DAY TWELVE - Yellowstone N.P.
We had breakfast at Old Faithful again, and this time we took the tour of the Yellowstone Inn. (We were delayed on the way by a herd of buffalo in the road.) It was really fascinating, especially the story of it being built in one year, which means the workers were toiling in a winter where the temperatures stayed well below zero for months. The historic rooms of the original inn are preserved and you can still stay there, if you don’t mind a tiny room and a long walk to the bathroom. More modern rooms are available in the wings that were added on. We saw the geyser go off again and Nora impressed all the other tourists by saying, “Old Faithful!”
We went back to camp where, by some miracle, it was actually warm. We got to play outside without checking the kids’ hands to see if they were too cold. Nora played with rocks, of course, and we blew some bubbles and took some walks. Had an early dinner, a leisurely bedtime for Nora, complete with a “sponge bath” with a washcloth and a pan of warm water. We played cards for a bit, then went outside and talked with our neighbors again around the fire. They have been very gracious and fun. We had a lot of laughs. It was nice having a day that was half filled with sightseeing and half filled with relaxing at camp. David went and dumped the tanks so we don’t have to do it in the morning. Michael did great, eating at about 9p.m. or so and then not again until 4:50 a.m. So if we had just gone to bed a bit earlier and woken up a little earlier, he technically would have slept through the night. We got a little overconfident about the weather, sending Nora to bed in just one layer of pajamas. We ran the furnace before we went to bed, and again at about 1 a.m. when I woke up cold. The second time was enough to drain the battery. When Michael woke up at 5, David decided it was too cold in the cabover and brought Nora into bed with us. She was actually pretty good and went back to sleep.