Well, we arrived after a long day of driving from Mt. Rushmore via Rapid City to I-90 since there were width and height restrictions on hwy 385.? This cost us a few more miles, and time, but not worth the risk of having to back out of a tunnel that you don’t fit through.? We took I-90 from Rapid City to hwy 191 and drove down the mostly easy 2-way traffic but had wide lanes and very few hills to worry about.

We arrived at our reserved campsite at Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park. ? The greeters were EXCELLENT, friendly and helpful.? We were concerned that we were arriving too late to check in at around 7:30 pm. but they stay open until 9:00 pm for late arrivals. ? We had reserved a pull through site, and it was convenient to everything and only about 3 blocks from the West Entrance to Yellowstone NP.

Our good friends from our home town in Alabama had planned a very similar tour of the U.S. without our knowledge until they saw our post on facebook and they called to tell us they would be at Yellowstone for part of the same time we are here.?? They gave us great tips on what to do and see and where to eat.?? We met them for a meal the night we arrived and they seemed to have an abundance of good times to share with us.? I only wish we had more time to absorb some of their great stories.

We began our first real day of adventures by entering the park at around 6:30 a.m. on the West entrance and headed directly for the lower geyser basin which is the south loop through the NP.?? We saw osprey perched in the top of a tree overlooking a river that you would expect to see people fly fishing in – shallow, wide and gently flowing.? Shortly after that we saw some buffalo followed by another buffalo or two, then a herd of buffalo, and some more buffalo scattered out among the flat areas before we saw the larger herd of buffalo. ? Did I mention seeing buffalo too?

There were several basins, springs, geysers, and mud pots, heading to our primary site of seeing Old Faithful.?? The NP is well marked with street signs and arrows pointing you in the right direction, but it does help to have one of their printed maps that we picked up at the campground.? There are also a few scattered gas stations and facility rooms around the park.? When we arrived at Old-Faithful we found a gift shop, restaurant, lodge, visitor center, and a bit of parking lot construction going on.? It was laid out and organized fairly well, but I don’t recommend driving the bit rig in, as it wasn’t THAT roomy.?? The Visitor Center and gift shops posted when the next expected eruption was to take place and it was accurate to within a minute.

While we waited for the next eruption, I spotted the camera that the park uses for their live streaming web-cam of old-faithful. So as cheesy as it sounds, I called my friends back home to let them see that we were actually here safe and sound via their web browser.

Please enjoy these photos? of our tour in Yellowstone that we have enjoyed so much.?? We have driven 681 miles in two days.? This covers both the North and South loops and Lamar Valley where we saw most of the wildlife.? We did get out for some short hikes, but mostly just site seeing, and taking hundreds (maybe thousands) of photos.
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