Yellowstone National Park

Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America’s first national park.  Located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk.  Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world’s most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  What can you say except … Wow … I first saw Yellowstone in 1965 as a teenager and this is Karen’s first visit but it won’t be our last.  Now that we have the big overview of the park from the tour we took we can look forward to coming back and spending a week or so just absorbing everything.

Here are some of the natural beauty of Yellowstone National Park

We never saw a bear or a wolf but then those are hit and miss these days.  I kept looking for Yogi Bear and Booboo … course, we made sure to keep an eye on our picnic basket.  We did however see a large herd of Bison and one large male who enjoyed playing with traffic a little too much.  Me thinks that he’s done this many times before.  I said Bison because that’s what they really are –  not Buffalo.  Word is that when the song “Home on the Range” was written, Bison didn’t rhyme so Buffalo was used.  Go figure.

Here are photos of the traffic jam and herd of Bison

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone river was a major highlight of our trip.  The canyon is up to 900 feet deep and a half mile in width.  The present appearance of the canyon dates from about 10,000 years ago and since that time, erosional forces (water, wind, earthquakes, and other natural forces) have continued to sculpt the canyon.  It is one of the most impressive features of the park.  We’ve been to the Grand Canyon and each canyon has it’s own beauty but I think I favor this one.  Check it out for yourself.

Photos of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River

While here in West Yellowstone we stayed at the Grizzly Bear RV Resort.  I must admit that this is a high end park with excellent facilities.  One drawback was the single hole in the men’s room.  For such a nice park they could have sprung for an extra stall or two.  The weather was unseasonably cold.  At night, it got down to freezing and it was the first time that I was requested to disconnect my water hose for 2 nights to prevent freezing the pipes.  They were serious enough to say that anyone not disconnecting their lines would be fined $50.  I figure they know what they’re doing.

Photos of Grizzly Bear RV Resort