Evolution of a day.....

(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

8:10 am - Tuesday - Happy Birthday America!  It is currently 55º F (projected high is 87º), with 70% humidity and wind at 1 mph out of the east.....a cloudless sky for the 4th of July!

We thought you might enjoy a time lapse video of our drive to work each day from just past the North Gate entrance to YNP, along the Gardiner River up to Mammoth Hot Springs, YNP.......

We began our day with very small aspirations.....we thought we would take a tour of the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces and then call it a day, but that is far from what our day became......we ended up driving the Grand Loop Road.....about 140+ miles, and did we ever see a lot!  The following is provided for your viewing pleasure.....pictures do a much better job than words could ever do......

Top terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs

View of the Mammoth Hot Springs Village....the General Store is right smack dab in the middle of the picture

Middle Terrace of Mammoth Hot Springs

From Mammoth Hot Springs we journeyed to the Artist's Paintpots.......

 

The 'Paintpot'

 

.....next up was Gibbon Falls.....

 

Lower Geyser Basin

Lower Geyser Basin - Active geyser

......eventually we made it to the General Store (Hamilton's Store) at 'Old Faithful'......by this time it was after 12 noon and we were getting a little peckish, so we bought a couple of salads, and a couple of Wild Huckleberry Wheat Lagers.......very yummy!

After lunch we walked over to the 'Old Faithful' Inn which is quite an impressive structure!

The 'Old Faithful' Inn interior.....ceiling pano

 The 'Old Faithful' Inn roofline

Waiting patiently for 'Old Faithful' to do her deed

Must have been over 1,000 folks waiting with us

There she goes!

The 'eruption' lasted about 90 seconds....maybe a little more

Extricating ourselves from the 'Old Faithful' vortex was rather challenging, but we continued our drive along the Grand Loop Highway to Yellowstone Lake.....my pictures do not do this magnificent lake justice, but I tried......

......our day just kept evolving....by the time we reached the 'Canyon Area' we were tuckered out from the heat, and long drive.  I lost track of the times traffic would just stop because a driver would want to take 17 pictures of a lone bull elk, or a bison.  There are literally hundreds of turnouts where these folks can get off the road, but for some reason they believe it is not only legal, but safe to just stop in the middle of the road for 2-3 minutes backing up traffic for half a mile to take a picture of elk, or bison way off the road.  It's one thing if the wild life is actually on the road, but that is rarely the case.

We did manage to complete our Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum 'Adventure Guide' requirements on Monday, and we got a very small view of all that Yellowstone has to offer.  We have just barely scratched the surface as you can see from the map below.  We did not take the Grand Loop Road all the way up through Tower Falls, however....by the time we got to 'Canyon' we were getting tired, so we cut back across to Norris and then back to Mammoth Hot Springs, and were home a little after 6 pm.....

Around 7 pm I turned on the Sea-B-Que and grilled a very nicely aged filet mignon....

.....and, yes, it was as good as it looks.....we were treated to an unusual sunset followed by about 60 minutes of rain, lightning and thunder........a perfect end to an amazing day in YNP!

Thanks for stopping by!

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