GEOLOGY CLASS

 May 25th…we left Cody, Wyoming early in the morning…the two of us…on our own

heading for the Beartooth Highway…a scenic drive into Yellowstone.

But unbeknownst to us the start of the Beartooth was closed until Memorial Day.

so we politely asked our GPS…to find another way.

She took us to the Chief Joseph Highway….an equally awesome drive

turns out the alternative route she found…was another wonderful way to arrive.

The ride through the Absaroka mountains was filled with hair pin turns that were hair-raising…we stopped at one lookout in particular where the views of the mountains were amazing.

We stood mesmerized by the mountains…which to the heavens soared….

when into the parking lot stopped three vans…with Dartmouth college on their doors.

Turns out it was a geology class who picked this beautiful perch

on this particular outcropping…to do some field research.

We spoke with a couple of the students…(how young are they letting students into college these days)…who told us there’s a presentation in a few minutes…and invited us to stay.

So that’s how Deborah and I…by taking a detour…an unexpected bypass

came to be, for a moment, part of a college Geology class.

It was one of the oldest rocks on Earth, we learned…the one upon which we were standing…most of the other words they used that day…we had trouble understanding.

But that’s okay…as we listened…we didn’t need a translator…

I was taking notes…we’d look up those words later.

We thanked the class…and as we left…’this never would have happened we supposed’, If when we got to the Beartooth Highway it was open…instead of closed.

And now that we’re geologists…we await one final detail….

our diplomas from Dartmouth college…which we’re sure are in the mail.