Old Faithful and the West Side of the Grand Loop Road

We had lunch at the deli of the Yellowstone Lake Hotel, right by, you guessed it, Yellowstone Lake. We then headed toward Old Faithful for the 3:10ish eruption of the geyser.  The loop road followed the lake for quite long time, during which we napped or dozed.  

We made one stop at the Continental Divide, where a small lake drains both east into the Mississippi (via the Missouri) AND west into the Pacific (via the Snake and Columbia).  That woke us up, and we drove into Old Faithful (the parking area, not the actual geyser).  

Though we were tired, after we arrived 

here, we were no longer feeling drained

(get it?).

We had time to kill, so we explored the Lodge a bit (bought a Yellowstone Christmas Ornament!) got some ice cream, and went upstairs to to the second level to go outside and wait for the show.  

(The Lodge is quite something -- it's the pride of the Park Service lodges, and it is easy to see why!  I didn't take any photos inside because I didn't think they would turn out well.)  

We grabbed a third row bench, ate our ice cream, talked, and waited.  Once Old Faithful went (pretty much right on time), it was not what I expected -- the natural show was much more impressive.  Old Faithful lasted much longer than I expected, and went higher than I realized.  

I had set the camera to speed shutter, figuring it would happen quickly and I would only get 4-5 shots.  Instead, I stopped taking pictures because I took so many.

Afterwards, we were all pretty quiet -- at a loss for words.  Carol noted that she never thought she would get to see Old Faithful -- and here it was, her birthday!

Our penultimate stop was at the Grand Prismatic Spring, but alas the higher up viewing area is being rebuilt.  

Cool pictures of the

Grand Prismatic Spring

Before heading out, we drove through the Firehole Canyon road, seeing the falls and the swimming hole (which was packed!).

Firehole Falls