Idaho Falls, Idaho to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Yesterday it was 'Twelve to Go', now it is down to 'Ten to Go'.

We left Idaho Falls at about 9.30am. The temperature had dropped significantly to 5 degrees centigrade, with a cold wind and some light flurries of snow. We drove back into the centre of the town to look at some of the buildings in the historic district.

The Museum of Idaho and, in front of us, Bob's Landcruiser and Kenny's GMC Suburban.

Idaho Falls antique mall.

I liked this art deco cinema with very typical lettering of the Thirties.

Then we headed north for the 100 mile journey to Yellowstone National Park. We have seen this sign  on several occasions and I think it makes much more sense than the UK's equivalent, 'Think Bike, Think Biker'!

The weather became colder and very overcast and, at one point when we stopped at a gas station, there was quite heavy snow. About twenty miles from the park, we entered Montana, number twelve on our list of states to visit.

We then drove into The Targhee National Forest with the snow falling and visibility getting progressively worse.

We then reached West Yellowstone and the west park entrance. Shortly after entering the park, we crossed into Wyoming. So now there are just ten states left to visit and we will have been to all fifty. Unfortunately, as we were inside the park where the park authorities do not allow the normal large state sign, we missed the small Wyoming sign and didn't take a photo. As we will be crossing back and forth between Wyoming and Montana on several occasions, I will rectify this omission in one of the next postings.

The weather went from light snow to bright and clear. It was a real mixed bag. We reached a wide open grassland valley and saw our first buffalo some way off.

There were also elk, with their distinctive white rear. Further on, we came across this buffalo walking down the road towards us. There are over 8,000 in the park.

 

 

The drive through the park to our hotel was about forty miles. Shortly before we reached the hotel, we saw these geysers and hot springs at Lower Geyser Basin. The colours of the bacteria that grow in the hot water are in stark contrast to the grey mud that bubbles like something in a witches' cauldron!

 

 

 

 

We arrived at our hotel, Snow Lodge, in time to have a snack and then watch Old Faithful erupt. It blows about every 80 minutes and was reasonably impressive, though not as spectacular as those we had seen many years ago in Iceland. I'll post more photos of Old Faithful after we watch it erupt in the morning before our drive to tomorrow night's stop in Mammoth Hot Springs.

We returned to the hotel as it was starting to snow and, within a few minutes, the ground was covered in a white blanket. We will eat at the hotel this evening and then tomorrow we drive across the park to the northern exit where our hotel, the Mammoth Hot Springs, is located.