Old Faithful

One of the things that Ryan and I were most excited to see in Yellowstone was Old Faithful, and so we decided to make that the first heading of our day.

The crisp and very cool morning air made it a bit tough to want to roll out of our tent this morning, but nothing that a cup of piping hot coffee couldn’t help with.

The drive to Old Faithful is so beautiful.  Because we left earlier in the morning, not only did we beat the normal Park traffic, but we were also able to enjoy some of the animals that were out scavenging for breakfast.

We pulled up to Old Faithful hoping that our timing would be just right, and we were spot on.  With 20 minutes before the next eruption, we headed straight over to the geyser and grabbed front row seats.

So I’m sure you’re curious to know what Old Faithful is like in person. . .and. . .

. . .well, the eruption itself was a little anticlimactic and not exactly what we were expecting.  The one that we saw ended up being a smaller and quicker eruption, and unfortunately there wasn’t a great view of the geyser’s water because there was a lot of steam covering it up.  But regardless, we both enjoyed the experience.

After the “show,” we headed back to the car and started our slow journey North.  I say slow, because our plan was to stop at every single attraction on our way home, and we absolutely followed through – geysers, paint pots, basins, bubbling things – you name it, we stopped.

clearly I prefer my morning coffee with a side of geyser

our favorite stop – grand prismatic spring

After hours of exploring the natural wonders of Yellowstone, we pulled off at the Gibbon Falls picnic site, and set ourselves up to make some lunch.  This picnic spot was absolutely breathtaking – sitting on the cliffs, overlooking the river and falls – it really doesn’t get any better than this.

Well it actually does get better, because after we finished lunch, the hubs ran back to the car to bring out a surprise for me. . .bubbles!  I really, really love bubbles (or really anything that keeps me from growing up), and so he brought some for me, and it beyond made my day!

After lunch (and bubbles), we had originally planned to conquer more of Yellowstone’s geysers, but since the weather was so gorgeous and we were feeling a bit geysered-out, we decided to head back to the Firehole Canyon Drive to go swimming in the river again.

just a little post-lunch buffalo

Today the water was nice and still, so we just floated and enjoyed the relaxation of the scenery, including a beautiful elk that came and grazed at the river’s edge.

After a relaxing afternoon, we drove back to camp to sit around and play some cards.  That is, until we realized that we forgot the cards.  So instead, we just sat around, slowly got our fire started, and enjoyed the late afternoon sun.

As my Grandma would say, “japdip!”  Just Another Perfect Day In Paradise.  And really, it was.