Wow, Yellowstone is huge. And busy. Much busier than last time we went in the summer, 6 years ago. When we realized we were going to be there for a visit it was already too late to get campground reservations very easily. After a few days of trying we got a site for the one night we were in the park (the second night we were staying just outside the park). Spencer opened it up to his siblings to join us if anyone wanted, and Steve and Melissa took us up on it. I am so glad!
We drove into the park, but right before we jumped out and got a few pictures.
My parents were planning to drive through it and see a couple things before heading out. They came with us to Paint Pot first, and then to Grand Prismatic (my favorite). It was hard to find parking for a car let alone the motorhome, but we eventually did every time.
Here we are at Fountain Paint Pot. My camera spit out some SUPER bright pictures, perhaps a foreshadowing of it actually breaking within the next hour? Of course I had no idea.
The kids loved this walk around all the bubbling pools of water and clay. Hanging out with cousins is their favorite. One thing I remember: Tanner was NOT impressed; he rode on Papa's shoulders but didn't have much to say and was quite bored. We had fun trying to guess how far down in the earth these started. Some were quite stinky.
We ate a quick lunch and took off for Grand Prismatic. Parking took FORever and it was busy with tour buses. But like I said, it is my favorite! All the colors just blow my mind. I think it is such a testament to the beauty of this earth. I quickly realized that something was wrong with my camera - it didn't want to shoot at all and I was getting a crazy error message. I didn't have time or space (too many people everywhere!) to investigate but was so bummed. Luckily my dad got a couple pictures of us.
Sadie wanted to walk on her own, which is fun for a minute but not when there are millions of people! Then someone was blocking the road so we couldn't get out...it was crazy. The kids put their feet in the Firehole River; we were thinking it would be warmer, being fed from lots of hot springs. It wasn't cold necessarily, but definitely wasn't warm either.
My parents at this point decided to drive out of the park and head for home, getting as far as they could that night. I do think they got to see Old Faithful shooting up as they drove by - lucky.
By this point Sadie was tired so I got her to sleep and then Spencer parked us at Old Faithful and I stayed with her as she slept and everyone else went to see Old Faithful and go get Junior Ranger stuff. (Have I mentioned just how much my kids love the Junior Ranger program?)
You have to PAY for Junior Ranger workbooks at Yellowstone, but it ended up being worth it. Spencer was frustrated because he couldn't get the generator on but it had worked a few hours earlier so we were baffled. I worked on my camera while Sadie slept (no luck, and no Internet to google the problem) and when she woke up we found everyone else, got ice cream in the Old Faithful lodge, then caught the next Old Faithful show.
We had leftover wedding food so we tried the generator one more time with no luck. It sure would have been nice to eat dinner with the Rich's using the microwave... Oh well. We parted ways and we headed to Fishing Bridge and they headed back out to West Yellowstone for the night.
The next day we tried to get an early start. TRIED. We were going to meet Steve and Melissa at 10 at Canyon. I think they got there ok but coming from our direction (Hayden Valley) we got stuck in traffic. Bison traffic. At first it was fun and entertaining, but it definitely got old and we were 30 minutes late.
We got to Artist Point, a great view of the waterfalls, and the kids were able to catch a ranger program (a requirement for Junior Rangers).
Then we went to Uncle Tom's trail to do the hike/stairs down to the bottom of the falls. I remember doing this when I was pregnant with Macie and didn't remember much about it. With so many of us, it was hard. But worth it. It was beautiful. And exhausting. My calves felt it.
On the way back up, at the top of the stairs, Emma said she was about to pass out. She was pale and I could tell she was teetering. We stopped and got her some water, and a nice European lady gave me some sugar pills to help with blood sugar. After a few minutes we were good to go. Still no luck on the generator (blast!) so we made sandwiches for lunch.
At this point Steve and Melissa parked their car and jumped into the motorhome with us for the rest of the afternoon. We went to Tower (snooze) and Mammoth Hot Springs (meh) before heading back to their car. It was several hours and was quite crowded with lots of excited, loud kids.
We got back to Canyon and the kids wanted some souvenirs and ice cream. They also had to get their junior ranges patches since they had completed their packets. They got awesome, huge Yellowstone patches. Tanner and Emma got Yellowstone shirt/hat combinations, and Tyler got a shirt. We took off for Flagg Ranch, about a 90 minute drive, and a few miles outside the park (south entrance/exit).
The worst part of the day was getting stuck for an HOUR in Hayden Valley (again!) because of bison. They would not stop crossing the road, and even when they did people refused to drive! It got quite maddening.
But all was well again when we were driving by Yellowstone Lake and saw some people stopped on the side of the road. Then we saw why they had stopped - a bear! Spencer parked the motorhome and we ran back to see closer. As we got to the area, we noticed the bear was coming toward us. I got a picture and he took a couple steps toward me. I was scared but was just happy I saw a bear. He wasn't a cub, but I could tell he was sorta young. Hooray for grizzly sightings!
We also stopped to see an elk, and then at Lewis Falls. It was late, everyone was hungry, and we were finally getting close to Flagg Ranch.
We rolled in around 8:30, quickly got hooked up and made dinner, and then had the Rich's walk down (they were just up the road at a cabin/hotel) to eat with us.
Then it was GOOD NIGHT. And goodbye Yellowstone.
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