Summer in Yellowstone - Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley

Other posts in this series:
Summer In Yellowstone - Getting There
Summer in Yellowstone - Sunday Morning
Summer in Yellowstone - Sunday afternoon & Canyons lodging
Summer in Yellowstone - Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley
Summer in Yellowstone - The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Summer in Yellowstone - The Last Days

We spent the next two days driving all around the park and continued to be amazed at the diversity of the terrain.  We stopped by Roaring Mountain, so named for the large number of fumaroles which make it appear to be steaming:

Roaring Mountain

Then we stopped by Sheepeater Cliff, which was named for the Shoshones who made wide use of bighorn sheep:

Sheepeater Cliff

We continued up to the Mammoth Hot Springs Visitors Center where we stopped to tour the small museum.  There were some elk who wandered right into the grassy area across from the visitors center and just made themselves at home:

Elk at Mammoth Hot Springs Village

We took the drive out into the Lamar Valley, which we had been told had the best wildlife viewing opportunities.  We had been told correctly as we saw pronghorn, mountain goats and an osprey on her nest.  We even saw a bear very far away in the distance.  I like how the park had multiple parking lots off the side of the road where wildlife was common.  I was also appreciative of the aficionados who brought their massive telescopes out so that we could get a closer look at these animals.

Pronghorn in the Lamar Valley

We'd planned to stop for lunch at the Roosevelt Lodge but unfortunately it had not yet opened for the season.  Word to wise: when in the park in early/late season check to be sure the restaurants are open.  We were a long way from anywhere that served food and it was several hours (due to road construction) before we were able to eat.

The road from the Tower-Roosevelt area back to Canyon Village takes you over Mt. Washburn, the highest point in the park at just over 10,000 feet.  It somehow seemed fitting that we'd drive through a small storm of snow flurries.  It was mostly sunny but still those flurries gave it their best shot!

We decided to have a light lunch and then an early dinner.  We toured the museum portion of the Canyon Village Visitors Center and went to a ranger chat that evening.  For several years C has thought about perhaps becoming a ranger once she retires from her current job.  But we learned that a lot of these rangers have advanced degrees in geology or other earth sciences.  Not that she wouldn't be accepted - and I have no doubt she'd be terrific at it - but there are some very, very smart people guiding the public around these parks.

Summer in Yellowstone - Sunday Afternoon & Canyons Lodging

Other posts in this series:
Summer In Yellowstone - Getting There
Summer in Yellowstone - Sunday Morning
Summer in Yellowstone - Sunday Afternoon & Canyons Lodging
Summer in Yellowstone - Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley
Summer in Yellowstone - The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Summer in Yellowstone - The Last Days

After lunch we continued taking our time along the main road of the park.  Yellowstone is so massive and since I'd only visited in the winter on previous trips, I hadn't fully understood how large it is.  In terms of square miles, it would be our 3rd smallest state, larger than both Rhode Island and Delaware!

Much of the park is within the rim of a super-volcano and the area is unique in its thermo-geological properties.  Parts of the park are heavily forested while others are home to hot springs and still others are rocky and barren.

We stopped at the Midway Geyser Basin which features a number of smaller geysers and pools as well as the multi-colored Grand Prismatic Spring (GPS).  Unfortunately the GPS is best photographed from above as it's difficult to get the correct angle at ground level to capture the colors.  And, of course, it's not like you can wade into the middle of it!

Grand Prismatic Spring

We took pictures as best we could but they really don't do the area justice.  We hopped back in the car and slowly made our way to the Canyon base area, where our lodging was located.  There was a bit of a line at the check-in.  Being so early in the season, a number of the staff members were still new at their jobs and thing were moving a little slowly.  But we weren't in any hurry so it didn't matter too much to us.

We were staying in a couple of the frontier cabins which are located behind the Canyon Lodge and dining hall.  The parking lot was paved and nice but as soon as the road took a turn behind the lodge, all that changed.  Numerous potholes and much of the asphalt had been replaced by gravel.  Anyone driving a fancy sports car would bottom out repeatedly and even our rented sedan scraped bottom a few times.

Our cabin was pretty much as advertised.  No TV, no Wi-Fi, small, but very clean.  The bathroom featured a shower and toilet, with the sink out in the room.  These cabins were arranged as two sets of duplexes, with a common deck area.  At least in our cabin there was a connecting door to the other half of the duplex.  As our room had two beds I suspect that the other room had a queen for couples to stay in and that families might choose to rent both halves of the duplex and open up the connecting door.  The two beds we had seemed to be larger than twins but I'm not sure if they were actually full-sized.  It would have been very difficult to sleep two adults in one of them.

The décor is dated but clean.  The blankets were warm and the heat worked just fine.  We were glad for that because our first night we went to bed with the windows open.  It had been a gorgeous day though we knew a rainstorm was coming and the temps would drop.  Well, drop they certainly did.  C got up about 5 am to shut the windows as we were each shivering under our blankets. There's no air conditioning in the cabins but it's easy to forget you're at 7700 feet above sea level and nights cool off quickly.  There are no hair dryers provided and I was glad I'd called ahead to check on that.  There are only a couple of accessible plugs in the room, one over the mirror over the sink and another over by the desk.  Seems a little odd there's not one between the two beds for an alarm clock but considering how old these buildings are, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

We had dinner each night at the Canyon Lodge, either in the cafeteria or the dining room.  The first night in the dining room it took forever to get our meal, mostly because both the waiters and the kitchen staff were all still learning their jobs.  After that we ate dinner at the cafeteria.  But mornings we ate in the dining room and things seemed to flow a little better.

All in all we thought the Canyon area was a great place for a base of operations.  The main roads in Yellowstone are somewhat like a figure-8, with Canyon being right at the center point.  We were able to essentially take day trips on a piece of the loop and end up back where we started the day.  I'd first thought of staying in West Yellowstone but I'm glad C convinced me to stay in the park. While we didn't earn any frequent guest points (the horror!) it meant a whole lot less driving each day since it's a good 45 minutes from West Yellowstone into the center of the park.

Oh and how can I forget the bison?  When we saw our first bison as we were driving from Teton to Old Faithful, C got very excited and of course we had to get photos.  I was a little amused because, having been to the park before, I knew what was in store for us the rest of the week.  They're still amazing creatures, with those massive heads.  I'd only seen them with their full winter coats which makes them look even larger.  This time of year they were shedding and they'd rub against trees trying to slough off those winter coats.  Sometimes I felt sorry for the young trees as those bison were rubbing with such force.  Still, a bison walking down the road is not something you see every day and even though we soon got a bit tired of them, they are certainly something to behold.

Summer in Yellowstone - Sunday Morning

Other posts in this series:
Summer In Yellowstone - Getting There
Summer in Yellowstone - Sunday Morning
Summer in Yellowstone - Sunday Afternoon & Canyons Lodging
Summer in Yellowstone - Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley
Summer in Yellowstone - The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Summer in Yellowstone - The Last Days

It wasn't until we pulled out the map to plot out the last few miles into the park that we realized we be driving through Grand Teton National Park too.  When planning this trip, if I'd known then what I know now, I'd have planned for more time here!

While Yellowstone is better know, larger and has more varied terrain, Grand Teton must have some of the most beautiful mountain scenery anywhere in the world. After passing through the park entrance, we hadn't gone very far before cars started slowing down and at first we couldn't figure out why.  But pretty soon we saw it and pulled over ourselves.  Mt. Moran reflected in Jackson Lake was the sight that welcomed us to the park and it's one of my favorite photos I took on this whole trip.

Mt. Moran and Lake Jackson

We continued the slow drive towards Yellowstone, stopping whenever we wished.  Though it was June, there was still plenty of snow on the ground in shady areas of the forest.  We stopped at Kepler Cascades on the Firehole River.  We saw several beautiful waterfalls on this trip though each was different.  With the fallen trees in the area, it made this one seem rugged and tough.


Kepler Cascades

Soon enough we made it to the Old Faithful Visitor's Center - and in a lucky twist, the geyser was scheduled to blast in about ten minutes.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day with temperatures in the low 70s and a pretty blue sky.  Can't ask for more than that when trying to photograph this beauty!  I've visited on overcast days in the winter and you can't even distinguish the fountain from the sky in photos so I was glad we got such a pretty day.  This was C's first visit to the park and I was happy things were going our way.

Old Faithful

Since it was lunchtime we decided to check out the dining room at the Old Faithful Inn.  The inn has always been closed when I'd visited before in the winter, so it was nice to be able to try a different dining option.  Inside, the inn has a massive stone chimney that's 85 feet tall and weighs 500 tons.  It has an very large clock on one side and the whole rustic interior of the lodge is very appropriate to the location.

Chimney in the Old Faithful Inn

Our meals were excellent and, of course, we had to check out the gift shop at the visitor's center.  Nobody's trip to a national park is complete without a postcard, a magnet and a calendar, right?

Summer In Yellowstone - Getting There

Other posts in this series:
Summer In Yellowstone - Getting There
Summer in Yellowstone - Sunday Morning
Summer in Yellowstone - Sunday Afternoon & Canyons Lodging
Summer in Yellowstone - Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley
Summer in Yellowstone - The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Summer in Yellowstone - The Last Days

My friend C and I decided we wanted to spend a few days exploring the beauty of Yellowstone, the world's first national park.  Luckily we decided well in advance because when we started looking in the fall of 2012 for lodging in the summer of 2013, there were already some days sold out!

We'd originally thought about going in May, wanting to try to go while school was in session but we found out the park doesn't actually open until the week before Memorial Day.  Wanting to avoid holiday traffic we decided to head west on Saturday, June 1st.  It would have been nice to have flown directly into Jackson Hole, WY, just steps from the park but it was cost-prohibitive.  Instead we decided to fly into Salt Lake City and make the 6-hour drive.  The benefit was that we could each have a non-stop flight and on the way back we'd get to touch base with a couple of friends who live in the area.

The flights were uneventful and reasonably on time so we grabbed our rental car and set out for the town of Jackson.  Our phone's GPS systems directed us one way on the trip up and another way on the trip back.  In both cases we were out in the middle of nowhere quite a lot and were glad for the long summer daylight hours.

We arrived in Jackson in the late afternoon and enjoyed our time walking around the picturesque town square.  We didn't find anywhere there that we were just dying to try out for dinner so we hopped in the car and headed up to the ski resort.

We found the world-famous Mangy Moose was open so we stopped in and had a lovely dinner out on the patio.  Even though I know Jackson Hole is one of the steeper resorts, seeing the slopes without snow made them look crazy-difficult.  I've only skied here once, years ago, and I'd like to come back to see if I can do a better job on the slopes now than I could before.

After dinner it was back to town for another walk-around and we found a local ice cream shop.  Since it was summer vacation, ice cream is practically a requirement, right?  Of course we had some!
After a quick stop at the grocery for some snack items for the week it was back to the hotel.  After getting up early for our flights and driving most of the afternoon, it was nice to finally relax.

The antlers are collected each year from the elk preserve just outside of town. 
There are arches like this at all four corners of the park on the town square.

Escape to Eire - Saturday

Other parts of this series:
Escape to Eire - the beginning
Escape to Eire - Monday
Escape to Eire - Tuesday
Escape to Eire - Wednesday
Escape to Eire - Thursday  
Escape to Eire - Friday
Escape to Eire - Saturday (this post)

Our last day in Ireland provided one last thrill for us.  We'd determined we needed at least an hour to reach the airport via the motorway, just to ensure we had plenty of time.  We skipped out on the pricey breakfast at the hotel to be sure we got on the road early.

The staff at the front desk offered us a directions sheet but we declined as we had our trusty GPS.  Once in the car we told the GPS to take us home and we set off.  The first curious thing was that the GPS did not have us turn on the motorway.  We thought perhaps it was trying to save us from the one toll section there. We appreciated that.

We then wandered through Dublin, passing by some familiar sites.  At one point we noticed we were nearing the airport so we stopped at the next petrol station to fill up.  Finally the GPS indicated just one more turn before we reached "home".  Unfortunately "home" was not the rental car return, but someone's home near the airport!

We asked the GPS to return us to the rental car facility.  It complied and we noticed signs pointing the same way we were traveling.  Only...the GPS and the signs pointed us to the outlot where the rental car return USED to be - not its current location.

A bit panicked now we had the GPS point us to the airport. That worked and then we looked for the rental car return.  There were two parking decks (we remembered we'd picked up the car inside one) and blindly managed to select the correct location.  We then had to wait what seemed to be forever to return the car as people renting out cars received their instructions from the staff.

We finally made our way to the ticket counter and were so glad we'd flown business class. We barely had to wait in line and then we were able to head to the lounge.  We managed to scoop up the last bit of breakfast food, which was just enough to tide us over until we could be served on the plane.

We loved being able to clear US Customs in Ireland so when the plane touched down in Chicago we just went down to retrieve our luggage as if we were a domestic flight.

Our escape to (and from!) Erin was complete.  We had a marvelous time and can't wait to return.

Escape to Eire - Friday

Other parts of this series:
Escape to Eire - the beginning
Escape to Eire - Monday
Escape to Eire - Tuesday
Escape to Eire - Wednesday
Escape to Eire - Thursday  
Escape to Eire - Friday (this post)
Escape to Eire - Saturday


As I mentioned in the first post of this series, the whole reason C, D and I even met is that we are fans of the 1980s TV show Remington Steele.  In the final season of that series Mr. Steele inherits an Irish Castle. Ashford Castle was used for the exterior shots of Mr. Steele's castle (also called Ashford) though the interiors were filmed elsewhere.

We'd thought Ashford was out of our reach when we looked at the giant map of Ireland we'd bought in Dublin.  But what we finally realized when plotting courses on the GPS was that although the physical map of Ireland is as big as many physical maps of the US, it's only about 3 hours on the motorway to get from its west coast back to Dublin.  A bit giddy at the thought, and with nothing left to see in Doolin, we got up early and got on the road north to Ashford.

There was some road construction but we made it to Ashford in about two hours.  It's now a hotel so we had to buy tickets which allowed us to roam the grounds and garden. After taking photos from all kinds of different angles, we asked the doorman if it would be possible to go in the hotel.  We were thrilled to learn that was not an issue.  After all, how could we peruse the gift shop if we weren't allowed inside?



Ashford Castle from Loch Corrib

We dutifully bought our souvenirs and decided we had time for a pot of tea. It was very relaxing to sip our tea while looking out at the grounds and Loch Corrib.  We also managed to take home the wrap for the teapot's handle which prevents the person pouring from burning their fingers.  As it has the Ashford Crest it made a unique (and cheap) souvenir.

Then it was time to drive back to the Dublin area for our final night in the country. Fortunately most of the drive was on the motorway and we arrived around 5 pm at our hotel just outside of town, the Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt (now part of Marriott's Autograph Collection).  We may never stay in a hotel this nice again.

For some reason we were upgraded to a room with a (huge) patio.  We think the bellman enjoyed our enthusiasm as we were obviously not accustomed to such niceties. He placed our bags in the walk-in closet.  It was massive, with five doors on each side for us to store our clothes.  We kinda felt bad we weren't even going to bother to unpack since we'd only be there for one night.

In the bathroom was a huge soaking tub, a separate shower with rainforest showerhead and separate toilet stall. The double vanity had a large mirror over it with a TV embedded in it.  We were thrilled to see we'd each have a king bed.  Those twin beds get smaller each day!  On the nightstand between the beds was a touchpad that controlled the lights, curtain, thermostat and do-not-disturb sign on the door.



Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt

We toured the grounds a bit, needing to inspect the giant chess set up close and in person.  Unfortunately the door we exited locked behind us.  We walked to the side of the hotel intending to go back to the front entrance but were blocked by a gate.  We walked to the other side of the hotel and found a back entrance through the pub.  Since we were there we decided to go ahead and have dinner, which was quite tasty.

A bit later we went back downstairs to enjoy dessert at the main (aka expensive) restaurant, Gordon Ramsey at Powerscourt.  C enjoyed several raspberry desserts while I had an ice cream sampler.

Then it was time to go enjoy the traditional Irish music in the pub.  The two gents were quite good at the singing & playing part of the program though we had a bit of trouble understanding them when they spoke.  We were able to sing along with the crowd to Sweet Molly Malone, that traditional Irish favorite, as well as Friends in Low Places and hum along with the Love Theme from The Godfather.

It was great fun but we knew we had a flight to catch the next day and we were really excited to try out those giant, fluffy beds!

Escape to Eire - Thursday

Other parts of this series:
Escape to Eire - the beginning
Escape to Eire - Monday
Escape to Eire - Tuesday
Escape to Eire - Wednesday
Escape to Eire - Thursday (this post)
Escape to Eire - Friday
Escape to Eire - Saturday

Once again we woke to gentle rain but it was time to get on the road.  We left Tralee and drove north, following the GPS directions.  We were a bit surprised when it instructed us to get on the ferry, but after consulting the map we agreed it was not only the most direct route but would save us having to drive through Shannon.  It was quite cool on deck as the wind was blowing very steadily, so we mostly stayed in the car and read our books.  We'd been so tired each evening we'd barely opened them.

After exiting the ferry we passed a true links-style golf course, so different from most of the courses here in the US.  It was fascinating to see all the terrain features that almost made it seem like a giant mini-golf course.  While we would have liked photos, it was still raining a bit (not enough to keep the golfers away) and there was really nowhere to park roadside so we continued the drive to the Cliffs of Moher.

There was a bit of fog along the shore when we arrived, so we spent a bit of time in the visitor center first.  We liked the way it was embedded in the hill so that it didn't detract from the natural beauty of the area.  After a bit of time the wind died down and much of the fog cleared so we spent a good half hour walking back & forth along the paths, trying to find the best angles to photograph.  We'd love to go back some day and see the cliffs from the water.

Our final B&B was in a little town called Doolin.  It's so small the GPS didn't even recognize it!  We learned it was a seasonal town...and October is not the season. The good thing is that once we got to the main intersection there were signs pointing to all the B&Bs and ours was very close.  We were able to leave our car there and walk the two blocks to the main shopping/business district.  That's a bit of a glamorous title for a strip with a hotel, a gift shop, the tourist information center, a fancier (but closed) restaurant and a pub.  Of course there was a pub.  We'd heard there was another pub in town but it wasn't in walking distance and we never found it.  No matter, we had a pretty tasty lunch there.

We checked out the tourist info center and decided we'd go to a nearby national park for the afternoon.  The Burren is named after the rocky, grass-covered hills found in the area.  The main one here was basically a small mountain.  It had a couple of attractions, a Birds of Prey Center and a giant cave.

We'd missed the last show at the Bird center but were told to wait until the keeper got all those birds settled and he'd show us around.  It turned out to work in our favor as we got to stand in the small show arena while Jamie, the keeper, trained a small Harris Hawk named Juan to catch food from a slingshot.  Juan would still get lazy from time to time and not catch the food, so Jamie would grab it off the ground before Juan could get back to it and wouldn't be rewarded for his laziness.  The cool part was that after awhile both C and I got to slip on the leather gauntlet and let Juan perch on our arm!  Wouldn't have gotten to do that if we'd been in time for the show.

Then we drove further up the mountain to Ailwee Cave.  The cave is at least 1 km deep though only half of that is open to the public.  It continues to be explored but there are features like 6m drops that may prevent more from ever being opened.  But it was interesting to see the things that had been discovered in its depths.

We got a little lost going back to Doolin in the dark but eventually found our way.  We really like the rooms at our B&B but the wi-fi was terrible.  Doolin was so small that we really didn't have anything left to do there the next morning but after consulting and re-checking our maps, we realized that we had time to do something we'd talked about, but didn't think we'd have time to do.