West Yellowstone prepares for the reopening of Yellowstone
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Montana (KIFI) - The air of West Yellowstone is bubbling with excitement as tourists in the area are getting really excited for the chance to reenter Yellowstone National Park on Wednesday.
Such is the case with Bob and Karla Lowman. They are currently on a work sabbatical and are enjoying territory they haven't seen before.
"Beautiful territory, so we just added an extra day of our trip with them, which was awesome. And I didn't want to leave. So coming here, you know, getting to go into the park at least one day, that's that's worth it. And we'll have to come back," Karla said.
They say thankfully their rental car will help them get into the park.
"We actually have an even number on our rent a car, and we will be going in tomorrow," Karla said.
As part of the scenery, they've enjoyed they also hope to make memories with the park Wednesday.
"We've always heard about Old Faithful, the wildlife, et cetera. But looking forward to hopefully being able to see all that tomorrow and just enjoy it in person. And then with the mountains here, we've been Carolina. We like the Great Smoky Mountains of but as we were saying yesterday, the mountains around here are serious. So, so beautiful and beautiful, so glad to be able to see all the mountains around us." Bob saud.
The excitement around the reopening is affecting many in the area including the Plantz sisters Mady and Alyssa.
They say Wednesday will be their first time in the park.
"I'm just mostly excited because, like, I've never been here before, so I'm just mostly excited for, like, I think the pretty nice, I don't know, taking lots of pictures. I think it would be really cool," Alyssa said.
"I'm actually very excited," Mady said. "Just because I'm hearing that it was close was such a bummer, because that's, like, our whole trip is revolved. Which I assume is what a lot of people were wanting to when they came up here. And so it was a bummer, but I'm really glad it's opening up. And we're supposed to go to day, actually, but I'm glad we get to go it all."
They both are taking time to enjoy the city of West Yellowstone before they go into the park to make more memories with family.
"The drive was pretty long, but it was like it was really pretty. It was. It's a good trip. I like it here," Alyssa said.
"I didn't expect the downtown to be so busy and have so many shops and stuff, so that was really fun. But we are hoping to get out and play some pickleball. We're hoping to see views hike and then of course, Yellowstone, which will be really fun," Mady said.
The park will open Wednesday for the southern loop at 8 a.m. There will be a pre filtering station to help remind us those with the last digit of an even number on our license plate can enter the park Wednesday. If the last digit is odd, you'll have to wait until Thursday.
