Yellowstone National Park

A Glorious First Day!

Yellowstone National Park is one of my favorite places. I never ever get tired of  it~ it's just a magical place, each and every time we visit. One of husbands favorite stops along the way, is the Fountain of Youth RV Park in Thermopolis, Wyoming. We drive up from southern Colorado, and get there around 2ish pm, to enjoy a nice quiet afternoon in the hot springs. From here, it's just about a 2 hour drive to Cody, about 45 minutes from the East entrance to Yellowstone.

 Of coarse my little mini me is with me~ she loves riding in the car~ outside of the car, she could be found in the hood of my sweatshirt. I wear it backwards and she just fits in her little hammock perfectly!

 There is actually a HOt Springs State Park in Thermopolis, as well as a really awesome Dinosaur Museum that you can even go help participate on the active dinosaur digs in the area, if that's your thing. This particular hot spring at the RV park is knows as Sacajawea Well~ they were actually drilling for oil here in 1918, and hit the mineral spring instead.

 They have the water separated into three different pools~ the pool closest to the spring is off limits, as it is just about boiling hot, as the water reaches the far end, its still pretty warm!  I cant remember the exact amount of gallons it flows, but it flows freely thru the pools, with enough volume to fully replace all the water you see in less than a 24 hour period.

 After our overnight in Thermopolis we were off to Yellowstone. We usually go in later July, early August...but this year, because of Emma graduating and my teaching schedule, we scheduled our trip to begin the first week of June.  Halfway across the park on the way to check in at our campground, Josh & I peeled off from the family group for a very special trip to the Old Faithful Inn.
Not many folks know that you can make reservations (well ahead of time mind you, as in a year before when you make your Yellowstone reservations!) to be part of the 'Flag Ceremony'. Simply put, you can actually make the trek up to the roof of the Inn with a Bellhop to take down the flags~ The National flag, and then the three state flags, one for each of the states Yellowstone is located in~ Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. The tour is limited, they only go up once a day in the evening, and only allow 8 people.

 A trip to Yellowstone is not complete without a visit to the inside of Old Faithful Inn. Its absolutely spectacular~ the first 3 floors are open to the public. In the above picture, you can see the stairs leading upwards from the third floor, and then a very tree house looking...well...tree house!, way at the very top. This is known as the 'Crow's Nest', and when the Inn was built, the orchestra would play music from here.

As many times as I have been to the Inn...too many to count....I have never been allowed past the locked gate on the third floor. This is Zach, the Bellhop unlocking the gate for us!

 Up a flight of stairs, there is a spacious landing that provides a bird's eye view of the entire Inn.

 After climbing up several more flights of stairs, we arrive at the tree house~ it is said the Inn's architect had always wanted to build a treehouse and never had the chance, so he built one into the Inn.

Up yet another little flight of stairs from the tree house, are the doors leading out onto the roof

 It was just amazing, is all I can say. Amazing views I never thought I would see

 Josh got to take down the Wyoming flag

 And it just so happened, Old Faithful erupted while we were still up on the roof~ best seat 'on' the house!

 We watched a group of buffalo wander around the Inn afterward and then trekked back down the stairs on the roof. Theyre pretty steep~ I don't think I would really like going up and down them in the winter

And in perfect Yellowstone fashion, Josh and I had to mill about smartly for a little while longer, waiting for this buffalo get away from behind my car so we could leave! LOL it was an AWESOME first day...could things get any better than this? Well...actually yes they can...just wait