Playing Tourist in Yellowstone Park, Part II

It's been a couple of big days in Yellowstone Park for me and the hubby.  We put on funny tourist clothes and rubber necked our way all around the Park.

This is Roaring Mountain. 

I didn't hear anything, but the steam does sort of "roar" out of cracks.  It's best to see this in the morning when it's cold so the steam is visible.

We went to Mammoth Hot Springs since hubby had never been there.

We met up with my friend, Ken, and climbed to the top of the Terraces.

That's Mammoth down there in the distance.

Ken and hubby demanded "benching" time before we made it up the stairs to the top.

It almost seems like the surface of the moon.

With blue skies and mountains with snow.

Actually, the moon probably doesn't look anything like this, but it is eerie.

At the very top, you are treated to a hot springs that pours down the side of the Terraces.

Hubby stayed behind at a bench.

He was upset when he learned that you can drive to the top of the Terraces to see this.

He hinted that I should walk all the way down myself and drive the car to the top to pick him up.

It didn't happen.

Today we drove the entire loop around Yellowstone Park.

I'll spare you the details and just hit the good tourist stuff.

This is a baby grizzly that was right beside the road.

A ten year old Japanese boy ran right up to it and turned for his father to take a picture.

Everyone was yelling at them to get back in the car.

Where there's a baby, there's usually a mama and she isn't so cute.  This isn't Disneyland, folks.  The animals are not animated.  All ended well, as far as we know.

We saw the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone....from 5 or 6 different locations.

Hubby said that it's better than the other Grand Canyon.

Here I am saying "Cheeseburger" for the umpteenth time for hubby.

He waits until my smile has faded into teeth gritting before he pushes the button, so don't think that this is how I really smile.

Here's the petrified hubby looking at a petrified tree.

Actually, only the tree is rock like.

Hubby has his softer moments.

The macho elks are out and about now.

He's looking good.

Don't think any of the ladies were out to appreciate him, but there is a season for everything.

So there you have it friends.  The highlights of two days worth of traveling.

I don't like playing tourist, if you must know.  I liked it much better here when you couldn't see a car for miles.
At least I was able to experience the Park before the tour buses and RV's took over.

Tonight, we're hitting the employee pub for pizza and Moose Drool.  Wish you were here.

Weather in Yellowstone National Park

Sorry if you were on the edge of your seat for last night's post.  I took my love to town and the blog didn't happen.  Not really, hubby, but I did go into Gardiner with the gang.  We checked out the two bars in town. 

I had one bottle of Trout Slayer Ale at the local tavern.  Moose Drool Ale will be my next purchase.  The taste was great, but the names make the experience even sweeter.

 Our bartender was Cowboy Mike who looks over his customers like they were his own children.  Some of them might be his. It seems that he has been married 3 times and has 10 children.  Must be the beer that makes a man a man out here.

The ladies and I headed to the K-Bar to meet up with the rest of the class.  See the clouds over the mountains?  More about that later.

Here's Springfield Adam again, whooping it up.

Those Ohio boys know how to party.










What you need to remember is that there were clouds over the mountains.  It rained all night.  Not a big deal.  It rains in Ohio.  But I am in Yellowstone National Park, where the elevation is around 8,000 feet in most places. 

There was some snow on the car this morning.  Kind of cool.  We were all scheduled to take a bus tour of the Park, and like innocent tourists, we piled on and entrusted our lives in the hands of Bruce, our driver.

This is the back of Bruce's head.  Evel Knievel had nothing on this guy. 

He's worked here forever.  Nothing strikes fear in this man's heart.  He could drive his bus through herds of bison being chased by wolves and Indians.

He would laugh at the risk.

This is what Bruce laughed at today.  A nice foot of Spring snow in the Park.

The higher we went, the more it snowed.

Lots of snow.  Heaps and piles of snow.

Snow on icy roads with no guard rails, beside cold rivers.

I took this picture from the bus.  We were moving fast on the icy roads with no guard rails.

No guard rails.

Bruce kept turning his head to tell jokes to the women behind him.  He told us jokes about buses going off the road and bridges collapsing.  Funny guy.  May he rot in tour driver hell.

To avoid thinking about death, I photographed more animals.

You needed to see more bison.

Again, a picture from the bus, so it won't win any prizes.

This is a grizzly bear.  He was digging up some roots.

I took this before I thought my life was in danger.

We did make it to the Old Faithful Inn.  The lobby is incredible.

It's not open yet.  We could have enjoyed it more if we knew whether or not we could get down the road again. 

The debate was on about whether the roads were closed.  We didn't want to be stranded there, but then again....slip sliding down a mountain with zero visibility is not a great option.

My future room mate, Sibyl, and I posed in front of the registration desk where we will be making tons of mistakes for quite some time.

Bruce decided that we could make it down the road that was officially closed.  I stared at this sign next to me for several hours.

I couldn't figure out how this would work when our bus plummeted into the icy river.

I stared at it anyway.  Sibyl went to sleep to avoid worrying.

Obviously, we made it back alive.  The trip that would normally take 3 hours round trip, took us 6.  I have finally unclinched certain body parts. 

Let this be a warning for anyone planning a trip to Yellowstone this time of year.  You can get all seasons in one day, they say.  I only saw two...Winter and almost Winter. 

I will survive.

Fun, Fishy, Furry Yellowstone Facts

I'm tired of fussing and fretting all over the internet, finding ways to increase my traffic flow, so today is "Fun, Fishy, Furry Yellowstone Facts."

Don't say this sentence out loud as you will spit on your computer, or in my case, the useless lap cat.

Fact 1.  Steamboat Geyser in Norris Geyser Basin, is as unpredictable as Spring in Ohio.  No one knows when it will erupt.  It could happen every day for a week and then not erupt again for 50 years.

It's also the largest geyser in the world.  Must be all that pent up energy.  If you only pass gas every 50 years, well you know... 

Who keeps track of this?  .

Guess there's no clothing allowance.








Fact 2.  Yellowstone Lake has an underwater geyser.  This one is predictable.  Every 25 minutes it erupts underneath the surface.

Kind of reminds me of putting the boys in the tub when they were little and those mysterious bubbles.  Fine!  No more gas jokes.

Even cooler than being an underwater geyser is that the cutthroat trout loves all the action.  They eat the crustaceans and aquatic insects that get stirred up.  Can't you see them with their little watches, tapping their little fins?

This one should have been paying more attention to that dark shadow lurking overhead.

Fact 3.  There were about 50,000 grizzly bears that roamed between the Pacific Ocean the Great Plains 200 years ago.

There are approximately 600 grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.  Plus one when grizzly son arrives.

This picture is the closest I want to get to one.

I guess in the 40's, they thought these guys were cute.

"Come here, you adorable little bear you!"

Bear spray was probably invented shortly thereafter.

Fact 4.  The National Hotel at Mammoth was the first overnight stop for visitors arriving by stage from the north entrance train depot at Gardiner.

Construction began in 1883. 

It was impressive for its time with electricity, a barber shop, billiard tables, a Steinway piano and of course, a barroom.  If I had travelled by stage, I'd want a drink.

There were a few problems.  Of the 10,000 tourists who visited in 1883, many came in their own wagons and camped out. 

Hmmm.  How long were vacations back then?

"Hey, boss...Me and the family are taking a little trip to Yellowstone this summer.  Reckon we'll be back in six months."

Fact 5.  Not everyone was impressed with Yellowstone National Park.

When Rudyard Kipling visited in 1889 he said:  "...the ground rings hollow as a kerosene tin, and some day the Mammoth Hotel, guests and all, will sink into the caverns and be turned into a stalactite."

Whoa Rudy!  Somebody short sheet your bed?  Lighten up!


Well, class, that ends today's lesson.  I hope you all feel a little bit enlightened.  I know I do.