Day 38 - Yellowstone, geysers and my moon

It is possible that tonight will be my last night sleeping in a National Park on this trip. Aaaarrrgggghhh - I don't want it to end!! But I must say - What a way to go out - Yellowstone, the granddaddy of them all!!! I did not know it was the first national park in the world! So many animals! And such a diversity of landscapes within just a few hours of each other! It is late at night now as I write this, it's pitch black. And the sky is shining its millions its stars on me and it makes me smile. 6 weeks of being outdoors every day and night looking at the stars and the moon and I still love it as much as the first day in Colorado. I was actually heading to my room when I detoured to come out here and see the moon. But alas, she is not in the night sky tonight; she must be resting below the horizon. Too bad too - I would have liked to have heard what she has to say. Instead I lay on my back here on this bench 50 yards from Old Faithful, under the millions of stars, a bit cool, typing this blog page. Instead of the calm steady voice of the moon, however, it sounds like the sky is packed full of small voices all talking at once, like each star has a voice. I can also hear some kind of bird of prey screeching in the distance. I have no idea what he or she is preying on but whatever it is is toast and I am glad it's not me. During the day today I traveled to, through and on this beautiful park. I hiked one of the geyzer trails and enjoyed seeing all the geysers tremendously! That hint of sulphur smell in all of these geysers reminds me of my time in the hot springs of Liard in Canada, whenthese am in the hot springs under the midnight sun. That felt so good!! These geysers are all so busy boiling their crystal blue waters away and depositing their yellow and gold minerals on the runoff beds its too hit to swim in them. But they are so colorful! As I watch them spit out the sulphur steam I realize how much I have come to enjoy this park. There are hundreds of them - a veritable geyser feast! Tomorrow I head to Sturgis for a couple of days with 500,000 of my closest friends. I am looking forward to lunch Wednesday with Sam and Kristie in Sturgis. But for now it's back to looking at, and listening to, these stars.

ODO - 7995