Yesterday I published Part 1 about my favorite place in the USA – Yellowstone National Park. In case you missed it and would like to check out the pictures you can see them by clicking here.

The roads through Yellowstone NP are in two big circles.  We stayed in three different parts of the park over our 10 day stay:

The Lake Hotel, located on the northern shore of Yellowstone Lake
Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, just inside the northern border of the park
Old Faithful Inn (a National Historic Monument), in the southwestern part of the park right next to Old Faithful Geyser.

Map of Yellowstone NP

We hit the very end of the season (late September), just before the hotels were closing for winter.  The park was not crowded.  It was also rutting season for the Elks which added to the excitement while we were in the northern part of the park.  Listening to the giant male elks bugle as they challenged other males for the right to dominate the gathered harem of females.

I highly recommend going in the fall.

Tim got into taking pictures as much as I did and even lugged his big Nikon around. Here are more of our pictures from this trip:

Ever since we were there in 2006, we have wanted to return to see the park in the winter time.  That is still on our bucket list!

Gratitude Moment:  Today I am grateful that in 1872 Yellowstone was named the very first National Park in the United States.  We now have 59 National Parks to help preserve the natural jewels of our country for future generations.