Idaho ... and on to Yellowstone

On Wednesday we drove to Sandpoint, ID to see a former colleague of Carsten.  Pat and Debbie Meyers have retired to this beautiful area...

We met Pat at Trestle Creek for a nature talk regarding spawning Kokanee Salmon.  These salmon, silver with a blue stripe for most of their life, make their way up this creek to spawn.  They change color to this vibrant "salmon" color before depositing their eggs and dying.  The talk, given by the head of the Idaho Fish & Game for this region was super interesting!

Pat and Debbie were gracious hosts, along with their 3 dogs ....

On Thursday we had a long drive to West Yellowstone, MT, where we currently are staying in a little log cabin ... in town.  We had a tough time finding the cabin because google maps insisted that it was in Indiana ?!?!?

Today was day 1 at Yellowstone National Park - we were giddy!  First thing was bison along the road.... then quickly we saw a herd of Elk ... it was so much to take in .. and we were not even started.




We are entering at the west entrance so turned South to get to the Old Faithful part of the park.  Along the way, there are several places to pull in and have a walk around to see geysers and pools, etc.

Lower Geyser Basin

opal pool:
turquoise pool
notice the elk tracks in the foreground

Middle Geyser Basin
Grand Prismatic Spring:

Upper Geyser Basin (with Old Faithful)

Chromatic and Beauty Pools:

Castle Geyser:
Crested Geyser:
Daisey geyser:
Morning Glory Pool:

So, after Old Faithful erupted we moved on to the gift shop for ICE CREAM!  The company has been making ice cream since 1927 ... and they have gotten very good at it.  Sheri had Moose Tracks (vanilla with all sort of chocolate and nuts, while Carsten got 1 scoop of Coffee and 1 of Coconut ( to assure that Sheri would not mooch ...b/c she does not like either ...).

Next stop is Black Sand Basin:



Last stop was Biscuit Basin:
black diamond pool:
Jewel geyser erupting
thermophiles running out of pools - the colors are amazing!
Sapphire Pool - Sheri's favorite!

Yellowstone was amazing - there is so much to see in this park.  We have barely scratched the surface!  We are excited to have 2 more days to explore!  The weather looks a bit dicey tomorrow so we will adjust our day to what is possible.

Take care,

Sheri & Carsten







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