Just Who is This Old Faithful?

After church and after much dileberation, it had been decided--skip the Canyon and head to Old Faithful. For the original Bodine/Hart group, Old Faithful happened almost weekly. For Richie's Family and My Family it had been a while and there were so many childhood memeories. How awesome to now be taking our children into the land of our memories and traditions of the famous "Old Faithful Inn," the famous "Old Faithful Geyser,"the famous boardwalk of geysers to see.

Given that we had not eaten and Old Faithful had some time before it errupted, we began in the Old Faithful Inn Dining Room. I believe there were l8 of us that needed to be fed and so we had to be seated at different tables. Noah and I had the blessing of joining up with Richie, Camille and Johnathan. The Silver Fox of Idaho Falls, our Father treated us to this dining experience.

Everyone gathered on the deck of the Inn to wait and watch Old Faithful triumphantly spew out the steam. This would be a first for Noah. We had come when he was a baby, but there was no memory of this act of nature. He had absolutely no idea what to expect. In fact, he asked me, "Now who is this Old Faithful Guy?" Somehow he had it in his mind that Old Faithful was a man.

The time had come, the camera's were ready and Old Faithful performed brilliantly as in years past. It was spectacular and I was once again in awe of our Creator. Some of the group went back to the cabin while some meandered the boardwalk to view the other geysers. I felt the same intense fear, that I felt when Bry and Richie were little, now with my Noah--that of falling off the walk.Yes, my hand reached in front and ruined one man's photo opportunity, to Noah's shirt, where I yanked him back to scold about the scalding hot water and being careful yatta yatta yatta. I could see that Richie had that same fear as he had tight hold of his children. (This was another miracle to witness as I walked behind Richie--he was walking without the aid of crutches and at times, even ran.)

There were clouds above and Mom and Dad waiting back at the Lodge and so we headed back. We were amazed at the tracks of animals that walked on the thin crust of earth and tolerated the stench of rotten eggs and the fact that plants could even grow in this area of so much sulfur. Yet, we saw a Bison right there, with all it's weight standing by a geyser. It was a trip well worth taking and Noah said it best, "I am so happy I got to see Old Grateful." Yep. Maybe being GRATEFUL assists one in being FAITHFUL.

What I learned from Noah:  Old Grateful Faithful