Yellowstone: Log #2

We traveled through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, and Missouri on our way to Tennessee. Montana and Wyoming were downright breathtaking. Just beautiful. But I did have moments of slight panic when the gas tank would start to get below half a tank and there was not a town in sight. We would drive for hours and only pass by a handful of settlements that could pass for civilization. Miles and miles and miles of farmland. Horses, cows, crops. And rolling mountains. So very pretty.

Our first major stop on the trip was Yellowstone National Park.

It is very pretty and I do recommend that you go. However, try NOT to go in July. We were there soon after the July 4th holiday and it was just too crowded for our taste. Too many people. But we did get to see Old Faithful and we were stuck in a traffic jam created, not by people, but by bison. That was pretty fun. We also stood on the Continental Divide. I tried, in vain, to explain this concept to my children. They didn't really "get it" and, frankly, I don't think they really cared. I thought it was cool though!

Old Faithful was a bit of a tease. It erupts every 90 minutes or so. We found a good place to catch the "show" and waited for about 15 minutes before we started seeing whisps of steam. There would be steam and a spurt of water that would quickly trickle off. Then. . . nothing. For several minutes we would just stare at this whole in the ground and wait expectantly. Finally the tease erupted and gave us the show we were hoping for. It was pretty cool.

The unfortunate part of the Old Faithful experience was that Alec was super tired and cranky. He wanted no part of anything. You can see that he wouldn't even look at me for a photo!

My favorite aspect of Yellowstone was Yellowstone Lake. It was simply surreal in its beauty. It looked like glass and was ringed with mountains. Very nice. I also enjoyed the many waterfalls and pretty views.

Next post coming soon!