7-24-2012 The “viewing” park

Ally here:   Dad had never been to Yellowstone before, so we planned a stop there on our way to our summer home in the Tetons. 

After dinner that night, Dad and Pop walked down to the Madison River for a little fishing.  Grandma followed them a little later with her camera in tow.  She didn’t see them so she missed Dad catching a nice big trout.  She’s getting a little old so her sight isn’t what it used to be.  She got close but she was looking for two guys together and couldn’t tell that it was Pop and Dad who had split up.  Next time.

Grandma and Pop got me a typing program so I can have skills to pay the bills when I get older, as my friend, Shannon, says.  Actually, I’ve gotten pretty good at this.  I can now type 30 wpm with 98% accuracy, and that’s with all the numbers and other keys, too.  I get better and better each day.  It’s a cool program with lots of tests and lots of games.  I must admit I get pretty tense when I take those tests.  It’s helping me with my writing, too.  It’s a lot easier to be creative when you can think something and get it written down fast.  It’s easier than having to write stuff by hand.  If I’m not doing something outside I’m either reading or playing with this typing program.  I’m always busy.  I’m taking a test while Grandma looks for Pop and Dad on the river.

We didn’t have such a great night’s sleep last night as our campsite was surrounded by tent camping folks who like to burn fires late into the evening.  We felt like we were turning into smoked hams.  So, Dad, Grandma, and I decided to head out early to tour a bit of Yellowstone.   There was no sense in waiting for the morning fires to start.  Dad is starting to understand we don’t sleep in!  Our first stop was the Fountain Paint Pot.  I really liked this recipe.  It tells us exactly how they are made.

Cool stuff. 

We’re off to explore the Midway Geyser Basin.  You can tell it’s early.  Do you see any other folks around?  They are all sleeping!  It’s the best time to be here.

If you ever think there’s not much going on under the ground just come to Yellowstone.  It’s churning and exploding everywhere.

We’re standing in front of Spasm Geyser.    That early morning sun is bright.

There are beautiful, colorful pools everywhere.

These are bacterial mats along the Firehole River.  Different bacteria live at different temperatures and that gives the mat its different colors.

The Firehole River is a great fishing river in the early spring when the other rivers are still frozen.  It gets its heat from the runoff of water from the geysers and hot pools.

Excelsior Geyser is one of those that feed the Firehole River.

It’s an interesting geyser.  Even though its eruptions are infrequent it pumps over 4,000 gallons per minute over the rim of the crater into the Firehole River.

Dad’s a pretty speedy tourist.  We’re not wasting any time.  We’re off to see the Grand Prismatic Spring.

It has the most amazing colors and shapes in it.  Just look...

Another beautiful pool.

It’s back to the Excelsior Geyser Crater.  Look at all that steam rising in the cool morning air.

It’s churning down there.

One of Grandma’s favorites is Biscuit Basin.  She loves all the different colors in the hot pools here.

It’s hard not to be impressed with nature.

Sapphire Pool in Yellowstone and Crater Lake in Oregon have the most amazing blue color I’ve ever seen.

Grandma likes Mustard Spring.  It’s really pretty.

We arrived at Old Faithful shortly before it began to erupt.  Great timing.

Old Faithful near its peak.

From there we headed to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and its Lower Falls.  It’s always beautiful there but by now the crowds were out and we were ready to take a break for lunch.

One quick photo and we headed to lunch.  After lunch Dad and I decided we wanted to head back to camp and pack up and head for the Tetons, the “doing” park.  We were tired of “viewing” and didn’t want to spend another night surrounded by fires.  We didn’t have to convince Grandma.  She stopped by the office to cancel the other four days of our reservation and there was a very grateful lady there who snapped them up right away. We were on our way “home”!