Since Fan and Mortar erupted yesterday (24 August) evening, our morning was free for Grand and the Opening of the OFVEC today, 25 August. Beehive's Indicator 1208 Beehive ~0016 webcam, 1228 Castle 0956 major Daisy 0646, 0915 Depression 0837ie Fountain 0925, 1406ns Great Fountain 0320 (0325Elec), 1341 (P=0) Grand 0830(T1C) Grotto 1005 Little Cub 1259ie Oblong 0731ie, 1224 Plume 0642, 0800, 0920, 1033, 1129, 1235 Rift 1018ie Rocket 1232 Sawmill 0730, 1216ie West Triplet 0604 (end by 0639), 0840 White Dome 1331ie, 1352, 1419, 1444ie The 67th Army Band of the Wyoming National Guard began playing before the 1100 opening ceremony at 1045. As America the Beautiful was played the mounted unit from YNP brought in the flags. YNP Supt Suzanne Lewis introduced several speakers including Asst. Secretary of the Interior Tom Strickland, National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, Yellowstone Park Foundation Board Chairman Bannus Hudson, who spoke briefly. Keynote Speaker Paul Schullery, who was park historian and author of many books (including my favorite, Mountain Time), talked about the park service, visitor education and the 4 old museums at OF, Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge. His favorite question from visitors when he was a Naturalist was "What time of day is best to see the Gibbons at Gibbon Meadow?" Perhaps his speech is available on the Internet. As if on cue, suddenly Old Faithful (prediction 1147) erupted and the crowd turned to watch and applaud it as Mr. Schullery had the grace and brilliance to turn it over to the big geyser and let it end his eloquent speech. It was one of those magic moments. After the OF eruption, Supt. Lewis announced that the new OFVEC was officially open and a young boy was the first visitor to enter. As we left the OFVC area, Beehive's Indicator was called at 1208 (Beehive 1228), so gazers proceeded to the Hill or overlook. The weather was warm and it was a perfect day to watch geysers after a freezing morning with frosty boardwalks. One gazer waiting for the 0830 Grand had scraped up a heap of frost and molded it into a geyser (Castle). On the way home Great Fountain was well into overflow, so several gazers stopped to watch a very fine eruption with many nice bursts and even a blue bubble in the 5th. It was an excellent day in the park! Mary Beth Schwarz <div style="visibility: hidden; display: inline;" id="avg_ls_inline_popup"></div><style type="text/css">#avg_ls_inline_popup { position:absolute; z-index:9999; padding: 0px 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 240px; overflow: hidden; word-wrap: break-word; color: black; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; line-height: 13px;}</style>