Yellowstone....finally!

Well we got up literally at the crack of dawn. I know this to be true because even the girl setting up the continental breakfast was utterly surprised this morning by our appearance in the breakfast area at 5:00 am, fully dressed, car loaded and ready to eat. We made it into the park at daylight and had a beautiful drive in. I was teased nearly the entire way about having "bearaphobia". I don't know why the male species in the car found this so fascinating and humorous but they did. We saw deer first thing in the park and went straight over to Old Faithful. We watched the eruption and walked thru all of the geyser field around it. It is so weird to know you are standing above all that volcanic activity.

We went and toured another area and they had a beautiful rainbow pool there. Then on down the road and we stopped for lunch on the side of a cliff with a waterfall. Of course my heart sank when I looked half way down the cliff and saw my son making his way (without asking) to the waterfall. He was nearly there by the time I saw him, he might as well finish and get his picture made there huh. The cutest little chipmunk ate with us, I don't think he had missed too many meals from the looks of it.

We then went on to find a swimming hole at the edge of another waterfall and Mike and Tate along with about 75 of their friends went swimming. They said the water was about the temp of the lake. It had a good current, but not too strong.

The highlight of the day had to be watching the people get out of their cars and try to approach a buffalo. I rolled down my window, knowing there were probably some interesting pictures coming my way. Luckily for them, the buffalo was much nicer than he EVER should have been even with their child throwing rocks at him. People never cease to amaze me! Then the entire family stood in front of it, probably 50 feet away to have their family portrait made. The wonderful lady standing in front of our car from Wisconsin made some remark about "well, they might as well get one last family picture made too".

We continued thru the park and got to see a black bear at a waterfall and then waited patiently to see a mother grizzly and her cubs (about 1 mile away in a valley) with only a zoom lens and binoculars to try to find them. We did get to see them, but could bearly make them out (so to speak). We also saw a petrified tree, pretty cool!

No room at the inn, is what we have heard all the way from Yellowstone to Bozeman, Montana. i guess there are fly fishing tournaments and softball tournaments going on all over southern Montana. We finally stopped at a local hotel and got the suite. That is all that was left. It is much larger than we need and even has a stuffed bear for viewing in the lobby. Well, I am turning in for the night. I believe we have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow, destination................................................(drum roll).....................................Glacier Park in northern Montana to take pictures on America's most scenic road. The Road to the Sun. Goodnight!