Yellowstone Part 1

Yesterday we spent all day in the car with one goal- Yellowstone.  It was Doug’s favorite spot from his trip back in 86 with his family when he was 14.  It was a long 7 hour drive until we got to the park, then another hour to the campground.  The campground has horrible WiFi so I am unable to post this until we get better service.  On our way to the campground we did spot a Brown Bear off in the distance.  I was so excited to FINALLY see a bear.  We have been to so many campgrounds with Bear warnings, and no bear sightings.

After we set up, we had to eat a quick dinner between laundry loads and then had ice cream while the laundry dried.  We then went to the Ranger Presentation; it was about how the wildlife in the park adapts to the climate changes in Yellowstone. 

Not a very eventful day but we were in Yellowstone and we knew that we had two full days here.

Today we woke up early and drove an hour to Old Faithful.  We were able to see it erupt four times today while we explored that section of the park. It was complete awesomeness.  Maddie was so excited the first time she saw it, she was jumping up and down.

After the first view of the eruption we went to the visitors’ center and then hiked about 3 miles around Old Faithful to see other geysers, pools, and springs.  We saw Old Faithful erupt two more times during our hike (from a distance). J  On that hike Maddie spotted a coyote trotting along right in front of us with some dead something in his mouth.  We all saw it and got some pretty cool pictures too.  We know that it was indeed a coyote because later we showed the picture to a ranger and he identified it. 

We ate lunch at the lodge dining room.  The lodge itself is amazingly decorated; it would have been cool to just hang out there.  The food was good too.  We then went to see Old Faithful erupt one last time before we did some shopping and had ice cream. 

We then drove to several different look out points including Black Sand Basin,  Biscuit Basin, Painted Mud Pots and a beautiful waterfall.  We took LOTS of pictures!!!!

We were all so tired once we got back to the campsite we opted NOT to go to the Ranger Talk tonight, but rather just chill out with a campfire.  We are all so beat!