Hastings Reunion in Ashton, ID - Part 3 (Yellowstone)

On Tuesday we went to Yellowstone to explore the southern loop.  We made good time and stopped first at some hot springs.  The air was still chilly at that time of the morning.  Perhaps that's why a female tourist was making this fashion statement:

Jim has a compulsion to touch hot, possibly acidic, and possibly death-inducing spring water.  Truth be told, I share the compulsion.  (It would help people like us a lot if the park would post signs describing the water temperatures.)  But I also have an abiding fear of breaking rules and getting caught.  Jim does not share that phobia.  Hence this episode, which caused much disputation among us:

Somehow the powers that be were quickly notified, and a very angry ranger came looking for the water-toucher.  By that time, though, we were on our way out.  We looked nonchalant and escaped undetected.  

Ann Marie tried to take a picture of Clarice and Tristan, but TKan was uncooperative:

Jim and Shandie tried to encourage the baby girls' friendship.  They weren't particularly interested, despite their similar taste in sweaters.

TKan had a son-of-Michael-Jackson moment, dangling over the balcony:

Betsy worked on her walking:

Next we stopped at a waterfall and took lots of pictures of one another. 

Tucker helped feed Ever:

Tristan entertained about a dozen Asian tourists by jumping off this rock a bunch of times.  They were all gathered around taking pictures of him instead of the scenery.



Speaking of Asian tourists, Bags snapped a photo of this ensemble, which we greatly admired:



Clarice gave Everdeen a shoulder ride:



The park was extremely crowded.  Parking lots were crazy.  We were trying to caravan - Rob and Anna's mobile in front; then Pod, Bags, Jim, Baby, and my car; then Mamo and the Deetrixes in a third car.  Only Rob had been given a map when we entered the park.  We had no plan in the event of separation.  So after the waterfall stop, Rob's car headed out.  Pod pulled out and followed Rob, thinking Deetrix was behind us.  Rob turned off at the next point of interest (Artists' Paintpots).  At that point, just before turning off, Pod realized that Deetrix's car was not, in fact, behind us.  There were other cars behind us, though, so we couldn't stop.  None of us thought quickly enough about jumping out of the car and standing on the side of the road by the turnoff to wave Deetrix down.  By the time Jim suggested that, we figured the Deetrixes had probably already gone by.  We had no cell service and no idea how to find them.  I thought (correctly) that they would just drive and drive, not knowing where we were stopping next and assuming they'd see us on the side of the road waiting for them at some point.  Devastated, but at a complete loss as to how to remedy the situation, we took a spin around Artists' Paintpots. 

Lucy was sore afraid:

The nonlost minus Anna, the photographer:

After Artists' Paintpots, we loaded back in the cars and went by the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. 

We walked down to the brink of Lower Yellowstone Falls (I think).  I don't remember the lookout points.

 

 Rob and Lu displaying their father/daughter love:

We saw lots of buffalo, including a herd or two right up on the road.

This guy put on a show, rolling up a dust storm:

We also saw elk:

When we stopped to see the buffalo herd on the side of the road, we got cell service and received a call from Mamo saying they were at Old Faithful and had cell service there.  At one point, we (the nonlost) had discussed going straight to Old Faithful.  We figured the lost car had definitely heard of Old Faithful so may head straight there.  We decided against that plan of action because we weren't confident that the lost car would go and stay or that we'd be able to find them even if we were there at the same time.  Turns out the lost car had spent a couple hours driving back and forth between the point of separation and the big fork in the road that totally stumped them.  They spent some time waiting at the last place we were together, figuring that the rule is to stay where you got lost.  (Why didn't we think of that?)  Then they did, in fact, go to Old Faithful.  Once we got the call from Mamo, we raced there, only to have spotty cell coverage, additional miscommunications, and a difficult time finding one another even there. 

Here I am with Old Faithful going off behind me, still trying to get ahold of Mamo and crew:



They geyser went off a couple times while we were in the vicinity.

At long last, the whole family was reunited.  We decided to make one last stop at Midway Geyser Basin.  I got maps from the Old Faithful Visitor Center for our car and Dee and Shandie's car.  We made sure we all knew where Midway Geyser Basin was.  Then Pod and we Kringels went to Midway Geyser Basin.  The rest of the crew was nowhere to be found.  We were very confused but learned from the earlier disaster that we had to just enjoy the spot and do our own thing.  Midway Geyser Basin was really cool.

As we were finishing the loop, we saw Rob hurrying toward us.  Apparently he and Anna had realized after we left Old Faithful that the place they really wanted to go (they remembered it from a previous trip) was Biscuit Geyser, not Midway Geyser Basin.  So the other two cars went there, and Mamo stood out on the road for about an hour waiting for us to pass.  Unfortunately, however, we were ahead of the others, not behind as we had all assumed.  So we got to see an extra place, which was nice, but Mamo's sad day continued. 

Rob led us back to Biscuit Geyser, where we joined the others for some wading.

 
Tristan had the photo of the day.  Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition:

Even naturals have outtakes:

Tucker was the only person that evening who lived by my motto of swimming in every body of water.  He swam and swam:

See his tiny head?

 
It was nice and warm on our feet where the steaming water ran down into the river.

Jim got out near this little root/dirt cave structure, where he saw a snake:


Lucy and I were glad for the warning and took another route.

On our way out of the park, we saw some wildlife grazing and bathing by the road.  It's so easy to spot animals in Yellowstone.  You're tipped off by a hundred cars stopped in or right next to the road. 



Since it was Shandie's birthday and we learned in the family trivia game that her favorite food is pasta, we found an Italian place (mostly pizza) in West Yellowstone for dinner.  Chava* was a zombie by that point, but she did well and enjoyed beating on the table before our pizza arrived.

We thought this note posted by the bathroom was pretty funny:



*"Miss Chavez" became "Chava," "Chava the Hut," etc.  Our theme song during this trip was "Everybody, Chava the Hut" or "Everybody, Chava tonight," originally inspired, we think, by the Go-Go's song "We Got the Beat."