And the Rain Came Down…

The rain gods looked down on Yellowstone yesterday and smiled. A storm blew in last night… and I mean BLEW in. We had just left the hotel after eating pizza – Hey! I needed some area related scrapbook supplies! It was an emergency. The clouds were black and sinister. We were right under the front line and knew what was coming. If I had been home, I would’ve been seeking shelter in the basement. Instead we were in Montana surrounded by mountains and J, K2 and I were going shopping while the other two were snug in the hotel entranced by Animal Planet.

The wind arrived first… And because it had been so dry for so long, when the wind blew, we had a virtual dust storm blowing down Main Street. Shielding of the eyes was necessary as we sprinted. We were still uncertain if rain would accompany it and if it did would it be enough? Well, rain it did… the heavens opened up and we were drenched within seconds. Now we could only hope that not only would it be enough but that it would also rain over the fire drenched areas… 50 miles east of us.

We watched the weather radars last night and again this morning and could tell that the rains did indeed make it over the fire areas. However, when we checked on-line and called the road closure number, we received the same standard message… The East Entrance remains closed.

We left our hotel this morning and made our way to the West Entrance. Yep, the pink sign was still up alerting us to the East closure. At the last minute, I asked if the East entrance was opened. “Oh, yes. We need to take that sign down.” We were thrilled with the news! Although, the Northeast Entrance would have been a sight for sure… it also meant adding an additional 2 hours to our already long drive time.

As we drove the East Entrance road, we could smell the remains of the fire but the fog laid heavily in the air and we weren’t able to see more than a quarter mile from the road. The fire crews were still in the area as we drove past but they didn’t seem to be hurried.

We were glad not only that the rain had come a much-needed time but it also came down at the end of our vacation and didn’t interfere with any of our plans. I guess the rain gods were smiling down on us too.