Old Faithful

Our final stop in our Yellowstone day was the classic Old Faithful geyser. The parking lot was massive and packed with cars. We drove up and down rows and rows of vehicles with license plates from at least half of the states. Rose and I enjoyed reading out all of the different states on each car. It made the hunt for a parking spot a little more fun. After ten minutes or so with no parking success, Jeff and I had a quick consultation wherein I was fine with skipping Old Faithful due to the non-pandemic-friendly crowds. Jeff was determined to have our kids see Old Faithful, though, so he agreed to drop us off and keep searching for a parking spot. Jeff saw Old Faithful when he was Jay's age, so he wouldn't be crushed if he missed it. We agreed to meet back at the curb every 15 minutes to check in (no cell service).

As the kids and I walked up the long sidewalk towards the geyser, we saw a sign with the next eruption prediction. It said 1:40pm. It was 1:39!! We ran for it and way up ahead the geyser began spouting! We stood and watched from afar while the steam and water shot into the air. It lasted longer than I expected it to, and out of the blue, Jeff came sprinting up. He had found a parking spot right after dropping us off! So we all got to see Old Faithful together after all. 

It was satisfying and exciting to see a famous sight for the first time. We do a lot of repeat-travel in our family, so branching out was extra fun. We definitely plan to return to Yellowstone. The place is absolutely fascinating, and our three stops there barely scratched the surface of scenic options. 

Since the big event ended a few minutes after our arrival, we decided to walk around the geyser basin boardwalk behind Old Faithful and see some more geothermal features for 45 minutes until the next Old Faithful appearance. We saw more rich colors, bubbly holes, and smaller geysers on our walk, and were back to Old Faithful in plenty of time to snag a bench on the end of the long semicircle of bench seating. We sat there for close to 20 minutes, well past the time when the geyser should have erupted, when the family on the bench next door overheard our jokes about Old Faithful being broken and told us that the ranger had predicted the next eruption to be 3:10pm. That was another half hour away! We left. 

Apparently Old Faithful has a wider range of faithfulness than we thought. How...modern. 

From Old Faithful, it was a 2.5 hour drive to our hotel. We drove north along the park loop road and exited to the west, towards the tiny tourist trap Montana town of West Yellowstone. Then we took a scenic minor highway north to Bozeman, Montana and checked in to our family favorite hotel chain, Holiday Inn Express. Jeff and I procured hamburgers for dinner, (a welcome calorie influx after day two of car-picnicking with the same bag of food), and we had another relaxing early night in. 

Old Faithful, erupting in the distance!

So much for social distancing! We did our best to skirt the crowds. 

Family photo attempts were feeble at the end of a long day, haha. It was either our faces or the Old Faithful sign. I got one of each and called it good.

I  think that's Old Faithful in the background. It steamed pretty much constantly, but only erupts every 45-90 (+) minutes.

The historic Old Faithful Inn is on the right, through the mist.

How volcanic is this large steaming hole in the ground?

Pretty bacteria.

Watching a small geyser bubble.

Misty earthy mounds

The sun was warm but the breeze was cool, and the kids were chilly while we sat waiting for Old Faithful.

One more "puffalo" (as Amber called them) graced us with a broadside roadside visit on our way out of Yellowstone.

Rose's camera pictures:

It seems like a dinosaur will jump out of that big hole any minute.

That night at our hotel in Bozeman, Amber was a wild child full of energy from being carried around all day. The rest of us were exhausted!