charlotte

Last weekend we flew to Charlotte for a family wedding. You know you live in an isolated place when you get excited about the food selection in the airport...especially when that airport is O'Hare. We had less than an hour layover on our way out, which gave us just enough time to hit the new Rick Bayless take-out place in the United Terminal.

I had a torta with braised short ribs,


and Steve had one with pulled pork. We both had mango-lime fresca's to drink, which were awesome. Pricey, but good. Airport dining at its finest...

We left Bozeman in a snowstorm and arrived in Charlotte where everything was neon green. And warm--almost 80 degrees. And humid. We haven't missed humidity at all, and it was a shock to be in it again.


We had enough time to indulge in some Southern BBQ while we were there--mmm fried pickles are very tasty.


And pulled pork. Real pulled pork. Oh how we've missed you.


It was hard flying through Chicago and not being able to leave the airport to see family and friends (Go Blackhawks!), but we made the best of our time there and hit up Billy Goat for "cheezeborgers"


and then stocked up on Garrett's.


And Eli's cheesecake. And Vosges chocolates. And another mango-fresca for the road.

While we were away, the bison started calving. Visitors have been showing me photos all week of newborn calves, hopefully we'll see one ourselves soon.

RIP ron santo

hello, winter

We're just back from a whirlwind trip back East. Now that we're going to be here full-time, we needed to head back to our storage unit (the Carr basement) to get our necessities: skis, winter gear, and my beloved KitchenAid mixer.

After two days in the car, we made it back to Chicagoland. And F-O-O-D. Steve flew back to NYC and fell in love with pizza again.

And I was reunited with Whole Foods!


I tried to restrain myself, but there was no way I was passing up Intelligentsia coffee or Argo tea.


We shopped,



and we ate. And ate.





It was a very quick visit, but we were lucky to see some of our family and friends...and then it was back in the car for another two days of driving.

When we left, the park looked like this:


And when we came back, this:

scenes from home

Or, how we spent our spring break in Chicago...

Familiar faces


A little culture


The Spice House in Old Town (Steve has to watch me here, I want it all)


Sushi feast


Indian feast


(There was also a Thai feast, but we gobbled it up too fast to take pics).

Chicago dog at Hot Dougs--worth the wait every time


Deep dish


Fried cheese curd burger bacon burger (only in Wisconsin)


Tomorrow we hit the road and head back out west, trading 60 degree weather for snow and cold. We'll make a short detour to Utah and Colorado on the way, arriving back in Yellowstone on April 13th. We've had a great time visiting family and friends in the Midwest, and hope to make it to the East Coast sometime soonish too.

On the road again!