Yellowstone- Speed sightseeing

Day 10
Yellowstone National Park

Holy smokes we have a lot ground to cover in a single day. Last night we made the decision to see Yellowstone in a single day. That's a tall order for us to complete. Yellowstone is typically something people take a week to do. One of our campground neighbors reserved his site for 10 days. For us it's a little different. Colter Bay Campground is far from free. At $31 a night for boondocking, we better choose our sightseeing wisely. Remember folks, there is no income for either one of us. Trip #2 is just like trip #1 financially. Our life savings is basically on fire and we just try to keep the flame to minimum.

West thumb geyser basin

Mud volcano

The sightseeing starts clicking time off the clock. Eli is locked up in the RV and we need to get keep that in mind. Every time we stop to see something it is just a quick snapshot or a power walk through the crowds.

Little Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Upper falls.

Don't get out of breath on me. There is still plenty more to roll through.

One little side branch in the park is this petrified tree. Basically that means the tree is so old it turned into a rock. What's interesting about this tree is the fact that it's a redwood. Now, I remember from our trip to the redwoods that they said they don't exist anywhere else in the world. Turns out they were only talking about living specimens. This tree has been identified to be physiologically identical to the redwoods in northern California. What's the catch? This specimen is tens of millions of years old. Buried under volcanic ash for centuries, only to be found again in our present day. 

Okay... tick tok, tick tok. Gotta roll.

Not every picture needs to be the same canned selfie smile. This one has a little attitude.

Mammoth springs is one of the top things to see in the park. Thousands of years of calcium bicarbonate have crystallized to produce a mesmerizing lattice of stairs and pools. Unfortunately it is the farthest from our home. At this point we are already 130 miles into the day and are becoming haggard. Ten minutes is enough time for us to take it all in. Keep moving... keep going.

The Inn at old faithful is the largest log building documented in the world. Built between 1903-04 this mammoth building consists of all local materials. The overall length comes in at a staggering 700 feet long. The peak of the gable towers at 92 feet. A temporary sawmill was constructed 8 miles down the road and all the stone was mined from the nearby Black Sand Basin.

Now it's back to the main attraction here and that is too see old faithful. The estimated time of eruption is 1609. Let's see how close they really get.

1610: Yay! This means we get to go home! An hour and a half later we finally get back. It's 1800 and we are both exhausted. Shirley wracked up 241 miles today. Remember Eli in the RV? He still needs to be walked. Uggh... What a long day.