... going to see a huge waterfall that is at least as impressive as that dinky little one on the US-Canada border near Buffalo, NY. Plus the water gushing off the stone precipice into the gorge is all glacier melt, so if you were foolish enough to get close, it has been snow for a thousand years and is safe to drink. Even though this word is so overused as to be trite and trivial: it really was awesome...and quite a bit of wow!
We went out in the country again today, with map/GPS to find that biggest ever river flowing over the rocks into the canyon, apparently carved out by glaciers eons ago. Actually two falls, as it steps down from the highest into a mid-level, before flowing again like a river, but with a gazillion rocks from centuries of churning water as it runs off the thawing glacier. On the way, lots of pasture land with horses, cattle and sheep grazing out in the fields, and more of those note-worthy mountains that seem to just sprout from the smooth, level fields suddenly bolt upright into rock monoliths.
We also stopped at a place to witness geysers, hot springs that spout steam, and gush forth with clouds of heated water. The weather has been rainy on-and-off all day, but that did not stop us from going out, or the hot springs from blowing off a head of steam periodically as the gawking tourists gathered around, crowding near the rope barricades to get a good view. Then suddenly backing off as the heated moist air billows out from underground for about two seconds. Then it's over until the steam builds up again to burst out of that narrow hole in the earth like a whale's blow hole.
After roaming around all afternoon, we returned to the little town with the unpronounceable name and stopped for dinner at a restaurant we had passed a number of times in our travels. A place advertising the food is cooked using the geo-thermal heat that come from underground. Those steam vents you are surprised to see all over the place, alongside the highway, out across the fields, up on the side of the mountains. Somehow harnessed to provide the heat for cooking breads, cakes, meals served in the little neighborhood eatery. It was done in a flash! I don't recall ever having table service so quickly after orders were placed. Reportedly, water will boil in seven seconds using geo-thermal as the heat source. Very good eats: my only disappointment was that I could not eat it all and had to leave some on my plate.
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