Old Faithful Geyser where your bottled water comes from

Did you know there are only 3 geysers in the world? Yellowstone, New Zealand, and here at Calistoga? We've seen 2 out of 3- and I've been wanting to go to New Zealand.


Charles Schwarts was also impressed.


Since the geyser came on approx. every 40-minutes, Kai and I ran around in this maze of a bamboo forest.

Kai goofs around in front of this clown mirror.


Old Faithful has been turned off for now, while Kai plays with a Beluga whale toy he found on the picnic grounds.

And sppffft! There it goes. No where as grand as Yellowstones, but hey- it's one of 3 of its kind in the world, right?

And that's as high as it goes. The geyser erupts by action of cool water running through the volcanic chambers of molten magma far beneath the earth's surface. It's somewhat of an unsettling feeling to know there is a magma river below us!

Video: Old Faithful in action!

The Largest Petrified Trees in the World

Leaving Safari West, less than 5 miles away was Calistoga and the World's Largest Petrified Trees. These giant Redwood trees were converted when Mt. Helena erupted nearby (now dormant). The trees now petrified, have deposits of minerals, crystal, wood opal, obsidian, silica, and others. From a distance they look like normal fallen trees, but up close, like detailed rock.

Kai and Gramma pose next to a wood-carved bear.


The fallen "Giant".


The fallen "Queen" with a new tree growing through it!


A mine with a petrified Redwood along the left side.

A petrified wood pile.

It was about 100 degrees out today. Even the shade did not cool us off much. But I still refused to leave for home early on a Friday having taken off a work day- so we stopped at another attraction not too much further down the road.