August 30, 2008 - Yellowstone Day 1

Note: Most photos for this day have not yet been posted.

Complained about the lack of Internet access
As I checked out of the hotel, the clerk asked me how I liked the stay. I made it very clear that I was displeased about the lack of Internet service. He apologized said he had heard there was an outage that evening. I told him the night clerk said it worked sometimes and not others. He said he was new and wasn't aware of everything there.

I took pictures of the rental car damage. Since I purchased the liability damage waiver, it didn't really matter. But, I wanted photos for the trip album.

Another Rental Car
I drove to the rental agency. I noticed something new on the rental agreement. If they had to clean anything up, there would be a $150 charge. I found this a bit strange considering the fact that I paid for the liability damage waiver. Afterall, if a crack in the windshield or a deer smashing most of the driver's side of the vehicle would not incur extra charges, why would cleaning up the vehicle cost extra? The clerk specifically mentioned "excess bug juice" on the exterior. I signed it nonetheless because I needed a new car. I figured I'd argue it out with the office in my home area if necessary.

They were able to provide me with a nice car as a replacement. At first I looked at it and assumed I would never get all my junk in there. However, as I started moving things, it turned out that much more fit in the trunk than before. A lot more fit in the back seat. Therefore, the passenger front seat did not need to be occupied with so much junk.

After at least an hour, I finally got everything moved. I asked the clerk if the car I was turning in would incur an extra fee. There were lots of dead bugs on the exterior. I could have just taken it for a car wash. She told me that what I turned in was expected. They just made people sign the waiver in case there was food strewn all over the car, or a deer left on the car. I mentioned that I had hit a deer with my first car when I was in Montana. A customer said "How can you NOT hit a deer in Montana?" She then said she was in western South Dakota and hit a deer. That really didn't make me feel good because I would be in western SD in a few days.

Trying to find the Texas Roadhouse
After driving away, I decided I wanted to go to the Texas Roadhouse for lunch. This is a chain of restaurants which, despite the name, are great. They have the most delicious rolls which are different from anything I've ever tasted before. The hotel clerk from last night told me there was one in Idaho Falls on Hitt Road. But, there was no Internet access and no phone book. So, I couldn't verify it. I plugged in Hitt Road on the GPS. This was a total waste of time because there was no Texas Roadhouse restaurant on that road.

Idaho Falls and my National Parks Annual Pass
I went back the way I came and visited the actual Idaho Falls. See photos. I then had a sub for lunch. I was about to drive on to Rexburg, ID to see the next hotel. Then it hit me that I left my National Parks Annual Pass on the dashboard of the car with the damage. The agency closed at noon and it was 12:05pm. I quickly drove back there. I noticed the closed sign on the door. My former vehicle was no longer in the parking lot. I called the airport rental office to see if they had any idea what happened to damaged vehicles at that agency. They said they had no idea and that I could leave a message on the agency's machine to see if they could mail the card to me on Monday. Well, on Monday September 1st, that card was no good. I noticed someone open the door to the agency. The clerks were still there and provided me with the key to my old vehicle. I was able to get my pass. Since I was going to Yellowstone that day, with a $25 entrance fee, that was very helpful.

Rigby, ID
As I drove on to Rexburg, I noticed a sign for Rigby, ID. It said that Rigby was the birthplace of television. I was puzzled by this for a few minutes because I knew the first television station was in Schenectady, NY. I didn't really think about the set itself. Unfortunately, I did not have time to visit the museum. In further reading, it appears that electronic television was invented by a young man named Philo Taylor Farnsworth in Rigby. Electro-mechanical television had been developed previously by others. But Farnsworth made the first working electronic television.


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Finding a Church
A couple of days before, I had called every church nearby any of the entrances to Yellowstone National Park to find out their Mass schedule. The ONLY church I could not get ahold of was in Rexburg, ID. And of course, that would be where I was staying. I drove to the church, expecting to find the Mass times listed on the outside. When I got there, I found nothing on the outside. There was a building indicating it was a "Christian Center." It lisated someone's name as a pastor along with a phone number. When I called the number, I got a husband and wife's personal answering machine. I figured this was a Protestant church that may have purchased a Catholic Church's building. When I walked up to the building, it was locked but there was a sign which read St. Patrick's Catholic Church. I looked in the window and it did indeed look like a small Catholic Church inside. But, I had no idea whether it was actually in operation.

However, I planned to go to Yellowstone via the West Yellowstone, MT entrance. I knew the Mass schedule for that church. They would have Mass on Saturday evening at 7:30pm and again at 10:30am on Sunday. So, I decided to just go there.

Drive to West Yellowstone, MT
It was an eighty mile drive to Yellowstone. By this point, with the saturation effect in full swing, the ride was really boring. I decided that although Yellowstone is the nation's premiere national park, I probably would only spend a few hours there. The drive was so long and boring. I was also just really getting tired of sightseeing.


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City of West Yellowstone
West Yellowstone is a tourist area. It's in the narrow strip of Montana between Idaho and Wyoming. There are souvenir shops, gas stations, restaurants, hotels, etc. I found the church just so I knew exactly where it was. It was a small church but there was plenty of room for parking along the street.

Entering Yellowstone National Park
The Yellowstone entrance was only about two miles away. After entering, I realized that I was finally there. Yellowstone is the premiere national park and a "must see" on my list of places to visit. But, at first my reaction was "This is just a bunch of nice forests." I pulled over and examined the map. Thankfully, Old Faithful was not far from this entrance.

Entering Wyoming
After a short distance, I officially entered Wyoming for the first time on my trip. Most of Yellowstone National Park is within Wyoming though a little bit is in Montana and Idaho.

Buffalo
As I drove along, I noticed a bunch of people stopped along the road, taking pictures. At first I didn't notice anything other than a river and forest. Then I realized the attraction...a buffalo was in the water. The bison took his time. Then he slowly walked up the mountain, pausing quite a bit. I took lots of photos just like the onlookers.

Elk
As I drove on further, I noticed another congested area. This time, an elk was in the river, drinking. After he got done, he slowly stepped out and just stood there. He slowly turned his head this way and that, basically as if he was providing profile photo opportunities. He actually reminded me of one of those lighted wire mesh reindeer that people place on their lawns around Christmas time. The elk continued to do this for quite some time. Other elk were in the woods eating.

I drove along further and noticed an off-white substance along the ground. Having been to the Salt Lake City area, I assumed this was like the salt on the ground there. However, this was a bit different. In the distance, I noticed a mound with a gas substance coming out of it. A short while later, I saw a sign indicating the "Fountain Paint Pots" were coming up.

Fountain Paint Pots
This was my first unique Yellowstone experiences. Yes, the bison and elk were interesting, particularly the way they practically posed for photos, but those animals are not unique to Yellowstone. I was kind of amazed at this area, however. The thermal areas had dead trees and water running around various areas. There were boardwalks so people could walk over these areas without disturbing them. Some of the areas where water streamed out of the pools or geysers were bright orange or red with algae.

There were various pools with light blue water. They were very deep. Some were bubbling in a particular spot with hot water.

The actual Fountain Paint Pot was an area with light brown mud that was bubbling, This was like something out of a cartoon. I'll be honest....at first it seemed almost fake. I didn't realize something like this would occur naturally.

The next area was a set of holes in the earth which had steam coming out. There was a constant sound coming out. I really thought this was fake because it seemed like something dramatized in a movie. But, in actuality, movies have been inspired by naturally occuring but rare geothermal features like this.

As I went along further, there were more geysers. I think I got sprayed with one of them when it erupted.

Driving to Old Faithful
Old Faithful was still ten or twenty miles away. There were a number of other geyser areas along the way. However, I figured I'd come back to them after seeing Old Faithful. Old Faithful was not on the main roads. You had to take an exit ramp and then drive for quite a bit. Suddenly, you are in a big tourist area with restaurants, souvenir shops, a gas station, and even a post office. This is all inside a national park.

Old Faithful
I didn't have dinner yet, so I had a quick pizza and some lousy ice cream. I then went on to Old Faithful. Basically, it's a mound with a boardwalk around it. There are other geysers in the area. The next eruption was expected at 6:54 pm. It was about 5:50pm at that point. I didn't have time to wait around. The sky was overcast so photo opportunities were not that great. I decided to go back and see some of the other geothermal areas that I had missed previously.

Biscuit Basin
I stopped at the first area available. This was called Biscuit Basin. It was a collection of geothermal pools with a creek running by. The parking lot even had a vent below it. There were swahorses over a particular area which had steam coming out of it. The pools had very nice colors. Some were very deep. There were some geysers which erupted quite frequently. I got sprayed a couple of times.

I was running out of time because I wanted to go to the 7:30pm Mass. I skipped the remaining geyser areas so I could get back to West Yellowstone, MT. Unfortunately, the traffic slowed down so much that it was bumper to bumper with lots of stops. I assumed it was congestion because an animal decided to pose for photos. But, it turns out it was because someone's car broke down. By the time we got moving, it was 7:50pm. I was very frustrated because I didn't know what time the Mass would be at the church in Rexburg, or if there even was a church in Rexburg. I started to think about coming all the way back here and dreading the notion of having to drive the same eighty miles again, particularly when I had to drive eighty miles to get back to the hotel.

Drive back to the hotel
Of course, driving back there were deer signs along the way. I drove slower than the speed limit in order to avoid another possible deer incident.

Once I got back to the hotel, they were able to give me the Catholic Mass schedule. The church I visited in Rexburg (less than half a mile from the hotel) was indeed an operating Catholic Church. However, the Mass was at 1pm. I didn't have time to hang out in Rexburg that long. I decided to go back to Yellowstone the next day and just go to Mass at the church in West Yellowstone at 10:30am. I was heading east anyway and this was along my route.

Internet via an electrical socket
Internet access was not available. The hotel staff said that sometimes it doesn't work at the far end of the building. This hotel advertised wireless Internet access and didn't say it was only in some rooms. But, unlike the hotel from the day before, they did have a solution. They provided a booster. The booster plugged into an ordinary electric socket and delivered Internet access. I had read about this years ago but this is the first time I had seen it in real life.