The Griddle

 

The Griddle is a brunch place located at Boise, Idaho. It opens from 6AM to 2PM only. It is located near the heart of Boise downtown and thus it has been pretty popular with high ratings. It serves all kinds of brunch menu items such as omelet, crepes, and sandwiches. It has been having great reviews on web and thus we wanted to give it a try when we pass by Boise.

When we got to The Griddle, it was always 12:30PM and the restaurant was nearly full. As we walked in, we did not know what to do because there was no front desk or anyone to lead you to the table. The waitress told us we could just sit anywhere and they would bring the menus to us. So we picked a table by the window.

After few minutes the server came with the menus and glasses of water. The menu was quite simple and straight forward. We like this kind of menu so that we wouldn't need to spend too much time to go over each item. We ordered a scramble egg and an omelet. Each of this item comes with harsh brown and toast. The toast has choices of white, brown, and sour dough. We also ordered an ice latte and it was quite good.

When the food was delivered to us, we were also given choices to select what kind of jam we would like to have. There was strawberry, blueberry, and mango. We chose to get the mango jam. When the jam was given to us, it was given in a small iron bowl. We were expecting a pre-packaged jam and did not expect this. The mango jam was quite good however, it went really well with the toast.

The omelet and scramble eggs were very similar in terms of the ingredients used. The ingredients included ham, bacon, onion, and green pepper. The only difference between omelet and scramble eggs were the shape of the egg. We liked the scramble egg a bit more even though they were similar. It was probably because we liked the texture of scramble egg a bit more.

Overall, it was a great brunch for us after a long road trip. We really enjoyed it and felt energized again to get back on the road.

Grand Prismatic Spring

 

The Grand Prismatic Spring is the signature of Yellowstone National Park. It is the largest hot spring in the park with beautiful colored ring within the pool. The pool is filled with the colors of a rainbow, which makes it look so spectacular. Grand Prismatic Spring is located on the Southeast side of Yellowstone National Park and with an overlook on the mountain on the South side.

The parking lot at Grand Prismatic Spring is super small. You can choose to get there super early in the morning but there is a problem. In the early morning the air is cold, and thus a lot of steam will be coming out of Grand Prismatic Spring and thus you will not be able to see much. The color will not be as bright in the early morning either.

If you wait till noon, the steam will be mostly gone but there will be no parking space available. Most people have to park on the side of the road and walk to Grand Prismatic Spring. Some people actually have to park super far due to the amount of crowd.

We chose to visit Grand Prismatic Spring in late afternoon. The temperature is hot and sun is bright. There was less crowd but we still had to park the car on the side of the road. It was not too far from the trail however.

The trail is on the board walk that goes around the spring. Before reaching Grand Prismatic Spring, we could see the hot spring water flowing down into the river. The rocky side of the river has this orange glow color. As we walked further, we came to this other hot spring which was also huge. There was a lot of steam coming out of it and seemed to be hotter than Grand Prismatic Spring.

When we got to Grand Prismatic Spring, it was less of a wow because it was difficult to see the whole thing from the ground. All the pictures that we have seen was taken by the drone from above. We could see various color of the spring, but we could only barely see the surface of it.

When we were there, we also saw a Black Labrador there who was extremely excited.

Since we didn't have a proper view of Grand Prismatic Spring, we decided to head to the overlook. The trail to the overlook starts at Fairy Falls parking lot. When we got there, there weren't that many cars and there were parking spaces available at overflow parking. The distance to the overlook was only about 0.8 miles with some elevation gain.

When we got there, there were already quite a lot of people there taking photos. The view from the overlook was much better and we could see the entire Grand Prismatic Spring. It was gorgeous. We really enjoyed the view.

Overall, it was a great place to visit but the board walk around Grand Prismatic Spring was less interesting. We recommend to visit in late afternoon to avoid the crowd and be able to have the best view of Grand Prismatic Spring.

Upper Geyser Basin

 

Upper Geyser Basin has the most concentrated number of geysers within an area in the world. Upper Geyser Basin is located within Yellowstone National Park and the famous Old Faithful in within it. Other than the Old Faithful Geyser, there are many other geysers in the area. The Upper Geyser Basin area has board walk built to allow visitors to walk around the basin to have a close look at each unique geyser feature.

We took a walk at Upper Geyser Basin after checking out the eruption of the Old Faithful. Other than just the board walk, there is an overlook at the top of the hill. The trail to the top was only 0.5 miles and thus we took this trail to the top first. From the top of the hill, we had an amazing view over Upper Geyser Basin and we could also see Old Faithful Inn on the far side. It was a great view point for people to enjoy.

As we came back down to the board walk, we came across a lost girl wondering around by herself without any adults accompanying her. There were people worried about her and thought she was lost. We tried to communicate with the girl but she didn't seem to be able to communicate or just didn't want to talk to the strangers. As we were thinking of contacting the rangers, her parents with a stroller showed up and called the girl. The parents seemed really calm and was walking slowly. They did not seem to be worried at all and probably left the girl there on purpose. By listening to their dialect, they seemed to be from Korea. Not really sure why they left the girl there.

As we proceed down the board walk, the Lion Geyser erupted high into the air. It was huge! It was erupting for a very long time. While Lion Geyser was erupting, the 2 other geysers beside it also started to erupt. It was amazing to see 3 different geysers near by each other to erupt at the same time.

We then walked on the board walk further West and came to Riverside Geyser. This geyser was the most predictable geyser in the area. It erupts approximately every 2 hours. When we got there, it was just erupting across from the river. There was so much moist and water in the air as the geyser was kind of erupting on the side ways.

After that we continued west and saw many hot spring pools. Some pools have beautiful color but some have weird color. The first one we saw had brown color. It looked almost like onion soup and it was warm too. We then came to the last hot spring pool on the West side and it was the Morning Glory Pool. This was a beautiful hot spring pool. The surface of the pool was calm. The color of Morning Glory Pool was amazing. It had orange ring on the side with green and blue color in the center. It was a magnificent colored pool.

Overall, we spent about 2 hours here to go visit all the geysers and hot springs. The eruption of some geysers were unpredictable, but visitors are bound to see some geyser eruption. Note that after geyser eruption, the board walk becomes wet and can be quite slippery since the hot spring water is a bit silky.

West Thumb Geyser Basin

 

West Thumb Geyser Basin is located on Southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park. It is right by the "thumb" of Yellowstone Lake. There are several thermal features in this area and many are quite interesting because some thermal features are simply submerged under the Yellowstone Lake water. There are also board walks that go around the entire West Thumb Geyser Basin for people to explore the area.

We got to West Thumb Geyser Basin around 9AM in the morning. Luckily there were still plenty of parking spaces available. We were thinking that West Thumb Geyser Basin is probably not as popular as other sceneries in the park.

The board walk trail head started right at the parking lot. We went through a small portion of board walk that went through the forest then it led directly to the lake side where they geyser basin was. The geyser basin was quite large and we could also see Yellowstone Lake on the far side.

Many of the geyser features were hot spring pools with bubbles and spring coming out of it. The color of the hot springs weren't exactly that spectacular. Since the board walk was a loop, we first walked towards left to head to the lake shore board walk. As we approached towards the lake shore, we came to the Black Pool. Although it was named as Black Pool, it actually had clear blue color. It was quite pretty and most people stayed here to take lot of photos.

As we walked along the lake shore, we also saw many thermal features beneath the water. There were geyser holes submerged not far under the water and sometimes resurface above the water depending on the wave. There were also geysers holes that had heart shape.

When we got back to the parking lot after 45 minutes, the parking lot was already full! We were glad that we came here a bit earlier to avoid the crowd. Overall it was interesting to see the geysers that were by the lake to see how these are different from others.

Old Faithful

 

The Old Faithful Geyser is one of the most popular geyser in Yellowstone National Park. It is located at Southwest of the park and has huge sitting area for visitors to watch itself burst into the air. The eruption of Old Faithful is quite predictable. It approximately erupts every 60-90 minutes and the next eruption time can always be found on the board in front of the visitor center. Due to its regular eruption, it has attracted large number of crowd everyday.

Since we were staying at the nearby lodge, we went to watch Old Faithful erupt multiple times. The first time we went was in the early afternoon. We walked by and saw lot of people waiting for the eruption. We sat down and wait, but it did not erupt when the predicted time came. On the contrary, the Beehive Geyser erupted 50 feet into the air on the far side and we were amazed by it.

After waiting for 20 more minutes, we saw some water burst activity going on at Old Faithful, but it was just teasing and still did not properly erupt. We waited for 10 more minutes and it finally erupted. The Old Faithful Geyser bursted into the air and lasted for about 5 minutes. It was crazy. Although it may not be the largest geyser in the area, but it is one of the more predictable ones.

We also went around to feel the water that came out of the Old Faithful Geyser, it was a little warm but it cooled off quite quickly. The water also felt a bit smooth and silky like the hot spring water.

Later in the evening, we came by the Old Faithful again with ice cream. This time we were prepared. We were enjoying our ice cream while waiting for the eruption. Since it was late in the day, there weren't too many people in the area either.

In addition, we also watched Old Faithful Geyser erupt late at night after it was pitch dark. It was just as pretty as it was in the day. On top of that, we could see the Milky Way in the background. It was quite amazing.

We highly recommend to check out Old Faithful at night if possible. The view of the eruption at night was totally different than it was in the day. The Milky Way was simply amazing at night in the background.

Mud Volcano

 

Mud Volcano is located within Yellowstone National Park. It is on the East side of the park, just right below Hayden Valley. Mud Volcano consists of multiple thermal features with boiling hot mud with bubbles appearing on the mud surface. There is also a short 1 mile board walk around Mud Volcano area for people to enjoy and check out all the thermal features in the surrounding area.

We got to Mud Volcano right after visiting Hayden Valley. As we drove into the parking lot, we could already see the steams in the air and a strong sulfuric acid smell. The smell was quite stinky! As we got off the car, we actually saw 2 huge bisons just right beside Mud Volcano. These bisons were so close to the board walk, it was incredible. The ranger was there to make sure no one goes near the bisons.

The board walk takes you to the top of the hill and loops back to the parking lot. We hiked the board walk to the top and part of the board walk was completely covered by the stinky sulfuric acid cloud. We had to hold our breath to pass through that portion of the board walk.

Most of the thermal features in this area are quite similar. We could see bubbles at the surface of the mud and steams coming out. The Dragon Mouth Spring is a giant hole in the rock with lots of steams coming out. The steam coming out of it can reach over 5 meters high, it was quite crazy.

By the time we got back down to the parking lot, the 2 bisons were already gone. The ranger also started to allow people to pass through the section that was blocked off for the bisons. We also just noticed that the ranger gives a guided walk around the area to talk about each thermal feature in the area.

Mud Volcano is a family friendly area to visit and can be done quickly. To us it was more of a come and go kind of thing and also just taking a rest from all the driving that we had.

Hayden Valley

 

Hayden Valley is a beautiful land within Yellowstone National Park and full of wildlife, especially bisons. Hayden Valley is located on the East side of Yellowstone National Park. The Yellowstone River runs through the valley which provide rich water source to the plants and wildlife that live in the valley. There are several overlooks along the road which allows visitors to enjoy their time using binoculars to spot the gorgeous wildlife animals.

It is best to head to Hayden Valley during the dawn or dusk so that it isn't too hot and the wildlife will be more active. We got to Hayden Valley around 7AM in the morning. The sky was partially cloudy but the valley was beautiful. The grass was lush green and the water was so calm with the reflection of the sky. As we drove down the road at a steady pace, we started to see many bisons resting on the side of the road. It was our first time seeing the bisons and thus we were extremely excited.

The bisons were huge and can weight up to 2500 pounds! The bison calf look small and has a different shade of fur. The calf fur was orange color instead of brown. We saw herds of bisons on the side of the road and some bisons were so close to the road. We had to drive very carefully not to spook them and made sure they didn't suddenly run into the car.

At the Hayden Valley Overlook, the view was beautiful. The valley extends so far out and we were using the binocular to see if we could spot animals other than bison. We thought we saw some elks on the very far side of the valley, but it was really far to be certain.

We also saw another herd of bison down at the open grass land of the valley. Saw few bisons rolling on the dusty ground. We were told that that's how bisons take shower!

Overall, it was a magnificent experience to see all these wildlife for the first time! Hayden Valley is a must visit place when visiting Yellowstone! You will not disappoint.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

 

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is the hidden gem in Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone National Park not only have geysers all over the park, it also has magnificent canyons and waterfalls for people to enjoy. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is located on the East side of the park where Canyon Village is. The Yellowstone River runs through it and there are multiple hiking trail in the area for people to enjoy.

We woke up early to head to Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone so that it will not be crowded and the color on the canyon would be at its best with morning sunlight. It took us nearly 1.5 hours to get there from Old Faithful Inn. Yellowstone National Park is really big!

When we got there, there were only few cars there. The temperature was quite chill in the early morning and we were all earning wind breaker jackets. From the parking lot, we could already hear the waterfalls roaring within the canyon. The Artist Point has the best view point towards the Lower Falls and the canyon. We could see the Lower Falls on the far side, with Yellowstone River carving through the canyon. The volume of water that went through the waterfalls was astonishing!

We then drove to the trail head of Uncle Tom's Trail. Unfortunately, the trail that was heading down to the canyon was closed due to broken wooden stairs. From the viewing platform, we could see the Upper Falls right beside us. It was not as spectacular as Lower Falls, but still a magnificent view.

We did not stay here for long as we have seen enough waterfalls back at home and had other plans that we wanted to do. If we had more time, we would probably explore the surrounding area a bit more, such as hike to the lake nearby. Overall, it was a decent change of scenery than staring at geysers all the time.