After a poor nights sleep, combination of being hung over and a bit too hot we got ready to head into Yellowstone National Park for the first time. Instead of taking 4 RV's, we opted for 2 so Trevor and I went with Daryl, Kate and Lachlan. I was a mute for most of the day as I tried to consume food to then down some Nurofen.
Due to some road closures in the park we decided to visit Old Faithful, the regular occurring gyser. We arrived there around lunch time but prior to that we negotiated slow traffic which stopped to watch a large male elk in a field. Then there was a bison walking down the road just doing his own thing. It passed the RV within a metre or two.
Yellowstone is full of volcanic activity and we stopped off to see smaller geysers, mud pools etc. The smell of sulfur did not assist my fragile stomach state but I managed. We would walk across a series of board walks so not to trample on bacteria mats that had formed from the flowing vents.
We arrived at Old Faithful at around lunch time. We were worried that there would be a large number of cars trying to get into the car park but we didn't have any issues. Plenty of space for everyone. As we ate in the car park we notice a large steam release so we knew we had just missed Old Faithful going off. So we finished up and headed to the large visitor centre to figure out the next activity. It was around 90 minutes away so we walked around exploring some of the other geysers that are located close by.
The next performance by Old Faithful was to be at around 1.52pm +/- 10 mins. We got ready by about 1.35pm and waited for the sign that she was going to erupt. It certainly threw up a lot of water and released a lot of steam before quietening down around 4-5 minutes later. After a quick group photo we headed back to the car to visit some other geysers. Then on the way back we passed a large group of about 50 bison grazing near the road. It is quite easy to tell when there are animals about as a traffic jam results with everyone slowing down. On the way back to the RV park we saw some more elk grazing in one of the rivers and another bison trotting on the road. It was great to see these majestic animals in a natural habitat.
Arrived back in the RV park just after 5pm and headed out to dinner about 6.30. Had a very nice dinner but most of us were feeling pretty tried that we then made it an early night with most getting into bed before 10pm.
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