Day 5: Greybull, WY to Yellowstone National Park, WY

Miles traveled: 131 (total: 991)
States traversed: Wyoming

We left a dreary Greybull determined to reach Yellowstone. For once, it seemed, the weather cooperated. It sprinkled a bit, but we avoided the wind and the sun even peeked out a bit that day. We passed through Cody, WY, which looked like a cute tourist town that advertised nightly rodeos in the summer. On we went to Yellowstone and the plains gave way to mountains and evergreen forests.

Dad shows Desmond a mountain river in Wyoming

As we drove through the gates of Yellowstone (we gained free entrance thanks to Dad’s National Parks pass), we were greeted by bison right outside the RV. We wound through the park to Fishing Bridge RV Park and found a site to camp. For the first time, we arranged two nights in the same spot. Our stay included one free shower apiece, so we decided we’d take our showers the following evening to avoid paying the fee to shower. We located our spot and made some sandwiches for lunch.

Next, we set out for Old Faithful. I’m not sure why I imagined things in Yellowstone being closer together. They are not; the park is enormous. So, it was over an hour to Old Faithful. On the way, we met some bison traffic jams. Who do those bison think they are? Like this is their home or something! They just stand in the road with no regard to the tourists trying to drive by. You can really get up close and personal to them by driving by. One tourist reached out of her car to try to pet one as she went by. Some even dumber tourists hopped out of their cars to try to pose for pictures with them. Maybe they didn’t see the signs all around that warn, “Bison are wild animals. Do not approach.” We just took pictures. You’d think after seeing hundreds of them, you’d grow tired of it, but I was pretty fascinated with them each time. We stopped at Gibbon Falls and Desmond enjoyed looking at the waterfall. As the RV wound around the river, I was a little anxious since the shoulder along the road is pretty small. We enjoyed spotting the steam rising up from the earth; I’ve never seen anything like that.

Bison walking around like they own the place

Tourist thinks tripod will protect him from 1000 lb beast

We arrived at Old Faithful and joined the crowds waiting to see the geyser explode. After Tommy checked geysertimes.org, we found out we had about 40 minutes until the next explosion. Desmond was begging to visit a gift shop, so we stopped in the visitor center and gift shop. Desmond enjoyed running around the exhibits and checking out the dials, digital displays, and videos of mudpots. He was disappointed there were no clocks for sale in the gift shop. We headed back out to find a place to watch Old Faithful. We had to wait about 20 minutes; she was late bursting. The geyser spurted a few times and we wondered if that was the end. Desmond was unimpressed but worried it would shoot water on him. Dad called it Old Fizzle. Then, about 15 minutes after it was predicted to blow, it started shooting its water up.

Old Fizzle?

GQ's next model (and a clock)

We hit up Yellowstone General Store on our way back to the RV and picked up some necessities (local beer and wine and ice cream) and got back on the road towards the RV park. We stopped at Prismatic Springs, which I found to be much more impressive than Old Faithful. It was very cool; you could walk on a boardwalk all over the thermal ground and view steaming waterfalls and boiling pools in beautiful pastels of turquoise, orange, and peach (I can only imagine how vibrant the colors would be if the sky had been clear). There were also bacterial formations that created unique pools that reflected everything around them and made the landscape look like another planet. Desmond really loved looking at it, but he made us anxious running around the boardwalk with no railings!

Prismatic Springs

Prismatic Springs

On our drive home, Desmond fell asleep and we spotted some elk atop a hill (a nice change from the bison). We parked and made dinner, while Desmond continued to sleep in his carseat. He woke up and crashed on the couch while we at tacos, bean salad, and homemade guacamole. He woke up again and after a quick diaper change and pajamas, he went to bed. I don’t think bedtime has ever been so easy for Desmond! The rest of us stayed up chatting and cleaning up from dinner before heading to bed.