Day Five: Grand Tetons and Camping

We had breakfast at Old Faithful's diner. As we approached the Visitor Center we saw the geyser was just about to erupt (they post it on the front door). We ran and caught it just in time.

Selfie at Old Faithful

 Old Faithful

Yellowstone has within its boundaries two-thirds of all geysers in the world. That is crazy. Old Faithful may be faithful, but there are many more to see within the park. Old Faithful has two 'basins' below it; one holds 3,000 gallons (at 200 degrees) and the lower holds 5,000 gallons (at 700 degrees!). At the top of the two basins is a tight junction which creates the large geyser we see on top. It either erupts every 94 minutes (if the last eruption was less than three minutes) or 64 minutes (if the last eruption was more than three minutes). Faithful.

We continued north and stopped at Midway Geyser Basin and saw a spring that was so colorful it was just beautiful. We learned though that the colors are due to bacteria, so that creeped us out a bit. Okay, it creeped me out. But I still wanted to bend down and touch the water. I didn't.

Midway Geyser Basin

Next we stopped at Fountain Paint Pot. Cool. Very cool.

Fountain Paint Pot

Yellowstone is a cool park. It is very large and the landscape is so diverse. Not to mention all the wildlife. Everything is accessible by driving, and therefore you can see a lot within a short time. We only spent a day-and-a-half, and although we didn't see it all, we saw a lot. I would definitely recommend going in June. The weather was perfect, and traffic was tolerable. Rarely did we get stuck in traffic.

We left Yellowstone through the south entrance, and entered the Grand Tetons. This photo doesn't do the majestic mountains justice. It was beautiful. 

Grand Tetons

We stopped at the Visitor Info station, and the girls earned another Junior Ranger badge. They were anxious to check into our tent cabin so we were there at 3:00. We aren't campers, but this was the only lodging we could get in the park. 

Colter Bay Tent Cabins

The tent cabins have four bunks with two tent walls and two log walls. Scott and Annelies were anxious to cook a meal over the campfire, so off to the store we went for hot dogs and beans. Scott opened the beans with a nail and rock. Real Rambo he is ...

Rambo opening beans with a nail and rock

The girls played Bingo while Scott cooked. Once again, lots of family bonding with no internet. Note: The beer was consumed by Scott and I. 

Bingo campside

We took showers ($4.25 each) and hung out in the tent for awhile reading and knitting. Okay, I knit. Around 8:00 we drove to the beach and stopped at the marina. 

Grand Tetons Beach

Collection jar hunting

We were in bed early, because Paradis has a flight tomorrow morning. She flies to Lincoln Nebraska where she will spend a week at the International Thespian Festival. We will miss her. Annelies is worried about being an only child. 

It was another good day in the National Parks. They never seem to fail us. 

Day Five: 106 Miles (1,413 total); Gas $31.35 ($167.58 total); Lodging $66.96 ($626.99 total); Souvenirs $21.09 ($186.36 total); Tourist Traps $0 ($122 total); Fights 0 (0 total); Injuries 0 (0 total); Redbox $0 ($11.06 total); Transportation $0 ($278 total)