Old Faithful

By the end of our bike ride the other day we had accumulated 389 miles for the summer.  The 500 mile goal actually seems possible and the kids were excited.  So to celebrate 350 we decided to head up to Old Faithful.  The entry we bought for Teton Nation Park was good for a week and included Yellowstone, great deal don't ya think?  Troy couldn't get away from work which was a bummer, we missed him.

We started out after guitar and piano lessons, A little later than I would have liked but it worked out that we got to West Yellowstone right at lunch.  We had a picnic, laughed, talked and so enjoyed being together.  We didn't have anything to be back for so the whole day was really laid back, which I LOVED!!  Really it made for a day with very little bickering.

We arrived at Old Faithful and went straight to the viewing area.  We didn't know when the last time it had erupted so we just found a seat and waited.  We filled our time taking pictures of each other, and watching a listening to people around us, always entertaining.

When the geyser went off it was beautiful and amazing as always.  Cambelle kept saying, "This is so cool!"  It has been a long time since I have been to the park.  It was our standard "get away" when I was a kid, so I don't think that I ever really appreciated it.   In fact when I was in Italy and serving near Pisa I saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa so many times that I referred to it as the Old Faithful of Italy.  But when I stop to think about Yellowstone Park, there are a lot of fond memories with my mom and dad.  She would always buy a pair of salt and pepper shakers and he would always point out how pretty the trees were.

I love how it seemed every camera was up.  Sara was in charge of pictures today.  It was nice to just enjoy the show.

We stopped by Old Faithful Inn, I love the workmanship in this building, it never ceases to amaze me.

Our drive back consisted of pulling off several times to take pictures.  Yay, for not being on a schedule.

We drove by these rocks and almost in unison we all quoted Shrek, "I like that boulder, that's a nice boulder."

One of the highlights were a group of deer lounging on the other side of the river.  They were the only animals that we saw but it was beautiful.