On Friday, we awoke early. I was commissioned by Debbie to go down to the Inn's snack bar and procure breakfast. Maybe I have some old hunter-gatherer blood in my veins, because I returned triumphantly with a breakfast sandwich and apple juice for her as requested. For myself, I was only searching for milk to go with my Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, but they were out. I had to pay for the more expensive Almond Milk. It was the first time I ever had it, having always been a little suspicious of how they can milk almonds. I was surprised to discover that it was very sweet. I’ve added it to my list of likes.
The National Park Service helpfully publishes the predicted eruption times of six of the main geysers in the area. Old Faithful was due to erupt around 10, but by the time we arrived, it was apparent that we had just missed it. We decided to walk around the geyser basin and see if we could catch the Grand Geyser which was anticipated to erupt around 10:45. We got there in time but had to wait about an extra half hour until it went off. It was worth the wait as it put on a good show.
We continued around the basin, observing many hot springs, geysers and various geothermic features. We tried to wait out Castle Geyser but it was past an hour late and we wanted to make it back to Old Faithful which was scheduled to erupt shortly after noon.
Fortunately, when we arrived at Old Faithful, the large crowd was a tell that we hadn’t missed the show this time! In fact, as we waited, nearby Beehive Geyser suddenly erupted and we were able to witness that.
Just a few minutes later, Old Faithful did its thing, too.
Then it was time for our lunch stop at the nearby Old Faithful Lodge cafeteria. We each had a slice of pepperoni pizza (I helped Debbie with hers) and shared a piece of what I think was strawberry rhubarb pie. We next hit the visitor center and got our first passport stamp at Yellowstone. We were then able to catch Old Faithful's next eruption.
In the afternoon, we went to another geyser area we had never seen before: West Thumb near Grant Village. These hydrothermic springs were situated along the shore of the west thumb of Yellowstone Lake. Some of the features are even in the lake itself!
We headed over to Grant Village for the passport stamp and a dinner of a burger and fries which we shared. While there, Debbie saw a huckleberry display that got her very excited. A huckleberry chocolate bar souvenir was purchased.
On the trip back, we stopped at an old favorite: Kepler Cascades.
Returning to the Old Faithful area, we stopped at the Grand Prismatic Spring. Unfortunately, we chose the Overlook instead of the Trail. It was a much longer hike and out 2/3 of the way there it began to pour. We decided to turn around.
We made it back to the Inn and went for ice cream as a reward for all the steps we had walked that day (give a count). Debbie had Huckleberry and I had Maple Nut. This time there was a pianist playing for the guests. We caught Old Faithful erupting again that evening.
It was a good, successful day at Yellowstone, but I was a bit discouraged that we had managed to cover only about two inches of the park map!
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