Waterfalls and Buffalo in Yellowstone

Ed was dreading the trip from Cody to Fishing Bridge, Yellowstone National Park because of our last mountain drive from Rapid City to Cody. He was told there was no construction, which proved to be accurate. We both kept thinking the twisting, curving, scary roads would be showing up any time. Much to our surprise, the drive wasn't that bad after all.

Pull-through RV sites have become common in campgrounds so our back-in site was a bit of a challenge but we got set up quickly. The forest ranger who runs the tour desk was out to lunch so we went back to the office after 2:00 to talk to her. We're set up for all-day tours tomorrow and Saturday. These tours aren't cheap but it's the only way Ed gets to see. The ranger pointed out that if you just drive around on your own, you don't know what you're seeing. I've been on some trips in past years where I decided I couldn't afford a side-tour and have regretted it ever since.

After careful directions from the ranger, we set out on Thursday afternoon to see the upper and lower waterfalls. We especially wanted to see the lower falls on our own. These are the ones depicted in Thomas Moran's painting that we saw in Cody on Wednesday.
If you want to see animals, you'll know where they are by the traffic jams. Our first spotting was a couple of herds of buffalo but they were way far away in a grassy area. The people with LONG lens and tripods might have gotten something but most people will go home with a picture of grass and a few dark spots.

Animal watching got better. There was one buffalo laying right by the road on a bank. Ed stopped to let me out and when I got there, the buffalo laid on his side with his 4 legs stuck out straight and wallowed.At our next turn was my best surprise of the day and for whatever reason, every time I saw this, it made me laugh......right there in the middle of the road was a big old buffalo just meandering along, oblivious to all! Do you know what the mama buffalo said to her boy as he was leaving for his first day of school?..............Bi - son!

(By the way, buffalo and bison are the same animal.)


Let the chips fall where they.....