June 28 – Yellowstone National Park

June 28, 2016 – Yellowstone Park
We were all on the bus by 7:50am and at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Earl, Linda, and I went through the sections we missed yesterday. First up was the Buffalo Bill Museum. It contained lots of information about and memorabilia of Buffalo Bill. They had a movie of actual acts from his Wild West Shows. Linda and I got the giggles because the timing made everyone in the film moving at double time. We next went through the Natural History Museum. We ended by attending a lecture about the bald eagle and the golden eagle. We got to see the bald eagle that the Raptor Center has. It is injured and can’t fly so they will let it live out its life there.
At 10am we set out for Yellowstone. The first stop there was Mud Volcano. This is an area with hot mud ponds that bubble and smell like sulfhur. There was a bison sleeping next to the boardwalk. He was snoring loudly.
We drove on to Yellowstone Lake where we had a picnic lunch. We went to Isa Lake which is situated on the Continental Divide. One half of the lake drains to the east while the other half drains to the west.
Last stop of the day was Old Faithful, We got there at 4pm and the next expected eruption was at 4:30pm plus or minus 15 minutes. We got seats on the second floor balcony of the Old Faithful Inn and waited. Starting 4:30pm, it would spew steam and stop. At 4:40pm it sent up a 4 foot high stream and stopped. This continued on and off until 4:55 when it finally blew. It was worth the wait. I’d seen it before but this seemed bigger than before.
On the way out of the park going to our hotel in West Yellowstone, we saw elk in a river. You can tell when there is an animal because traffic stops.
We are staying at this hotel for 2 nights so no putting bags out tomorrow. Yea!
Tomorrow is more Yellowstone.