I had my first adventure in Yellowstone National Park with my coworker, her family and her husband's friend from Portugal. It was amazing! We had great weather and very little traffic for a holiday weekend (we also left at 6 a.m., but I survived...barely). The drive there was interesting - lots of gravel roads and little towns. I'm glad I went with other people, otherwise I probably would have thought I was going the wrong way. I'm still trying to adjust to driving through the middle of nowhere to get places. It's going to take some time. The family I went with likes to go off the beaten path, so I know I can count on them to take "off the beaten path"to a whole new level regardless of where we go.
The first stop. I could have stayed here all day and just looked at the water.
We saw a lot of bison; mostly lone males. This "little" guy was about 10 feet from the car and I was a little nervous about it. I had mental pictures of horn indentations in the passenger side door. (According to the park, the bison occasionally gore and kill people, so I don't plan on getting that close again.)
I love this picture with the mountains in the background. We saw a lot of elk as well.
Old Faithful.
The Grand Prismatic Spring is my favorite part! The aerial views are spectacular, but it was just as neat to be able to walk up to them. You could feel the heat radiating off the water - it's the park's largest hot spring. All of the different colors are caused by trillions of microorganisms.
Artist Point - The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
We didn't see any bears or wolves, which I was a little bummed about. But we also didn't cover the entire park and I was told that the next time I go, I should check out the Lamar Valley area for more chances to see animals. I had my binoculars ready and everything! (Never mind that it took me about 45 minutes of going through boxes the night before to actually find them!)
After we left the park we stopped at a tiny grocery store and picked up some snacks and wine and headed to a little fishing spot to relax for the evening.
