The day that almost wasn't

We had checked reports of the weather in Yellowstone the day before we headed there and it was showing snow (3-5") and temperatures in the 30's.  After our earlier experiences with snow, we did not want to mess with snowy conditions, so we decided to not push it. We looked for althernative ideas of things to do, but there wasn't anything else to do really.  So, we kept on the shortest path back East.  Fortunately, that path took us within 50 miles of Yellowstone.  We figured we could go to Mammoth Hot Springs, which is in lower elevations, and ask about conditions near Old Faithful.  Luckily, the weather held out.  No precipitation at all and temps in the 50's. 

We first stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs, definitely a unique environment. 

We drove up to the Geyser Basin and made some stops along the way.  This stop was cool..  There was a bubbling spring and a lot of steam coming out of the hole above it.  The kids got a big kick out of the steam.  Rachel dug a couple rocks out of the water.  They were very hot from the water.

 We got to Old Faithful, just as it was going off.  So, we needed to 93 minutes.  Riverside Geyser was due to go off  in 45 minutes, but it was pretty far away.  We thought we might be able to make it, so off we headed.  We were checking out the geysers as we went because we were going to need to turn right around and get back to see Old Faithful.   Our first geyser was Anenome.  It's a pretty small one, but the first one is always exciting.

The kids were getting tired and struggling.  We made it to Riverside Geyser just as it finished, and needed to hurry back.  Dave had to carry Matthew and Zack a little bit to give them the "energy" to make it back.  We got back with about 3 minutes to spare. It iumpressed as much as we had hoped.  Of course, the kids were distracted before it finished it's 4 minutes. 

Other geysers included this geyser that was spraying the kids with warm water as the wind blew.  This one erupted every 7-10 minutes, so we hung around to watch it again. 

This one went off almost continuously.  I thought it was pretty neat.

We saw a bunch of animals on our trip.  We saw elk, bison, deer, a grizzly bear, and a couple black bears.  Overall, it was a pretty eventfull trip to Yellowstone. I was so gald that we were able to go.  It was the kind of day that we needed - interesting things to look at and learn about without a lot of hiking.