigger they became and the more beautiful they were also.  For a while I drove with the Beartooth range on my left and believe me it was hard to drive because I kept wanting to look at the mountains.  After awhile the Yellowstone rive appeared on my right and stayed with me most of the morning.  Then a new mountain range appeared on my right front and I think it was either the Bridger range or the Absaroka range.  I may not have these range names correct as their signs passed by fairly quickly. 
   Once I reached Bozeman Montana I headed south to West Yellowstone.  The mountain range that I think was around me then was the Gallatin Range and I followed the Gallatin river into West Yellowstone.  The drive was very pretty and several times I saw guys and gals fishing in the river and believe me it was running fast.  I also was climbing in altitude as I looked at my GPS and I was just under 8,000 feet.  I could tell too as there was a lot of snow still on the ground, but melting quickly. 
   Approaching West Yellowstone I started to see the all familiar roads signs that stated "Bison On The Roadway".  I knew then I was back in the Yellowstone area.  West Yellowstone is a nice town but very pricey.  The people are friendly but I also feel a lot of them are temporary summer workers just as I will be.  I am going to try to find the regular town folk and converse with them on life in the area throughout the year.  I am sure the winters create a lot of stories.
   Across from where I am staying is a preserve for bears, wolves and birds of prey.  Animals that have been found hurt and needed cared for are what is in the preserve.  I paid my 13 dollars and saw some pretty nice looking grizzly bears and eagles.  The wolves were mostly laying down in the sun but the bears were really enjoying their water area.  Two were playing in the water and wrestling for the crowd.  A pretty nice place to visit.
  Before I finish I want to tell you of a place in town I toured called "The Madison Hotel".  It is on the national registry of historical places and was created as a place to stay for those traveling in the area. It was built in 1912 and updated over the years, but it's log construction and general beauty has remained the same.  It is in the middle of town and is a two story log structure where the second floor has two openings for hot air to flow upward from wood burning stoves on the main floor.  The building is run today as a hostel and the rates are pretty fair.  The rooms are set up with period type furniture that looks great and bathrooms have been added down the hall for people staying to use.  You can have a room to yourself or you can have a room where you share with three other people.  The people running the place are direct descendants of those that built the hotel.  There have been several famous people who have stayed there, such as President Harding, Gloria Swanson and Wallace Beery.  I recommend if you come to West Yellowstone to stop and take a look. 
   Well that is about it.  Time for a hot bath as the driving does a number on my back muscles.  Thanks for reading and use the comments area below if you have any questions you want me to answer.