Today was the day that we finally made it into Yellowstone National Park!  As we often do we had a leisurely start to our day with breakfast and a quick trip to pick up some necessities (you guys should see Steph’s new hat!).  We left Livingston and drove south on 89.  This highway follows the Gardiner River into the Park.  It was a beautiful sight even before we entered Yellowstone.  We got to the Park and they waved us in like royalty.  There is a very tall arch built at the North Entrance.  It’s so tall that we didn’t recognize it for what it is and drove right through it.  We will have to hit that tomorrow.  In fact, we will have to hit a few things tomorrow that we bypassed today.  For you see, fellow travelers, today we were on a mission.  We had goals and dreams.  Today we would see the earth spew forth water!  We would see bison roaming the earth (and not on plates at the local restaurants).  We would see the Milky Way in all of the glory that God originally intended us to see it in. We started out by playing in a river.  Well, Joe did.  Steph took pictures to prove that I had not disturbed any rocks or fauna or flora.  You might be surprised at how many rules there are here.  Each animal has its own Personal Protection Order.  Some are 25 yards, others are 100 yards.  So I needed proof that all I did was look at the cool rapids and look at the rocks.  Oh, and the bear scat.  There was lots of that laying around (I have pictures!).

Joe playing in the Gardiner River

We then traveled to Mammoth Hot Springs.  This was amazing! (Get used to that word, it comes up often today).  The crust is so thin that a child could break through it, opening a hole directly to Hell.  If this happens the child dies.  This tale is graphically repeated frequently in the Park.  STAY ON THE PATHS!  DON’T LET YOUR CHILD FALL INTO HELL!

Don’t Let Your Children Fall into Hell

As I mentioned, there are many rules to be followed.  We have pics of the Hot Springs.  I can’t do them justice.  You see some places where the water has turned the earth as white as Lot’s Wife.  Others places are orange like a pumpkin.  I saw a pine cone being slowly transformed into a mineralized rock.  The steam was apparent, even on a 90 degree day.  Fortunately no children were seen entering Hell today (but I would have taken pictures if necessary- for science).

Mammoth Hot Springs

After Mammoth Springs we headed toward Old Faithful.  We took a scenic drive along the way (as if the entire day weren’t scenic!)  When we got to Old Faithful we found out that it was going off in about 45 minutes.  Well, it was late and we had other things to see so were ditched Old Faithful (after touring the hot springs adjacent to the main geyser).  We went to Black Sands Basin and saw great displays of sulfur and spewing water along with peaceful pools and steaming sinkholes.  It was amazing.

At Black Sand Basin

Cliff Geyser at Black Sand Basin

At Black Sand Basin

View at Black Sand Basin

We moved up the road to Biscuit Basin were we found even more ways to die a beautiful death (Steph tooks lots and lots of pictures so watch this space closely).

At Biscuit Basin

Sapphire Pool at Biscuit Basin

By now the sun was behind the mountains so we started heading out of the Park.  So far we had not seen any large animals.  We saw a dragonfly at Mammoth Springs, but that had been it.  But on the road out we saw a bison!  It was out grazing in a meadow as the sun was setting.  It was a beautiful creature.

Questionable Image of a Bison

The road is winding and up and down, so driving out in the dark was a lot like Luke Skywalker flying his X-Wing fighter down to the surface of the Deathstar (that how I imagined it anyway).  Stephanie only had to do her breathing exercised 3 times on the trip out, so we did okay.  On the way out we stopped and got to see the sky at night with no light pollution.  I saw the Milky Way for the first time in decades!  Truly awesome to see. We are heading back tomorrow to see some of the things we bypassed today.  Then we will start our journey back home, racing the bank account all of the way!

J