Western Adventure #40: Old Faithful and Grant

Day 40–9/11/2024

This is a day that will live in infamy in our country. It was a tragic day back in 2001. It’s hard to believe that it was 23 years ago. But life must go on. So let's get on with the adventure!! 

We decided to head down to Old Faithful today. At the Madison Junction, we turned right, heading south to Old Faithful. On our way, we took the scenic road to Fire Hole Falls. That was impressive, and it wasn’t crowded yet. We saw two osprey feeding in a nest practically level with the road. We took lots of pictures because, really, how often does one get to watch osprey feed up close and personal?

                                                                Fire Hole Falls

                                                            Two osprey feeding

Other things we saw along the way was Lower Geyser Basin, and we saw a bison in the parking lot at Old Faithful Inn.

                                                          Lower Geyser Basin

At Old Faithful Inn, we took a tour of the inn. It was most interesting. We learned all about its construction and its history. We got to see one of the rooms. We saw the glass panels that separate the bar from the dining room. Our tour guide was really knowledgeable, and we enjoyed learning about the inn. This was another thing we'd never done before.

           Notice the asymmetry of the dormer windows on the front of Old Faithful Inn.

We met everyone there except the Buskirks. The others planned to have lunch in the dining room. 

L-R. David Roth, Gloria Roth, Linda Craft, David Craft. The lady with her back to Gloria was our tour guide for the inn. Here she is starting another tour.

We decided to keep going down to Grant. On our way there we stopped at Kepler Cascades which were impressive as usual.

We got to Grant Village, and it was so cold. We were delighted to see a fire in the fireplace. It felt so good. 

We stamped our passport book, browsed the shop, talked to a ranger about the osprey, and made a friend who claimed kin to Jimmy Bedford, a former Master Distiller at Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, TN where I am from. He has sadly passed away, but I knew this man probably didn’t know Jimmy personally because he didn’t seem to know that Jimmy had passed away. I hated to burst his bubble, so I didn’t. He didn’t even seem to know Alice at all. When I mentioned her, I got a blank look. People are peculiar sometimes. But I suppose it's no different than my claim of kin to Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn. I don't know them personally, so if I did start talking to someone who had more than a passing knowledge of them, I would probably seem peculiar, as well.

I think this is the day Vince started feeling bad. We headed back to the camper after this to eat and plan tomorrow’s trip to Fishing Bridge.