Rocky Mountain Highs (a non-Disney Trip Report) - COMPLETE 2/17

[pkondz]

In my version of the story, you arrived in a blimp.

Cool! One of the few modes of transportation that I haven't done yet.

Didn't you JUST ask me that?

That's next month.

Didn't you JUST ask me that?

That's next month.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Cool! One of the few modes of transportation that I haven't done yet.

That would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?

That's next month.

That's next month.

ECHO Echo echo echo...

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Chapter 17: Do You Think They Will Let Me Live In Montana?


The kids picked up their Yellowstone Junior Ranger booklets in the Canyon Village visitor center. The program is slightly different in Yellowstone, in that you have to pay $3 for the book. In most other parks, the program is free. I’m guessing this is due to the sheer volume of visitors and materials that must be produced for Yellowstone. I started to grumble about it, but then I figured donating $3 to the National Park Service was probably a better use of funds than most of my actual tax dollars.


We settled back into the van for a drive around the outer highway loop towards the northern entrance to the park. The next major attraction eventually came into view: Mammoth Hot Springs.

But first, a little detour.


A sliver of the northern and western borders of Yellowstone actually lie in the state of Montana. Since we’ve been trying to visit every state with the kids, it would have seemed like a wasted opportunity if we’d skipped Montana at this point, being so close. So at Mammoth, we made a turn north to head out of the park, figuring it was a cheap, easy way to pick up another state for our tally. It is a bit of a cheat since Montana is one of the largest states in the nation and we were barely inching over the border, but no one can say we weren’t actually in the state.

Our plan was to actually leave the park and turn around in the town of Gardiner, just outside the park gates. Gardiner is home to the famous Roosevelt Arch, erected here at the northern entrance to commemorate America’s very first National Park. Teddy Roosevelt himself laid the cornerstone of the arch in 1903. The sign at the top of the arch is inscribed with a quote from the 1872 legislation which created Yellowstone National Park: “For The Benefit And Enjoyment Of The People.” Even to this day, visitors enter by driving under the arch.


Unless, of course, you visit when we did. It just so happened that on this particular day, the entire area was under construction. So we couldn’t actually see the other side of the arch or drive under it. We had to settle for taking a detour and being near it. In the spirit of the Jungle Cruise, here’s the backside of Roosevelt Arch.

From there, we drove back to Mammoth, stopping for one location of note just to say we actually set foot in Montana.

So after all of that air travel and driving, we were still only halfway to the north pole. I guess we have our work cut out for us.


In Mammoth, we found a shaded piece of grass in the shadow of the visitor center and had our gourmet PB&J sandwiches for lunch. We learned that elk also seem to enjoy lounging in the shade of the buildings in town. Thankfully, there was shade for everyone so we didn’t have to fight over our spot. I would have hated to give a bull elk a beatdown.


After lunch, we took a little time to find a parking space near Mammoth Hot Springs. Competition was fierce, and I ended up having to drop the rest of the family off near the boardwalk trail while I kept searching. Finally, just when I was about to ram some poor schmuck’s motorcycle out of the way, a spot opened up and I was able to park and catch up with the others on the trail.


Mammoth Hot Springs was the first up-close look we got at one of the many geothermal features of the park. All of Yellowstone National Park rests on a giant caldera—the remains of an ancient volcano that scientists estimate had a massive eruption about 600,000 years ago. That eruption was so cataclysmic that it basically blew the top off the mountain, collapsing into the caldera. This caldera remains churning magma and volcanic gases under the surface of the earth here in Yellowstone, and forms the basis for all of the geysers, hot springs, vents and other features found in the park. Scientists believe Yellowstone is actually one of the largest volcanoes on earth, and that it is due for another massive, catastrophic eruption—overdue, actually. We had watched a special on the Yellowstone “supervolcano” before traveling and had managed to completely freak Scotty out. It took some calming before he understood that the likelihood of an eruption while we were there was very small. It probably didn’t help that the maps on the screen showed an eruption having the potential to almost completely cover the United States in ash.


By the way, Orlando looked like it was outside the radius that would be affected, so if Yellowstone erupts, our emergency plan is to head straight for Disney World.


Mammoth Hot Springs is exactly what the name implies. A hot spring forms when molten earth underneath the surface heats gases in the voids and breaks through fractures in the rock. Rain water and ground water in the voids gets superheated by the magma which causes it to bubble and seep out of the earth as it works to release the pressure that gets built up underground. At this location, the heated water dissolves the limestone in the earth’s crust and carries it up to the surface. Once it breaks out, the water cools rapidly and the limestone can’t stay in liquid form, so it gets deposited on the slope. The result of these many, many years of limestone deposits is Mammoth Hot Springs.

It creates an other-worldly landscape, marked by smooth terraces constantly being shaped by the flowing water.

Here you can see the steam as the water rapidly cools upon reaching the surface.

Did I mention the smell? All of these geothermal features are somewhat pungent. Sulfur smells are particularly noticeable. The kids were pretty grossed out, while I was happy for the endless opportunities for fart jokes. I’m pretty sure Julie was, too.


Driving down the west side of the park was an absolute nightmare. Several miles of the road were under construction. And in a remote area like this, there are no detours. This was the only road for miles. The only way you can work on it while keeping traffic moving is to close one side for work, and leave the other side open. This means one lane of traffic for both directions. So northbound traffic has to wait while they allow a certain amount of southbound traffic through, and vice versa. The line of cars stretched for miles as we waited our turn.


Finally, we got the chance to move. The road was completely torn up down to the dirt, so it was incredibly bumpy and slow. But we were grateful to be moving.

And I know you guys are ready to jump all over me with highway engineer jokes, and I know that’s part of the deal for me. But as aggravating as these delays are, it’s a tough job. There is absolutely no convenient time to do road construction, anywhere. Sure, they could work on it at night, but that requires extra costs due to lighting and safety features. It’s also an environmentally sensitive area with native habitats and the nearest accommodations for your workers are dozens of miles away. And winter weather lasts from October through May. So there really are no good options.


Eventually we reached the Norris Geyser Basin. After all this time in the park, we were finally going to see some geysers. We wasted no time getting on the boardwalk trail.


I’ve always wondered who built those boardwalk trails around the geysers and steam vents in the first place. How did they find the solid ground? Trial and error?


This is Emerald Spring. I’m sure they gave it that name for a reason, but it’s escaping me right now.

Next up was Steamboat Geyser. When it erupts, it is one of the largest geysers in the park. But it can go years between eruptions. Still, it’s almost constantly churning and shooting minor gushes of water into the air.

Here we managed to catch up with a park ranger giving a talk, which satisfied one of the requirements for the kids’ junior ranger badges. Gotta get these while you can.


Cistern Spring:

As a visitor, you are warned many, many times to stay on the trail, not to step on the ground (lest it give way), and never, ever put your hand in the water. Unless you want it completely scalded off. We made sure Baby Drew was completely strapped into his stroller for that very reason.


Here’s a view from above of the rest of the Norris Basin. The trail goes on for miles, so you could spend a serious amount of time here if you so desired.

It was getting on late afternoon, so we went back to the van instead, heading south towards Old Faithful once again. And it wasn’t long before we were in yet another line of cars, completely stopped on the road.

But hey, at least he was paying attention to the traffic signs.


We reached Madison Junction, and the view was similar to what we’d seen that morning in the same field.

Thankfully, this line of cars was traveling in the opposite direction:

Our final stop was the Fountain Paint Pot area. This involved another search for a parking spot followed by yet another boardwalk trail. On the way up to the top, we saw Leather Pool:

All of the various colors, from the blues to the browns, are the result of different types of bacteria. It’s amazing that there are life forms that can survive even in those conditions.


At the top of the trail were the Fountain Paint Pots. These are essentially the same thing as a hot spring, only instead of boiling water, you have boiling mud.

These are also accompanied by a fine odor, which we named Eau de Taco Bell.


It was finally getting to be dinner time, so we finished the last leg of our hard-driving Yellowstone day at our new favorite home away from home.


We began a walk over to the Old Faithful Lodge in order to eat dinner at their cafeteria. We stopped in the Visitor Center for the kids to turn in their Junior Ranger booklets for review. As luck would have it, we got a particularly goofy ranger who decided to have fun with the kids. When they first approached, he immediately got cranky (but in way that let us know he was having fun), saying, “Oh, great! Junior Rangers! I’ve only done 30,000 of these today.” Then he proceeded to review their questions and answers. Sometimes he would compliment them if they gave an answer with good detail and specific answers, whereas generic answers would get a response like, “That’s boring.” I’m making it sound a little cruel, but it was obvious from his tone that he was just giving them a hard time. Also, they may be used to this treatment from other male figures in their lives. In any case, they had fun with it, and I was grateful that the Ranger was taking the time to have a memorable interaction with them rather than just going through the motions.


Instead of a plastic park badge like the other parks, Yellowstone offered them a choice of patches as a reward. As the ranger demonstrated, they could choose from a bear, a bison, or a GEYSER patch. It was really up to them, even though the GEYSER PATCH was more unique to Yellowstone, and the GEYSER PATCH looked very cool, they could of course choose any one they wanted, especially the GEYSER PATCH.


2 out of three were somehow convinced to take the geyser patch. Scotty took a bison.


Outside, we noticed a crowd had gathered and the clocks all seemed to be close to the time posted on various signs around the visitor center. We finally got our first chance to see the main event.

It’s breathtaking to see a plume of water shooting over 100 feet into the air, and to imagine the pressure and forces under our feet making that happen. This is truly a unique place, and I was glad my family could have this experience together.


After that, we had the experience of eating in the cafeteria. It sucked. I can’t even remember what we ordered, to be honest. But the food was crappy. We all experienced that together, too.


Still, it was hard to stay grumpy. We got to explore the Old Faithful Inn the rest of the evening. It was hard to complain about that. In case you were wondering, we stayed in this room:

The rest of the evening was spent wandering the halls and the gift shop. We caught another glimpse of Old Faithful later in the evening. The camera was put away, so we just enjoyed it in the moment. And then we went to bed, having no problem falling into a deep sleep right above an active supervolcano.


Coming Up Next: It’s our anniversary! Time for a romantic, easy day strolling around the geyser basin.

 

[wasnotafan]

...Did I mention the smell? All of these geothermal features are somewhat pungent. Sulfur smells are particularly noticeable. The kids were pretty grossed out, while I was happy for the endless opportunities for fart jokes. I’m pretty sure Julie was, too.
....

Of course she was.

And I know you guys are ready to jump all over me with highway engineer jokes, and I know that’s part of the deal for me. But as aggravating as these delays are, it’s a tough job. There is absolutely no convenient time to do road construction, anywhere. Sure, they could work on it at night, but that requires extra costs due to lighting and safety features. It’s also an environmentally sensitive area with native habitats and the nearest accommodations for your workers are dozens of miles away. And winter weather lasts from October through May. So there really are no good options......

Flying cars and jetpacks. I'm sure my teachers said they would be around by now.

These are also accompanied by a fine odor, which we named Eau de Taco Bell.

Pre or post consumption? Actually never mind.
...

After that, we had the experience of eating in the cafeteria. It sucked. I can’t even remember what we ordered, to be honest. But the food was crappy. We all experienced that together, too.
....

Great pictures, odors, food and construction. A truly Oblivious report. Keep up the good work.

 

[pkondz]

The program is slightly different in Yellowstone, in that you have to pay $3 for the book. In most other parks, the program is free.

At first I was like, "What??? Shouldn't all the parks be the same?"

But... not all parks are created equal.

But first, a little detour.

aka: And now for something completely different.

It is a bit of a cheat since Montana is one of the largest states in the nation and we were barely inching over the border, but no one can say we weren’t actually in the state.

"Hi! I'm from Montana!"
"Oh! I've been there!"
"Great! What did you like the best? Glacier Nat'l Park? Little Bighorn?"
"Uh..."

Even to this day, visitors enter by driving under the arch.

I wonder if we did.
It's simply too long ago to remember.

Unless, of course, you visit when we did. It just so happened that on this particular day, the entire area was under construction. So we couldn’t actually see the other side of the arch or drive under it. We had to settle for taking a detour and being near it. In the spirit of the Jungle Cruise, here’s the backside of Roosevelt Arch.

Well, that kinda... sucks.

That immediately made me think of a sign that's just outside the city where I live.

So after all of that air travel and driving, we were still only halfway to the north pole. I guess we have our work cut out for us.

Don't worry. I've been farther north than the vast majority of North Americans (about 63N) and even I haven't come close.

I would have hated to give a bull elk a beatdown.

Good. There's nothing more sad than a beaten down elk.

Finally, just when I was about to ram some poor schmuck’s motorcycle out of the way,

Hey!

Scientists believe Yellowstone is actually one of the largest volcanoes on earth

Knew all the preamble, but didn't know that.

and that it is due for another massive, catastrophic eruption—overdue, actually.

Did recall that. Don't recall being told that when I visited.
Of course, it wasn't as overdue 40 years ago as it is now, so there's that.

We had watched a special on the Yellowstone “supervolcano” before traveling and had managed to completely freak Scotty out.

"Flowing lava burning everything in its path. Volcanic ash choking the very air you breath. Bombs of lava filled rock slamming into and destroying everything at lethal speeds. Dense clouds of toxic, fatal gas... So... Who wants to go!"

It probably didn’t help that the maps on the screen showed an eruption having the potential to almost completely cover the United States in ash.

Hahahahaha! I'll be completely immune then! Go Canada go!

By the way, Orlando looked like it was outside the radius that would be affected, so if Yellowstone erupts, our emergency plan is to head straight for Disney World.

To heck with Canada. I'll join you there!

Mammoth Hot Springs is exactly what the name implies. A hot spring forms when molten earth underneath the surface heats gases in the voids and breaks through fractures in the rock. Rain water and ground water in the voids gets superheated by the magma which causes it to bubble and seep out of the earth as it works to release the pressure that gets built up underground. At this location, the heated water dissolves the limestone in the earth’s crust and carries it up to the surface. Once it breaks out, the water cools rapidly and the limestone can’t stay in liquid form, so it gets deposited on the slope.

Didn't no the specifics, thanks!

Wow. Disney really knows how to do details, don't they?

Gorgeous shot.

The kids were pretty grossed out, while I was happy for the endless opportunities for fart jokes.

Well of course! You have to!

I’m pretty sure Julie was, too.

Nice to hear that Julie likes to make fart jokes too.

Driving down the west side of the park was an absolute nightmare. Several miles of the road were under construction. And in a remote area like this, there are no detours. This was the only road for miles. The only way you can work on it while keeping traffic moving is to close one side for work, and leave the other side open. This means one lane of traffic for both directions. So northbound traffic has to wait while they allow a certain amount of southbound traffic through, and vice versa. The line of cars stretched for miles as we waited our turn.

Ugh. And even if you only wait for 10 minutes, it feels like you're going to be stuck there for hours.

But we were grateful to be moving.

I love that. You have this euphoric sense of freedom. And when you get to the end and see the line of waiting cars, don't you just want to wave at them mockingly? "Ha ha! I'm moving and you're not!"

And I know you guys are ready to jump all over me with highway engineer jokes, and I know that’s part of the deal for me. But as aggravating as these delays are, it’s a tough job. There is absolutely no convenient time to do road construction, anywhere. Sure, they could work on it at night, but that requires extra costs due to lighting and safety features. It’s also an environmentally sensitive area with native habitats and the nearest accommodations for your workers are dozens of miles away.

It's a lose, lose proposition.
"Dang it! Fix these roads! What are my tax dollars being spent on! FIX THEM!!"
or
"Dang it! Why are they fixing these roads? I have places to go! What was wrong with leaving them alone? LEAVE THEM!!"

And winter weather lasts from October through May. So there really are no good options.

I presume you've heard this, but maybe it's only a Canadian thing.
"We have two seasons up here. Winter and construction."

I’ve always wondered who built those boardwalk trails around the geysers and steam vents in the first place. How did they find the solid ground? Trial and error?

Interesting. I never think about the ground, I just assume the people building know more about that than I do. But I do wonder who came and first built them. And decided where to build them. And what must it have been like before they built them.

This is Emerald Spring. I’m sure they gave it that name for a reason, but it’s escaping me right now.

Next up was Steamboat Geyser. When it erupts, it is one of the largest geysers in the park.

Huh! Had no idea.
I was under the impression when I was a kid that Old Faithful was it.

But it can go years between eruptions. Still, it’s almost constantly churning and shooting minor gushes of water into the air.

Cool!

Cistern Spring:

I kept scrolling back and forth between that one and Emerald to see if they weren't the same.

Here’s a view from above of the rest of the Norris Basin. The trail goes on for miles, so you could spend a serious amount of time here if you so desired.

Otherworldly!

But hey, at least he was paying attention to the traffic signs.

I was thinking the same thing!

Thankfully, this line of cars was traveling in the opposite direction:

Suckers!!!

On the way up to the top, we saw Leather Pool:

By far my favourite shot of the pools. You can really see the depth in this one. It looks (except for the heat, obviously) like you could just walk in and dive straight to the center of the earth.

It’s amazing that there are life forms that can survive even in those conditions.

Life finds a way. In the other extreme, it's why they look for life on Mars.

These are also accompanied by a fine odor, which we named Eau de Taco Bell.

When they first approached, he immediately got cranky (but in way that let us know he was having fun), saying, “Oh, great! Junior Rangers! I’ve only done 30,000 of these today.”

And he probably wasn't exaggerating!

Sometimes he would compliment them if they gave an answer with good detail and specific answers, whereas generic answers would get a response like, “That’s boring.” I’m making it sound a little cruel, but it was obvious from his tone that he was just giving them a hard time.

I like him already.

Also, they may be used to this treatment from other male figures in their lives.

No idea who that could be.

Instead of a plastic park badge like the other parks, Yellowstone offered them a choice of patches as a reward. As the ranger demonstrated, they could choose from a bear, a bison, or a GEYSER patch. It was really up to them, even though the GEYSER PATCH was more unique to Yellowstone, and the GEYSER PATCH looked very cool, they could of course choose any one they wanted, especially the GEYSER PATCH.

Subtlety is all.

2 out of three were somehow convinced to take the geyser patch. Scotty took a bison.

Of course he did! Does he regret his choice? Or is he happy to be the only one without a geyser?

Man that brings back memories.
I remember the ground as not being that built up geologically as well as developmentally.
I'm probably right on the latter and wrong on the former.
Although I suppose it's possible for it to have built up that much (geologically, I mean) after 40 years.

After that, we had the experience of eating in the cafeteria. It sucked. I can’t even remember what we ordered, to be honest. But the food was crappy. We all experienced that together, too.

Too bad. It would've been nice if the food matched the décor.

I like that shot!

And then we went to bed, having no problem falling into a deep sleep right above an active supervolcano.

How did Scotty sleep?

And if he slept well, why didn't you wait until the middle of the night and scream "Volcano!!!!" in his ear?

Coming Up Next: It’s our anniversary! Time for a romantic, easy day strolling around the geyser basin.

Uh, huh.
Sure.

 

[pkondz]

Hey!
Just thought I'd mention this here...

Just finished the Maui portion of your Hawaii TR.
Lots of good info and even better writing. Thanks!

Too many things to comment on, but.
I hope you got that picture of Dave golfing framed like you said you were going to.
Great shot.

Lots of other great shots too!
Thanks again!

 

[justafigment27]

After that, we had the experience of eating in the cafeteria. It sucked. I can’t even remember what we ordered, to be honest. But the food was crappy. We all experienced that together, too.

I bet the food there made your kids appreciate the PB&J! We ate there one night and I absolutely agree with your review - crappy.

Anyway, once again, I really enjoyed your update.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Chapter 17: Do You Think They Will Let Me Live In Montana?

Planning on raising some rabbits?

…but then I figured donating $3 to the National Park Service was probably a better use of funds than most of my actual tax dollars.

It’s probably a better use of funds than nearly all of my discretionary spending

But first, a little detour.

Ooooo… going off topic are we?

A sliver of the northern and eastern borders of Yellowstone actually lie in the state of Montana.

Eastern?

Since we’ve been trying to visit every state with the kids, it would have seemed like a wasted opportunity if we’d skipped Montana at this point, being so close.

Yes it would have been. I’d certainly have done it that-a-way (and hopefully will at some point).

It is a bit of a cheat since Montana is one of the largest states in the nation and we were barely inching over the border, but no one can say we weren’t actually in the state.

Cheat-Schmeat, I know folks that count landing in an airport and having visited the state in question.
You drove, you stopped, you experienced… Book it

But just hit it again when y’all come back and do the Dakotas

Unless, of course, you visit when we did. It just so happened that on this particular day, the entire area was under construction. So we couldn’t actually see the other side of the arch or drive under it. We had to settle for taking a detour and being near it.

Da’oh!
It wouldn’t be a road trip without a few SNAFUs, but that was unfortunate.

In the spirit of the Jungle Cruise, here’s the backside of Roosevelt Arch.

Named for noted explorer Jedidiah Arch.
Well, the backside of it anyway…

In Mammoth, we found a shaded piece of grass in the shadow of the visitor center and had our gourmet PB&J sandwiches for lunch.

But now you can call them Mammoth Sandwiches and just neglect to explain why; adds an air of adventure and grandeur to the whole roadside lunch thing.

We learned that elk also seem to enjoy lounging in the shade of the buildings in town. Thankfully, there was shade for everyone so we didn’t have to fight over our spot. I would have hated to give a bull elk a beatdown.

And Julie would have hated having to pull a yard of antler out of your rump.

It took some calming before he understood that the likelihood of an eruption while we were there was very small.

And you probably wouldn’t even have been even aware if it occurred
(being as you’d be standing at ground zero for such an event)

By the way, Orlando looked like it was outside the radius that would be affected, so if Yellowstone erupts, our emergency plan is to head straight for Disney World.

That was all part of Walt’s master plan in the first place.
The man was a true genius.

Mammoth Hot Springs is exactly what the name implies.

A spa for catering exclusively to Mammoths?
Being as their clientele is generally agreed to be extinct, that’s not much of a business model.

All of these geothermal features are somewhat pungent.

As a result of all the dead mammoths, possibly?

I was happy for the endless opportunities for fart jokes.

Happier than a hog in slop, I’m sure.

I’m pretty sure Julie was, too.

But I suspect you may need to brush up a bit on your observational skills, here.
Or at least, practice ducking out of the way of on coming back-of-the-hand swipes and the random frying pan.

Driving down the west side of the park was an absolute nightmare.

This is what a travel marketer would refer to as a “seasonal feature”.
Or possible as a “bonus attraction”.

And I know you guys are ready to jump all over me with highway engineer jokes

Naaaaaa… too easy.
I’ll leave those for the less skilled at the subtle art of being a smart-a..
ummm…
aleck (yeah, that it, smart aleck)

This is Emerald Spring. I’m sure they gave it that name for a reason, but it’s escaping me right now.

Must have been discovered in May.

But hey, at least he was paying attention to the traffic signs.

That a different take on the notion of a speed bump.

Thankfully, this line of cars was traveling in the opposite direction

That speed bump must have turned around and headed back the other way.

These are also accompanied by a fine odor, which we named Eau de Taco Bell.

And y’all are a long way from the boarder…

As luck would have it, we got a particularly goofy ranger…

2 out of three were somehow convinced to take the geyser patch. Scotty took a bison.

And this surprises…
No one.

After that, we had the experience of eating in the cafeteria. It sucked. I can’t even remember what we ordered, to be honest. But the food was crappy.

Duly noted…

Make that: sadly noted…
Sounds like an opportunity for a civic minded chef, if you ask me.

 

[franandaj]

So at Mammoth, we made a turn north to head out of the park, figuring it was a cheap, easy way to pick up another state for our tally. It is a bit of a cheat since Montana is one of the largest states in the nation and we were barely inching over the border, but no one can say we weren’t actually in the state.

Can't argue with that!

In the spirit of the Jungle Cruise, here’s the backside of Roosevelt Arch.

In Mammoth, we found a shaded piece of grass in the shadow of the visitor center and had our gourmet PB&J sandwiches for lunch.

Perfect!

We had watched a special on the Yellowstone “supervolcano” before traveling and had managed to completely freak Scotty out.

Poor kid.

By the way, Orlando looked like it was outside the radius that would be affected, so if Yellowstone erupts, our emergency plan is to head straight for Disney World.

Sounds like a plan to me? Did you happen to notice where Disneyland was on that map?

he kids were pretty grossed out, while I was happy for the endless opportunities for fart jokes. I’m pretty sure Julie was, too.

Funny, I didn't really see Julie as a fart joke kind of gal.

As a visitor, you are warned many, many times to stay on the trail, not to step on the ground (lest it give way), and never, ever put your hand in the water. Unless you want it completely scalded off. We made sure Baby Drew was completely strapped into his stroller for that very reason.

Yeah, with his antics, I would probably make sure that the scooter is securely fastened to the boardwalk as well!

But hey, at least he was paying attention to the traffic signs.

Perfect.

Thankfully, this line of cars was traveling in the opposite direction:

Well, you had that going for you.

At the top of the trail were the Fountain Paint Pots. These are essentially the same thing as a hot spring, only instead of boiling water, you have boiling mud.

Interesting. Do they have a spa there where you can bathe in the mud like they do in Calistoga?

As luck would have it, we got a particularly goofy ranger who decided to have fun with the kids.

Cool.

Also, they may be used to this treatment from other male figures in their lives.

Can't imagine who that might be.

2 out of three were somehow convinced to take the geyser patch. Scotty took a bison.

Perhaps Scotty was a little freaked out to wear a patch of a looming death spout that might wipe out half of American, so he chose the cute and cuddly bison instead.

We finally got our first chance to see the main event.

Cool. It's more impressive than the one at the VWL.

After that, we had the experience of eating in the cafeteria. It sucked. I can’t even remember what we ordered, to be honest. But the food was crappy. We all experienced that together, too.

That's too bad. I looked at all the links to the menus that you posted and it looked like it had the potential to be really good. Sorry it didn't work out that way.

It was hard to complain about that. In case you were wondering, we stayed in this room:

Nice.

And then we went to bed, having no problem falling into a deep sleep right above an active supervolcano.

Except Scotty probably secretly had one eye open the whole time.

 

[jedijill]

Well, I'm dead when Yellowstone blows. Denver is going to get wiped out!

Yellowstone is so cool with all the geothermal sites and all the wildlife. No place like it!

RMNP was repaving the road last summer too. They did their best to minimize impact but the season is so short its hard to do. Hats off to those that were paving at 12K feet!

Jill in CO

 

[Steppesister]

Those are unbelievably beautiful pix! Thanks for sharing each one. I have never been; just showed them to Michaela and now she wants to plan a trip. There is a lot of Murica I still need to see/do. Wish I could comment more- you all are so faithful on my PTR, and I feel badly I can't reciprocate. June is coming! Hey, 20% of this term is already over!

BTW, praying for a speedy recovery of your little guy. Surgery, ANY kind is never very fun!

 

[mickeystoontown]

More stunning pictures! I have never visited Yellowstone so it is very cool to see it up close and personal through all of your pictures. Thank you!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Of course she was.

You mean you don't believe me?

Flying cars and jetpacks. I'm sure my teachers said they would be around by now.

I can't tell you how disappointing that is.

Pre or post consumption? Actually never mind.

That falls under the TMI rules.

Great pictures, odors, food and construction. A truly Oblivious report. Keep up the good work.

Thanks, Shawn!

At first I was like, "What??? Shouldn't all the parks be the same?"

But... not all parks are created equal.

'Tis true. As you might recall from that lonely Golden Spike site.

aka: And now for something completely different.

Right. But I already used that for a chapter title.

"Hi! I'm from Montana!"
"Oh! I've been there!"
"Great! What did you like the best? Glacier Nat'l Park? Little Bighorn?"
"Uh..."

Hoping to get to Glacier in the next couple of years. That's high on the list.

I wonder if we did.
It's simply too long ago to remember.

Just make stuff up. That's what I do.

Well, that kinda... sucks.

Yeah...not much we could do, though.

That immediately made me think of a sign that's just outside the city where I live.

So the French-speaking folks are off-center, then? Makes sense.

Don't worry. I've been farther north than the vast majority of North Americans (about 63N) and even I haven't come close.

That would be an awfully long trip. Have you ever seen the Northern Lights? That's on my bucket list.

Good. There's nothing more sad than a beaten down elk.

Exactly.

Hey!

Were your ears burning?

Knew all the preamble, but didn't know that.

Oh, good. So I'm not just regurgitating facts everybody knows.

Did recall that. Don't recall being told that when I visited.
Of course, it wasn't as overdue 40 years ago as it is now, so there's that.

I'm glad we made it out in time!

"Flowing lava burning everything in its path. Volcanic ash choking the very air you breath. Bombs of lava filled rock slamming into and destroying everything at lethal speeds. Dense clouds of toxic, fatal gas... So... Who wants to go!"

We can spend 3 nights there!

Hahahahaha! I'll be completely immune then! Go Canada go!

Canada was just covered over with this huge skull and crossbones.

To heck with Canada. I'll join you there!

I love it when a plan comes together!

Didn't no the specifics, thanks!

Wow. Disney really knows how to do details, don't they?

They sure do. It feels so real!

Gorgeous shot.

Thanks!

Well of course! You have to!

It's Dad's #1 duty. Or is it #2?

Heh. I said doody.

Nice to hear that Julie likes to make fart jokes too.

She loves them! The more the better! Don't ask her, just take my word for it.

Ugh. And even if you only wait for 10 minutes, it feels like you're going to be stuck there for hours.

I love that. You have this euphoric sense of freedom. And when you get to the end and see the line of waiting cars, don't you just want to wave at them mockingly? "Ha ha! I'm moving and you're not!"

Want to? I let them have it! Suckers!

It's a lose, lose proposition.
"Dang it! Fix these roads! What are my tax dollars being spent on! FIX THEM!!"
or
"Dang it! Why are they fixing these roads? I have places to go! What was wrong with leaving them alone? LEAVE THEM!!"

Pretty much. What everyone really wants is for the roads to be fixed instantaneously, or at least over one night, ready to open the next morning.

I presume you've heard this, but maybe it's only a Canadian thing.
"We have two seasons up here. Winter and construction."

Oh yeah, hear that one all the time.

Interesting. I never think about the ground, I just assume the people building know more about that than I do. But I do wonder who came and first built them. And decided where to build them. And what must it have been like before they built them.

We're warned over and over again not to leave the trail because it could be very dangerous. So I wonder how those guys found their way.

Huh! Had no idea.
I was under the impression when I was a kid that Old Faithful was it.

I think they said Yellowstone has over half of the world's geysers--thousands of them!

I kept scrolling back and forth between that one and Emerald to see if they weren't the same.

Sadly, they used to have more vibrant colors. I'll talk more about that later.

Otherworldly!

Agreed!

I was thinking the same thing!

Very considerate bison, that one. I wouldn't have minded if he sped up a little.

Suckers!!!

It's about time it was somebody else!

By far my favourite shot of the pools. You can really see the depth in this one. It looks (except for the heat, obviously) like you could just walk in and dive straight to the center of the earth.

Don't you love that! There's something about peeking in and seeing that tunnel down to the depths of the earth. Makes you wonder what you'd find. Not enough to jump in, but whatever.

Life finds a way. In the other extreme, it's why they look for life on Mars.

It's pretty incredible, for sure.

And he probably wasn't exaggerating!

Not much!

I like him already.

Me too.

No idea who that could be.

Subtlety is all.

I felt like he was trying to tell them something.

Of course he did! Does he regret his choice? Or is he happy to be the only one without a geyser?

Nah. Scotty's a sucker for animals, and has a stuffed bison he takes on these trips. It was a foregone conclusion.

Man that brings back memories.
I remember the ground as not being that built up geologically as well as developmentally.
I'm probably right on the latter and wrong on the former.
Although I suppose it's possible for it to have built up that much (geologically, I mean) after 40 years.

It's definitely possible. Yellowstone's landscape is always changing, and very rapidly in geological terms.

Too bad. It would've been nice if the food matched the décor.

Wouldn't it? I guess it's hard to get decent food out that far from civilization.

I like that shot!

Thanks! It was a unique location and I liked the fact that we were supported by those weird-shaped tree limbs, so I wanted to make sure we got that recorded.

How did Scotty sleep?

And if he slept well, why didn't you wait until the middle of the night and scream "Volcano!!!!" in his ear?

Because I was too tired! I was out cold.

Uh, huh.
Sure.

Hey!
Just thought I'd mention this here...

Just finished the Maui portion of your Hawaii TR.
Lots of good info and even better writing. Thanks!

Thank you, pkondz. It means a lot for you to say that. And that you took the time to read through. I hope it helped you with your planning. Any ideas on how you'll spend the time there?

Too many things to comment on, but.
I hope you got that picture of Dave golfing framed like you said you were going to.
Great shot.

Thanks! That's still on the to-do list, actually. He and I keep mentioning it, but I keep forgetting to have it printed as an 8x10.

Lots of other great shots too!
Thanks again!

Thank you! I can't wait to see how much you guys enjoy Maui.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I bet the food there made your kids appreciate the PB&J! We ate there one night and I absolutely agree with your review - crappy.

So it wasn't just me, then?

Anyway, once again, I really enjoyed your update.

Thanks! And thanks for reading along!

Planning on raising some rabbits?

Well, I already travel from state to state. No papers.

It’s probably a better use of funds than nearly all of my discretionary spending

Except for the beer, of course.

Ooooo… going off topic are we?

I have a topic?

Eastern?

Dagnabbit. That's been fixed.

Yes it would have been. I’d certainly have done it that-a-way (and hopefully will at some point).

Hey, there's one person that agrees with our thinking.

Cheat-Schmeat, I know folks that count landing in an airport and having visited the state in question.
You drove, you stopped, you experienced… Book it

But just hit it again when y’all come back and do the Dakotas

Our rule is that your feet must touch the ground in the state (which doesn't happen in an airport terminal). So that happened here.

I really want to get to Glacier National Park. Most likely that will be included with a Pacific Northwest itinerary in a couple of years.

Da’oh!
It wouldn’t be a road trip without a few SNAFUs, but that was unfortunate.

We can only worry about the things that are under our control.

Named for noted explorer Jedidiah Arch.
Well, the backside of it anyway…

Perfect.

But now you can call them Mammoth Sandwiches and just neglect to explain why; adds an air of adventure and grandeur to the whole roadside lunch thing.

Um...sure, we'll go with that.

And Julie would have hated having to pull a yard of antler out of your rump.

There you go, bursting my bubble again.

And you probably wouldn’t even have been even aware if it occurred
(being as you’d be standing at ground zero for such an event)

Hey, do you feel that? And what's that so--

That was all part of Walt’s master plan in the first place.
The man was a true genius.

They think of everything!

A spa for catering exclusively to Mammoths?
Being as their clientele is generally agreed to be extinct, that’s not much of a business model.

#Dadjoke

As a result of all the dead mammoths, possibly?

Could be...

Happier than a hog in slop, I’m sure.

You can never go wrong with fart jokes. But you knew that.

But I suspect you may need to brush up a bit on your observational skills, here.
Or at least, practice ducking out of the way of on coming back-of-the-hand swipes and the random frying pan.

I honestly don't know why she doesn't appreciate it. I guess nobody's perfect.

This is what a travel marketer would refer to as a “seasonal feature”.
Or possible as a “bonus attraction”.

Let's charge an extra $50!

Naaaaaa… too easy.
I’ll leave those for the less skilled at the subtle art of being a smart-a..
ummm…
aleck (yeah, that it, smart aleck)

Thanks for taking it easy on me.

Must have been discovered in May.

I think it appeared to be some type of spring.

That a different take on the notion of a speed bump.

It's a moving speed bump. And I wouldn't suggest bumping it.

That speed bump must have turned around and headed back the other way.

'Bout time.

And y’all are a long way from the boarder…

Roll down the windows!

Didn't see him there, but you're close.

And this surprises…
No one.

Scotty marches to the beat of his own drummer.

Duly noted…

Make that: sadly noted…
Sounds like an opportunity for a civic minded chef, if you ask me.

Huge opportunity. You don't want to be stuck with PB&J for dinner.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Can't argue with that!

It's a technicality, but it works.

Sounds like a plan to me? Did you happen to notice where Disneyland was on that map?

Well...I'm afraid I have some bad news for you.

Funny, I didn't really see Julie as a fart joke kind of gal.

What is it with women and their lack of appreciation for fart jokes?

Yeah, with his antics, I would probably make sure that the scooter is securely fastened to the boardwalk as well!

This kid gets into EVERYTHING.

Well, you had that going for you.

Which is nice.

Interesting. Do they have a spa there where you can bathe in the mud like they do in Calistoga?

Um...I wouldn't recommend it.

Can't imagine who that might be.

That David is a terrible influence.

Perhaps Scotty was a little freaked out to wear a patch of a looming death spout that might wipe out half of American, so he chose the cute and cuddly bison instead.

He always goes for the cute and cuddly animals. It's his thing.

Cool. It's more impressive than the one at the VWL.

Yeah, I have to agree there. The one at WL is a nice idea, but it's a little disappointing when you've waited around to see it.

That's too bad. I looked at all the links to the menus that you posted and it looked like it had the potential to be really good. Sorry it didn't work out that way.

I had seen some Italian dishes on the menu earlier, and I'd had good luck at the Grand Canyon cafeterias with those dishes. But when I got there, they'd changed the menu and had a noodle station instead. It was much less inspiring.

Except Scotty probably secretly had one eye open the whole time.

That's ok. I got my sleep.

Well, I'm dead when Yellowstone blows. Denver is going to get wiped out!

At least you understand. Might as well live it up!

Yellowstone is so cool with all the geothermal sites and all the wildlife. No place like it!

Truth!

RMNP was repaving the road last summer too. They did their best to minimize impact but the season is so short its hard to do. Hats off to those that were paving at 12K feet!

That must have been a job, for sure! So remote. It would be hard to get supplies up there.

Those are unbelievably beautiful pix! Thanks for sharing each one. I have never been; just showed them to Michaela and now she wants to plan a trip. There is a lot of Murica I still need to see/do. Wish I could comment more- you all are so faithful on my PTR, and I feel badly I can't reciprocate. June is coming! Hey, 20% of this term is already over!

I hope you get to see Yellowstone someday! This and the Tetons make an incredible combination for a vacation.

That reminds me, I need to check in on your PTR...

BTW, praying for a speedy recovery of your little guy. Surgery, ANY kind is never very fun!

Thanks! It was just tubes in his ears, so it was really minor. And he handled it like a champ. I don't think this kid will have any trouble holding his liquor when he's older. The anesthetic barely fazed him at all. We were told it would make him loopy in 3 minutes. He was still climbing all over us and the bed. Dude is a tank.

More stunning pictures! I have never visited Yellowstone so it is very cool to see it up close and personal through all of your pictures. Thank you!

Thanks! I hope you get to see it someday!

 

[pkondz]

Right. But I already used that for a chapter title.

Never gets old, though.

Just make stuff up. That's what I do.

Oh, good. It's not just me, then.

So the French-speaking folks are off-center, then? Makes sense.

I've seen that sign for years! And never once thought of that!

That would be an awfully long trip. Have you ever seen the Northern Lights? That's on my bucket list.

Oh, sure. Seen some amazing ones too. Bright reds and greens with pools swirling around.
A couple of times I've simply stood with my jaw dropped and watched.

Were your ears burning?

Is that what that was? My doctor was stumped.

Oh, good. So I'm not just regurgitating facts everybody knows.

Huh. Coincidentally I regurgitate when I read your TRs.

We can spend 3 nights there!

There's a fire sale!

Canada was just covered over with this huge skull and crossbones.

Yeah. That happens.

It's Dad's #1 duty. Or is it #2?

Heh. I said doody.

She loves them! The more the better! Don't ask her, just take my word for it.

Okay! If we ever meet I'll launch right into some!

Pretty much. What everyone really wants is for the roads to be fixed instantaneously, or at least over one night, ready to open the next morning.

We're warned over and over again not to leave the trail because it could be very dangerous. So I wonder how those guys found their way.

Oh, that's simple enough.
They sent out over two hundred men to blaze a trail.
They just retraced the steps of the one who came back.

I think they said Yellowstone has over half of the world's geysers--thousands of them!

Wow! Impressive.

Don't you love that! There's something about peeking in and seeing that tunnel down to the depths of the earth. Makes you wonder what you'd find. Not enough to jump in, but whatever.

I really liked that.

Nah. Scotty's a sucker for animals, and has a stuffed bison he takes on these trips. It was a foregone conclusion.

Ah.

Thank you, pkondz. It means a lot for you to say that. And that you took the time to read through. I hope it helped you with your planning. Any ideas on how you'll spend the time there?

Ugh.

I wish you hadn't asked me that.
Let's put it this way. If I could cancel the flights and get a refund, I would.

Our CDN dollar (because we're so closely tied into oil) is being destroyed right now.
"Hey kids! Want to see a Luau? Last month it was $110 each. Now it's $150!"
Tough to pay $600 when it was $400 when I booked the trip.
And it's supposed to get worse.

Thanks! That's still on the to-do list, actually. He and I keep mentioning it, but I keep forgetting to have it printed as an 8x10.

Well get on that!

 

[Steppesister]

Thanks! It was just tubes in his ears, so it was really minor. And he handled it like a champ. I don't think this kid will have any trouble holding his liquor when he's older. The anesthetic barely fazed him at all. We were told it would make him loopy in 3 minutes. He was still climbing all over us and the bed. Dude is a tank.

Sometimes the exact opposite happens when drugs go in. I remember when my little (at the time) had his tonsils out, they pushed some "feel good" stuff in and he went berserk! It was entertaining because I wasn't the one who had to restrain him. The nurses were having a heck of a time... and I laughed because that was my everyday, on a (very) slightly less scale. He is a tank- maybe he'll make a zillion bucks in the NFL and pay for your Nursing Home.

 

[afwdwfan]

The kids picked up their Yellowstone Junior Ranger booklets in the Canyon Village visitor center. The program is slightly different in Yellowstone, in that you have to pay $3 for the book. In most other parks, the program is free. I’m guessing this is due to the sheer volume of visitors and materials that must be produced for Yellowstone. I started to grumble about it, but then I figured donating $3 to the National Park Service was probably a better use of funds than most of my actual tax dollars.

You speak the truth.

It is a bit of a cheat since Montana is one of the largest states in the nation and we were barely inching over the border, but no one can say we weren’t actually in the state.

That's not cheating. If you're there, you're there!

Unless, of course, you visit when we did. It just so happened that on this particular day, the entire area was under construction. So we couldn’t actually see the other side of the arch or drive under it. We had to settle for taking a detour and being near it. In the spirit of the Jungle Cruise, here’s the backside of Roosevelt Arch.

I applaud your Clark Griswold-esque effort to see and do it all, even if that moose out front told you it was closed.

We had watched a special on the Yellowstone “supervolcano” before traveling and had managed to completely freak Scotty out.

Doing what a good dad does. Mission accomplished.

It took some calming before he understood that the likelihood of an eruption while we were there was very small. It probably didn’t help that the maps on the screen showed an eruption having the potential to almost completely cover the United States in ash.

Oh yeah, you're pretty much equally screwed in Delaware. It might just not be quite as instantaneous.

By the way, Orlando looked like it was outside the radius that would be affected, so if Yellowstone erupts, our emergency plan is to head straight for Disney World.

Sounds good to me!

Did I mention the smell? All of these geothermal features are somewhat pungent. Sulfur smells are particularly noticeable. The kids were pretty grossed out, while I was happy for the endless opportunities for fart jokes. I’m pretty sure Julie was, too.

Oh, I know Julie had to have been excited about that!!!

And I know you guys are ready to jump all over me with highway engineer jokes, and I know that’s part of the deal for me.

Well, yeah!!!!

But as aggravating as these delays are, it’s a tough job. There is absolutely no convenient time to do road construction, anywhere. Sure, they could work on it at night, but that requires extra costs due to lighting and safety features. It’s also an environmentally sensitive area with native habitats and the nearest accommodations for your workers are dozens of miles away. And winter weather lasts from October through May. So there really are no good options.

Ok... fine then. Just take the wind out of my sails.

These are also accompanied by a fine odor, which we named Eau de Taco Bell.

So who came up with this name?

I’m making it sound a little cruel, but it was obvious from his tone that he was just giving them a hard time. Also, they may be used to this treatment from other male figures in their lives.

No way!

Instead of a plastic park badge like the other parks, Yellowstone offered them a choice of patches as a reward. As the ranger demonstrated, they could choose from a bear, a bison, or a GEYSER patch. It was really up to them, even though the GEYSER PATCH was more unique to Yellowstone, and the GEYSER PATCH looked very cool, they could of course choose any one they wanted, especially the GEYSER PATCH.


2 out of three were somehow convinced to take the geyser patch. Scotty took a bison.

Yep... sounds about right.

But why didn't you take the test and get a GEYSER PATCH for Drew?

It’s breathtaking to see a plume of water shooting over 100 feet into the air, and to imagine the pressure and forces under our feet making that happen. This is truly a unique place, and I was glad my family could have this experience together.

I can only imagine. I mean that geyser at Wilderness Lodge is pretty cool, but I'm guessing the real thing puts it to shame.

After that, we had the experience of eating in the cafeteria. It sucked. I can’t even remember what we ordered, to be honest. But the food was crappy. We all experienced that together, too.

But was it better than peanut butter?

 

[cj9200]

So after all of that air travel and driving, we were still only halfway to the north pole. I guess we have our work cut out for us.

You could always visit our brothers in the country north of us or Barry. Closest I would want to get.

All of Yellowstone National Park rests on a giant caldera—the remains of an ancient volcano that scientists estimate had a massive eruption about 600,000 years ago. That eruption was so cataclysmic that it basically blew the top off the mountain, collapsing into the caldera. This caldera remains churning magma and volcanic gases under the surface of the earth here in Yellowstone, and forms the basis for all of the geysers, hot springs, vents and other features found in the park. Scientists believe Yellowstone is actually one of the largest volcanoes on earth, and that it is due for another massive, catastrophic eruption—overdue, actually.

WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE! Although in Miami, we will probably escape the ash, but then again, we will probably be underwater by then. Luckily I know how to scuba dive.

Finally, we got the chance to move. The road was completely torn up down to the dirt, so it was incredibly bumpy and slow. But we were grateful to be moving...And I know you guys are ready to jump all over me with highway engineer jokes

Softball tossed, easy hit over the fences. I think I'll pass, no challenge involved. Now if you were driving over that DAMN bridge, I would have to let loose.

 

[Poolrat]

The kids picked up their Yellowstone Junior Ranger booklets in the Canyon Village visitor center. The program is slightly different in Yellowstone, in that you have to pay $3 for the book.

Well this one better be special.......

It is a bit of a cheat since Montana is one of the largest states in the nation and we were barely inching over the border, but no one can say we weren’t actually in the state.

One step over can be a cheat but you clearly have both feet in Montana.

The sign at the top of the arch is inscribed with a quote from the 1872 legislation which created Yellowstone National Park: “For The Benefit And Enjoyment Of The People.” Even to this day, visitors enter by driving under the arch.


Unless, of course, you visit when we did. It just so happened that on this particular day, the entire area was under construction. So we couldn’t actually see the other side of the arch or drive under it. We had to settle for taking a detour and being near it. In the spirit of the Jungle Cruise, here’s the backside of Roosevelt Arch.

Better than the arch that used to be there..

From there, we drove back to Mammoth, stopping for one location of note just to say we actually set foot in Montana.

So after all of that air travel and driving, we were still only halfway to the north pole. I guess we have our work cut out for us.

Pretty cool.

We had watched a special on the Yellowstone “supervolcano” before traveling and had managed to completely freak Scotty out.

Nice...

Did I mention the smell? All of these geothermal features are somewhat pungent. Sulfur smells are particularly noticeable. The kids were pretty grossed out, while I was happy for the endless opportunities for fart jokes. I’m pretty sure Julie was, too.

Glad that is not coming through with the pictures.

Finally, we got the chance to move. The road was completely torn up down to the dirt, so it was incredibly bumpy and slow. But we were grateful to be moving.

I know that feeling- orange barrels are a fixture around here.

I’ve always wondered who built those boardwalk trails around the geysers and steam vents in the first place. How did they find the solid ground? Trial and error?

We're warned over and over again not to leave the trail because it could be very dangerous. So I wonder how those guys found their way.

Oh, that's simple enough.
They sent out over two hundred men to blaze a trail.
They just retraced the steps of the one who came back.

I was just thinking how many trail blazers are potentially holding up that boardwalk area?

And it wasn’t long before we were in yet another line of cars, completely stopped on the road.

But hey, at least he was paying attention to the traffic signs.

Look like he is trying to read it to make sure he isn't going too fast.

As luck would have it, we got a particularly goofy ranger who decided to have fun with the kids. When they first approached, he immediately got cranky (but in way that let us know he was having fun), saying, “Oh, great! Junior Rangers! I’ve only done 30,000 of these today.” Then he proceeded to review their questions and answers. Sometimes he would compliment them if they gave an answer with good detail and specific answers, whereas generic answers would get a response like, “That’s boring.” I’m making it sound a little cruel, but it was obvious from his tone that he was just giving them a hard time. Also, they may be used to this treatment from other male figures in their lives. In any case, they had fun with it, and I was grateful that the Ranger was taking the time to have a memorable interaction with them rather than just going through the motions.

Nice to have that interaction. Makes a great end to a fun day.

Instead of a plastic park badge like the other parks, Yellowstone offered them a choice of patches as a reward. As the ranger demonstrated, they could choose from a bear, a bison, or a GEYSER patch. It was really up to them, even though the GEYSER PATCH was more unique to Yellowstone, and the GEYSER PATCH looked very cool, they could of course choose any one they wanted, especially the GEYSER PATCH.


2 out of three were somehow convinced to take the geyser patch. Scotty took a bison.

There's $3 well spent !!!!! And then Scotty happens but I am sure he is very happy with his Bison patch.

We finally got our first chance to see the main event.

Stunning.

After that, we had the experience of eating in the cafeteria. It sucked. I can’t even remember what we ordered, to be honest. But the food was crappy. We all experienced that together, too.

Sorry the food was well forgettable. Sounds like the biggest ding to your day.

Coming Up Next: It’s our anniversary! Time for a romantic, easy day strolling around the geyser basin.

How romantic....