Day 31: Yellowstone Does Indeed Have Yellow Stone

We had a great day visiting Yellowstone National Park. Although not all the roads have opened for the season, we were still able to see a great deal. Shortly after we entered the park we saw some elk and some buffalo. One of my favorite sights was the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. It contains two dramatic waterfalls and beautiful, clear water. I commented on the color of the rock and a woman standing next to me said, "Yes, they're yellow...hence the name!" Oh...I see.
We enjoyed lunch at the National Historic Landmark Old Faithful Inn. And after lunch wandered over and saw Old Faithful erupt. It was a windy day and the eruption was a little lopsided but it was impressive anyway. We had been chatting with some older women from Las Vegas while waiting for Old Faithful to spout and when it finally happened one of them said, "I like the one at the Bellagio better!"
The thermal geysers and hot springs in the park are absolutely amazing. Some things looked like they must have a motor inside.
We saw lots and lots of buffalo. They were often by the side of the road grazing as were some elk. We also saw a bald eagle in its nest. We did not see anymore bears today and I was a little disappointed about that but there's always next time.
We went back to Sydney's Mountain Bistro for dinner. It seems to be the only fairly decent place to eat in the town of West Yellowstone. Dwyne and I were thinking we were such adventurers going on this trip and then our waiter told us he and a friend hopped freight trains last summer and went from Montana to New Orleans. Now that's a little too much adventure for me!
Visiting Yellowstone certainly goes high on the list of highlights for this trip.
Tomorrow we head to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. Another day, another state.