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| Thursday, May 27, 1999 - "Let's get to the airport at 5:30 tomorrow morning and try to fly stand-by!" The problem is that it's a three-legged flight, and you have to fly standby on every leg. Do we want to be stuck in Cincinnati? We're so anxious to leave for Yellowstone that we consider it! We regain our senses and finish packing (that is, over packing!). The spotting scope Carol ordered thankfully arrived Wednesday, giving us a chance to try it out before leaving. The excitement can hardly be stifled, as Carol asks before we turn out the lights, "Are you sure you don't want to fly stand-by?" | |
| Friday, May 28, 1999 - We keep to our plans (encountering no problems in Cincinnati) and arrive in Bozeman around 8 PM. Excited, but road weary, we reach the Super 8 in Belgrade just before a thunderstorm hits. We use our remaining energy in a run to Albertson's for the week's provisions. | |
| Saturday, May 29, 1999 - Rise early and excited! Munch a quick breakfast at the hotel we're on our way in the rain and fog. The drive up the Gallatin valley is pretty and the constant rain can't put a damper on our excitement. We stop at the Three Bears Lodge in West Yellowstone for a second breakfast (Yum!) Ready for Yellowstone! (first visit for Carol, fourth for John). Driving along the Madison River, we see bison right away. We pull out the scope to watch the trumpeter swans' nest in the swollen river. |  |
| Left at
Madison Junction, a quick look at Gibbon Falls, and we're ready for our
first hike around the Artist Paint Pots - in the pouring rain! Fortunately,
our rain jackets and pants are up to the test. At Norris Basin we get our
first big laugh. A ranger (probably on the first day of his summer's assignment),
sitting beneath a large sign that states, "Echinus geyser is not predictable"
responds repeatedly one group's incessant questions about when the next
eruption of Echinus will be! ("What we have here is a failure to communicate!"
He had a "it's going to be a long summer" look on his face!) Next,
at the Beryl Pool we watch a coyote trotting along a hill across the road.
It's still raining.
We stop at Firehole Falls (and run into honeymooners we met on the plane), and then continue on to Old Faithful Inn. Finally, the weather starts to clear as we watch OFG for first time. After dinner at the OFI dining room, we stroll arm in arm around the geysers as night falls. Does life get any better than this? |
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