07.27.15 – Day Two in Yellowstone National Park on 07.24.15

Day Two in Yellowstone National Park on July 24, 2015 – Back down the west side of the upper loop in Yellowstone we went to get to the lower loop (the bigger one).

The Norris Geyer Basin was our first stop on the lower loop. A world of heat and gasses, where microorganisms live in such numbers they change the color of the landscape. This strange and beautiful place is on the edge of a volcano, the Yellowstone Volcano, one of the largest on earth. Boardwalks are seen all over the placed because walking on the ground is dangerous.

This is the Colloidal Pool

  This is the Hurricane Vent As you walk through Norris Geyser Basin you feel as if you’ve landed in a different world. In the basin water accumulates underground, heated by the Yellowstone volcano. The water travels upwards to erupt from acidic geysers, rise from steaming fumaroles, and simmer in pools.

We were smarter planners today knowing how infrequent eating places are. We packed a nice picnic lunch and ate as we went along so we weren’t starving by the end of the journey.

In this whole Yellowstone adventure, the stop Roy has been looking forward to the most was Old Faithful Geyser which is in the southwestern corner of the lower loop. This in itself is a major attraction with lodges, gift stores, dining facilities, and groceries. An enormous seating area surrounds the spot where Old Faith erupts every hour or so each day. We waited 45 minutes for her to erupt this day and it was truly a sight to behold!You are looking

You are looking at the people’s backs a they sit waiting for Old Faithful to errupt.  We worked our way to the front of the people to sit right in front of the geyser.  My hubby is good like this at finding great spots!

This is what it does when it’s not erupting.  Steam comes out and people get all excited anticipating the big event!

Looking at the circle of people from the front!

The initial signs of eruption occurring!

The sounds of awed people when the eruption was in full force was goose bump material!

Two old geysers, Roy and Old Faithful!!!Several other geysers were seen along the way. Yellowstone information states there are over 10,000 geysers in the area.  We were constantly reminded that we were traveling atop a volcano which is difficult to get our mind wrapped around. God’s creations always amaze and humble us.  He is so great and we are mere mortals living in His world.

We stopped at the Mud Hole where mud comes bubbling out of the grown.  The Dragon’s Mouth Spring is interesting to see and hear the sounds like a dragon breathing!  The signs by each spot give so much good information about what you are seeing that I’ve included some.

  Roy especially enjoyed seeing the mud bubbling up.  Guess it’s a male thing to like playing in mud!  And then on to the Sulphur Cauldron.

Lots of other Yellowstone beauty wrapped up today’s adventure. The first is a geyser right by the side of the road.

Our last stop was at the Tower/Roosevelt area where we splurged and each got a double scoop ice cream cone! Perfect way to top off a perfect day in Yellowstone!

Even though we started out at 9 am today, we returned home again at 8:30 pm. Friday became our day of rest. There is so much to see and so many stops to make.  We certainly got a lot of walking exercise in these last two days.

I slept till 10:30 on Friday and worked on the blog and sorting out pictures all day. We took over 500 pictures in Yellowstone and it took quite a lot to get it down to 40 pictures of day one and 80 pictures of day two. That’s not including the videos I want you to see.

Saturday and Sunday were work days for me but we did go out Saturday afternoon to visit Gardiner, MT which is a really unique western town.  We stopped at the Buffalo Burger restaurant on our way home and Roy got a buffalo burger while I got a regular beef burger.  He loved it so much we went back on Sunday for him to get an Elk burger.  We were told by a friend, Al O’Connor to try Huckleberry Soda and this is one of the types we found.  I’m now a big Huckleberry Soda fan!

We both bought cowboy hats on Saturday and are enjoying our new western gear!! Roy rarely wears tshirts so we finally found him a Yellowstone polo type shirt!  Cool cowboy dude!!

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