Hey Booboo...

Just finished dinner in the grand dining room of Old Faithful Inn. Only reservation we could get was for 8:45. Later than I would like to eat but it did give me time to hydrate prior to dinner. I'm finding that at these higher and dryer elevations (7700 ft at Old Faithful) I'm feeling pretty puny by evening due to dehydration. Just not drinking much of the clear stuff thruout the day. Pound back a couple of quarts of water (rather than prefered cocktails) as the sun sets does bring me around.

Entered the land of Yogi and Booboo at West Village. Our plan to make the northern loop was changed due to road closure so we took a leisure drive south toward Old Faithful stopping at every turn out and side view point along the way. Saw eagles, a family of 3 moose, and several fly fishermen in the Madison River. After a side trip along the Firehole River and a view of Firehole Falls we decided to rest a while at Great Fountain Geyser. The rows of benches seemed inviting, we weren't in any hurry and the ranger kept spouting off about how spectacular this particular geyser was. After much discussion of when water first started to appear along the silica terraces and repeated consultation of watches it was decided the eruption would occur at 2:10, "giver or take 15 min." At about 2:00 our friendly little lady ranger began whispering in the ear of some of the elderly spectators where upon they moved to another bench further down the line. Presumally for a better view. Ten minutes later the show began with bubbling and steam and splashing. I got a couple of pictures then steam and water exploded 100 feet into the air and came down right where we were standing!

A dozen of us, apparently not on the ranger's warning list, literally got soaked by warm sulfur smelling water! Geyser water in Sarah's ear and my jeans drenched. And I told my sister, "Why would I need more than one pair of pants for a two day trip?" Little Miss Ranger did find it necessary to warn us to clean off all glasses and lens as the silica in the spray will etch glass. Thanks!

Unable to get a room at Old Fateful Inn we settled on a "rustic" cabin at Old Fateful Lodge next door. Our 10 x 20 foot box is serviceable with electricity and a sink with running water. More than we have at my sister's place! Toilets and showers however are a 5 min. walk thru the compound but once it gets dark my bathroom will be a lot closer! A stroll along the crescent boardwalk around Old Faithful gets you back to the Inn. Built in the early 1900's it is a monument of knotted pine beams and granite. The lobby soars over 5 stories with hints of forbidden catwalks and lofty dormers as the stone fireplace with it's 60 ft iron pendelum clock keeps it all weighted to earth and not some magical castle in the sky. After time of craned necks and awed coments, Sarah and I settled on lodge pole furniture on the second floor balcony to watch Old Faithful erupt as scheduled. Once every hour, it now blows about every 90 minutes since it's internal rhythm was changed by a bit of scysmic activity several years ago.

Dinner was their buffet with trout, chicken frichasee,, sliced buffalo, shrimp, green beans, potatoes, rice and bread pudding. The buffalo and bread pudding was good!

All the kids back in school now so most of the tourists here are old farts like us. Still crowed. I can't even imagine how crazy this place must be during full-on vacation season. I'm pretty sure I would not like to visit then!