Yellowstone June 2010

In June we were able to take a trip to Yellowstone with Nick and Michelle and their kids. We had an awesome time! The only regrets were that the rest of the family couldn’t come and that we didn’t get to spend more time there. We headed up to Island Park, Idaho on Sunday. We stayed in a great cabin there. It had everything we needed! We were able to stick all the kids in one room while both couples had our own rooms and there were still beds to spare. Next time we are definitely making the rest of the family come with us! There was of course a full kitchen, an awesome wood burning furnace, and even Dish network so we could stay caught up with the World Cup!

After we settled in on Sunday we drove to Big Springs and hiked the trail there. It was so beautiful! Big Springs is one of the largest springs in the US. The water is crystal clear and is a balmy 52 degrees year round...anyone care to take a dip?

While on the trail we saw a muskrat swimming in the river. Isabel and Sydnee entertained themselves searching for animal footprints and trying to decide what they were from.

Monday was a beautiful day; the weather was perfect! We drove around Yellowstone’s lower loop. We had an exciting start to our day when we saw a grizzly bear just on the other side of the river!

Next the kids got their first experience of the real smell of Yellowstone, the wonderful aroma of the sulfur from the mud pots and pools.

Later, while we waited for Old Faithful to erupt we were able to watch Beehive Geyser erupt across the way. We were down wind from Old Faithful, so we saw more steam than spray, but it was still amazing. As we walked the boardwalk around Old Faithful Shad had to make a daring rescue…Isaac dropped Buzz Lightyear! It’s a good thing Buzz didn’t land near anything too dangerous! Whew, thank goodness for Uncle Shad! We saw a lot more wildlife too. There were plenty of bison roaming around, even in the road. There were a couple of times when they walked right passed our car! We also saw elk, a coyote, and a teenage male moose that looked like he was practicing some dancing moves!

Tuesday we drove the upper loop. The weather was crazy! We had sunshine, rain, hail, sun, and rain again. First we hit the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone...Amazing!

We took the stairway hike down to see Lower Falls. Isabel counted 318 steps! Michelle and I realized just how afraid of heights we are, as you can see right through the stairs. The stairs took us ¾ of the way down the mountain to the look out point. Our legs shook on the way down due to fear and they shook in the way up due to exhaustion! It was totally worth it though!

We made a quick stop at the Mud Pots, the kids did NOT like the smell there, so we didn’t linger long. We saw more bears later that day: two black bears climbing a mountain, a grizzly eating an elk for dinner, and a momma bear with her two cubs! It was a great time for seeing bears! We also saw a wolf and a yellow-bellied marmot sitting on a post on the side of the road.

On our next visit to Yellowstone we will make sure to have more time. We didn’t even get to enjoy all the perks of the cabin like having ping-pong and air hockey tournaments, and being able to just sit around and enjoy doing nothing. Thank you Nick and Michelle for inviting us! We had a blast! Let’s do it again soon! We love you guys!!!