Day 8, Aug. 9, 2013

Day 8, Aug. 9, 2013

Today, was our first full day to explore Yellowstone National Park. In the morning, we got up slightly late and missed the 8:30 hike. 爸爸 wasn't thrilled about it and he proposed that we skip breakfasts in the future if we got up too late. Probably because we were all hungry that morning, we rejected the proposal.

Breakfast wasn't that great due to the bad food. We had breakfast at the grill by the General Store. Not only was the food over priced, it was also worse than any other breakfast I had. The eggs I got were undercooked and there were only three small pieces of bacon. The "apple cider" my sister got was really just hot water with a packet of apple mix. Both 爸爸 and 妹妹 tried it and thought it was bad. We left the grill not that enthusiastic about the day but we knew it would be entertaining. I got in the car and started playing PvZ and Tiny Tower on the iPod.

After breakfast, we went to West Thumb for a ranger guided tour of it. The ranger was late due to getting a bloody nose. Finally after waiting for twenty minutes, she arrived and introduced herself as Ranger Bobbie. As we walked around the boardwalk, she explained how Yellowstone is always changing and because of that, they need to build new boardwalks often. She pointed out the new boardwalk still under construction and the fumaroles opening up under the current boardwalk. In the middle of the tour, we were able to see a family of otters. This was a rare sight in the summer and even Bobbie took a picture of it. During the tour, we also saw many different pools and springs of different colors. According to Bobbie, the bluer the pool, the hotter it was. Apparently, the other colored organisms couldn't survive in such hot temperatures. She also told us about the attempt to build a hotel and gas station in the area. It would have been a good plan except the ground was always changing and the place got too hot. At the end of the attempt, someone measured the temperature of the gas in the gas station and it was one degree from exploding. We saw a few more fumaroles and then we reached the end of our tour. Despite our late start, we still finished the tour ahead of schedule. Bobbie pointed out a few places that we should visit and we set out for Old Faithful.

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the Old Faithful Learning Center. There was a direct view of the geyser from there but it wasn't due to erupt for another hour so I read about how Yellowstone was a volcano and when it had erupted in the past. After reading this, I concluded that Yellowstone was already overdue to erupt and would erupt very soon. At this point, 妹妹，妈妈，and I went in the auditorium to watch a video about Yellowstone. It turned out to be one that I had already watched partially but I didn't mind because I liked watching videos. As soon as we finished watching, we went outside and saw that Old Faithful was going to erupt soon. After waiting for fifteen minutes, the geyser finally decided to erupt. It was very quite though and I wasn't sure if it was actually erupting. The water actually erupted to a very high point but we were too far away to hear the noise it made when it landed on the ground. Once the geyser stopped being faithful to us, we went to a grill next to the geyser for lunch. While we were waiting in line, 妈妈 sees Ava, Lara, and Margo standing in line before us. We shout out to them and Lara waves back but Ava is in a bad mood and just glances at us. When it is our turn to order, I get a pulled pork sandwich, 爸爸 gets a double cheeseburger, 龚悦 gets a single bison burger, 妹妹 wastes money and gets an overpriced veggie sandwich, and 妈妈 gets a fish sandwich. The pickup system there is a bit strange because they called both numbers 67 and 70 before we got our number which was 68. 妹妹，妈妈，and I wait outside by a table while 爸爸 and 龚悦 wait inside for the food. 妈妈 talks with Lara who also happens to be out there but 妹妹 doesn't talk to Ava which I found very strange. If one of my friends was there, I would definitely talk with them. Soon, 爸爸 and 龚悦 come out with lunch and we have lunch. When we are almost done, the Buchanans come over to say "bye" since they are already done with their lunch. Once we finish ours, we set out to see some springs and geysers around Old Faithful by foot. Halfway through, we see Old Faithful erupt for a second time. One of the things we saw around Old Faithful was the Chinese Spring (so named probably because it looks like the shape of China's territory). When we got tired of walking, we started driving to the Fountain Paint Pots. Along the way, we stopped multiple times and we even saw the Great Fountain Geyser erupt. Finally after we stopped many times, we got to the mud pots.

The Fountain Paint Pots have been my favorite thing since I got to Yellowstone. I couldn't wait to see them! When we got to the mud pots we observed it for only a little bit because we saw another geyser going off. We rushed to it and watched in awe for more than half an hour. The best thing about this geyser was that we were very close to it so it was loud and sometimes water even splashed on us. When the geyser was finally dying down, we left and returned to the car but not before I got a splinter on my toe. 爸爸 was able to take most of it out which was good enough because it stopped hurting. Hopefully, it doesn't get infected. From there on, I just mostly played the iPod. I think we went through a canyon and I even got out a few times but I wasn't really paying attention. 妈妈 and 龚悦 climbed down a cliff but the rest of us didn't because we thought it was too "dangerous" or we just wanted to get back to the car to play PvZ. Then we went to Canyon Village for gasoline and dinner and that is where I write this from. So far, this has been terrific day and I hope that it will continue to be so for the rest of the day and in the days to come.

by Even Awesomer Julian


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