Day in Yellowstone


Geysers, fumaroles, mudpots, and wildlife



Our approach to Yellowstone was to drive around Yellowstone Lake (the long way) during Nina's nap time and then reach Old Faithful and other geysers in the afternoon. The plan worked well in the morning. The crowd of people was still on the road looking off at nothing, so we stopped and asked if we could look through their spotting scopes. It turns out they were watching the Hayden Valley wolf pack. We saw a mom and some pups running around. The puppies were about half grown and were stalking birds and trying to learn to hunt. We were very happy we'd stopped.

The drive was lovely and uneventful and Nina only slept for about 15 minutes. We arrived at Old “Faithful” and had lunch. Turns out that we just missed the Geyser going off and had to wait another hour-1.5 hours to see it again. We were not prepared for an hour and a half in geyser country without a stroller. Nina wanted to be independent and explore, but there was boiling water all around us and ground she could break through to her death. Next time, stroller!

The short story: Grumpy Nina = Grumpy Parents

In the middle of our wait, we got some lovely pictures sent to our cell phones from our friend Paul - the Mars Phoenix Lander had successfully launched and he sent us lovely pictures. I also got to spend half an hour or more on the phone trying to make sure that all my recommendation letters had gotten in to the job I was applying for. That was a less desirable link back to the real world from our little retreat in Yellowstone.

We had grand plans for the afternoon after that, but Nina fell asleep, leaving us to run separately around Prismatic Springs/Excelsior Geyser and then we needed to get back in time for dinner. It was all lovely, we just didn't have time to do more. Luckily, we think that we might be able to make it back someday.

I made my favorite camping dinner, fajitas, and Nina found some friends across the street to play with: a little girl and her brother from Tacoma. Nina got to play the part of little sister for a little while, and seemed to have a good time.

Posted: Fri - August 3, 2007 at 11:19 AM          

©