yellowstone national park.

Last week we had a little reunion-type trip with Jon's family in Yellowstone National Park.  This was my first visit to Yellowstone, and truthfully I might not have ever seen it if it hadn't been the chosen destination for this trip by Jon's parents.  It was probably the first national park I ever learned about in grade school, but maybe the last one I would have picked to visit -- I guess geysers and enormous throngs of visitors aren't really my jam.

But the trip turned out just fine, and I even found a part of the park that I well and truly loved.  Yay for unexpected surprises and geological wonders that border on miraculous!

To start: here's our video!

A quick side note about this video, or more accurately, the song that plays in this video.  While we were driving through the park, we just happened to be listening to this song, which is actually and genuinely titled "Yellowstone," and as soon as I saw that I was like, well I guess I know the song that will go in the video!  And honestly, I was happy to have it fall in my lap that way, the songs are always the hardest parts of these home videos for me.


Anyway, the park!  We really only covered the west side of the park, to the bottom at Old Faithful, and then to the top at Mammoth Hot Springs.  Day one was Old Faithful.

And maybe this is blasphemous to say, or maybe I should have gotten a closer viewing spot of the geyser, but my favorite part about Old Faithful was... the inn.

What a crazily and beautifully ornate building.  It was a lot of fun to explore and admire in between geyser watchings.

On our second day in the park we drove up to Mammoth Hot Springs, which was the area I most wanted to visit, and GUYS.  It did not disappoint.  (Prepare for photo dump.)

Could you have ever conceived of such a place in your own mind?  If aliens ever decide to wipe us out and settle Earth for their own, they will come to this place and feel right at home.

^^This was by far my favorite shot, and I am very excited to get it printed and hung up (somewhere) in our house.  Every once in a while when I'm out taking photos in places, I take a shot that I cannot wait to go home and process, and this was one of those.

*in Stefon voice* It had everything!
The color contrast!
The storm clouds!
That fore-, middle-, and background combo!
Just the right amount of steam to dreamify the picture!
That gnarly old tree!

My concluding thoughts: if I didn't ever visit Yellowstone again, I wouldn't be heartbroken.  However!  I will totally recommend the Mammoth Hot Springs terraces to anyone and everyone who tells me that they are planning on visiting Yellowstone.  Bring your space suit.