A few hours in Yellowstone

July 12 – After breakfast Bill did some grass cutting (on his day off) while I worked on our schedule for after we leave here.  I also worked on repairing my poor frog’s leg, made banana nut bread loaves and posted one day of the blog.

After lunch we delivered some banana bread to our co-workers and the owner and headed out for Yellowstone.  Our first visit since we arrived.  We did make a brief stop in West Yellowstone for Bill to talk to the guy who gives fly fishing lessons and takes novice fly fishermen out.  Yes, Bill wants to give it a try.

Boiling pot at Black Sand Basin

We could see the line for the park was non-existent.  Not only was traffic not backed up, but it was still too hot for the animals to be out.  The crowd at Midway Geyser Basin was outrageous so we went on to Black Sand Basin where we took a few photos, then headed on to Old Faithful.  We had no trouble finding a good parking spot and had about 15 minutes before the approximately 4:09 eruption.  We hit a couple of the gift shops and the visitor center.  There was space for us to lean on a huge log railing and wait.  Old Faithful kept us waiting until 4:23 but that

Old Faithful

was OK, she was a magnificent as ever.  There’s no describing watching her spurt and sputtering then shoot into the sky.  Nature’s beauty to be sure.

The crowd dispersed rapidly as we went into the Old Faithful Inn briefly to check out their gift shop.  Then we agreed for Bill to go get the car and I’d walk down to the shop on the other side where we knew they sold ice cream.  I made the mistake of wearing my new sneakers and the left one feels fine but the right is my bad foot and it was really getting tender along my bad tendon.  The walk to the shop was shorter than to the car.  While I waited I checked out more overpriced “stuff” and decided the Wilcoxson Huckleberry in the pint was the best buy.  I paid my $3.99 (no tax) and picked up my free spoons and napkins and went out to wait for Bill.  I had just barely gotten started on the ice cream when he walked up.  He must have smelled it!  He said the rush to get out of the parking lot after the eruption was packed!  We sat out and finished off our “afternoon snack”.  I told him it was an early dessert.

The original plan was to visit the park a while and have dinner and then head back closer to twilight and check out the animals.  In the old Faithful area there’s not a lot to pick from for

Midway Geyser Basin

dinner: the Inn, their snack shop or burgers/sandwiches at the last shop we were in.  It was too early for any so we headed back the way we came.  Some of the crowds were smaller and we managed a spot at Midway Geyser Basin but with my foot we didn’t walk all the boardwalks.  We did the loop road to Firehole Lake.  Among the many “hot pools” there is a sizable cone, Great Fountain Geyser.  From the ranger there with a tour waiting, I

Great Fountain Geyser

knew it was about to go off.  Well, it did a “spit” and the tour gave up and left and I continued watching for 15 minutes or so and gave up.  It’s supposed to be around every 20 minutes but not today!  Bill said next time we’d bring our chairs and food and water and sit and just wait it out!

It was too far to go anyplace else in the park so we called it a day and headed back to West Yellowstone.  It was nice, not much traffic and we did see one female elk along the way.

Sorry it's a butt shot

Clown car?

We parked in West Yellowstone and were trying to decide where to eat.  We didn’t want a huge meal so opted for the Mexican Food Truck.  They have some tables outside and the truck is an old school bus that 1/3 of it in the back is the kitchen and they have bench seating along both sides.  We were going to sit inside but I could see it was going to get claustrophobic fast.  Bill turned in our order and found us a table to share before I gave up our spot inside.  We sat with a nice couple from Idaho Falls who come up in their small RV all the time for a few days.  She is a retired math teacher.  We both had a quesadilla with beans and rice, chicken for me and beef for Bill.  It was pretty good but more than I bargained for.  We would eat there again.

The streets were packed with people and cars.  As we were crossing the main intersection for our ride home, there’s a gas station on the corner and I spotted a rather unusual automobile.  Actually I don’t know what it was.  It was on the sidewalk and coming around the end of the gas station before I could get my camera on but I managed to snap a photo.

The rest of the 14 mile drive was uneventful, meaning we didn’t hit a deer or anything!