Yellowstone report: Bison, bison and more bison

I'm posting this today rather than yesterday due to a lack of internet service at my hotel last night. And, no, I don't have a smartphone...not that I would be able to blog easily with that.

Yesterday, my sister and I had a WONDERFUL second day at Yellowstone National Park. We had sunny skies, and although most of the day was chilly...we're talking temps in the 30s...we just bundled up.  It didn't take long for us to see our first bison of the day.

As you can see, there was a sprinkling of snow overnight, which made for a kind of fall wonderland. It was also easier to see the bison.  We decided to drive down to the Old Faithful geyser basin and from there, work our way back to a couple other geyser basins.  No sooner did we leave the first herd of bison that we came across another. They were MUCH closer to the road and we got great pics!

The road to Herd #2 took us to the Grand Fountain Geyser, which I hadn't seen in previous visits to the park. Even though it wasn't spewing anything, the mineral formations were still impressive.

When we got to the Old Faithful area, we just walked around and took in Nature's beauty. Words cannot always describe what is seen, so I'll let you just enjoy the visuals.

After going through a couple of days of rain, snow and cloudy weather, the sunshine was nice and made it so much easier to take great pics. Before leaving the Old Faithful area, we ate our lunch in the car. Some local denizens noticed us eating and hoped for a handout. Did...not...happen! Sorry Mr. Raven.

After lunch, we drove up the road to Biscuit Basin and strolled the boardwalks there. Continuing on after that, we ran into a woolley roadblock. More bison!

Midway Geyser Basin normally offers one of the most impressive sights at Yellowstone...Grand Prismatic Spring. But, due to the cold temps, it was all but obscured by steam. So, we traveled north to our last destination of the day, Lower Geyser Basin. Here, we enjoyed the always interesting Fountain Paint Pots, as well as Red Spouter and one of the park's grand geysers, Great Fountain Geyser.

Before leaving Yellowstone, we stopped along with some other cars to view a lone male elk. He didn't seem concerned with the gawkers. Perhaps when rutting season starts, he'll be able to win over the females.

Only two more days...my road trip is winding down. Today, I had a lot of driving ahead of me, but I also had a very important stopover in Missoula. Stay tuned...