It’s fun to take an occasional road trip and see things you never have before.  When we had a free weekend a couple of weeks ago, we did just that.  We took a road trip to someplace we had never been before and saw new things.  We chose one of many iconic locations.  It was well worth it as a human being and as a photographer.  So, where did we go and what did we see?  Keep reading to find out.

Neither of us had been to the famous iconic location Yellowstone National Park before.  We live three hours drive from this highly celebrated national treasure and yet we hadn’t been there before.  We changed that fact.  So, we drove to Montana to get to West Yellowstone: the western entrance to the national park.  It really is right on the edge of the park boundaries so that’s where we went.

We anticipated a long line at the ticket gate and were not disappointed there.  It took us a full 30 minutes to drive the half mile or so into the park to reach the ticket gate.  It was that crowded and congested.  We were glad for our park pass as that made things so much easier for us and for the park attendant there.

Once in the gate, traffic lightened up dramatically.  That is until a short way into the park when we ran into one of those famous Yellowstone traffic jams.  The cars ahead stopped for no apparent reason and we couldn’t see around the trailer ahead of us.  We had no idea why traffic had come to a sudden halt until we caught sight of this.

A herd of bison, or buffalo, came walking around the cars ahead of us.  They walked around both sides of our car.  I could have stuck my hand out the window and touched them because they came that close.  That would have been a stupid move on my part.  However, the animals were obviously accustomed to the presence of humans so much so that they knew how to weave in and out of the cars without effort.

We set our sights on checking out one of Yellowstone’s premier attractions: the Old Faithful geyser.  It wasn’t a far drive from the west entrance so we were thrilled.  Yellowstone is full of iconic locations but we didn’t have time to see them all.  However, we didn’t regret our choice.

Once we arrived at the area for the famed geyser, we learned that we were a mere hour away from the next scheduled showing.  We decided to stay and wait though we had some difficulty locating the spot.  There’s a small town and tons of parking there.  There’s a hotel or two right on the edge of the viewing platform for the timed geyser.  We had to follow the crowds in order to find the right place.

Sadly, since an earthquake upset the area a few years ago, Old Faithful hasn’t been quite as faithful as it once was.  Where the park rangers could tell you the exact minute it would go off before, now they can only give you a half hour window in which to wait for it.  Still, it draws a huge crowd which will fill up the vast viewing space in a hurry.  It was worth the wait despite the weight of my camera.

The geyser sat steaming and smoking for over 20 minutes after we arrived until it suddenly shot up several yards into the sky.  The underground water pressure suddenly released into one spectacular fountain of steaming hot water which lasted for a good couple minutes or so.

We didn’t get to see all of the park which we would like to.  However, we have plans to return this summer.  This means that you will probably get to enjoy more photos of our adventures in the iconic locations in Yellowstone National Park soon.  If you want to check out more of our adventures in Yellowstone, read this article.