Chapter 4

They got to Gardiner about five in the evening and decided to find a hotel and not try to see anything in the park until the next day. They checked on their options, and while nothing was luxurious, there were plenty that were adequate for what they wanted. After all, it was just going to be a place to sleep for a couple of nights. As long as it was clean, the roof didn't leak, the doors locked, they would be fine.

So they checked in, got a couple of sandwiches from a fast food place and enjoyed the feeling of not driving.

Tim decided to surreptitiously check his email while Tony was in the bathroom. He wasn't sure if he was hoping for an answer or not.

...but whether he was or not, he didn't have one. He shrugged and decided not to check again until the trip was over. He didn't know if Delilah was deliberately not answering or if the work she was doing was genuinely taking all her time. If he kept checking, he'd just drive himself crazy with it. He'd already experienced that and had learned his lesson. He'd just focus on the trip, which is what he should do, anyway.

He nodded firmly to himself and put his phone away. They couldn't turn the phones off, just in case there was an emergency, but he could avoid getting distracted by it.

Tony came out of the bathroom.

"So...what are we seeing first?" he asked.

Tim smiled. "I thought we weren't supposed to plan."

"I give you permission to think of someplace to start," Tony said.

Tim pulled out the park map he'd got at the front desk.

"Well, we're on the north side of the park. Old Faithful is way down there; so I think we should go around up here tomorrow. Then, we can go down to Old Faithful the next day."

"What's up here, though?"

"Mammoth Hot Springs."

"Sounds like a place to go swimming. A natural jacuzzi?" Tony suggested.

"Uh...no. I don't think so. The places where the springs are, the water is apparently 170 degrees and a lot of them are dry now, just with the travertine left."

"Oh. So no swimming."

"Not for very long...and that would be a pretty unfortunate end to the trip."

Tony chuckled. "Okay. So what do we do, then?"

"Look at them, I guess. There are a whole bunch in this area. The brochure says that they change all the time, sometimes from day to day."

"Could be cool...or hot as the case may be."

Tim nodded.

"So we see how long Mammoth takes us to see and then we decide how much more we'll see before packing it in for the day."

"Sounds good," Tim said.

They lazed around the rest of the evening and then went to bed. Tim spared a moment to wonder when Tony would explain why he wanted to go on this trip, but he figured that Tony would bring it up himself when he was ready to.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony woke up early, but he didn't wake up before Tim who was already in the bathroom when he got out of bed.

It looked like they were both ready for this day to get started.

Tim was out of the bathroom in just a few minutes.

"Finally up?" he asked.

"Finally? How long have you been up?"

"Longer than you," Tim said.

"Meaning that you just barely beat me awake. In fact, your closing the door probably woke me up."

"Still longer than you. You should get going."

"Yeah. How can the park open without us there?"

Tony grabbed his clothes and hurried into the bathroom. He didn't waste any time getting ready. He was out the door and they ate a quick continental breakfast at the hotel before heading out. They drove south from Gardiner and joined the line of cars going into Yellowstone National Park. It wasn't a big line at this point. They were getting there right as the park opened, but there was only one booth. They had to wait just a little bit before paying the fee and driving in.

The first place they came to was the old rangers area, called Fort Yellowstone. They decided to stop a look around a little, but nothing really grabbed their attention. So it was back in the car and heading to the travertine springs.

The first place they stopped was actually very close to Mammoth itself. There was a long path that went over multiple levels and it looked like it would be very interesting. So Tony pulled over and they got out.

"It looks like we can park here and walk around the path or we could drive around and park at the top," Tim said, looking at the map.

"Which do you want to do?" Tony asked.

"Well, if we go to the top, then, there's a loop road and we'll be closer to it, but I don't necessarily care one way or the other."

"Okay. Let's go up there, then. I'm okay with that."

They got back in the car and headed to the loop road.

"Hey, look. There's an Alberta license plate," Tim said, pointing to the car ahead of them.

"The one behind us is from Michigan," Tony said.

Tim got an evaluating expression on his face. Then, he grabbed a pen and a piece of paper (the back of one of the maps) and started writing.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked.

"I'm going to make a list of the license plates we see. How many people come here every year? It's such a popular place."

"Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't. I'm still going to do it," Tim said with a satisfied grin.

"Well, then, you should have one more on there."

"I haven't seen another one yet."

Tony smiled. "We're in one. Add Virginia to your list."

Tim laughed and did as Tony said. They pulled into the parking lot at the top of the travertine springs. It was nearly empty, but..

"Montana! And Wyoming!" Tony said.

Tim dutifully added them to the list. Then, they got out of the car and started to walk on the boardwalk. There were mounds of what look like white dirt, a few places where steam was coming up from the ground. It was neat, but not really amazing.

As they came around on the boardwalk, Tony stopped and stared.

"Wow," he said.

Tim came up beside him.

"Wow," he echoed.

Spread out before them was a white, terraced landscape. If it had been cold, it could have been snow-covered ice or something like that. Here, it was travertine. Layer upon layer of it. A rusty orange river cut through it. It was like they'd suddenly stepped into another world.

"And you'd never heard of this place before?" Tim asked.

"No. You?"

"No."

"Wow."

They continued to walk around, stopping to take pictures. They found one place where the springs were active and the steaming hot water flowed down over terraces.

"This is amazing," Tony said.

"Yeah."

"Worth coming?"

"Of course."

They kept walking. The whole trail was about a mile up and down steps and boardwalk, but it was worth it to see all that. They took their time and actually spent about an hour walking around.

When they got back to the parking lot, it was nearly full.

"I see Idaho and Arizona and California and another ten Montanas."

"I don't need more Montanas," Tim said. "Already got Montana."

"But you've got more," Tony said.

"I'm not writing down every time I see a car license plate, Tony," Tim said. "I want to see how many different plates, not how many of the same plate I see."

"Fine, then. I see Utah and Colorado and another Wyoming."

"We'll probably see a lot of the western states," Tim said. He reached into the car and pulled out his list. He started writing down all the new plates.

"Are you really serious about this?"

Tim looked up. "Deadly serious," he said in a monotone.

Tony had one second where he was wondering at how somber Tim had become, but then, he saw the twinkle in Tim's eye and laughed.

"Of course you are. Why am I not surprised that the geek is serious about making a list?"

"I don't know. You should be very surprised," Tim said. "Now, are you up for following the loop road?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay. Then, let's go."

They got back in the car and continued around the loop. It wasn't extremely long and nothing was as amazing as the first stop, but they saw places where it was clear that the geyser activity had shifted, places where dead trees stood, surrounded by the toxic pools. Places where they couldn't help but wonder what they would have looked like when they were active.

After that excellent introduction to what they could see in Yellowstone, it was time to make a decision.

"Okay. So where do we go, now?" Tim asked. "We're here all day, but there's way too much to see in one day."

"I really want to see Old Faithful," Tony said. "Let's drive down to that and then work our way back up to here."

"That will take us almost to the other end of the park," Tim said. "And we'll be ignoring the other side of the loops."

"We can do the other side tomorrow. What do you think?"

Tim thought about it, and Tony watched with interest as he seriously considered the options. It was one of those things that he really couldn't understand but had grown to appreciate about Tim. He took things seriously, even having fun. He had fun, but it wasn't very often that he just had fun without thinking about it. He looked at the map again.

"Okay, so we go down to Old Faithful and then make our way up, and if we run out of time today, tomorrow, we go around the other side of the loops and on our way back, we can pick up anything we miss today. Then, the day after, we could drive through and go out the east entrance and go back through Cody, Wyoming."

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that," Tony said.

"Sound good?"

"Yeah. Let's do it!"

"Excellent. Drive on, Jeeves."

"Jeeves? I'm the smart butler which makes you the stupid rich guy, Wooster."

"I'm the rich guy and you're my servant?" Tim asked. "That sounds about right."

"Ha ha. Don't get any ideas, McGee."

"You gave them to me, first."

"Let's just get going. The speed limit is mostly 45 all the way through here and that doesn't even count the stupid tourists."

"Like us?" Tim suggested.

"We're tourists, but not stupid ones. I know that the animals here are wild and there are no cages. A bear starts charging us, there's no magic line he can't cross," Tony said. "I've seen way too many stories about stupid people who think that Yellowstone is some kind of special zoo with invisible bars. If I see wild animals, I'll take a picture from the safety of my car, but I'm definitely not going to get up close and personal."

"I'll remember that."

They started the drive down to Old Faithful. In terms of the miles driven, it wasn't very far, but in terms of the type of road and the amount of traffic on the road, it was much longer. It took over 90 minutes to get down to it from Mammoth. Then, the parking lot was filling up fast when they got there. It was clear that this was a popular stop. Everyone who came to Yellowstone for the first time wanted to come to see Old Faithful. It was what they'd heard of, probably more than any other part of the park.

"Well, we're definitely not the only ones here today," Tim said.

"I'll say. Hey, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Florida! Look at that. Someone drove all the way from Florida to come here."

Tim started jotting down the states.

"Oh, I see Saskatchewan and Manitoba."

"Slow down!"

"No way. There's a bunch of Idaho and Utah plates. Nevada. More Arizona. Maine! That's a long drive."

"Definitely," Tim agreed. "Okay. We need to get to the geyser if we're going to see it. No more plates until we get back."

Tony held up his hands in capitulation.

"I'm just trying to help."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that. Let's go."

They walked from the parking lot to the observation area for Old Faithful. It was already filling up with people and they still had 20 minutes before the eruption was supposed to start.

"You'd think this was one of the most popular attractions in the country or something," Tony said.

"Yeah, it had better be worth it."

"Even if it's a dud, it'll still be worth it," Tony said. "Seeing something like this is cool."

He looked over and Tim was staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Is this like Mount Rushmore?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you're excited just because of the act of seeing it."

Tony looked back at the geyser.

"Yeah. I think that's part of it. People come here, even though most of them probably never go camping or have any interest in actual wilderness, but they come here anyway to see a bunch of boiling hot water shoot up into the air."

He glanced over and Tim was now looking at all the people around them.

"You ever wonder if there's something instinctual about enjoying stuff like this in a big group?" Tim asked.

"Uh...no."

Tim laughed. "Figures. Okay, Tony. Time to document."

"You can't take my picture when there's no eruption happening," Tony protested. "Then, I'll just look stupid posing."

Tim raised a silent, yet eloquent, eyebrow.

"Don't start with me, Probie."

Tim just smiled and took his photograph anyway. Not to be outdone, Tony took Tim's photograph. Then, they each took pictures of each other at the same time.

"Camera war. Who won?" Tony asked.

"Me, if you're asking," Tim said.

"I'm not."

They waited the last few minutes and then stood in silence as the eruption began. It wasn't a dud. It was amazing. The geyser spewed water high into the air, burst upon burst as the eruption continued. It only last for a few minutes, but it was really impressive.

"Wow," Tim said. "That's not a dud. Very cool."

"No. Very hot."

"Ha ha. Very funny."

"That, too," Tony said. "Okay. Now what?"

"There's a trail here. We should walk around. There's got to be more to see."

"Sure, okay."

They started off toward the trail and crossed the Firehole River. To their surprise, there were a lot more geysers than just Old Faithful. In fact, there were about 10 different geysers and more pools they saw. Not all of them were erupting when they got there, but it was impressive nonetheless. They walked to the Grand Geyser first, but it wasn't erupting. They'd missed it and it only erupted about twice a day. Still, what they saw was amazing. On their way back, they climbed up to Observation Point, 250 feet above the Old Faithful Geyser.

"Wow," Tim said. "This is amazing. I had no idea there was so much here. I thought it was just Old Faithful. That was good enough. This is something else."

"Yeah," Tony said. He looked at Tim and smiled as he was staring out over the geysers and pools. He lifted his camera and took a picture. Tim was just staring with that expression he got sometimes. It could only be described as awe. No pretending to be disinterested.

Then, he looked out, too. This was exactly what he had hoped to get from this road trip. It was a different kind of trip. The goofy fun they'd had the last time was still great, but this was a different kind of fun, a deeper fun. He nodded to himself. This was perfect. It didn't matter that all the geysers weren't erupting. They hadn't even known these others existed. This was what Tony wanted.

"Well, are you ready to see more?" Tim asked.

"Absolutely."

"Let's go."

They went back to the car and started making their way back up to Gardiner. Tony called out all the license plates and Tim dutifully wrote them down (Arkansas, Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and Michigan). They stopped at every possible place that had signs for geysers and pools. They saw the mud pots and the sapphire pool and geysers. What was really amazing was how different they all were. It wasn't like seeing the same geyser over and over. The ones that were erupting had their own personalities which made each one a new experience. It took hours to see them all because they stopped in so many places and because they were continually getting stuck behind tourists who ignored the instructions in the brochures and stopped their cars in the middle of the road because they saw deer or elk or bison. It was a little frustrating, but all in all, it was still wonderful. They mostly subsisted on snacks and bottled water, planning for a big dinner to close out the day.

Tim found a pizza place that had good reviews and they decided that a big pizza would do it. They didn't need fancy. So they got a large pizza, a couple of beers and headed back to their hotel room. They would have eaten at the place, but it was way too crowded.

"Okay, I declare day one of Yellowstone to be a complete success," Tony said.

Tim saluted him with a slice of pizza.

"I agree. I knew there were lots of geysers, but I had no idea how many there would be."

"So what is there, tomorrow?" Tony asked.

Tim pulled out the park map again and looked over it.

"If we stick with our plan, then, we won't be seeing many geysers. Lots of mountain views, waterfalls and... the Grand Canyon."

"Huh?" Tony asked. "I thought the Grand Canyon was in Arizona."

"Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone," Tim read. "That sounds really interesting. You think it'll be like the Arizona Grand Canyon?"

"I doubt it. It couldn't be that big, could it?"

"I don't know. I didn't know that there were two Grand Canyons."

"Then, I guess we'll see what it's like, tomorrow."

"Sounds good."

They ate the whole pizza, cleaned up the trash and then went to bed early.