Summer Road Trip Day 5 (start with days 1-3)

Our second full day in Yellowstone was spent on the southern loop.

We started with breakfast in the Lake Lodge (Yellowstone food is kind of blah).

Eric can't resist a leather chair next to a fire in a fireplace and there are quite a few at the lodge (chairs and fireplaces).

Our first stop was the West Thumb Geyser Basin.  Look!  Our kids are taller than trees!  Okay, so those trees are only a few years old ... but they are getting taller!

 Paint pot hot springs

 I LOVED the geysers and hot springs along the lake/ in the water.  So cool!

One of my favorites was Fishing Cone.  Years ago people would catch fish from the lake and then toss the fish (still on the line) into the cone and it would boil the fish.  They don't allow it anymore because it isn't healthy, but it's a fun story!

 Big Cone

This one is called Black Pool.  I read that it used to look more black but as its temperature gets lower, it's looking more blue.  Ashlynn decided to rename it "Beautiful Turquoise Pool".

 

 This one is called Abyss Pool but the kids decided to rename it "Rainbow Steps Pool".

 

Our next stop was the Old Faithful Lodge.  It is amazing inside!  I can totally understand why firefighters made sure it was saved from the fires of 1988.

 

We ate our only really "nice" meal at Yellowstone at the Lodge.  It was nice to get a break from cafeteria style food.

 

 

 Ashlynn decided to climb the logs outside.

 Carter does EVERYTHING that Ashlynn does.

We waited in the heat with a bazillion other people for Old Faithful to erupt.  I think it was at this point that Ashlynn joked, "Mom, do you think it has always been called 'Old Faithful' or was it once just called 'Faithful'?"

 

 Thar she blows! 

 I like Ashlynn's expression in this one.

 We then tried to cool down from the heat with some ice cream.  Yum!

 I got a double scoop of strawberry and huckleberry.  Only the pretty huckleberry was left when I took the shot.

 We then took a walk around Old Faithful Geyser Hill.  Here's Ashlynn by the Anenome Geyser.

 Beehive Geyser with the lodge in the background:

 Old Faithful erupted again!

 Sitting for a moment.  It was hot!

 It took about 5 minutes in the car before Carter crashed.

I thought this looked cool so I took a quick shot out the window.

At one point Eric got out of the car at an area where cars were gathered at the side of the road.  He took a few photos of some deer, including babies.  Way to go, Eric!

Another time down the road there was a bunch of cars so we pulled to the side again.  There we found two elk with giant antlers.  One was feeding about 20 feet from the road and moved closer as he ate.  We got so close!

 

And our time out would not be complete without some bison sightings.  This time the babies were fairly close to the road when we passed by. 

 Bison love the Hayden Valley!

 More bison

I managed to catch a few photos of one last deer before getting back to our cabin.

It was another long but great day in Yellowstone!