Here are the notes I am taking while Molly and I are on a road trip through Idaho (briefly), Wyoming, and Montana, October 2018.

Part 1 is here | Part 2 is here  | Part 3 is here

OCTOBER 9, 2018

YELLOWSTONE

What a difference a day makes! We stepped out of our cabin into a picturesque wintery wonderland with actual snow falling out of the actual sky. Although hardly the perfect chilly autumnal weather of yesterday, we were super excited to get out and about. Both of us had a great night of sleep and were coffeed up.

 

We headed back down a little further south to explore. We stopped first at the Grand Prismatic Springs; the bad weather kind of turned the volume down on the colors in the pools (including my beloved Opal Pool, remembered from my trip in ’81) but still nice! I mean, Yellowstone on a bad day is better than [insert humorous location] on a great day!

 

And if we hadn’t stopped, we would’ve missed this very exciting wildlife sighting.

 

Then down to Old Faithful. I insisted to Molly that this was a must-see, but well, uh. As usual, we enjoyed the visitor’s center and displays (there’s never a plaque we won’t read and appreciate) but the crowds and the cafeteria food and the abundant but weirdly priced souvenirs made us get back on the road back up towards Mammoth.

We stopped at the Artists Paintpots and NOW we’re back to top-notch Yellowstone experience.

 

 

Molly and I could’ve watched and listed to this fumerole for the rest of the day.

We saw this kid on the warning signs EVERYWHERE so I thought I’d give him a shoutout, as he forever gets steamed horrifically by a geothermal feature that does not like being disrespected.

We stopped a few more times for some more geological shenanigans then POOF the day was close to over and this toddler got tired and insisted on some cabin time — with a whole lot of onlookers.

And we saw this map, made of many woods!

Oh, Yellowstone, Yellowstone! This travelogue is actually not easy to write because the visual majesty that paraded in front of our eyes, all day every day, isn’t anything I can convey.

We’re off to a non-Park location tomorrow before heading to Glacier — the weather reports for which we are eyeing nervously…

Go to part 5