The sights of Yellowstone never get old. The smells, maybe, but not the sights. We’ve been doing all our excursions with three grandkids in our PT Cruiser which technically seats 4, so we were delighted to be able to go on several outings in Tim and Heidi’s van. Since Ben is now taller than I am and Bailey is very close, any three of us in the back seat means close encounters! The second trip to Yellowstone was much more pleasant, especially since Jadelyn was well on her way back to health.
We visited the same places we had been with just the kids, but we also went north this time to take in other views. First we showed them Kepler’s Cascades,
several geyser basins,
including Old Faithful
and Castle Geyser, which wasn’t “performing” until later in the day.
But the most impressive geographical feature to me are the falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. We were all impressed!
The ranger had a telescope set up and focused on an osprey nest on top of a rock formation in the canyon. We had seen the nest two years ago (it’s been there for 15 years, he said) but not as clearly as we did this time.
We also saw lots of animals this time around, some small, some very large.
The herd of bison kept us stopped nearly still for about an hour while they meandered slowly across the road one by one or in groups. Nothing much hurries them!
It doesn’t help that tourists, despite being warned to stay at a distance from bison, get out of their cars to try to get closer for pictures.
On the way home, we pulled off the road to watch a mother grizzly bear and several cubs in a canyon. Heidi was able to get pictures but I didn’t get her pictures transferred to my computer. We also saw two wolves just outside the park but they were running along in tall grass by the river, far enough away that we could just tell what they were but didn’t get pictures. In total that day we saw a great blue heron, the osprey, ducks, a raven, some pelicans, a red squirrel, chipmunks, trumpeter swans, deer, cliff swallows, wolves and grizzlies. We were told where to look for elk just outside the east gate but we didn’t see any.
The Pohlman family left for home early on the morning of the 5th after an Independence Day celebration complete with fireworks here at our RV park. They made it home safely and reluctantly will be back in the routine in Kansas tomorrow, but I doubt that any of them will quickly forget the last few weeks.
Sorry honey but we were told where to look for Moose just outside the East Gate. None there Heidi was so sad. as that is her animal of choice.