Palm Trees in southern Florida

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Yellowstone National Park


What's new that I can say about Yellowstone?



I looked, Yogi & Boo-Boo were not to be found nor was a picnic basket but Ranger Smith might be still be around. 
I wonder how old you have to be to remember Ranger Smith?

This visit is not quite like I wanted, it was a lack of planning on my part, I'm retired & gave no thought to when the Labor Day weekend was. That weekend did not seem to be a good one to show up at the 1st ever American National Park so we rested up in a different part of Montana.


There is traffic, lots at times. We spent 45 minutes in stop
and go traffic for some elk

That resting up was needed by me, (packing up, going, sightseeing, setting up, sleeping & repeat does get old)  but it did use time that could have been better spent in Yellowstone. I wanted a day's rest, maybe two, but not the whole Labor Day weekend that we sat out because I didn't realize it was coming!
How can "time" mean much to a retired person you ask? We're going to work the beet harvest in North Dakota and have to show up this month. There is an "end" to this particular chunk of travel.

I had visions of the vacationing legions packing up on Monday (Labor Day) & heading home after the last summer fling. The reality seems to be a little different as there were still plenty of people in the park & the campgrounds around it. Gee, a lot of them look retired too!


We found a spot in a national forest camp (Bakers Hole) not too far from the park's west entrance. The price is right, the views are great and we can leave the RV in its place & drive into the park with the other van to see the sites then drive home that night. Good enough!

The first stop was Old Faithful.  My wife had never been here before and that's one landmark I didn't want to miss. We walked up to the viewing area 30 seconds before it started erupting, talk about timing! 

We took a walk around Old Faithful then went to the Old Faithful Lodge 2nd deck viewing area to watch it do it's thing again. A pleasant afternoon.



There are mountains and animals too.
The 45 minute traffic jam for elk



Yellowstone!  It really is something to see the steam coming out of the ground, to see the boiling pools and the clear, clear bluish green water that smells of sulfur.
Steam from the ground is common

Bubbling pools that come with an odor


When you get tired of the people, the mountains, the animals, the steaming pools and geysers you look for this sign.







4 comments:

  1. Yellowstone is such a strange and beautiful place but you do need a lot of time to visit it. And it seems to be always crowded now. It wasn't as bad just a few years ago but with a better economy and lower gas prices more people are out here driving around - especially those old people :-D!

    Looking forward to your take on the beet harvest experience!

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    1. The beet harvest should be the post after the next one, at least the getting started pre-harvest part.
      I'm doing it, I just haven't started writing yet!

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  2. I would have loved to have seen Old Faithful, good timing! If it is any consolation, I forgot it was Labor Day weekend as well.

    Nice pictures.

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    1. But I'll bet you didn't try to go to a national park! :-)

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