Yellowstone National Park

We had an amazing day trip to Yellowstone National Park today, July 20, 2011.  We drove from Cody, WY where we are camped.

There is  an amazingly long tunnel (actually 3 tunnels) at the Buffalo Bill Dam not far from Cody.  

On the other side of the tunnel, we saw rugged shaped peaks and...



....oddly shaped rock,

but I thought it was all beautiful

I love the snow capped mountains.

Yellowstone Lake is very beautiful with the backdrop of the mountains.  The lake was a bit choppy and waves lapped the shoreline.  The water is very high due to record snowfall.

We stopped and walked among the smoky mud pots and hot springs. 

 

This is steam from the hot spots.

I thought this was a beautiful flower, but unfortunately, the camera

didn't capture it's beauty.

We saw a lot of buffalo.

We were watching a coyote with the binoculars on the left side of the road, but he was too far to take a picture.  I saw this guy on the right side of the road.  He seemed to be posing for a picture.

Of course we went to see Old Faithful!  And we weren't disappointed.  We saw a short film and by the time it was over, we went out to view Old Faithful.  Perfect timing.

I took a video with my camera but you will need to view on facebook. 

We had a great time but we didn't see any bear....I did however get a picture of an elk....or at least I got a picture of his rack.  He was resting in the wood line of a thicket.  Can you see his huge rack?  I wish he would have stood up, but evidently he had just finished grazing and laid down to rest.

I love waterfalls and the park has some beautiful ones.

One day is just not enough time to see Yellowstone.  We only did one loop!  Someday we will return and hopefully camp within the park.  We found out that you have to reserve up to 15 months in advance for a camping spot!!