The two guidebooks that have been our faithful companions both said Yellowstone was fifty-five miles up the road (and I mean North) from Jackson, Wyoming. So we started out this morning figuring to wander along the way but still arrive around check-in time at Old Faithful Inn, our home for the next two days.
We drove the length of Grand Teton National Park and then stopped at the entry to Yellowstone, having done our fifty-five miles. We asked where the Inn was and were told it was another thirty-nine miles inside the park.
This is what got me thinking about mileage and distance. It’s the same thing I recall from my travels in West Virginia. Mileage refers to the actual miles on the road from Point A to Point B. Distance refers to the amount of time it takes to cover those miles. Both Yellowstone and West Virginia are mountainous with curvy two lane roads where the speed limit is around forty-five miles an hour.
So another thirty-nine miles was almost as far as we’d already come; and, in terms of distance, it was another hour. I suspect this will be the norm for the next few days in Yellowstone. It’s a far cry from screaming down the interstate in Iowa where you can cover seventy miles in sixty minutes. Note to self: Chill out.
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