Yellowstone!

This morning we drove into Yellowstone and were greeted immediately by two bison walking along the road.  I fumbled with the camera and got a picture of fur beside my window.  The big fellow was so close he almost hit our side mirror with his horn.

I got a better photo at lunch when we ate between two bison, inadvertently.  We saw one to the left several yards away.  We ate at a picnic table by the lake.  Then a rock that we'd spied to our right moved and turned out to be a napping bison.  The smell as we ate lunch was overpowering at times.  I felt as if I were eating in the elephant pen at the zoo.


I was also nervous because of all the bear warnings.  There was even a warning stapled to the picnic table. We bought bear spray ($50).  They really can charge whatever for it.  What will you do?  Quibble?  So I was on watch during the lunch, which was not a relaxing meal.

We had wanted to take a cruise on Yellowstone Lake, but the 1:15 tour was full.  So we just took walks and drives.  (Thanks, Berberichs, for your guide book.)  We laughed and high-fived when a storm came at 1:30 and covered our car in sleet.  Thank goodness we were not on the boat then.

Later we saw a mule deer eating calmly beside the road in the sun, which came out soon afterwards. You can tell where the animals are by the crowd of stopped cars.

We enjoyed walking along West Thumb Geyser Basin, a concentrated thermal region.  There were many bubbling pools of bright colors.








It seemed that everyone else on the boardwalk had been issued a ten year old boy with whom to walk.  Watching and listening to those families was a hoot.  Immediately, we were behind a child balancing on the ledge of the boardwalk.  ("Stay on the boardwalk!" has been drilled into our heads as much as the rules about bear encounters.)

Then we heard a boy asking his dad, "I wonder what would happen if you threw a baby in there?" Dad replied, "I don't." I turned around and saw that Dad had his boy in a death grip.



West Thumb is an area on the edge of Yellowstone Lake.

We finally wound our way around to the Old Faithful Inn, where we are staying for two nights. So happy to be in this oldest inn in the oldest national park.  It was built in 1903 - 1904 and renovated in the 1920s by the same architect, Robert Reamer.  Reamer was 29 when he designed the inn.  The style is National Park Service Rustic.  They  used mostly materials from the park.





There are four stories - two are open to the public.  We sat on the lower one tonight and watched the crowd in the lobby.  On the fourth floor is a sort of tree house where a band used to play for guests after dinner.  There was dancing!



We can see Old Faithful erupt from our room.  However, the sound when you're close is really
interesting - deep rumbling from the earth.

Going out now to see the stars.  Amazed that I stayed awake past dark.