Old Faithful

We headed off this morning after eating a hearty Montana breakfast for our adventure through the southern loop of Yellowstone. We ran across a number of animals throughout the day; Elk, Bison, Mule Deer, and an Eagle. It's always exciting when you're driving and you see cars parked on the side of the road. I usually means that there's an animal somewhere that everyone is looking at.

We drove through the park on our way to Old Faithful. Periodically we stopped at some of the different geysers and hot springs. I'm really amazed at the amount of volcanic activity that works it's way to the surface. The other thing is that we experienced so many different types of terrain in our 130 mile journey. We were in thick forests, meadows, mountains, rivers, canyons and geyser areas. Here's a picture of Old Faithful and a geyser.

By the way, I rented a GPS tour guide unit that we've been using. It's a really cool idea. As you are going through the park, the GPS knows where you are and will point out interesting facts and tips. It's like our own personal tour guide. We're going to keep it another day as we travel the north loop at Yellowstone.

The weather has been really crazy, it's been raining, windy, sunny, cold, warm all within about 30 minutes. When they say the weather can change quickly, they aren't kidding. One stop we made was to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It's a pretty impressive sight and with the waterfall, it rivals any individual view that we had last year at the real Grand Canyon. Here is a picture of it.

We brought along a little friend with us to enjoy the sites. We're not sure what to name him although Rylee has taken a liking to Stuart. The story of this doll is that after my Aunt Esther passed away, we found this doll in her belongings. I was intrigued by it and tried to find out if it was any special kind of doll. To be honest, it's a little scary looking. It almost looks hand made but the arms move. I don't even know what the doll is supposed to be. Is it a person, or an animal or something else. Anyway, we decided to bring it along and show him the sights. I think Esther would get a kick out of it.

We're off to the north loop of Yellowstone tomorrow and will end up in Cody Wyoming. We're all doing fine and not getting on each others nerve too often. By the way, Happy Father's day to all the dads but especially for mine. I think I know how you felt when you carted the 3 of us on the family trips that we took. Those trips that we took and the fun that I had as a kid, has made me want to share that experience with my family. Thanks for being a great dad and grandfather to all the grandkids.

If you want to hear the Rylee and Jarret's take on the day, click here.