Bozeman and on to Yellowstone

9/16/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, 140 lb. paper

In the summer of 1955, the rest of my family – my parents, my sister and my two brothers – went on a “big” road trip from Seattle to Yellowstone National Park. To give you an indication of just how big this trip was for them, my dad bought a brand new Ford station wagon to get there, and – for the first time ever – they used color film.

I know all of this because I’ve seen the photos (all 12 of them! Color film and processing were expensive) many times, and I’ve heard the stories – the many bears they saw, Old Faithful, the Liberty Cap at Mammoth. Since I was not to be born for another three years, this big road trip would always be the one that I missed.

My dad with his new Ford, 1955

This week, 58 years later, I finally caught up with the rest of my family and took a trip to Yellowstone. It wasn’t exactly a road trip – we flew to Bozeman and got into a car from there – but since we met up with three of Greg’s relatives for the visit, I sat in the back seat for three days while “dad” did the driving through the park.

These two sketches were done in Bozeman before and after Yellowstone. The top one is the view from Brad and Dee’s home surrounded by mountains. The one below was the view from our room at the Bozeman Holiday Inn Express, also surrounded by mountains. They don’t call it Montana for nothing.

9/20/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, 140 lb. paper