Day 14

Yellowstone is brutal when it’s cold, and I end up having another night of half-frozen sleep. Still, I’m well-rested by the time the sun up. It’s a good thing, too, because Emily is deadset on completing the second half of our Yellowstone tour… even if she doesn’t understand everything that our National Parks of the West guidebook is telling us to do.

“What exactly IS the Norris Geyser Basin?” I ask after we’ve packed up the tent, loaded the car, and read over the guidebook’s suggestions.

Emily gives me an I-don’t-care shrug. “Who knows?”

We have heard a great deal about our first stop, though: Old Faithful. We reach the famed geyser and wait 90 minutes for it to erupt. When it does, it’s a bit predictable and anticlimactic. Still, we go through the motions. Watch the geyser smoke. Watch the geyser erupt. See the water propel from the hole. Ooooh. Ahhhh.

We grab lunch from the Old Faithful Inn, and it’s much tastier than yesterday’s meal. Afterward, we check out the Kepler Falls and drive several miles downstream before the urge to play in the water – which is much calmer by now – convinces us to pull over. I teach Emily to skip rocks and am suddenly reminded of that romantic episode of Salute Your Shorts. Anyone else remember that one?

We end up skipping the Norris Geyser Basin. We’ve smelled enough sulfur these past two days to last a lifetime, so driving to our next destination seems like the best thing to do. Next up: MONTANA.

We choose to stay in Butte, where I get bad vibes from the combination of cowboy hats, urban depression, and bad restaurants. After asking the local Chinese place to make us something with tofu, we retreat to the local Super 8 and rediscover the joys of showering.

- Andrew