We had Emily’s company all day today, which was quite a treat. She’s just cheerful and vivacious. She walked up to the campground around 8 o’clock and we had just finished eating oatmeal and coffee. We piled in the car and made our way to Fairy Falls which was about a five-mile hike. We then proceeded on to Old Faithful, where we got to watch the beehive explode, revisit to the Old Faithful Lodge, where we heard a violin and reminisced about the first time we had been there.

After that, a pretty long drive back to the campsite, where we dropped Emily off and the rest of us took showers. We regrouped later that day and were able to gather Leah, who suggested that we go to the lake part of the Yellowstone park. It’s a beautiful drive through the Hayden Valley – having all five of us in the car was just a delight.

We cooked rice and beans and had cookies and bread on a picnic table in front of the general store. And then some of us walked down to the water and just played around a little bit. A slow, sort of quiet ride back and now kind of closing out the night. Aaron and Emily are going for a nighttime hike to catch up.

Map

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