Sunshine and Beauty

Photos.

I hadn't expected so much beauty during our two days on the "open road", so I wondered if our time in Yellowstone would be anticlimactic. It isn't.

We passed the famous Cody Rodeo as we rode out of town and almost immediately headed up the mountain. Our first stop was unexpected: either Buffalo Bill Dam was not in our travel books or we just didn't notice it. The Korean War veteran on a gulf cart cajoled us into taking the short shuttle over to the visitor center and, as promised, we didn't regret the little detour.

The views are spectacular, and the two women staffing the desk provided great information on our park visit, as well as the valuable suggestion that we make a hotel reservation before our phones we out of signal range. I really hadn't anticipated losing connectivity in this era of ubiquitous cell service, so this information was helpful. I booked a hotel in West Yellowstone right away and, sure enough, we were without cell service except intermittently throughout our time in the park.

As if on demand, two deer a large (to me at least) bison appeared on the highway soon after our arrival. The deer scampered up a hill so I was convinced that they were bighorn sheep until I looked at the photos later on in the day. Bob, of course, thought right away that they were either elk or deer, and, as is so often the case, he was right.

The bison was walking slowly up a hill near Yellowstone Lake, oblivious to the traffic stopped in both directions. We moved slowly away after the sighting, and saw another large animal in a large grassy field that looks like bison habitat "as seen on TV".

We stopped to see the geyser pools at West Thumb and I walked most of the boardwalk, taking a lot of pictures until I encountered a large tour group. I headed back up the hill and found myself thinking that the high altitude (elevation 7795 feet) really does affect breathing until one gets used to it. A smell of hydrogen sulfide from the thermal pools fills  the air in that area of the park. I really don't mind that odor, but I think it has irritated my nose and sinuses.

On to Old Faithful, where we saw our first real crowds of the trip. People were sitting on benches waiting for the geyser's famous eruption. Bob brought his bag chair and I sat on a log, but I'm far too restless to wait patiently so I got up and took some pictures until the eruption. We were experiencing some wind, so the eruption looked more like a water main break than the straight up geyser shower I remembered from my first visit. The crowd cheered wildly and then dispersed.

We drove out of the park at the end of the afternoon and stopped at the Brandin' Iron Inn for the night. It's a clean and comfortable 50s style motel, where our vehicle is parked near the door so it's easy to move stuff in and out of the room. We had dinner at the Slipper Otter Pub -- a great house salad with chicken, shared by the two of us. The short rainfall did not last and we saw a lovely sunset behind the clouds.