Our Eastern Shore Adventure: Day 4: Yellowstone

We slept in and got a late start to the day. Paul made breakfast, we got the car organized for day trips, packed lunch/snacks and hit the road back up to Yellowstone around 10AM. From where we were staying at Flagg Ranch it took about 40 minutes to get back to the junction at West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake and the thermal springs there. Our first look at the hot springs, geysers and other thermal activity was amazing! I love the geology and Paul loves the microbiology, so we were both geeking out big time. It was just a boardwalk loop around the basin and along the lake. Lucia rode on Paul's shoulders most of the way, which was a good vantage point for using her binoculars. Every time we came upon another feature, she would look through her binoculars and exclaim, "Hmmm...Interesting!" The people around us all giggled. After exploring the West Thumb Basin, we had lunch. We headed north through the Hayden Valley towards the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Lucia fell asleep, so Paul and I took turns getting out of the car at different vantage points of the canyon. At first, I wasn't impressed, until I got out, looked over the edge and saw how deep the canyon really was. I have never been to the Grand Canyon, but I thought this was pretty spectacular. Lots of osprey nests precariously perched. We made a stop at Canyon Village then turned back around towards camp. We got our first glimpses of bison on our way back through the valley. We also saw a pelican and a bald eagle. On our drive back we decided that if we wanted a good chance to see wildlife, we would need to get up early the next morning. We got back to our campsite around 5PM for dinner.