We once again woke at dawn to try to find a moose.  We drove back to Oxbow Bend, found only 3 deer – not worth stopping for – drive out the east entrance to Moran Junction, then drive back to the Bend.  A few cars were stopped, and we saw a very large male antlered moose in the distance, at least a quarter mile away.  He looked better through the binoculars.  We took pictures for several minutes, then went back to the lodge for the usual routine of breakfast, pack the car, and leave.  It started raining as we started to pack the car, but it wasn’t a severe hindrance as the car was right next to the lodge and the path was protected by trees. Right as we were getting ready to take out final load of stuff to the car, the power went out.  We made our final check of the room by flashlight.  The power was still on at the main lodge.  As we drove north, Kathy recognized the marina that was supposed to have the pizza place – I’d stopped at the wrong place, 1 mile too short.

Eventually we got to Yellowstone, then the West Thumb.  We had a picnic lunch at the West Thumb Geyser Basin, then walked through the basin.  The kids were quite impressed with the geysers, even without seeing any erupt (I asked – theses geysers very rarely go off).  We spent over an hour walking the entire trail.  

We then proceeded north along the lake.  We’d had sun at West Thumb, but the clouds continued to darken as we got to Mud Volcano and it looked menacing. I packed the rain gear in my backpack, but lagged behind to take pictures.  Eventually the light sprinkle broke into a light rain – just enough to get everything nicely wet, but not quite drenched.  I put on the rain gear, but Kathy & the kids got wet and went back to the car.  We checked out Sulphur Geyser, then headed north to Canyon.  On the way traffic ground to a halt several times for buffalo – first dozens, then hundreds of buffalo along the valley.  CJ & Robby estimated they saw over 400 buffalo.  Daddy was impressed, but was wishing he had sunlight for his pictures. 

We got Canyon and hiked to artists’ point.  Fortunately the sun came out and Dusty got good pictures. 

We then drove over to Old Faithful. where we had a room for three nights at the Old Faithful Inn

.  By the time we got to Old Faithful Robby wasn’t feeling very good – we decided maybe he was sensitive to the sulfur smells of the geysers we’d seen.  I think I’d ventured in to Old Faithful Inn once or twice in my life – perhaps once with my parents, and once with Kathy in 1993, but I’d never appreciated the place.  Our room was in the East wing, and was decorated with light wood shade.  Our room looked out towards Old Faithful.  You could see Old Faithful go off, but for the most part the view was blocked by the pine trees, as was the view from nearly every room in the East Wing.  The pine trees were helpful, though, since they also blocked some of the noise from the hordes of tourists crowded around the Old Faithful, and kept them from staring into your room while waiting on Old Faithful.  Robby was feeling quite ill and tired, so Kathy stayed with him in the room while CJ & Dusty explored the food options and settled on the Old Faithful Lodge cafeteria.  The cafeteria was sweltering and had more or less edible food – fortunately it was considerably better than the most of the offerings at Yosemite, which were range from marginal at their cafeteria to dreadful at the buffet.  Dusty and CJ stayed out late exploring the Inn’s amazing 7 story log cabin style lobby.  I fell in love with the place.  The next day when everyone was healthy, everyone else did too.  There was a piano player on the 2^nd floor – I decided he must have been another volunteer, cause he wasn’t very good – not bad, just not the quality you’d expect from a professional.  

Panorama of the Old Faithful Inn, taken from the Third Floor
There are a few hotel rooms off picture left, right above the front porch - I imagine they must be loud.
You can see the dining room through the lookout on the second floor, just right of the flag.  The grand piano is just right of that, mostly hidden by a crossbeam.
Our room was in the east wing, down the hall to the left of the fireplace.