Day 11 Yellowstone

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble. Long, long day today, but did we ever see a lot! The drive from Cody to Yellowstone only took about an hour and is a beautiful drive, running along the Shoshone River. But then the drive to our camp took another hour. On this drive we suddenly came on a crowd of people, putting on brakes, cars pulled over haphazardly, people running across the road! I was sure that there had been a wreck! No wreck, a grizzly bear beside the road. I thought it was illegal to get within 100 yards of one, but I guess no one cares for safety, me included. Got 2 great pictures. But when the bear started moving, so did the people, fast, and it didn’t take me long to get out of there either! The Eastern entrance is really ugly, many of the trees destroyed by forest fire. Still want a picture of Smokey the Bear…and yes, he is still around for all you children of the 50’s.
Camps are very compact, but fine for our purpose. We set up quickly, and then took out on our first drive. More buffalo (sorry, Bison) herds everywhere, even walking in the middle of the road! Our first stop was “Thermal Springs”. Ugly, ulgy view, and even uglier “rotten egg” smell! In the back of my mind I am sure the place is going to BLOW any minute! Imagine boiling , bubbling mud….left over from a Mud Volcano. The thermals are bubbling and boiling as well. About the only pretty thing was the damaged grass areas…beautiful colors!
On up the road to see the falls made by the Yellowstone River. Magnificent! The park has done a wonderful job of marking the road and creating pullouts for viewing. You might have 100 cars parked at one site. An also beautiful site is the Grand View, or Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon. You can definitely tell why Yellowstone got its name—yellow rock. One observation point we went to was 100 feet shorter now because of an earthquake in 1975! Makes you wonder doesn’t it? How much time would I have to get off there if things started shaking and rolling? The drive here along the upper Canyon Rim, and the observation pullouts and walks are the most beautiful in the park and have inspired many, many artists. Makes me want to paint again, but I am smart enough to realize I could never capture the beauty of these canyons.
Lots of traffic here, and a huge crowd today. Hopefully everyone will go home tomorrow, Labor Day.
So, that is all the news from the McCamper, where the women are cooking hamburgers for supper, the men are complaining of a sinus infection (?) and the children are “who knows where, doing who knows what”—I hate having no cell phone or wifi!!