Old Faithful and the Buffalo

Today seemed to be the first day where we actually did slow down some. After completing last nights blog this morning and having country ham, grits, fried spam and toast for a somewhat leisurely breakfast, we headed out for Yellowstone mid morning. We drove through Grand Teton National Park on our way to Yellowstone and were awed by the majesty of the Teton Range. We did experience some delays due to road construction, but did make it to the shores of Lake Lewis for lunch. We then went to the West Thumb Geyser Basin and saw many unique and beautiful geothermal wonders on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. While there we found out that Old Faithful was due to erupt in about an hour and a half. The group decided that it was time to see Old Faithful do her thing. We proceeded directly to the Old Faithful area and were treated to quite a show after waiting for about 40 minutes. The kids were then begging for ice cream (it was 75 degrees) and we opted to look around Old Faithful Inn while getting our ice cream. Everyone was awed by the architecture of the inn (which was built in 1903) and thoroughly enjoyed the dessert. From Old Faithful we went to the Lone Star Geyser Trail for a hike in hopes of seeing some wild life. We did a four mile hike, but saw only one snake. Everyone was disappointed, but as the day was drawing to a close we decided to head back to the campground in Moran (about a 45 minute drive back through Grand Teton NP along the shore of Jackson Lake). On the way we stopped by Flagg Ranch Resort just to check it out and were rewarded by an up close encounter with a Buffalo right outside the store/restaurant building at Flagg Ranch. Everyone was very excited as this was the one animal everyone wanted to see. We then finished the day at the campground with Brats, Hotdogs and a relatively early bedtime. Tomorrow we break camp again (which is not so bad as today a family that is a cross between the Waltons and the Simpsons moved in next to us and they are VERY loud) and head to Gardiner, Montana north of Yellowstone. I have not put the mileage in every day, but today we crossed 2500 miles. Everyone is having fun and we appreciate the comments. We are still working on the pictures. The main trouble is having time to put them on. Hopefully we will tomorrow. Ben and Millie want to say hey to there families and Dan and Shannon likewise hope everyone is doing well. Time to get in the sleeping bag (35 degrees tonight) and get some rest. Goodnight to all.