Yellowstone - Old Faithful

I left Powell WY to head for Yellowstone. It is about 60 miles to the East Gate of Yellowstone.

I took the south route along Lake Yellowstone. It is about 50 miles from the Gate to Old Faithful, The beginning of the park is nice, but not really too special. Winding roads with lots of trees. So I thought: 'What's so speciall about Yellowstone ... ?". Then I got to the  Old Faithful area, and realized why Yellowstone is so special.

I thought I would drive through the park in one day. Wrong. You constantly stop and go, and by the end of the day, after spending about 2 hours at Old Faithful, I only got to the West Gate.

So I decided to look for a place to stay for the night. School started, so it is after the main season. It should not be a problem to get a room. Wrong again.

There is hardly any cell phone service in the park. A little around the visitor's center at Old Faithful. So I checked out places online and started to make phone calls. Everything in and around Yellowstone is sold out ...

No problem. I have a car. I just drive for a while and should find something along the road. Not too far outside Yellostone West I found a Super 8, and they even had rooms available. So I checked in. "Internet available ... ?" "Yes, of course ...  Your room is in the middle, the signal might be a little weak".

When I got in the room I did not get any signal. The room was not the cheapest, and no Internet!. So I checked out again. "Well you might have to go about 90 miles south to find a hotel with internet access" they told me. "No problem, I want to go south anyway .. "

When I checked the internet at Old Faithful I saw hotels in Island Park, about 20 miles south. So I hit the road again. I input Island Park in the GPS and go. Island Park comes and goes, no hotel in sight. I'm already 20 miles south of Island Park and there is no town or hotel in sight. The GPS just shows a red road and grey background. Nothing else. So I decide to turn around.

I already saw myself crawling back to Super 8 and asking for the room again. Suddenly I got cell phone reception, and even 3G network. I check hotels in Island Park again and found a nice log cabin for half the price. No internet in the room, but a bar with internet ... Things sometimes turn out OK ,,,