Day 10 ~ Fun-filled Day at Yellowstone
We started our bright and beautiful morning at the Three Bear Restaurant where we received a full spread buffet breakfast. It was so much food and so yummy!!
They even had a smoked salmon platter. We took the morning slow since the line into the west entrance a couple miles away was backed up to our hotel. I worked on two loads of our laundry today to hopefully get us back home with some clean clothes, and Kevin took a nap while the kids played on the screens we brought. Having these three queen beds is such a blessing....we can take turns having our own beds to stretch out in.Around noon, we headed into the park and spend the day seeing many sights.
We started off at Old Faithful. When we arrived, the parking lot was packed and people were starting to gather around the famous geyser as it was anticipated to erupt in about 30 minutes. We joined everyone in waiting and it did not disappoint! The eruption lasted about 90 seconds and everyone cheered afterwards--like what you'd hear at a fireworks show! We then went back to the car to have a picnic since everyone was already hungry--it's like we never ate breakfast! By the time we were done eating, about an hour had gone by and Old Faithful was going to go off again. So we walked over to a different spot. This time, the eruption lasted over twice as long and went even higher. It was awesome to see it twice!
There are lots of paths to walk around to see other geysers in that area, so walk we did. Some geysers just had steam coming out, some had bubbling water, but one of them erupted as we were walking toward it. I was able to throw my camera up and grab a few shots before it stopped. We kept walking and happened upon a lone bison in the field eating. It was a couple hundred feet away and was unfazed as all the folks walking by. The kids were in their own little world talking and walking and left us in the dust. Us old people like to walk slowly and take it all in. Kevin and I came upon a bunch of people waiting around another geyser like it was going to erupt, and right when we got there, it started! We were so surprised because this one is unpredictable and some people had been sitting there a long time waiting for it. This geyser was massive and powerful. There were like 3 or four spouts in one. I walked around for different' photos, and saw a rainbow in the steam and mist! This one lasted maybe 7-8 minutes.
Kevin and I started walking back to the main area with the visitor centers and Old Faithful, trying to find the kids, and we realized it had been so long that we were walking, Old Faithful was getting ready to erupt again! So we looked for the kids, finally met up with them, and then we all watched it for a third time!
We left Old Faithful and headed south to the Kepler Cascades. We were debating going to this one, but it was right off the road, and easy to get to. WOW--was this worth the trip. I think it's one of my favorite places in the park. A huge gorge with a huge cascading waterfall in the middle of it. I took a few photos, but like everything else, my pictures aren't going to do it justice. The noise of the falls was intense!
The kids were getting restless so we said two more stops then we are done. The next place was the Fountain Paint Pot. I have no idea where this name came from, but it was a "must-see" spot. If you can only go to one place in the park, this might be it. You can see a diverse range of wonders. There was a crystal clear, bright blue spring, a dry, bubbling mud pit, a firey cavern, and then erupting geysers! It took all of 20 minutes to get through. The kids were done by this point and stayed in the car while Kevin and I explored.
The final visit of the evening was to the Midway Geyser Basin, which included the infamous Grand Prismatic Spring. It was a massive area, and a bit of a hike to get to it all. The boardwalk around all of it was quite impressive. It really makes you wonder how they built all they walkways in the midst of boiling acid! We got to the Prismatic Spring, and the steam was billowing up so much, that you couldn't see much of the spring and it's colors. I think this is one I will have to enjoy the picture of the signage instead.
On our way out of the park, we stopped at a little picnic table area by a stream and made dinner. Kevin had packed our van with a propane burner, and I brought a pan. We cooked up a pack of hotdogs and ate them as the sun was setting. There were no other people around and I was a bit nervous of animals smelling our cooked meat, so we kept our eyes open and our bear spray bottles attached to our hips.
{side note: our hotel had some bottles of bear spray left by people who bought it while here, but unable to take it back on the plane when they left, so we got two cans of it "just in case". Funny story: a park guide told me a story today about a family and their mishap with the spray. It is meant to be used if an animal is charging at you or attacking--it will give them a shot of pepper spray in their face and they run off. Well, the dad of this family didn't understand how to use it and he thought it was a REPELLANT, like a bug spray. So he lined his family up and got out the spray and sprayed them all with his can!!!!!! They had to get them all medical attention! I told this story to Kevin and he laughed so hard. Imagine not knowing how to use it and doing this to your family!}
Well, we finally got back to the hotel for night number two. It was a long afternoon and evening, and hopefully the kids will get some much needed rest. Their schedules are all out of wack from our driving here last week. They slept so much in the car on the long rides, that their bodies weren't tired at night so they stayed up so long. Now they are on a bad late-night schedule and then they are falling asleep in the park!
Our trip is now half over. It's been grand!
If you have been praying for our family, thank you. We know God is blessing our time together. It has been a near perfect trip thus far and we can't wait to see what comes next! Enjoy the MANY photos today.... there are just too many good ones to pass up posting.
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