DAY 7: Wednesday 11th May 2010 - Cody, Wyoming to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Today we were off to Jellystone, sorry, I mean Yellowstone National Park. Still a bit cold and rainy though. We grabbed some snacks at Walmart and off we set (well, after bus driver Paul drove straight past Walmart and we had to turn around and go back). The big tourists locations he has NO trouble, but Walmart? It’s cos they are so small and discreet (maybe).
First stop today was the Pahaska Tepee which was originally built by Buffalo Bill in 1904, but now has a new, improved building with free coffee and a restroom! There was a huge collection of t-shirts, gift-shop fare and the coolest stuffed bison ever. Di wanted to buy it but we couldn’t get it on the bus! She thought we could strap him to the roof of the bus! (She's not very nice!)
Next stop overlooked Lake Sheridan. Along the route, we looked out for wildlife (Yogi and the like). It was still snowing, the sun was shining and there was even a little blue sky.
Driving along there was suddenly a loud cry of “Bear!” I immediately responded “What?” but they weren’t trying to get my attention. There, in the distance, was a genuine grizzly. He was too far away for a great shot (camera, not gun, sheesh!) but fortunately, we’d just passed a rest stop area to which Paul backed up the bus and we all piled out, took some photos, then piled back in. Being higher up on the bus, I actually got a better shot than from outside, although it was through the window.
After a couple more bison, Canyon Village was the lunch stop location. As well as some noisy crows, there was a giftshop, café and a Visitor Center explaining the volcanic nature of Yellowstone Park. It was a nice little stop, although the tills in the Park Shop broke and we gave up trying to buy stuff and left. We had a bus deadline.
Then we saw Upper Falls, before we saw Lower Falls. Apparently, the Lower Falls are higher than the higher Upper Falls (confused yet?) At the taller (gettit now?) Lower Falls you can see where Yellowstone gets it’s name – the valley of yellow, and reds and browns, but mostly yellow stone is breathtaking. We saw a chipmunk, then a couple of moose and a wolf, but they, like me, had been brought along to have photos taken. Yes, the were the “s” word. [Stuffed – Di]
We continued on to the Madison Gibson River where we were lucky to stumble upon a small herd of bison moving through the valley along with some ground squirrels. I tried to photograph another chipmunk but he was too fast for me. This floodplain was where someone (I'll try and find out who!) made camp and it was decided that this would become the first National Park.
Right, I found my photo of the plaque which says that in 1870, the Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition made camp and Cornelius Hedges expressed the idea that such land as Yellowstone should not be in private hands. Others agreed and President Ulysses S Grant signed the Act which made Yellowstone the first National Park.
Our final stop of the day was at the Old Faithful Inn for our overnight stay. The Inn had only opened the day before, after the winter season closure, so we were lucky to stay here. With only about twenty minutes before ‘Old Faithful’ was due, we dumped our bags in our rooms and got ourselves a good seat for the ‘blow’ (or whatever they call it). I’ve got to say, I was a little bit disappointed – no really big surge like I was expecting but the wind was towards us so maybe our view was obscured by the steam. That said, it was still a pretty cool sight.
We then decided to take a walk around Geyser Hill. Being a TOG myself, I was sad not to find Terry’s Old Geyser but there were many bubbling pools, steam coming from holes and chimneys of all kinds. We walked for about 1.5 miles and saw dozens of geysers (you can possibly have too much of a good thing!)
We had enough time, before dinner, to catch another Old Faithful show and we thought we’d take a change of perspective, this time from the mezzanine of the Inn – an outdoor wooden seating area. We had great seats and this time when it blew it was amazing. Tall spouts of steamy water shot into the sky, much higher this time, with the wind blowing away from us, so we got a much better view. This was what I’d been expecting - much better.
Then it was time for dinner We’d made reservations (no, not Indian ones) in the Old Faithful Inn Dining Room. Bison burgers seemed to be the favoured option, although Di’s hoped for Bean-Burger was apparently only available on the lunch menu. No one knows why. She could have had vegetable chimichangas but that was it on the veggie take it or leave it option. They seemed disinclined to offer anything else so she had to settle for another house salad and fries.
Unfortunately, the dining room was dimly lit, and huge in size, so there was very little atmosphere. It seemed a bit more ‘school dinners’ regimentation than classy dining but prices weren’t too bad – a bottle of red wine was $18. So, overall, not bad, but not as good as it should be. Maybe it would get better as the season wore on but all the uniformed students made the whole thing a little creepily Stepford-like. That’s why they only got three Teds.
The hotel itself has a lot of history. Built around 1903, it is very much a large log cabin, with a west wing added on in 1927. This is where we stayed. The rooms weren’t bad at all, with two double beds, table and chairs, phone, but NO television(!) and no internet so, they lost another Ted (I can forgive the TV, but no internet? Sheesh) I guess, they were ever-so-slightly redeemed by the company in the room (see photo) but not enough to give 'em back a whole Ted.
