Today we walked a different path at Mammoth to see it again in the daylight, even though it was drizzling rain.  Then we headed to Norris to hike the Norris Basin and check out Steamboat Geyser.  We caught a ranger talk there and there was a lot of excitement that it might erupt again, but it wasn’t meant to be (it was 4 days later).  The many different formations (mudpots, geysers, and colorful springs) were each so unique!  I was impressed that Lily could tell me the temperature of the springs by their color…my smart junior ranger!  We also spent some time at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and hiked a bit there.   The view was gorgeous with the turquoise water.

On the drive back, we saw a coyote but we still haven’t seen Andy’s bear knocking a fish out of a river.  We’ll keep watching for that one!  We got back after dark, and I changed the sheets on all the beds, which is a chore in itself – wrestling the mattresses in the bunks, stretching the fitted sheets (that don’t truly “fit”), and snapping suspenders underneath in a futile attempt to keep things in order.

Since there was no cell signal at camp, we rolled the dice and made a late night run into Gardiner.  It was our first time traversing the road north out of the park, and it looked like it would be pretty in the daylight!  We exited the park, found the Wash Tub, and sure enough…it was closed.  My first thought was that we’ll all be sleeping in our fresh sheets without a much needed shower!  But alas, we were in range of a cell tower and able to check in after a few days of being completely unplugged.

On the way back, we were pretty spent and trying to figure out our next move while we had connectivity.  We also finished listening to The Hobbit on audio book!  We pulled over to research a few options, and as we sat there in the rain on the roadside, Lily exclaimed that she had lost a tooth!  That tooth has been hanging on for a month, or maybe even two as well as another one.  Because I have a collection of random things in my purse, I happened to have the tiny chest Mrs. Etheridge had given her and she put her tooth in it and tucked it under her pillow.  The tooth fairy did not disappoint!