We recently had an opportunity to do a driving trip into the central/midwest area of the USA to attend the International Quilt Show, held each year in Houston. This show is probably the largest quilt show in the world, and it is genuinely ‘international’ in its scope with attendees and displays from all around the globe. As we had the time available to drive, we made a list of central/midwest places we’d like to see along the way – and on that list the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone Park in Wyoming was a ‘must do’ !
I have no idea what other tourists think about when they drag their kids and significant others through the park, but National Geographic magazine recently featured Yellowstone in its August issue, and in some ways I wish I hadn’t read it ! While that part of the USA is absolutely beautiful – forests, lakes, mountains, foothills and red rock hills and canyons, Yellowstone Park and its geysers,boiling mud pits and fumaroles are actually located in the caldera of an absolutely massive volcano measuring about 73 km (45 miles) across ! As per NG, half of all the geysers on the planet are actually in Yellowstone Park, so while it may seem silly, all I could think about as I photographed SWMBO’d as she watched ‘Old Faithful” , was about what was happening under my feet. There is obviously an enormous amount of pent-up energy in the depths below you and areas of the park recently have risen several feet in recent years, sufficient to actually ’tilt’ Yellowstone Lake and drown trees on the shoreline on low side. For me, it was nice to see Old Faithful do its thing, but I sure do not want to be there if that volcano ever does decide to wake up !