Yellowstone National Park

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Finally we arrive at the destination that was the centerpiece of our trip. Words cannot describe the visual experience so Sylvan's pictures will have to do. Keep in mind this park is the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. We saw our first Buffalo on our ride into the park an amazing sight. Anywhere you see cars pulled over you know there is wildlife nearby. The Old Faithful Inn is spectacular we checked in and immediately made dinner reservations for our stay. Good thing, Thursday and Friday they only had 9:15 and 9:00 left. Our room was in the "new" wing very basic but nice, no TV (how will Sylvan fall asleep?) or Internet which is why it's taken a week to get caught up on the blog. We settled in and had dinner and the went to the balcony to wait for Old Faithful to erupt. As you look around all you can see are these steam vents and you gradually come to realize that basically you're sitting on a dormant volcano and it's these geysers, paint pots, hot springs etc. that are releasing the energy that bubbles beneath your feet. Once again so much to see and so little time!! Thursday we drove the loop road stopping to see the various points of interest and take in the beautiful scenery. I never even knew there's a Yellowstone Lake! All you hear about is Old Faithful. The lake has these hot pools in what looks like little volcanos and one informational stop described early explorers catching trout on the lake and then cooking them in one of these boiling hot pools without taking it off the line. Everywhere you go the signs implore you to stay on the walkways since in many places the crust can be very thin resulting in major burns which does happen, some people do stupid things. There are different places to stay within the park each with a different atmosphere. We stopped at Roosevelt Lodge for lunch. Here they have cabins which look pretty original but if your into taking a real stagecoach ride or back country horseback ride this is the place for you. I couldn't talk Sylvan into either. These different lodging options areas are about an hour or more apart and of course there are plenty of places to camp in tents or RV's which were everywhere tying up traffic. Friday we signed up for a photo safari which meet at 6:30 am. Our guide Lisa, was excellent, knowledgeable about the park, animals and photography. After returning to the lodge and grabbing a quick lunch we were off again for the Grand Teton National Park.

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Photos

Crossing Idaho - Rt 84
Storm Clouds

Yellowstone
Old Faithful

Old Faithful
Blowing her top from the lodge deck.

Yellowstone Lake
Hot Pot

Yellowstone
Buffalo

Yellowstone
Deer

Yellowstone
Mud Pot

Yellowstone
White Pelican