Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Today was a busy day! This morning we did the norm, we got up early, ate, and headed out to YNP. It was a perfect morning. It was balmy this morning, about 68 degrees from the get go. It go warmer as the day went on! The first mile or so into Yellowstone we spotted a bald eagle perched at the top of a tree. It was a breath taking sight. Then we found our buffalo friends.I am taking bets that my dad gets a ticket for me hanging out of the car window or slamming on the breaks to stop! LOL! These bison truly are a treat in the early morning. One thing I forgot to mention that everytime there is some form of wildlife, there is a traffic jam for a mile or so. It's pretty comical! From this point we headed with Artist Point as our destination stopping at most of the turn offs along the way. Our first stop was Artist Paint Pots. Mom, Sandy, Rory and I hiked out about a mile and it was worth it. Wow, talk about jumping mud!!! LOL! But, along the way I realized I lost my mom, Sandy, and Rory. hmmm....I wondered where they were!?
! Turns out my mom, ms. modest had to use the bathroom. Well we are in the wilderness....yup, you guessed it! She is taking up a sport called pissing in the woods! LOL! It has tough to believe that she really did it....but she did! What do they say? Oh right, when you gotta go, you gotta go! So we continued into the Paint Pot area. The colors were amazing! Thermal Pools and Mud Pots were everywhere. We hiked up and around all of the pots and the thermal pools. It was very neat! We cruised out of there after about 45 minutes or so. Our next stop had us at a vistors center. It was a neat walk around area. It talked about how Yellowstone is a Volcano. The actual area that we are in is a caldera. Pretty much think of a big cone volcano that sunk in. So now it is U shaped sort of. But, Yellowstone is such a huge area....it's the same size as rhode island and conneticut. I learned some pretty cool stuff today! From here we cruised for a while through the forest area and a 35 minute road block because it was one lane into the area we were heading. Annoying but gorgeous....I opened the car door and hung out on the Madison River that was rapidly flowing by. We decided that we were going to pull in to the Elk Park Picnic area and have some lunch before we headed into the falls area. During lunch of course I played around and was taking pictures down at the river. I even squatted with Rory on a log. Even though, looks as though i am practicing using the facilities! LOL! Well, during lunch huge elk showed up on the other side of the river. Their antlers had about a 4-5ft span in between them! They were so graceful. They ate for a while. Then decided to sit there and laugh at their audience. After prying me away from the wildlife we headed to Artist Point. If you have ever stayed at the Wilderness Lodge at Disney you would of heard of Artist Point. It is there fine dining restaurant at the resort. One of my personal favorites....yes, the disney geek is coming out in me...sorry!
The view of Lower Yellowstone Falls from Artist Point is not as famous as "Old Faithful." However the view is spectacular, beyond words! The Lower Falls in "The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" is overwhelming. It is impossible to capture the beauty here with the camera. It is also impossible to forget this place! Artist Point is one of the most photographed spots in Yellowstone! Ansel Adams took the same picture I did today in 1941! After we left Artist Point we cruised along the North Rim Road. It was an amazing view of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We stopped at Inspiration Point and my mom decided instead of being inspired she was expired! We all were beat! We decided to head back to the truckster and wrap up the day! We went out to dinner at the Iron Horse Saloon. It was ok!
