Farnsworth TV & Pioneer Museum, Rigby, Idaho

Do you know where the "Birthplace of Television" is? It's about 100 miles south of West Yellowstone, Montana in Rigby, Idaho.

It is here that we found the Farnsworth TV & Pioneer Museum, housed in the old Bond Motel building.

Philo Farnsworth came up with the idea for an all-electronic television while he was working in his potato field. He envisioned lines, similar to those in a planted field, which together formed an image.

This is an original tube Farnsworth used in his invention.

As an alumni of Rigby High School, he presented his original television tubes to the school in 1956.

The museum has a pretty large collection of items that can be viewed through a glass window.

Since there can be a lot of snow in this area, this collection of skis might come in handy.

The Pioneer Museum portion of the museum is run by the Jefferson County Historical Society. Each city in the county is given a room in which to create a display however it sees fit to.

This bathtub is the 1910 model. It was used by the Drakes in Cedron, Idaho. The bathhouse had a stream of water that ran under the tub into a creek and then drained into the pasture.

This looks like a great way to get a perm or an electrocution.

Which typewriter did you learn on? We learned on the IBM Selectric, the one on the right-hand side of the bottom row.

A local resident square dance caller donated this state of the art sound system to the museum.

The museum has quite a collection of wild animals with big teeth.

The Jefferson County Historical Society is able to lease this building for annual rent of $1.

Returning to West Yellowstone...

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To be continued...

New Old Faithful Education & Visitor Center

On our way to see the new visitor center at Old Faithful, we could see what appeared to be a new mountain; actually, it was the smoke from the Antelope Fire.
A bull elk watches over his harem.

One last stop before the visitor center was the Firehole swimming area. Very popular in the summer, there were only a few here today even though it was a nice warm day in the 70s.

The Firehole is warmed by the runoff of distant hot springs and geysers.

Marlon couldn't resist taking this picture of the sun while here.

We finally made it to the NEW Old Faithful Education and Visitor Center which opened on August 25th.

Looks like snow on the roof already. Nope, just a design to make it look that way.

The 26,000 square foot building's price tag was $27 million, funded by both public and private sources.

The large windows provide a direct view of Old Faithful, which will be quite nice when winter arrives.

The building is filled with many different interactive displays providing information about all the natural features and wildlife of the park.

Here at Yellowstone, there are more hot springs and geysers than the rest of the world combined.

In the Young Scientist area geared to kids, you can watch a working model of a geyser build up pressure and erupt.

Here's a view of the new building from the walkway to Old Faithful.

The Old Faithful Observation Point can be reached via a moderate 1/2 mile hike ascending 200 feet above the Old Faithful Geyser Basin. We made it to the top with time to spare.

Doug decides not to get scalded by following the boardwalk since a small geyser was continuously erupting and landing on the walkway.

By the time we finished walking about the Old Faithful Geyser Basin it was getting late. Here's the visitor center at night.

For more pictures, click here or flip through the entire album below by clicking on the small pictures on the right.

To be continued...

Fall in Yellowstone National Park

We and Candice went into the park today to see some of the fall colors. This bison (or buffalo) was taking it easy in some of the grass that had changed colors.

This elk tried its best to blend in with its surroundings.

The grass around many of the geysers had already turned from green to yellow (or is that brown?).

The mud pots were still muddy.

Fall is here at Yellowstone National Park, but you have to enjoy it while it lasts.

We stopped by Upper Yellowstone Falls and captured these pictures.

Notice the steps on the other side. Who in their right minds would go down them?

Wildlife was all around us today. To see some of it, we had to keep a sharp eye out.

Well, we found our way to those steps in the prior picture. Uncle Tom's Trail has over 300 steps. Luckily, they removed the extra 200 steps and the rope ladders the trail originally had.

Looking down where the steps begin to the workout that awaits.

You want to hold onto the rails here and imagine that now you had to climb down some rope ladders too.

Down at the bottom, it was time for a snapshot and a brief rest.

We were standing on the platform to the right of the Falls when we snapped the first picture of the steps earlier.

The parking lot for the other side of the Falls is above this ridge.

A longer shot of the Falls.

The only problem going down Uncle Tom's Trail is that you eventually have to go back up Uncle Tom's Trail. Let the huffing and puffing begin!

Buffalo roam...

and wallow in the dirt.

One last look at the Buffalo.

In the distance, you can see the thermal water running into Yellowstone Lake.

I see you!!!

Human feet are bigger than elk feet.

This is the West Thumb Geyser Basin which sits next to Yellowstone Lake.

Time for a picture.

I guess humans use this trail so it must be okay to walk on.

I just want to get to the other side.

We have crossed the Continental Divide many times this summer.
It was getting late. Before heading home, we got these great pictures of Yellowstone in the evening.

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To be continued...