day one - coeur d'alene to yellowstone national park

We left Coeur d'Alene at about 8am on Monday. Not too many stops in between home and Yellowstone. We stopped in Missoula to try and find a Starbucks for wifi, but couldn't find one. We pulled into the parking lot of Hooters, and they had free wifi! We still hadn't heard a confirmation from our Jackson Hole couch surfers, so we were a little worried. We emailed another girl to ask for a last minute couch request. We headed on our way with no stops until arriving at Yellowstone. We drove through the park for about 10 minutes and saw a huge herd of elk and four bison right by the road. Nothing we haven't seen before, but it's way more exciting to see the wildlife in the national park! We found a fun place to get some dinner, and sat next to a nice older guy who was drifting his way around the northwest. He worked in the park for the summer while fishing everyday, and then was headed to Shoshone, Idaho to go on a hunting pack trip withi his buddy. He said he would probably go to Park City, Utah for the winter, and apply for a job as a ski shuttle bus driver. Very interesting guy. We slept in the car at the Comfort Inn parking lot. Julie didn't want to camp in a tent (too cold!). It was 20 degrees last night. "Chilly, but not too cold," says Bob. Too cold for Julie! We're at McDonald's at the West Yellowstone entrance right now enjoying some coffee and free wifi. We're headed to see Yellowstone today, then through the Grand Teton National Park, and we'll spend tonight in Jackson Hole with our couch surfers. We're excited to meet them - he's a climber and author of several guide books. They're about our age, and they have a 5 year old son. We'll post more after Jackson Hole!