Our first thought was, “Oh my God…how did it get to be day eight already????” To say that this first week on the road has flown, would be an understatement. When you think of the miles we have traveled, the places we have seen, the great meals we have had, and the experiences we’ve shared, you’d think that these past 8 days would have seemed like an eternity, but it really hasn’t. The daily drives have been very manageable, the hotels we’ve stayed in have by far been fine, and the things we’ve seen have really been spectacular. How could we ask for anything more!

This morning we woke in Cody, Wyoming and here’s a secret of our travels…we don’t wake to an alarm! We get up when we get up. Both Susie and I have spent too much of our life needing to wake up with an alarm, and we refuse to do it on this trip…unless we absolutely have to! So we got up, went and partook of the free breakfast at the hotel, and then got in the car and headed the 50 miles to the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Now Yellowstone is the first, and therefor, the oldest National Park, and since we are still in the NPS’s 100th birthday weekend, again there was no charge to get in…another day without being able to use my Senior Pass!!

We were less than 2 miles into the park when the traffic stopped dead. We had no idea why, until we rounded a curve and found out why. Coming down the double yellow line in the road, like he was doing a sobriety test, was the largest bison we’d ever seen. He continued to amble down the road until he passed about 3 feet away from the car, and we all went on our way! Talk about seeing wildlife!!! Then we continued to Yellowstone Lake, which is huge! We are staying for 2 nights in the Yellowstone Lake Hotel, and it is both old (it opened in 1891) and beautiful…but more on that later.

Our destination this afternoon was Old Faithful Geyser. As we traveled from the Lake area of Yellowstone to Old Faithful, we passed over the Continental Divide, twice in each direction. Amazing to think that rain on one side eventually drains to the Atlantic, and on the other side, the Pacific. I actually thought the first time we’d see it was in the Rockies, but Yellowstone has it all!

I don’t know what’s the more amazing thing about Old Faithful…that it erupts about 130 feet in the air, and has been doing it since it was first discovered in the 1800s, or that it does it with such regularity that they actually have a schedule for it!! 3:02 plus or minus 10 minutes was what it was scheduled for this afternoon, and right on the money at about 3:04, erupt it did! Crazy! The other crazy thing is how rude and selfish some people are. We went out to the viewing area and grabbed a front row (benches) seat at about 2:30. By 2:50, the place was full of people, but minutes before the eruption, here come a bunch of folks who decided they should sit on the ground in front of us. Yeah, I really want your head in my picture folks!! Guess what…most of them were not English speaking tourists! Ugly Americans my ass! We are some of the nicest, considerate folks you will run into, but watch out for the tour busses of foreigners! Rant over!

After the eruption, we returned to the hotel and got changed for dinner. We had 5:30 reservations in the Lake Hotel Dining Room, and felt we should get out of the shirts and t-shirts befitting eating in a nicer venue. This hotel has a real old school elegant feel to it, and we wanted to feel like we were upholding the history of the place in our dress. We felt good about what we did, but obviously some folks didn’t feel the same, as we saw every mode of dress! I’m sorry, but there is just something about someone eating dinner in a wonderful, historic dining room like this hotel has, in a baseball cap, that bothers me. Oh well. We had a wonderful dinner, starting with an excellent charcuterie plate, and then had an excellent Bison Filet. A nice bottle of bubbly and a couple of scrumptious desserts rounded out a really excellent meal!

After dinner, we sat on the front porch of the hotel for a bit, looking at the lake, then came inside and sat in the lounge. We had a couple of drinks, listened to the lady playing the piano, had a nice conversation with a couple from the UK, and wrapped up our day in a great way!

Tomorrow we may have to set an alarm (oh God, no!!!) because we have a cruise on Lake Yellowstone at 9:15 AM. Then we have the middle of the day to explore the park, and we end our day with a Yellow Bus Sunset Tour! Looking forward to another great day!!

Susie just commented that this is a first for us this week. We have a very nice room, but there is no TV and no air-conditioning! In addition, there’s no Wifi, but then we are in a National Park! If I get to post this at all, it will be via my cell phone’s hot spot, and there is no way I will be able to get pictures loaded. So if you see this sans pictures, know that once we are back in wifi territory, I will share some of the great ones we took today with you!

See you tomorrow!