an evening walk, and...

Oh! I like this park! There are so many things to see (and so much to learn!).

There are a lot of people here so it's hard to wander alone during the day, but Denise has found good places for us to wander even then. Early in the morning and in the evening it's so much quieter though, a good special time for wandering.

I was afraid we wouldn't get to walk this evening. It was raining really hard when we walked over to the Snow Lodge to get something to eat in the place that has sandwiches. Afterwards we sat in the lobby so Denise could write and then get web access. We popped back to our room to put the computer away, and then, oh good! Denise grabbed a light jacket so we could go for a walk.

We headed into the geyser basin to see if any of the geysers were awake. The sky still wore some clouds but the setting sun did peak through for a few minutes. There always steaming features, some with flying water. I think we stood and watched Sawmill Geyser throw water around for about 15 minutes. Yesterday when we went by there it was empty - it's so interesting that when the geyser isn't erupting it totally empties out.

The nice thing about walking in the geyser basin when the air is chilly is that there is always warm air available - you just need to walk into the steam!

This is an interesting place to stay. The Old Faithful Inn is the original lodging (structure) here, a very old building. The rooms are very simple - in fact most of the rooms in the old part of the inn (where we are staying) have the bathroom down the hall. Denise said it's pretty funny to see everyone walking around at night and in the early morning in bathrobes, that's just not expected in most hotels!

The middle part of the lobby is open to the roof. There's a big fireplace on the first floor, and it's chilly enough outside at night that there is even a fire each night. There are comfortable places to sit on the second and third floor balconies, and there are always people around in the late afternoon and evening.

Right now we're sitting on the balcony listening to music. There is a woman who alternates between playing the piano and playing a cello. She just finished playing a tune on the cello and now she's switching back to piano. It's very relaxing.

I wonder when I should start bugging Denise to come back to Yellowstone again. Oh, I know, we still have part of tomorrow to wander here. I also know it won't be enough. I like finding places that we like so much we need to return again (and again!).

--- Rover