Dining Out in Yellowstone Park

Today is hubby's birthday....everybody sing the birthday song for him.  We celebrated by planning a special evening in Yellowstone Park.

To be honest, we mostly lounged around today in my dorm room.  It was his birthday and that's what he wanted to do.  He kept asking for the remote control, so I had to remind him that we are without many comforts.

I made dinner reservations at the Grant Village restaurant for two reasons.  One, I have been working at the Old Faithful Inn for two months and I needed a change of scenery and two, I needed to track down number one son before I leave the Park.

We left early and headed toward the south entrance of the Park.

Here we are in front of Lewis Falls.

Lewis Lake is in the southwest corner of the Park.

This is what Lewis River turns into on the other side of the road.

Farther down the road, the river goes through a deep gorge.

As we got closer to the south entrance to Yellowstone, the road was straight as an arrow.

This doesn't happen often here.

Before we went into the restaurant, hubby had to put a finger in Yellowstone Lake.

It was cold just like he thought.

Good thing he didn't try this at the geysers.

Here's the restaurant.

And here's the son.

I am so proud.  Can you tell?

The food was great, of course.  I had salmon.  Hubby had fish and chips.  He's a cheap date.

We topped it off with huckleberry ice cream.

Right now, hubby is curled up on his single bed, dreaming dreams of dancing girls and foot rubs and war movies and other things he likes.

Tomorrow he has promised to go on a short hike. 

Secretly he's praying for rain.

My parting advice for the day is this.  If you're planning to visit Yellowstone, make dinner reservations.  This is a busy place and one thing tourists like to do is eat. 

So for now, I'm listening to the gentle snoring of hubby and trying to keep my eyes open past 9 p.m.  It isn't working.  Until tomorrow.

Searching for Number One Son in Yellowstone Park

The mission today was to track down the oldest son and see some parts of Yellowstone that I have missed.

Erik son was last seen in the vicinity of Grant Village, which is at the bottom left of Yellowstone Lake.

This son has been known to fall off the radar for months at a time.  But for now, the mama is only 20 miles down the road and she has a car.

I am a mother with a mission.

I stopped at the restaurant where he is assistant dining room manager.  The cute girls at the hostess desk were more than happy to rat him out.  They informed me that he was scheduled to work at 2:00.

With a few hours to kill, I decided to head on down the road to the Lake Hotel.

Now this is a hotel.

It's also the oldest hotel in Yellowstone...built in 1890 I believe.

Can't you see the ladies in their long skirts and the men in their straw hats strolling on the grounds?

And this is the view you get.

At the Old Faithful Inn you get parking lots.

Am I being a traitor?  Heck, yes.

The dining room has windows that look out over Yellowstone Lake.

The Old Faithful Inn dining room looks out over a parking lot. 

Are you starting to see the differences here?

They were having a wedding when I arrived.

Aren't they sweet? 

The Lake Lodge is on the same property.

The lobby is about as lodgey as you can get.

As I drove away, I stopped to take a picture of Yellowstone Lake with the Lake Hotel in the distance.

Another shot of the Lake just because I thought it turned out well.

At last, the mama tracks down her cub.

This is the dining room at Grant Village.

It also has a view of the Lake, not a parking lot.

The hostesses and waiters flocked around me and promised that Erik would be out soon.

It seems he choked on a glass of water at the news I was there.

Here he is looking professional.

It makes a mother proud to see her son working.

I treated myself to a meal at his fine establishment.

It was heaven...a Monte Cristo sandwich followed by ice cream bon bons. 

Yum.

When I got back to Old Faithful, Grizzly son suggested that we go for a hike.  I'm thinking a mile or two.

We hiked to Mallard Lake.

It was 3.5 miles down this trail.  That means 3.5 miles back.  That is 7 miles all together. 

That means my feet hurt, but I feel quite proud of myself.  Until I wake up in the morning.  If I can get up in the morning.

Here I am at Mallard Lake.  I didn't see any mallards, by the way.

And I didn't see any bears, which is an extremely good thing.

Did I mention that it was 3.5 miles uphill?

Ouch, pant, puff, moan and whine. 

I even did some private business in the woods and didn't get my shoes wet.  I would say it was a red letter day. 

Until tomorrow, remember....I forget what I was going to say. 

Spring/Winter in Yellowstone Park

Today was the first of my two days off.  I woke up to this.  Spring in Yellowstone Park.

Now do you understand why I have no idea what month or season it is?

It has snowed all day off and on. 

As my wonderful Montana dentist said, "There are three seasons here...winter, construction and company.  Usually the construction and company come at the same time."

Since the days in Yellowstone last longer than anyplace on earth, I was determined to get out of my room and do a little exploring.  

I decided to drive to the West Thumb Geyser Basin which is about a half an hour south of here. 

I thought the snow looked interesting against some trees that were burned in a fire last year.

Don't worry, there are plenty more trees in the Park....gazillions of trees if you must know.

It's a short hike around the board walk, but a lot is going on.

Yellowstone Lake has 110 miles of shoreline.

That's a big lake, right?

Right now, it is still frozen.  So am I, for that matter.

The West Thumb Geyser Basin is fascinating because hot bubbly things are right next to the lake.

Ice, snow, fire, water.  What more could you ask for?

Follow me down this boardwalk to see the strange and lovely sights.

There were some elk grazing by the lake.

They seemed harmless, but I think everything around here could kick you to death if it wanted.

The boardwalk goes right along the lake.

Those three tourists slipped on the ice and were swept away, so the next photo is awesome and will win me some prizes.

You know I'm kidding, right?  And I wonder why no one wants to hang with me.

The hot bubbly stuff just flows into Yellowstone Lake.

There are geysers right out in the lake.

Trust me, they are everywhere. 

I'm surprised that there isn't one right outside my bedroom window. 

May be one tomorrow.  Nothing surprises me here.

That's ice hanging down from the cliff.

There was ice hanging from my nose too, but you aren't getting a picture of that.

More boardwalk as I walked back to my car.

It was starting to snow again.

A pretty branch with some moss on it, just because I was tired of geysers.

Have I mentioned that the geysers smell like rotten eggs?

It's the sulfur making that odor, and I will always think of Yellowstone when I have deviled eggs in the refrigerator.

This bus was in the parking lot when I left.

There was no one in it.

I didn't see any hippies on the boardwalk.

You can make up your own story about this if you like. 

So that's the end of the adventures for today.  I have walked a couple of miles around the Old Faithful Geyser Basin, had dinner, done my laundry and it's only 6:30. 

Someone has to get me out of here.  I'm not shaving, my skin is getting scaly, I spend a lot of time alone having dangerous thoughts, I'm starting to talk to the German guy who has finger puppets (I will get a picture of him before I leave) and the employee dining room is starting to serve chicken nuggets pellets.

I still have some movies to watch, but when they're gone, I don't know what will happen.  Hubby is coming to get me toward the end of June.  The pictures will continue.  Until tomorrow.

On The Road in Yellowstone Park

In case you didn't read yesterday's post, and I know you did because you are loyal and  my best friends in the whole world, I have a broken tooth.  It doesn't hurt yet.  I can't see a dentist until next week.  I will have to drive at least two hours to see one.  I am in the middle of Yellowstone National Park. I am supposed to put tree sap on my tooth and be a brave Indian.   Now, is everyone caught up here? 

Although my trials are many, it was a beautiful day again.  The temperature must have been in the high 50's which is springtime in Wyoming.  The road to the south is open.  Hooray!  New territory to discover.  Grizzly's girlfriend, Jamie, took me for a ride.

Just down the road from Old Faithful, I discovered Kepler Cascades.  Well, obviously, I didn't "discover" it since there was a sign there to point it out.

Absolutely incredible.

The walkway hangs over the cascades.

This shot was taken leaning over the railing and looking straight down.

Don't get dizzy.

Look at me!  I am standing at the Continental Divide.

O.K., I had to look it up to make sure I got it right.  The Divide is the hydrological divide of the Americas that separate the watersheds. 

Simply put, along this mountainous ridge, water flows to the Pacific and to the Atlantic.  The elevation is so high that the water just wants to get the heck back to the oceans where it belongs.

And then we got to Yellowstone Lake.  Ohhhhh Myyyyy Gooooooodnessssssss.  Can you tell I'm impressed?

It is huge and the water is still frozen.

We're standing out there with no jackets, looking at a frozen lake. 

Of course, it's Yellowstone Park, so there are steaming geysers right along the lake.

Why not?

This is looking across the frozen lake to steam rising on the other side.

Geysers are everywhere and pop up in the strangest places.

We stopped briefly at West Thumb where a huge geyser field sits right next to the Yellowstone Lake.

There is an extensive board walk, and I will be back to walk it all.







The sad news today is that my friend, Susan, has decided to go back home.  I am driving her to Bozeman tomorrow to catch a plane.  I've probably touched on some of the reasons that people don't like it here, and I may have to wait until I leave to reveal all.  Let us just say that some of the employees are....ummmmmm.....let me see......have you ever seen the Walmart website with pictures of customers?  Check it out.  These could be our co-workers.   http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/.  It ain't pretty.

So, the one person, outside of my front desk group, who could have kept me company here, is going away.  Only the good leave early, I believe.  She has to do what makes her happy, but I am glad I got to know her just a little bit.

I may hit the employee pub for a little bit tonight.  They are having a beach party.  Can I take pictures without anyone noticing?   I don't think I can pass this photo op up.  It may win me an award or a job with the Enquirer.  More from Yellowstone tomorrow.  Sleep tight my friends.