Great Western Adventure: Day 9

Interested in what we did before we returned to Yellowstone?
Days 1-4: Chicago, The Corn Palace, The Badlands, and Wall Drug
Day 5: Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Devil's Tower
Day 6: First Day in Yellowstone
Day 7: First Camping/Kayaking Day in the Grand Tetons
Day 8: Second Camping/Kayaking Day in the Grand Tetons



Day 9: Back to Yellowstone and Visiting Old Faithful

The third morning of our camping and kayaking trip consisted of a light breakfast and a short paddle back to the loading dock where our car was parked.  We said goodbye to our trip mates and our guides.  Here Mr. Pinds and I are with our guides, Dominic, Kyle, and Julia.

We then headed north back to Yellowstone, but not before I had my very first visit to a bathroom with running water in three days.  Complete with a mirror.  Yikes.

We decided to visit the Old Faithful area, where we had the most delicious lunch of cheeseburgers and a milkshake.  Mr. Pinds and I then walked the boardwalk loop around the Old Faithful area.  There are so many geological features in this area that it almost seems like a well planned out theme park.  I had to keep reminding myself that this was all natural.

Once we got to Old Faithful, we had to wait about 20 minutes for it to erupt.

In case you didn't know, it's called Old Faithful because it erupts every 90 minutes, plus or minus 10 minutes.  There is a nice clock inside the Old Faithful Lodge that lets you know when the next eruption will be.

We then headed across the street so we could hike up the hill behind the Grand Prismatic Spring to get a better view.  It was well worth the steep hike.  What a view!

By this time it was late afternoon so we drove back to our cabin and took a glorious shower.  Few times in my life have I ever felt cleaner than I did after that shower, having not showered or washed in three days.  We were pretty grimy.

That night we walked down to the lodge for dinner and then did a few loads of laundry.  I'm so thankful that we have a washer and dryer in our house because I don't enjoy having to deal with communal laundry facilities.  I channeled my college self and tried not to get annoyed when people didn't come and get their laundry out of the dryer once it was finished.  When one man didn't show up for 20 minutes after his load was finished, I may or may not have taken his clothes out of the dryer and put them on one of the gigantic tables in the room.

Once the laundry was done, I did a little knitting in the lounge while Mr. Pinds did some reading.  We didn't last long though because we were so pooped from the camping trip and lack of sleep.  We headed back to our cabin for a good night's rest in a bed.  I was so excited!

Next up: Mr. Pinds and I see a wolf in person!