Back to Yellowstone - Day 2
Our second day in Yellowstone started with about a 1hour 45 minute drive from Bozeman, MT to the West Gate of Yellowstone. It was a very easy drive and quite pretty. If you are looking to stay a little closer to the gate, there are several hotels in West Yellowstone, MT that are a very short drive to the gate itself.Our plan was to spend the day in the southern part of Yellowstone. This is an exciting part of the park since it is where the most famous of all Geysers...Old Faithful...is found. Before we got to Old Faithful though, we had several stops to make and some pretty amazing sights to see! We turned on our Gypsy Guide to Yellowstone once again and headed on our way.
Lower Geyser Basin
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Our first stop of the day was at the Lower Geyser Basin. This is an area that encompasses almost 12 square miles and has many thermal features that you can view. The
Great Fountain Geyser is the most famous of the geysers in this area. It is one of the Grand Geysers that is predictable. It erupts every 8-12 hours and the eruption lasts 45-60 minutes and averages a height of 100 feet. There are several other geysers in the area as well as some pools and paint pots. You never know when you might see a geyser erupt in the distance.
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| Great Fountain Geyser Sputtering |
Here is a guide to the Lower Geyser Basin http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/lowergeyser.htm
Midway Geyser Basin
The Midway Geyser Basin is a very popular area. There are two are two large thermal features in this fairly small area. Redyard Kipling immortalized this area by referring to it as "Hell's Half Acre". The two features you will want to see are:
Excelsior Geyser
This Geyser was once the largest Geyser in the world. It's last major eruption was in the 1800's and today is just a very large thermal spring. It is beautiful to see and you can just imagine how it would have looked when it was active.
Grand Prismatic Spring
The Grand Prismatic Spring is what everyone goes to the Midway Basin to see. Expect a crowd! It is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone and the third largest in the world. The colors of this hot spring are amazing. They are so vivid and it is an absolutely gorgeous sight to see. This is a must see in Yellowstone. You may see photos of this beautiful spring from above....there is a small trail up a nearby hill that you can take if you want to get that shot. It was a little too adventurous for us but there were people who were taking the hike.
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| Saphire Pool |
Here is a guide to the Midway Geyser Basin: http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/midway.htm
Upper Geyser Basin
The upper geyser basin is what most people think of when they think of Yellowstone National Park. This is the area where the park's most famous geyser - Old Faithful - is located. The Upper Geyser Basin is only 2 square miles but contains 1/4 of the entire world's geysers. There is a boardwalk area that you can walk around and see many of the geysers and thermal features in this area. Wear your walking shoes and plan on spending several hours in this area. Here are some of my personal favorites in this area:
Old Faithful
Old Faithful is by far the most famous of all the geyser in Yellowstone National Park. It was named because of its very predictable eruptions. Eruptions occur every 30-120 minutes and last from 1.5 - 5 minutes. There are signs nearby the geyser showing when the next eruption is expected. There is a seating area around the geyser and the seats do fill up so be sure to plan to get there early or plan on standing.
Tip: If you want to get photos of the eruption (and who doesn't), be sure to stand with your back to the wind. If you are facing the wind, the "smoke" from the eruption will obscure your view.
Old Faithful Inn
Old Faithful Inn was built in 1903-04 and is a beautiful historical Inn right next to Old Faithful. If you are able to stay there, it is an experience. Rooms are older, there is no air conditioning or television and prices are high but it is fun to say that you have stayed in this historical inn. If you can't stay, please make it a point to walk through the hotel on your way to or from the geyser basin. It is so beautiful inside, that it is definitely a must see. There is a restaurant, gift shop, snack bar and lounge inside the hotel lobby. There are also daily tours offered if you would like to learn more about this historical building.Village Area
There is also a small "village" around the Inn and Geyser Area. There are small restaurants and a post office and Visitor's Center. This particular day we chose the Geyser Grille to get a bite to eat before heading over to the Geyser itself. The food was just ok but it was a quick place to grab a bite and get out in time to make it to the next eruption.
Beyond Old Faithful
Continuing our trek south in the park, our next stop was at Grant Village for a quick stock up on snacks for the rest of the day. From there we headed toward the South Entrance but lucky for us our Gypsy Guide came through one last time and instructed us to make a quick stop at Lewis Falls. This was a beautiful waterfall that was a short walk from the parking area. Definitely take the time to walk over and enjoy!
Grand Teton National Park
As you drive out of the South Entrance you will run into Grand Teton National Park. While it gets less publicity than it's very large northern neighbor, Grand Teton is one of my favorite parks. It is totally different than Yellowstone and just full of stunning beauty. Unfortunately, this day brought all the smoke from the western wildfires directly into Grand Teton. In fact the smoke was so heavy that you couldn't even see the mountains. If you have visited this park, you will know how thick that smoke must have been!
So....we adjusted our plans slightly and decided to just drive through to our stop in Jackson, Wyoming. We decided that it was worth giving Grand Teton a pass and try it again the next day.
Homewood Suites Jackson
Our stop for the night was at the Homewood Suites Jackson. After the Homewood Suites experience in Bozeman the evening before, we were a little concerned but found this stay to be very nice. We were upgraded to the Aspen Suite (Room 319) upon checking in. The room certainly did not disappoint. It had a view of one of the butte's from the very large window. There was a fireplace and rocking chair in the living room area to make it even more cozy. There was a whirlpool tub in the bathroom and separate bedroom area. This was a very spacious suite. 
The only problem that we had was that it was difficult to locate the parking for this hotel. It is located in Downtown Jackson and parking is somewhat at a premium. The covered area in front of the hotel where you can park to check in is very small and narrow. There is parking behind the building but the lot is small and spaces are tight. I would recommend checking in early to ensure you get a decent spot.
You are within walking distance to the Historic District from the hotel. It is about 0.4 miles away and takes about 8 minutes to walk.
Jackson Historic District
If you have never been to Jackson this is a must see. If you have been to Jackson this is still a must see! It just never gets old. This area is a step back into the Old West with shops and restaurants and bars all around. It comes complete with stagecoach rides around the square. Elk horn arches enhancing each of the corners of the square. An old fashioned gunfight is the highlight of the evening. You just have to walk around and take in the feel of this town!
Silver Dollar Saloon
Ok....this is where the evening got a little weird. Looking back on it it was really a comedy of errors! At the time, it was pretty annoying but hey...things happen...I just had no idea so many things could happen!
The restaurant opened at 5:00 PM for dinner. My husband and I figured we would grab and early dinner and head back to the hotel to enjoy our nice suite. We were seated quickly. (That was about the end of the good things I can say!) We looked at our menus and sat and sat and sat... Many servers walked past us. There were only 2 other tables with customers in the dining room. We continued to sit and sit and sit. Finally about 10-15 minutes had gone by without any acknowledgment. It was like we were invisible. We finally flagged down a manager and asked if there was someone who could wait on us. He informed us that the server for our section had called off for the evening but he would be happy to take our order and get another server to take care of us. Odd that they didn't realize that while we were sitting there but ok....we had ordered at least.
Our drinks, bread and salads came out after a short time. We both had the wedge salad and they were quite good. This is when things went south quickly again.
Our server came out to refill our water glasses and when he got to mine he filled it and then dropped it on the table (it slipped out of his hand). The glass shattered all over...sending glass and water all over the table and onto the bench (half booth) next to me. He tried to clean it up from the table but the water leaked through the crack of the tables (2 tables pushed together) and went all over the shorts that I was wearing. It was water....could have been worse! Small shards of glass remained on the seat but the majority of it was cleaned up. He didn't offer to move us or anything but we just decided to go with the flow at this point.
Our food came out shortly after that. It was served by an assistant. I have a feeling the server was a little bit embarrassed from the major water works that had just occurred. Well...the assistant goes to put the plate in front of me and the baked potato rolls off the plate and across the table! I retrieved it and put it back on my plate. No acknowledgement...little weird. Then...he went to serve my husband's meal (he had ordered small potatoes...yes they were round). The small potatoes rolled off the plate and onto the floor and landed on my foot! He apologized and said he would bring more. You guessed it....the other potatoes never arrived.
Finally our original server came back with a new glass of water and set it on the handle of the bread board. It almost spilled again but I was able to catch it this time! The final straw was when he refilled my husband's drink in my glass! No apologies for our strange experience. We were happy to just escape without further problems at this point!!!
Perhaps it was just a really out of the ordinary experience but I have to say for the price of the meal ($100 + tip for two of us) , it was really rather disappointing. The food was ok...nothing great but the service certainly was lacking. Given the amount of other restaurants in the area, I would have a hard time recommending this particular establishment. If I were back in town, I would try another one!
End of the Day
After a stop at the local patisserie on the way back to the hotel, we decided to call it a day and enjoy our dessert in our luxurious room!
