Yellowstone is a beautiful place in the winter. As we drove through and saw the amazing natural wonders, I was so grateful to live on this beautiful earth.
Photo #1 - Here is an example of the snowmobile I rode on day 1. I ended up with a two person machine, which meant I shouldn't have been able to climb this really big hill, which I did climb because I didn't know I shouldn't have been able to do it! :-) Also, my machine didn't have "GUIDE" plastered across the windshield. We would have ended up in Canada if I had been in the lead.
Photo #2 - Meet Bill, our Snow Coach guide. He was a great guide, has done it for a long time, and is very knowledgeable about all things Yellowstone. We did later find out, he was not going to take us to Norris, which was amazing, but involves a bit of a hike, and we think he probably doesn't like to do it in the snow. Luckily, Sherry, the other guide, thought Norris is about the coolest part, so she convinced him to meet her group there, and she lead us down the trail. So happy Bill was along, and so happy Sherry was along! 
Photos 3, 4, and 5 are from Norris, the place we almost missed! Soooo glad Sherry took us there. You can see from these few pictures it is a most unusual place. The barren wasteland shot (#3) is to show where they filmed part of the first Star Trek TV show. She said now channels like Discovery, National Geographic, etc, are allowed to film there. I also thought it was amazing that the rest of the park has many feet of snow, but in this geothermic region, there isn't a flake on the ground in some areas. Photo #4 is ice that grows from the ground up. We can't remember the exact term for it, but it has something to do with "fingers". And #5 is where the steam from one of the hot springs comes up. The minerals in the steam color the ice blue. Hard to see in the picture, but take my word, it is pretty.
Picture 6 shows the herd of buffalo we had to drive through on our Snow Coach tour. They just moseyed around us and watched us go by, then they followed us until we left them in our 20 mph snow dust! We saw elk, swans, an eagle, coyote, ducks, deer, but mostly we saw buffalo. Apparently, because of the wolves, the moose population is almost non-existent, and the elk numbers are a fraction of what there were pre-wolf reintroduction. I got the distinct impression that the wolves are considered uninvited guests.
Picture 7 is one of several waterfalls we saw. The picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. Seeing it in person is truly awesome! And I mean that in the pre-everyone says awesome just because it is the trendy word of the moment way. Spectacular!
Pictures 8 and 9 are from the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park. This is another case of non-justice due to photography! Again, it is truly beautiful and awe-inspiring. Picture 8 is taken from Artist's point. This is the most photographed spot in the park. Artists come to paint here and photographers snap many a picture from here. Picture 9 is at the same place, but I thought it would be good to throw one in of John and me to show we were really there! :-) I think it is the only one with either of us in it!
Picture #10 is a fellow we met on our way home. He was just standing in the middle of the road as we came upon him, and he stayed there the entire time we drove by. We practically stopped to take his picture. You can see the side mirror in the bottom corner of the picture. Obviously, no stranger to car traffic. A nice final image of our trip.
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