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Yellowstone National Park – Part Two: Old Faithful

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Our time in Yellowstone National Park would not be complete without considerable time focused on the thermal features of the park. The Yellowstone region has more than 10,000 geothermal features, including 300 geysers. The most notable geyser is, of course, Old Faithful. Thousands flock to the stadium-like area around the world’s most famous geyser and about every 75-90 minutes she erupts without fail. Even though it wasn’t the first time for either of us, we had to go and pay our respects.

The challenge of properly seeing Old Faithful is navigating the crowds. As mentioned in our last post, the crush of people, combined with road construction, makes a trip to Old Faithful a trying experience in the middle of the day. We opted for a very early morning visit and enjoyed every minute.

Old Faithful is just one of many geysers, springs, and other thermal features that populate the Upper Geyser Basin. We walked the boardwalks behind Old Faithful amidst the morning fog and were treated to incredible perspectives on the varied features.

The coolest thing we saw was at the end of our walk through the basin. We came upon Riverside Geyser where a nice man named Jim told us that the geyser was about to erupt. There were only five of us standing in the viewing area when, just as Jim (a veteran geyser expert) said, the geyser blew. Riverside Geyser currently erupts about every two hours, but that varies. When it erupts, it goes for an average of 22 minutes.

Hot water spewed out the top of the rock formation that sits aside the Firehole River. Massive amounts of steam billowed towards the sky, and then we were sprinkled with a mist that was cool and refreshing. It almost didn’t seem real. Steve got a good video to show you what we saw. Wow…just wow!

Our viewing of Old Faithful’s eruption about 30 minutes later was a little anti-climactic, to say the least. Still, we enjoyed the ritual with Mia and Bob by our side.

As you can imagine, we took A LOT of photos on this excursion. Below are a few more just for fun…

An early morning excursion like this must be followed by some retail therapy in one of the park’s many gift shops, followed by lunch along another peaceful stream.

There’s much more to report from Yellowstone. Stay tuned!

Bryce Canyon National Park

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Our nation has some incredible national parks and Bryce Canyon ranks up there as one of the most unique and naturally beautiful that we’ve visited so far. Punctuated by hoodoos, massive, beautifully-colored stone columns sculpted from thousands of years of erosion, Bryce in places reminded us of the man-madeTerra Cotta warriors we saw in China. Lined up one after the other, the fluted walls can be seen from the roadside but are best explored on foot. We did both.

First we drove the length of the park using this cool app called Just Ahead, which provides GPS-guided audio narration that plays automatically as you travel down the road. We’ve used this tool before, and it really helps provide an introduction to the park and its history.

From Rainbow Point in the south we worked our way back north stopping at ten overlooks along the way. Each viewpoint was different from the last. One included a massive stone arch; another provided sweeping views all the way to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. The drive was a great way to get oriented to the park, and it helped us plan the next two days.

The next morning we were in the park by 6:00 a.m. in an attempt to avoid the heat and the crowds. We succeeded and were rewarded with a spectacular sunrise and cooler weather.

The premier hike in Bryce Canyon National Park is the Queens Garden/Navajo Loop Trail. The three mile walk took us through massive hoodoo “forests,” stone arches, and snaking switchbacks which provided incredible views of the landscape.

The hike culminates in the climb up Wall Street, a steep, narrow canyon which has been fortified with stones to support the trail. It’s a popular spot in the park, so we were glad to get in and out relatively early.

Even though it was very dry we found water at Mossy Cave. The short hike to small waterfall featured a large cave that is covered with icicles in the winter. No ice this time of year, however. In fact, many people were playing in the water. We skipped that.

One of the most appealing features in Bryce Canyon is the five mile shared-use path that runs from outside the park to Inspiration Point. We loaded up the bikes, hitched up the dogs, and pedaled the path through the forest and into the park to see the sights from another perspective.

Along the way we could see the canyon rim, the lodge, and other park features. The dogs really seemed to enjoy it. Mia, in fact, slept most of the way!

Bryce Canyon National Park is one not to miss, even though it’s not massive. You can probably do the park in a day or two, but don’t rush. The incredible views change with the time of day and with the weather. That’s why we hope to return during a different season to see it again.

2021 Tampa RV Supershow

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RV shows and rallys are where RVers learn about the latest new products, swap stories about time on the road, and connect with others who share the passion for road living. The Florida RV Supershow, held every January in Tampa, FL is the big daddy of all the shows, so it’s been on our agenda since we bought our first rig. The 2021 show was probably not as big and crazy as in the past due to the pandemic, but we still enjoyed the experience.

For five days we had full access to the Florida State Fairgrounds and the over 1500 RVs and hundreds of related-vendors. There was roving entertainment, fair food, and lots of opportunities to learn, shop, and gawk.

We toured big, million dollar Class As, truck campers, lots of fifth wheels, and even camper vans. No, we didn’t buy a new RV, though we looked at plenty!

We did, however, buy a bunch of stuff to make our lives on the road a little easier.  Here are a few of our fun finds, including a sign for the rig, a new rug, a garden flag stand, a new Garmin 890 RV GPS, and a new travel journal. Not pictured is a new Blackstone griddle which is still in the box, but sure to produce some great dinners in our future.

We also participated in our first RV rally during the show as part of Lippert Scouts. Lippert is a major RV and marine component company, and we are part of their Lippert Scouts ambassador group. Along with about 20 other Scouts, we camped on the grounds of the show, had easy in and out access for the entire time, and met a bunch of other fun, like-minded people. 

Being part of the group really enhanced our experience and we loved the nightly campfires. Around the fire we shared ideas for living on the road, campgrounds to visit, national parks to explore, and strategies for navigating in a big rig. We now have a group of friends from around the country who completely understand our current way of life.

The show and rally required masks inside and outside, had hand sanitizer available everywhere, and limited the number of people inside each rig at a time. We were careful to follow all the protocols and are feeling great. We know there is a risk to traveling during the pandemic and the risk is increased by attending events like this. However, we are determined to stay active and continue our explorations, with as much care as possible. So far, so good.

And the verdict on RV shows and rallys? We’re already planning to attend next year’s show, hopefully again as part of Lippert Scouts.