Photo Safari in Yellowstone

There are many groups you can join while visiting Yellowstone. We chose a Photo Safari in an Old Yellow Bus which started from the Lake Yellowstone Hotel at 5:45 in the morning. We scheduled it on our last full day in the park, and thankfully we were used to waking before the sunrise all week. We arrived comfortably early, and enjoyed some alone time in the Hotel lobby until the driver and other passengers strolled in.

Currently there are only eight of the original hundreds of Old Yellow Buses which were built from 1936-1938 era and used throughout the park until the 1950's, when the need for transportation through the park was replaced by visitor's own vehicles.  In 2007, the park bought back eight of the original buses with the original wooden frame and customized window sizings. You will feel a bit nostalgic at its finest as you travel five hours through the park on a photo safari. And a bit famous too as visitors turn their cameras away from animals and beautiful scenery shots to photograph you in the Old Yellow Bus.

Our driver and photographer extraordinar, Betty, was a wealth of historical information about the park, about photography, and had knowledge about the landscape and animals in which we saw. It was fantastic as the sun was rising over the crisp greens, blues, yellows, and browns of Yellowstone. Stopping at the tippy top of a lookout of the massive Lake Yellowstone with the Grand Tetons in the distance, we sipped on hot chocolate, coffee, and enjoyed delicious blueberry muffins.

(three photos featured - Canadian Geese in Flight, Chipmunk, Osprey - photographed by my husband)

(three photos featured - Purple Flowers, Canyon Falls, River Runs Through It- photographed by my daughter)

(three photos featured - Hidden Dragonflies in Dew, Sunrise, Lake Yellowstone - photographed by my son)

The kids did a magnificent job of keeping up with Betty's photography tips and trying new things with their cameras. She shared her different sized diffuser lenses with each person and encouraged creativity as she wandered between her group of eight at each stop.

If I ever were to sit down with someone to interview in an Oprah-like-style it would be Betty.  She introduced herself enough for me to be intrigued by her lifestyle and choices; but kept enough secrecy to spark me wanting more.

Her opener ... she has been living as a true Nomad for the last 17 years starting in a Recreational Vehicle that was only 37 feet long, and downsized to 26 feet after the death of her husband to cancer. She travels America, working where and when she wants, photographing her life to submit to different paying publications, forwarding her mail to small cities along the way where the Post Master obviously knows that a "new one" is in town because he already knows every one else. She is a highly educated, well spoken woman.  Extremely friendly and personable, solid yet peaceful, sweet yet strong.

If you travel to Yellowstone, plan ahead and book a trip on the Photo Safari on the Old Yellow Bus Tour and request time with Betty.  You will not be disappointed.  A trip well worth the time to enjoy the beauty of Yellowstone; digging deeper in the history of the explorers of the 1800's to current day, while finding time to learn about your camera in order to get the most out of your journal of the wilderness of this amazing National Park. Wonderful.

Don't miss the end of your morning journey with a fantastic lunch at the Lake Yellowstone Soda Fountain. YUM!

(To my parents ~ Happy 49th Wedding Anniversary! You have given me a wonderful example of what a loving and teamwork marriage looks like, and I am forever grateful. I love you!!).