Old Faithful!

Happy 19th Anniversary to Kory and I! We decided it would be poetic and appropriate to spend it at “Old Faithful.” Neither of us have ever been married this long, so “faithful” is a good way to describe it. It was a hot and almost miserable day in the park today though, but it could also be an appropriate description of some of our married years today. The similarities ended there. I hope we have at least 19 more years together ahead of us. I took a photo of Kory standing next to the “Old Faithful Geyser” sign and I thought I might need to Photo Shop it and change the sign to say, “Old Faithful Geezer,” but he’s still a keeper.




I took some amazing photos of all the mud pots and geyser basins today so that kept me well entertained. We saw plenty of buffalo and elk, but no bears; only their tracks. I think Tobias even took over 200 photos as there were so many unusual things to see. We had blue sky and sunshine the whole day. Tonight I even got a great photo of lightening after dark. A big lightening show moved across the sky over our head’s at Joni’s house so we all huddled out on the porch and “ooohed” and “aaaahed” like it were the 4th of July. Tobias had never seen anything like it.

It took over two hours to make it to Old Faithful from Joni’s house because of all the road construction going on in the park. Plus there were all the looky-loos that had to stop in the middle of the road if any wild life were visible. One can’t be impatient when trying to get anywhere in Yellowstone National Park in the middle of summer. We ate lunch on the bench in front of Old Faithful while waiting for it to explode and I told Tobias this might be the most memorable picnic he’s ever been on. He agreed. We got out at a few of the geyser basins to see the unusual formations and watch the earth huff and puff. Tobias got sick from the sulfur smell and didn’t enjoy himself as much as he would have liked to, I think. He and Kaleb sat in the car smacking each other all day because Kaleb wouldn’t stop bugging him. Kaleb still hasn’t learned to be kind and considerate, but I think we are getting closer to the next level of socialization for him. Tobias needs to smack him a little harder I think, and he might learn a little quicker. Kaleb so needs that Big Brother influence to keep him in line. I told Tobias this will be his daily chore, helping us work out the obnoxious streak in Kaleb. He just grinned.

All-in-all it was a good day, as we spent the evening with Jim, Joni and their four kids down at their beach by the river to cool off, and Kaleb and Tobias were separated by a mandatory five foot boundary so they could cool off as well. Some days I think it might be good for Kory and I to do the same, but today wasn’t one of them.