Old Faithful and a Beary Good Time!

This was one heck of a day—a long day, but a great day!  On our way to finally see Old Faithful (and on our way home) we saw so much that I hope you don’t get bored with this blog.  I’ll keep my comments short because it’s going to be the pictures and videos that make your day (I hope) … like they made our day!

We started out driving right up alongside this elk by the side of the road.  How good is that?  It was a sign that things to come could only get better … which they did!  That was, however, our only wildlife sighting before we arrived at Old Faithful. 

And, yes, we did see bison on this outing as well.  Just so you don't forget what they look like, here's a photo from today's park passage.

Finally, we arrived at Old Faithful! In talking to the Park Rangers, they told Gary they have a 90% accuracy rate on predicting a 20-minute window for Old Faithful to erupt.  And they were right-on when we were there.  At exactly the last minute in the 20-minute window we had been given, Old Faithful exploded! Here we are at the official location sign.  Of course, we asked someone to take our photo!  You can see from my hair (not Gary’s!) that it was a bit windy that day.

And, here she is, bursting out of her geyser hole!

You know I can’t pass up a picture-perfect video opportunity … especially something as amazing as a geyser like Old Faithful erupting.  There’s no better way to capture it.  But I do have to apologize that you will have to turn your head sideways to see it, but I think you will still love it anyway!

After leaving Old Faithful we decided to head up to Lamar Valley.  We had heard so many visitors tell us that it was THE PLACE to see wildlife.  It was a long drive, but we said what the heck and took off anyway.  Let’s face it.  We’re retired.  We’re living in our RV.  What else do we have to do??? Now that it wasn’t rainy and cloudy we were able to get a beautiful picture of Yellowstone Lake.

Then we got caught in a bison traffic jam!  When the buffalo are on the road in any way shape or form in the park you are legally obligated to HALT and allow the buffalo to cross over.  Now sometimes they start crossing and then just stop in the middle of the road!  Really, buffalos are so stupid, dumb, and slow moving!  They must know they have the right-of-way because they often just linger in the middle of the road.  This picture gives you a good idea of the traffic back-up at this buffalo crossing.

We took Dunraven Pass over to the north side of the park and Lamar Valley.  It was really beautiful with diverse terrain.  Check out this rock formation area.  It somewhat reminds me of Devils Postpile in Mammoth.  Have you ever been to Devils Postpile in Mammoth?  It is stunning so I suggest you make a trek there some summer.

Once we got to Lamar Valley we were so blessed to accidentally come across this small herd of pronghorn antelope.  The herd consisted of one male and four females.  Initially when we saw them they were about 50 yards off the road and then they started moving towards the road (where we were standing).  Okay, that’s camera material for sure!  What was really amazing was the performance we were able to observe.  The male kept herding his bevy of beauties (first picture) so they didn’t get “out of line.”  He made sure they stayed exactly where he wanted them.  It was really cool.  Don't you love the caramel/off white coloring on these antelopes?

Uh-oh!  Another buffalo crossing!  This time, we were the lead/front car at the crossing which was really cool.  The bulls were a bit randy and were jumping the females in the middle of the road.  It also looked like a few of the bulls were vying for the power position of the brood.  It was so exciting to witness up close and personal.

We had been praying and asking God for a bear sighting.  We really had given up hope.  When we were stopped for the antelope, there were these two women with a high-powered monocular mounted on a tripod.  We knew there was a bear viewing because about an eighth of a mile before this turn-out there was a gaggle of “wildlife paparazzi” with their cameras and sighting scopes (or monoculars) focused on the hillside.  Since we knew our camera would never see what they were seeing we continued on.  These two women, however, were so gracious and allowed us to take a peek at the momma bear and her three young’uns on the hill.  You’re going to look at those black dots and say to yourself, “Really, Judy, you’re including that photo?” 

Well, we thought that was our bear sighting … but NO it wasn’t! Headed back home back over Dunraven Pass, Gary spotted this young bear RIGHT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD with NO ONE ELSE around!  Check this out!

And, of course, I had to take a video of that cub scrounging around in the ground looking for whatever tasty morsels that bear eat.  This really made our day!

This ends our time in Yellowstone National Park.  As part of our farewell, we took our picture in front of the general store at our campground. See the cute "welcome" bear carving next to Gary?

 

Isaiah 11:7-9 // Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.  They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.