We (meaning Grandma Scott, Grandpa Scott, Rebekah and I) drove to Yellowstone that morning, made it through the construction-congested drive to the parking lot and set off for Lone Star Geyser. It's 2.5 miles in on a flat road (it was actually paved a while ago, so they allow bikes as well as hikers on it), so my hips didn't cry as much on this hike as on the last one.
Andrea (at 29.5 weeks, hence the beer gut) and Rebekah on the way to the geyser.
The geyser erupts every 3ish hours, so we had to wait around for a while before it would go off again. We took time to eat lunch, and Rebekah did plenty of exploring.
Rebekah performing "experiments" with the geyser run-off. She borrowed empty Ziploc bags from us, gathered the water in them, and dumped them on various plants to see if the water would kill them.
When it finally went off, we got to enjoy 15 minutes of eruption and a fair amount of chilly geyser rain when the wind changed directions and blew it on us.
Rebekah playing in the mist.
Bekah booked it on the way out (she says the root beer in her hand gave her the energy she needed), but we stopped a few places along the way to identify some wildflowers (fireweed, aster) and learn some new ones (Lewis monkey flower, harebells).
Andrea pointing out wildflowers to Rebekah.
After a quick visit to Old Faithful to see it and Beehive geyser erupt, to buy a Lone Star Geyser patch at the gift shop and to get some ice cream, we drove back out and headed home.
We saw this guy between Madison Junction and West Yellowstone. At first, I thought it was a wolf. Turns out it was just a really big coyote.
Ana can't wait until she gets to join the annual Yellowstone hike (apparently 6 years old is the magical age for hiking in our family) next year. To see more pictures, click here and scroll down.