Happy 4th of July! We are on an all-American road trip out west. Big Sky was wonderful for us. Mountain trout fishing, horse back riding, hiking, and tons of wildlife to see on a daily basis. There is a big part of me that doesn’t want to leave, but we had to say goodbye to Big Sky. It was a bittersweet moment as we left a place we just fell in love with but more adventures await.
The drive was an easy shot down 191 to the city of West Yellowstone then a turn into Yellowstone National Park. We had already seen Hayden Valley, the Lake area, the East Entrance, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Today, we head to the geyser basin and to Old Faithful. Today is Friday, the 4th of July, 2014. I can’t think of a busier time for Yellowstone Park.
It didn’t take us long to run into traffic. A curve in the road let us see about a mile of tail lights. When we got to the end of them, we saw a buffalo. Not a herd of buffalo. One. Eating grass. A park ranger was waving cars through and I think he saw me laughing at all the people and yelled to me as I drove by “Welcome to Yellowstone!” with a big grin and a twinkle in his eye. One hairy, stinky buffalo stopped cars for a mile.
Luckily, that congestion in the park passed and we didn’t hardly see any traffic the rest of the day. We turned south in the park and headed to the geysers.
We traveled the road South from Madison Junction toward Old Faithful. There are several interesting sites along the way. We stopped at Firehole Canyon Drive, enjoyed lunch at a picnic site on the Firehole River, and enjoyed the Lower Geyser Basin, Midway Geyser Basin, and Black Sand Basin before seeing Old Faithful.
We were very lucky to get a room in the Old Faithful Inn. This is an amazing building, and truly an American Icon. The main lodge is over 100 years old and as you enter, you feel like you are stepping back in time.
After checking in, we dropped our bags off and headed strait toward Old Faithful. It is pretty amazing to see it in person. Afterward, walked a short trail near Old Faithful that had several geothermal events to enjoy.
We ate dinner in the Old Faithful Inn dining room. Everybody gathered in the main lobby of the inn to listen to live fiddle and piano music. 
