(Read the intro post for background on this trip)

We spent our third day of the trip in Yellowstone National Park. This was Andrew’s (24) first time at Yellowstone, and my first time in in maybe 40 years. We entered through the north entrance at 6:45am to beat the crowds. We hit the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Grand Prismatic Spring, and the Old Faithful area plus a few other stops when we saw something cool. Of course, the park is stunning. I didn’t remember how diverse and other-worldly the different parts of the park are – gorgeous waterfalls and canyons, alien-like steam wafting out randomly, colorful geothermal pools, and of course, wildlife like buffalo wandering around. We mostly had the park to ourselves early on, but the traffic picked up over the course of the day. We had to wait for parking at Grand Prismatic and circle a bit for parking at Old Faithful, but we managed to avoid any big traffic jams (or buffalo jams!) At Old Faithful, we hiked up to Observatory Point for a different view of the geyser than usual.

Yellowstone Falls

Old Faithful from Observation Point

Andrew blowing off steam…

We planned to stay in a lodge just outside the east entrance, but there was some mix-up with our reservations. Fortunately, they helped us find a room at the nearby Shoshone Lodge, which turned out to be a great place (and probably an upgrade). Dinner at the lodge was really good. Andrew’s “Bear Bite Burger” was a western-style burger topped with cheddar cheese, onion rings, and a spicy house-made huckleberry barbecue sauce. (The photo I took of the burger was terrible, and Andrew was too impatient to dig in for me to get a better one.) I had fried chicken for a change of pace. Both were excellent. Andrew described them as made with love. The meat was really good quality and tasted good, and the barbecue sauce was exceptional – spicy, sweet, tangy all in one.

We hung out around a campfire with some of the other guests for quite a while; some of the staff joined us later. It turns out, most of them are summer staff who found the job (and previous years’ jobs) on coolworks.com, which I had never heard of.) The other guests were interesting and from all around the country. It was a very enjoyable evening. The cabins at the lodge were basic but comfortable. The food and service are really what made it special. Andrew wants to go back.

Shoshone Lodge cabins (ours was the first)