Yellowstone

The climax of our trip was three days in Yellowstone National Park. Warren had been as a little boy, but didn't remember too much. He had primed the boys for boiling mud and old faithful, but I really didn't know what to expect. I didn't even realize that Yellowstone was created by a volcanic eruption.

The park is in a word, amazing. First off, it huge! Bigger than Delaware. There's no way to see it all in three days. We opted to explore a few key areas and do several drive bys of minor ones. Warren was sad that we weren't camping out on the grounds, biking around, and backpacking. Next time!

Second, animals live and roam freely in the park. It's easy to know when animals are in sight because everyone stops their cars and hops out with their cameras! We saw buffalo right away and Warren dryly commented, "You'll see so many buffalo, they will become boring." Sadly, he was right. They were everywhere! Often they walked right into the street. We had one go past the car and we could have easily rolled down the window to pet it. (We didn't!) There are signs everywhere reminding people that the animals are indeed wild and to proceed with caution. People get hurt (i.e. gored by buffalo!) every year. (We also saw antelope galore, deer, a bald eagle, pelicans, Canadian geese, elk, and some ravens. No bears or wolves unfortunately!

Third, the landscape is breathtaking. Especially the canyon. It's nearly as big as the Grand Canyon and has the added bonus of a few waterfalls. We hiked along the north rim and had a picnic. There are geysers galore, the most famous of course being Old Faithful, which erupts every 90 minutes or so. (By the end of the three days I was all geysered out! And we had made about every fart joke possible due to the sulfury smell.) They geysers are surrounding by a thin crust of earth so walking near them can be very dangerous. A ranger told us that a few days prior someone had fallen in waist deep and had to be taken to the hospital with serious burns. Thankfully, the monkeys heeded the warning! There are also multiple lakes and mountainous areas. Amazing, I tell ya.