Sunday, June 6 Continued "Yellowstone"

First four pictures are of Old Faithful and the others are boiling pots and buffalo pictures.

June 6 Continued – Trip to Old Faithful

All day it has been cold and rainy. We go out today for our drive to Old Faithful. It is still raining and cold, but as Ferne says, “It has been a beautiful day!”

We have seen more of God’s magnificent handiwork. We started our drive to see Old Faithful and got many surprises along the way. Here near the top of the mountains were many flat plains and basins. There were numerous loops off of the main roads to see boiling pools, and spouting fountains of hot water. This water would form little streams through colorful beds of chemical deposits down into the big streams of water. On a day like today there were huge amounts of steam coming from these boiling pots. Bubbling sounds mixed with the sounds of birds and other water creatures made you just want to stop look and listen.

Finally we are huddling with raindrops pelting on our umbrellas, waiting for the eruption of Old Faithful. The walkways are crowded with others doing the same things we are, just waiting and watching with anticipation.

Old Faithful was expected to erupt at 2:35 PM, plus or minus 10 minutes. Steam keeps rising from its small spout. We keep waiting. Finally there are a few spurts of water. She’s just teasing, more waiting. Here it comes!! The water shoots out and spurts into the air. It lasts for several minutes and is something to behold. As the water springs forth, it makes gushing sounds. Then slowly the gush and sound of water gets lower and quieter. Finally it stops completely. Now there is only steam again.

I will add this bit of information that I read about Old Faithful. Eruptions are usually around 135 feet in the air, but can be as high as 190 feet or as low as 100 feet. These eruptions occur approximately every 92 minutes and last from three to five minutes. Seeing Old Faithful spout off is truly an experience to behold and one worthy to learn about by any means available.

Today was another awesome day that no words can describe.

We are now back at the camper with me writing and Harry planning the next phase of our trip. This is the turning point. We are now going east. Leaving Yellowstone National Forest is another story to be posted later. Mount Rushmore and attractions around it are our next points of interest.

Sunday, June 6 -- Arrival at Yellowstone

Sunday, June 6---Yellowstone National Park

We are at Yellowstone National Park campground called Madison Junction. There has been quite a change in our weather. We arrived here on Saturday afternoon. We got set up and decided to cook some steaks. We pulled out a little grill that we have had for some time but had not used. We cooked these along with potatoes, onions, and carrots wrapped in foil. We enjoyed a garden salad along with this.

By bedtime it started to rain and rain it did, for the duration of our stay. It was cold and damp. We had turned our double sleeping bag over to the winter side. Both of us got cold, but were not brave enough to get up to find more blankets. Neither of us slept very well. We woke up early.

Shortly after we got up a huge bison came ambling through our campsite between our camper and fire pit. Harry saw it and shouted, “Louise, come and look at this!” We both got a good look at it. Harry was so excited that he grabbed the camera and went out in the rain. He got a couple of good pictures, but none of its head. That part was always behind a tree or bush.

The outside temperature is 48.7 degrees. Inside it is 62.2 degrees. We are layered in clothing to be warm. I used the oven to bake a can of biscuits this morning. That warmed the camper a little bit.

We have reservations for two more nights, but one more night might be enough. We do not have electricity or any hook ups. Roughen it, if you can call it that with a camper.
We are definitely much better off than those pioneers I keep thinking about.