Our first destination in Yellowstone was its most famous feature, Old Faithful.  It’s one of those features everybody visits, but there’s a good reason for that: it’s awesome!  I mean, come on: it’s boiling hot water shooting into the air on a fairly regular schedule — hence the name — and it happens without any human influence.  It’s not just weird; it’s naturally weird.

When we arrived at Old Faithful, it looked more old than faithful.  It was sleeping peacefully, with only a few calm steam clouds providing a clue to the location of the giant hot tub jet in the ground.

While we waited for Old Faithful to wake up, we enjoyed watching the crowd wait patiently for the show.  While modern Americans are known for anything but patience, the hundreds of people gathered around the geyser waited quietly for about 15 minutes while Old Faithful napped.  I have no idea why a geyser could compel people to wait 15 minutes when they’d normally get impatient after 15 seconds at a red light, but it was hilarious.

Eventually, Old Faithful began to hiss and gurgle, providing a prelude to its performance. It started off small…

…But it didn’t stay that way.

After hanging out with us tourists for a couple minutes, Old Faithful quieted back down and went back to producing clouds of steam.

When the eruption ended, we all agreed: Old Faithful was well worth the visit and the wait.  It’s not just that it’s a curiously fascinating natural feature — which it is — but it’s also an iconic American destination.  It’s not just a geyser; it’s Old Faithful.