Zev crawled into bed with us last night. He and Josh weren’t getting along so well before bed so he decided he was going to sleep in one of the front seats. I’m not sure what time that changed but sometime in the middle of the night he crowded into our bed. That made for tight quarters and so Randi and I didn’t sleep so well. We all kind of stayed in bed late this morning. It was warm and cozy and I guess we weren’t in such a rush. When Zev woke up he asked, “How come you moved me?” Guess he didn’t remember trying to squeeze in. I was the first one out of the van in the morning and was immediately greeted by a small boy who said, “That’s a nice tent ya got there.” I’m not sure if he was referring to our poptop or to our side awning-shelter type thing. He asked about a million questions before our two boys finally got up and took the young neighbor’s attention. Turns out he’s the oldest (6 years old) of five kids.
After a slow start we finally got ourselves on the road to see Old Faithful. We got to the geyser basin about 30 minutes before the expected eruption. We sat among the other tourists and waited. It really is an amazing thing. The geyser seems to always be steaming and then, a few minutes before the big eruption, water begins to bubble up. Finally, a fountain of water shoots up, reaching 130 feet or more… really kind of incredible. We spent the majority of the afternoon walking around the basin looking at the variety of thermal pools, geysers, and other formations in the area. I think Josh got a picture of almost each and every one of them. The colors are varied, and the formations caused by the minerals in the water were really interesting. The kids seemed to really enjoy it, but after a couple of hours we were all getting tired and hungry. Making our way back to the Old Faithful Inn, we indulged in some sandwiches and some yummy ice cream. We ate on a large balcony of the Inn, overlooking Old Faithful. The inn is really a beautiful place, crafted out of logs… wood was everywhere. It’s a big place and kind of reminds me of a gingerbread house – only made out of wood.
Returning to the van we decided to take the long, scenic way back toward camp. We drove along rapidly moving rivers and streams and over hills and through forested areas. Buffalo and elk seemed to be everywhere, but we have yet to see a bear. We stopped at a couple of vistas overlooking dramatic waterfalls. Close to our camp, we stopped at a shower/laundry location. Ahhh… to take a shower. It’s only our second one in a week (First if your name is Zev.) It felt soooo good. Even the kids appreciated it. Randi did our laundry while I kept the kids busy. Finally, we made it back to our campsite close to 8 PM. The kids played a little with the young family camped next door while Randi and I enjoyed some hot soup. Soon enough it was off to bed. Hope Zev stays put tonight.
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