Yellowstone

Day 6 – Yellowstone

We started the morning off with breakfast in the Old Faithful Inn dining hall. Most people chose the breakfast buffet – we opted to order off the menu. This was NOT appreciated by our not-so-pleasant waiter. I think he had spent more time talking to animals in the woods than people. He may be the next Grizzly Adams for all I know .. minus the beard.

After breakfast we made it just in time to see the Old Faithful geyser blow! It was pretty dreary out and COLD so we made it a snappy trip to see this blow stack. We then bundled up and drove to Fairy Falls for a 6-mile hike to Fairy Falls, aka. “Bear-ville”! Apparently this was a favorite spot for bears to mosey about.

Matt’s #1 fear = BEARS!

Needless to say he used his “outside” Foringer “voice” quite frequently while on this hike in his attempts (successful, yes) to ward off any MASSIVE FURRY BEASTS WITH TEETH. I think the best part of the hike (other than the falls) were the families with children hiking the same areas. Some were in sweatpants, some skipped down the lane munching on cotton candy as Matt and I trudged down the trail with our packs filled with trail mix in odor-proof bags, enough water for 72 hours, Matt’s bear bell and x-tra large bear spray container. J

Yes, there was concern for bears … you’d be foolish not to think this … however the fun in every little movement: of trees, tiny rodents and people made both of us jump on cue with every stirring. It was like the ultimate Halloween walk. 

We saw the Fairy Falls and then took a few shots of a small geyser before making it back to Newt for warmth and further driving. The Grand Prismatic Spring was just across the way ... we found this out hours after leaving this trail and kicked ourselves for not visiting since we were so close. Fortunately, our decision to visit this on Sunday was a GREAT decision ... see why in the "Sunday" post when available). 

We drove back to Old Faithful Inn to prepare for our next trip to see the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole.

The Grand Tetons were very cloudy, unfortunately, but still extraordinary. We saw 2 moose in, Moose, Wyoming. I'm still not convinced they were not robots. It's just too ironic to see Moose upon immediately entering Moose, Wyoming. Smells fishy .. or maybe just appropriate. You decided.

We made it to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for dinner at “Thai Me Up”. Great food however Matt and I were not-so-thrilled with the area or the pretty lousy personality of our server. I think I’ve already managed to block this from my memory but I think our waiter actually lifted his shirt to rub his belly at one point while we were deciding on our order. I think it’s safe to assume that many of the workers in this area may be better suited to talking with the animals in the forests instead of trying to play nice with tourists. Then again, we were visiting during the end of the tourist season. Maybe they had just run out of fake smiles and forced conversations. Pft.  

Our Lonely Planet Yellowstone / Grand Tetons guidebook informed us that Jackson is a "safe haven" for millionaires as there is no income tax in this area. Let's just say the people here felt out of place in this area to us.

We were happy to return to Yellowstone (again, driving through in the dark! Ugh!)

That night we toured the Inn a little more. There were people lounging about everywhere, the restaurant was still full and a woman was playing beautiful piano music from the 2^nd floor above the lobby area. Unfortunately the night was not as clear as it was the night before so Matt was not able to take pictures of the night sky. The sky was incredible the night we arrived – no light pollution to hinder the brightness of the stars.

The next day, more animals and on to Washington!

(I may have an opportunity to catch up before we return to PA....)

On a very important and separate note ... I heard from my mom today that my grandma (her mom) is doing better and better as the days go on. My grandma suffered a stroke the day we left for our vacation. Today she has been relocated to a rehabilitation unit. I was so excited to hear she was able to say a few words and write her name again today after many days of frustration not being able to do these tasks. My mom and dad are in Florida with her, my grandfather and a few of mom's sister's. Hard to believe but grandma is quite possibly more stubborn than yours truly. Glad to hear she's just as stubborn (and strong!) as ever. I googled the "a mule is an animal with long funny ears" song that she always used to sing to me when I was being a stubborn brat and learned this was a Bing Crosby song ... we just left his hometown of Spokane, Washington. Funny.