With the Kagans not set to arrive before the 8th, we decided to check out Yellowstone National Park. After what we had heard, it would not be too difficult to do it again when they arrived. We had two motorhomes and a truck. I suggested that we take my (I loved it so much I was possessive) motorhome since it was such an easy drive, had space for all of us, and the seats had seatbelts.
After unhooking the tubes that connected us to Flagg Ranch, we set out for Yellowstone. Earlier in the year I had signed up for the National Parks Pass. If I didn't use it, then I would have considered it as a donation to the parks. We got into Yellowstone without turning over any cash -- $ 20 saved.
We decided to head towards Old Faithful and therefore went west. A few miles down the road, there were cars had pulled over to the side of the road. Being a follower we did the same thing, jumped out of the motorhome, and headed off down the road. People were taking pictures of Elk, Elk and more Elk.
Jayme took several of these pictures and I took a picture of her with an elk peering over her shoulder. After about 15 minutes, we headed back to the motorhome and again started towards Old Faithful.
The next stop was Keppler Falls.
Then more elk. Yes, we did get jaded about elk after this.
Soon we arrived at Old Faithful and got into the long bathroom lines. Once out of there, we headed towards the seats at Old Faithful. We wanted front row seats and got them.
Emilie, Jayme, and I were starving and we went to get food, having been assured that OF wouldn't blow until we got back.
We made it back to Old Faithful in time for the eruption. It was spectacular. I took too many pictures of it, making sure that I got a really great picture.
On the way back to the motorhome we stopped at the souvernir shop: the Mesicks got some food and we got souvenirs. Then it was back on the road. Miles to go before we could return to our camping spot.
The next stop was the paint pots. This was the main thing I wanted to see since it was the main memory I had from visiting Yellowstone when I was a kid. In those days we walked within inches of these boiling bottomless pools (or at least that is how I remembered it). Now there are fences all around and we got to see only about 10 pools. It was still neat!
Continuing around the loop road, we joined others in photographing buffalo.
Nearing the end of the loop, we despaired of seeing bears and moose, when .....! There she was, calmly chomping on vegetation.
We didn't see any bears, but saw elks, buffalos, and moose.
That night we had a quiet supper in the motorhome. I asked Sue if she would give me a ride down to Jackson so that I could pick up the car, so at 10PM (far past my Virginia bedtime) we were driving south. Why, you may ask, did I want the car since I had a great little motorhome?
Emilie and I were going to Montana on Sunday and I didn't want to drive the motorhome the 8 hours to get to and from Virginia City,MT. Also, I had paid for the car to stay there only until the 7th and I didn't know what they would do to an illegally parked car. We picked up the car at the airport, stopped at the grocery store, and headed back. If you have never been in the West, you can't imagine how dark it can get. There were no street lights, no big buildings spewing light. It is really dark. I followed Sue's lights. At about midnight, we got back and headed to our motorhomes. Tomorrow the Kagans would arrive!