Yellowstone Splendor

How many times have you been able to walk from dinner to your room with an elk? How about walking to breakfast with one? You can experience this at Grant Village.

The lodge is not the "Lodge" of Roosevelt. Instead it is four buildings, each containing about 3 dozen rooms on 2 floors. The rooms are simple and clean - no TV and no a/c. Somehow they were not missed. The air is clean and cool; and the wildlife provide the entertainment. The only thing I would mention: ask for a bath! We had a "shower" room. Normally this would not present a problem as we usually take showers as opposed to baths, but the shower was all of 2 feet wide. I felt that if I hung the towels on the walls of the shower, I could have made a "car wash" effect. The rest of the bathroom was a single sink and commode. The towels were clean and changed every 4 days unless requested otherwise. Likewise the sheets and other bed linens.

The proximity to Yellowstone Lake made for some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. The scenery at Yellowstone is the best! You can also catch some of the tour busses at the reception center in Grant Village. Convenient!

There are two nice restaurants close by: Grant Village and Lake House. Both serve a buffet breakfast that will sustain the hungriest sightseeing tourist. You are able to order a sack lunch a day in advance if you don't want to wait in lines at the snack bars or luncheonettes.

Oh, and about those elk. Don't try to approach them. They are not tame - just hungry for the lawn grasses. They are huge and strong. They can run fast and turn quickly. The same can be said about the occasional bison. By the way, watch out for scat! That's poo to most of us. It is everywhere!

How many times can you claim to have walked to dinner or breakfast with an elk? This was a daily occurrence at Grant Village. The herd likes the grasses that border the parking lots and will graze there until the bull decides otherwise.

The Grant Village Restaurant has a varied menu that includes bison meatloaf, salmon, pork, pasta, and more. There is a children's menu with the usual mac and cheese, burgers, and fries. The food is served quickly and alcoholic drinks are available. Servings are large enough to fill the most hungry tummy. After all, the customers have been out hiking and sightseeing all day long. Make your reservation as early as possible. The seating is staggered to prevent a backup in the kitchen and the sight of empty tables is sure to confuse some patrons.

The servers are from all over the world. They are interesting to talk to and are interested in learning more about our country. There was only one time when the language barrier came into play. My husband had requested decaffeinated tea and our server apparently thought that it was a new, flavored tea. It took another server to explain the concept and the tea was quickly on the table, piping hot.

The breakfast menu is a simple buffet. Eggs, cereal, French toast, fresh fruit, pastries, juice, tea, and coffee are placed out and replenished frequently. No reservation is needed for breakfast, but arrive early. The tables fill quickly.

If you are part of an organized tour, you may be eligible for vouchers for your meals at the Grant Village and other park restaurants. Check with your tour operator.

The convenience of being picked up within walking distance of our room was one of the reasons for choosing this tour. The other was that it would show us the "highlights" of the thermal areas in the southern half of the park in an organized manner.

Our driver/guide, Craig, was very informative. He delighted us with tiny tidbits of info on the wildlife and sights. He took the opportunity to pull over whenever he safely could so that we could take photos of the wildlife spotted by the roadside and in the fields. Take your field glasses along on this tour. The bear look like rocks in the fields until they move, and the wolves blend into the grasses by the stream banks. The field glasses will give you that extra vision to distinguish rocks from bears. Tell your driver when you sight something and s/he might be able to stop for a photo op.

The tours of the thermal areas were informative and gave us a chance to stretch our legs. Several waterfalls were on the loop and all of them were very picturesque. Craig was able to answer questions about the topography, geology and geography of the area. He also had a large collection of puns and jokes - some of which were probably as old as the park!

If you don't want to wait in line for lunch at the Canyon Village stop, ask for a sack lunch order the night before at your restaurant. The sack lunch includes a large sandwich - you have several choices - cookie, chips, fruit, and 2 canned drinks. Otherwise, you will have to wait in line at the lunch counter or snack bar - and that can be quite a wait if the park is crowded.

The last stop on the tour is Old Faithful - of course - and you stay around until it spouts. Old Faithful is not the largest or most impressive of the geysers. It is just the most reliable and predictable. In fact, Castle geyser, in the same area as Old Faithful, puts on quite a show if you are fortunate enough to be close by when it erupts. No matter what, you get to see an exciting natural event that is hard to top.

This tour also gives you a basis for what you might want to travel on your own to see. Maybe one of the waterfalls caught your eye and called you to revisit it. Maybe it was one of the thermal areas that called to you. Using the tour as your basis, you can pick and choose your self-tours so that you see what interests you. We enjoyed the Firehole River area the most when driving on our self-tour. We would not have known about it except that the Circle of Fire tour passed by and it caught our eye.

Take this tour and use it to your advantage in learning about the park and its natural environs.