Day 4 - Old Faithful

 

On our 4th day we headed into Yellowstone to see Old Faithful.  This was going to be our last day there.  Although we wanted to head south to see the Grand Tetons that was just going to be too long a day to do both.  On our last day in the area we wanted to drive down to Worland, WY.  I know, why on earth would we want to do that.  Well, we had a college student live with us for over two years and have made friends with her parents (who are full-time RVers) and they are from Worland.  So back to our last day in Yellowstone. 

We headed out early to try to avoid the traffic and arrived at Old Faithful at 10 am and up she went at 10:15!  Wow, we didn't have to wait 90 minutes or longer.  They have a huge semi circle of seats around the geyser and they all fill up.  There are several other geysers in the area and there are boardwalks that go around to all of them.  While taking a walk around we saw one of the other geysers go up as well.  You cannot walk on the ground in any of this area as it is all a thin crust with boiling hot water underneath.  If you step onto the crust you could easily fall through and possibly die or get very badly burned.  We came across a small open pool of crystal clear blue water that was burning hot.  Nearby was another small pond bubbling like boiling water yet in the background was a running stream that didn't appear to be hot at all.  The area is so interesting and still you wonder if this volcano is going to go up again in our life time.  I sure hope not as it could be devastating.

After seeing the geysers we took a stroll into the Old Faithful Inn to get a snack and take a break.  What a beautiful old hotel.  The lobby was so interesting.  I had to wonder what the rooms are like.  We hadn't taken any time to shop for souvenirs so we stopped in at one of the gift shops in this area.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the prices on T-shirts, sweatshirts and such were very reasonable.  We found some shirts and a sweatshirt and were on our way.  We stopped off at Grant Village for lunch and found a restaurant that overlooked the lake.  The food we have had in the park has been very good, a bit pricey but tasty.  Since we were eating lunches in the park and not dinners it was affordable.  Thank goodness, so far no norovirus attack either!!  We definitely came prepared with Gatorade, oatmeal, white rice,  and medications for symptoms should that have occurred.

We enjoyed the rest of our drive through the park heading back to the RV.  Along the

way we came across a pond full of lillies.  That was the only place we found these and they were beautiful.  Oh yes, on our way out to Old Faithful we did get a quick glimpse of an elk.  That was the only other critter besides the bison we saw.  Before leaving the park we stopped off at a place where we could get our feet wet in the lake.  It was cold but at least I got to walk in it a bit.

After dinner we took the girls for a short ride on the motorcycle.  They seem to like riding.