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On our second full day (Sept 22 2009) in Yellowstone we headed around the Grand Loop road over to Old Faithful.  As you pull in the parking area you are reminded by all the vehicles that this is the main attraction at Yellowstone!  There is the Ski Lodge, the Old Faithful Lodge and the Old Faithful Inn, each with gift shops and places to eat… and they are constructing a new visitor center right smack in the middle of the other three areas… As you come into the Old Faithful park area you are greeted by a large walkway lined with benches surrounding the grand geyser…

 

We of course took some time to document that we were really there… 

We had some time to kill as Old Faithful is somewhat predictable with approximately 92 minutes (give or take 10 min) between eruptions.  So we did the natural thing and headed off in search of the local bar.  And wouldn’t you know it, we found one! A cozy little place in the Old Faithful Inn.  The building itself is something to behold, it was constructed of local Lodge Pine and stone, when you walk in the lobby you are drawn with the rest of the crowd to look up… 7 stories up!  Just magnificent…

 

 

After a few refreshing cocktails, a light lunch and some shopping we headed back out to the park area, a mass of crowds had now gathered all around Old Faithful, most everyone was sitting on the benches and some standing along the edges, or back by the Inn for a further perspective (or my guess to stay closer to the bar).  I of course could not get close enough! I was so excited to finally see this incredible natural wonder… Even though Old Faithful is somewhat predictable the wait seems like forever, with each mass roll of steam I would ready my camera, then a spurt of hot water would come out a few feet… you would hear in the crowd “Here it goes!” then “aaahhhh” as it went back down and little puffs of steam would rise.  Apparently the Old Geyser is like a pan of hot water… it will start to boil down at the bottom with little bits making it to the top a few at a time, then as the water temperature in the pan (or in this case the earth) begins to rise so does the water level and amount of bubbles and steam, until it has reached a max temperature all the way thru and then the whole thing boils over.  So a few spurts of water, more steam, more “it’s starting” and “oh! not yet!”  It was also very interesting to me to notice that as we all waited expectantly for Old Faithful, many conversations were started with the person standing or sitting nearby… I heard many different stories in the little area around me, from”where are you from?”, “Oh I have heard that’s a beautiful country, I hope to visit someday”, “well, we got let go from our company so we are on vacation for a while”, “How long have you been married?”, “My grandma grew up there!”, “wow, you drove how far?”… perfect strangers having personal conversations…  until finally… the crowd went silent…  I actually felt the earth below my feet start to rumble, then heard something like a herd of horses running, I started taking pictures in case this was it… and WHAM up it went, higher and higher!  I was just so cool I can not even explain it!  The eruption lasted only a minute or two but it will last a lifetime in my mind…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crowd cheered, some applauded and as we all watched it slowly go back down to the depths of our planet some began to walk away, perhaps to the gift shop, to go eat, to the bar, or to walk around the rest  of the Geyser fields, me? I stood for a few minutes and took it all in, I gave my thanks to Him who created this peculiar oddity of natural beauty that draws millions of people from all walks of life, all areas of the world, all religions, together, all in peace and wonder, all happy to be watching the same thing, appreciating the same thing…

Just think of it… even if it is for only a minute or two every 92 minutes somewhere in Yellowstone there is a mix of completely different people all sharing an amazing site.  What if it could last longer than a minute or two?