We were lucky that our driving route south took us directly through the park, otherwise we might not have gotten to see much other than the brief glimpse we had yesterday. Everyone was moving quite slow during our pack-up, but we made it out on schedule and started the the somewhat arduous drive into the Yellowstone. It seems to be an unwritten rule, or perhaps it has been written somewhere, that national parks must have steep and windy entrances. We experienced the same sort of white knuckle driving when heading into Yosemite. Yellowstone was windier, but it lacked the sheer cliff on the side of the road for extra tension. In addition, the speed limits were so low that taking the corners at 10 miles an hour wasn't out of place.
Our first stop of the day was at Grand Prismatic. Parking was immediately a concern as there was a very long line to get into what appeared to be a very small parking lot. We usually have enough trouble parking with the truck alone, but parking with the trailer attached usually means finding a parking spot a mile outside of town or in the farthest reaches of the big box parking lots. We usually Uber to the actual store once we've parked. The lot here looked intimidating enough that we decided to not even attempt parking. We drove onward a bit and were surprised to see that there were plenty of options for parking on the side of the road less than half a mile on. In addition, there was a very nice walking path along the river that led right back to the original lot. Neat.
The Grand Prismatic set of pools sits up on top of a small mesa. A well built boardwalk winds between the pools and dips in and out of the constant fog/steam that rises from the pools. The view you get depends very much on the wind, as on our first trip around we couldn't see anything of the Excelsior pool and when we completed the loop it was quite visible.
Each pool is home to any number of extremophiles (bacteria that like extreme conditions), which are what give the water its pastel colors. These particular pools are populated by thermophiles, or extremophiles that like heat. Dad thought all of these big words were quite funny.
We finished out loop around Grand Prismatic and drove on to Old Faithful. We were worried about parking again but it turns out that Old Faithful has a larger parking lot than most Walmarts. It also had more tourists than a small country. We grabbed ice cream cones and snagged a primo spot to watch the epic eruption...except that it wasn't that epic. The longevity of Old Faithful is pretty incredible, but the actual display isn't much to write home about. If you're a really big fan of watching steam come out of things you might find it more exciting. Luckily the ice cream was good, although Dad and Remy were both a bit perplexed as to why the paper wrappers on the cones were glued on. Don't people usually eat the cones?
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