Old Reliable

July 2- A six am wakeup call followed a night of fighting over the covers with Emily. Exhausted we were on the road by 7 en route to Old Faithful (or Old Reliable, according to Phineas and Ferb, whose trip out west mirrored our own). We bribed the kids to get up with the promise of a breakfast at the famous Old Faithful Inn and we delivered on it. The Inn is a beautiful tribute to the foresight of the men and women who worked so hard to set the land aside for generations to enjoy. The Inn features a veranda overlooking Old Faithful, an expansive dining area, a large gift shop, renovated bathrooms, and rooms of course. After breakfast we dashed outside to see Old Faithful erupt from a front row bench - a reward for getting up so early. Having seen it 39 years ago, I was unsure if it would impress. (OK 39 years is a LONG time). But I was awed into an appreciative silence, as was the whole crowd. I did have forbidden thought that there was some little man under the crust with a big firehose.

A quick tour of the upper and lower basins, mudpots, geysers, etc completed our Yellowstone adventure. Our hiking was becoming much easier - we seemed to have conquered the altitude sickness and breathed easier - literally. By the way - the buffalo seemed a little aggressive at the basins.

We were off to Lander, WY where our "big hike" in the mountains for fishing and camping would begin. Then Sam slammed his fingers in the car door. One ice pack later, we really were off to Lander, WY for our "big hike"