We left for Yellowstone around 8:00 a.m. on a cloudy and overcast day. The clouds thinned as we headed north and by the time we arrived in the park it was gorgeous! The sun was shining and the grass was green and the flowers were abundant.
Last weekend Nick and I went to a bunch of garage sales. We found 4 radios with an alleged broadcast radius of 5 miles.
On my trip with the Great Salt Lake birders I discovered how useful such radios can be. They used them between the cars to point out birds to each other. So no one was stopped, stuck and wondering what everyone else was seeing.
So back to the story, we found these radios and the guy selling them told us the batteries didn't work. Nick did some research and we can get new rechargeable ones pretty reasonably, but not in time for the Yellowstone trip. So we just put in regular double A batteries and voila, functioning communications devices.
These are much better than cell phones. Everyone in the car can hear what is being said, and in the park, there just isn't good cell coverage anyway.
Though John grew up in Idaho he had never been to Yellowstone, so our traditional West Entrance to Old Faithful was the route to go. This year that route was amazing. Again the flowers were all in bloom. Heather, in the other car has a great memory for wildflowers so as we were driving she was able to tell us what we were seeing.
We saw mega fauna: Mule deer, Elk, Bison, and Antelope (between Yellowstone and Island Park)
We also saw mini fauna: Yellow-bellied marmots, and Golden-mantled ground squirrels.
And of course, birds and more birds:
Crows
House finches
House sparrows
Starlings
Rock doves
Red-tailed hawks
American kestrels
Western grebes
Magpies
Red-winged blackbirds
Cinnamon teals
Yellow-headed blackbirds
Flickers
Turkey vultures
Redheads
Canada geese
Yellow-rumped warblers
Chipping sparrow
Tree swallows
Bank swallows
Northern rough-winged swallows
Most spectacular were the numerous, bright, Mountain bluebirds and the ever entertaining Ravens.
The clouds caught up with us at Firehole Lake drive, adding atmosphere to the already picturesque location.
Rain caught us at the Midway geyser basin and we (or at least I) scurried off to the car.
I needed a break so everyone else braved the rain to go shop at the Old Faithful stop. I took a 10 minute nap, read the free paper, changed shoes and then felt so much better I headed into the lodge myself, about 5 minutes before the geyser was supposed to go off. This meant, I had the restroom to myself. Oh, and the rain had stopped so there was no need to dash anywhere. I spotted the Ice Cream vendor and picked up a cone. I haven't had an ice cream cone in forever.
The Old Faithful geyser began spouting while I'm getting my ice cream. There really is a good view from the lodge. I walked out and radio in hand got a hold of Nick. I asked him if he had picked up any ice cream and he said they didn't have any in the building. I replied, then how am I eating this? Needless to say, we all went back in and everyone else got treats.
A last stop at the Black Sand geyser basin was cut short by rain. We stopped at the diner in West Yellowstone and then headed home.
As we were driving through Island Park a gorgeous bald eagle jumped out in front of the car and swooped up and out away from us. It was so close and so amazing!
Home by 10:00 p.m. and in bed shortly thereafter. I had a new number on my pedometer. I've never seen it read 40,000 steps before. Close to 12 miles of walking/fidgeting. My normal number is 10,000 and I have to work to get that.
Lovely day.
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