Yellowstone 2012 – A New View

I actually went to Yellowstone this year.  I had not really planned on it earlier  (since Alan had a car, he drove himself this time), but my sister expressed a desire to go and so our first big road trip together was born.   It was just the two of us, and we headed out on Saturday, September 15^th.  In all of the trips that I made with Alan, I always got near Yellowstone, but since the park was not yet open, I never went in the park when he was with me.  Another difference with this trip was that I didn’t blog as I went (for a variety of reasons, one of which was that internet at the locations in which we stayed was either very slow or non-existent).  Since I can’t remember where some of my pictures were even taken, the posts from this adventure will be done by subject matter instead of chronologically.

When we first arrived in the Old Faithful area, we stopped at this building and called Alan to tell him that we were there:

There was just one problem – we were at “the general store(?)” while he was actually at this building (the Old Faithful Inn):

He walked down the little trail to meet us, and after some hugging and more hugging we all decided to go see the Old Faithful Inn (he works in the gift shop that is located inside the building).  We wanted to see this historic hotel, and I got that good-looking guy to strike a little pose for me as we entered:

Looking around the lobby, it sure is a substantial building!

We had already assumed that without reservations there would be no way that we could stay there, but believe it or not we were able to secure a room for just that one night.  When we looked out our window, we could see the people gathering to wait for the Old Faithful geyser to make its appearance:

It was so fun to get to just sit and watch Old Faithful right outside our window!

Alan was working the next day, so my sister and I decided to do a little souvenir shopping in his store.  Here’s what it looks like when you first walk in (I ended up snagging some of the bear pajamas for my mother):

I couldn’t resist getting a picture of him in action…

…Although I get the feeling he really didn’t want me to….

Since we were only able to secure a room at Old Faithful for one night, my sister and I drove to the town of West Yellowstone, and I’m pretty sure we got the last room in town.  We returned to Old Faithful to meet Alan for dinner, and I finally got to see where he lives!  The dorms are tucked away, hidden from the view of Yellowstone visitors, and I’m pretty sure that I drove right by it without ever even knowing.  Alan says that he was lucky to get one of the nicest dorms this year:

When we entered, we knew that we were going to have to behave ourselves:

Here’s the view looking down the hall:

Here’s a picture of Alan’s roommate’s side of the room (Alan’s was not quite as presentable):

There are a couple of these shelving units so that they have a little storage:

Mandy had send a little care package for Alan, and although he liked the gloves and Jolly Rancher candies that she sent, his favorite thing of all was a little album filled with pictures of his number one girl, Paisley:

Alan was off work the next day, so he was able to meet us for some more shopping, eating, and walking in West Yellowstone:

It was so, so sad when the time came for me to leave him, but I must say that it was exciting and quite comforting to finally have the chance to see for myself just how happy he is, and just how much Yellowstone is home for him.  Yes, the view in Yellowstone is wonderful…