Oh my goodness....we are tired.
LOTS and lots of pictures to come.
But we definitely need to get sleep.
But here is proof that we really did do the Yellowstone thing today.
Sure is a ragged lookin' group....and this was just the start of the day!
***************
Our first stop was to see Old Faithful.
Our timing worked out perfectly.
We parked and found our spot just in time for Old Faithful to erupt.
It was great.
We didn't have to wait at all.
It was pretty neat to see.
We forgot to bring Elsie's jacket, and it was kind cold.
So we got her a Yellowstone sweatshirt....and she just loves it.
Port wanted this wolf candy thing.
He thought it was River, my friend Jenni's dog.
And he thought that was pretty cool.
He calls it his River Dog.
*****
Next stop:
Black Sand Basin
We weren't gonna stop, because it was raining.
But we thought...what the heck.
I stayed in the car with Elsie and Porter and we suited Madi and Cassi in the best rain gear we had available.
It was only a few minutes later and it had stopped raining....so I got the little ones out and went to find the others.
It was such a beautiful spot.
So crazy with such amazing things and colors going on everywhere!!!
I am definitely not a scenery photographer......
This just does not do the place justice!
At this point we had yet to see a buffalo......and we were wondering if it would happen.
But we did see these footprints.
So we were excited that they may be close.
****
And we were right.
We jumped back in the car and started to drive to the next destination.
And we came upon this.
Elsie was a very excited little girl.
We were bummed they weren't closer.
We tried to get closer, but the grass was one giant puddle, it was way too wet.
We hopped back in the car, and not too much later, we came upon these guys....
And they were much closer.
Elsie was so excited to see these guys.
Who knew her next obsession would be Buffalo's?
*****
Next stop:
Fountain Paint Pot
Another amazing wonder.
It had a walkway all the way around.
The ground was bubbling all around us.
Very cool.
And geysers were going off everywhere.
Apparently we got here at a good time too.
A guy by us told us that these only go off every 3 hours for 15 min.
So we hit it at the right time.
The boy was sick of being in pictures.
Stinker.
It was pretty cold and windy at this point.
I was happy to see my girls taking care of each other.
We came across Madison Junction on the way to the next stop.....and we had to take a picture with Madi by it.
The thing about stopping along the side.....others think you have spotted some kind of animal, so they stop too.
Sorry, no animals guys.
Just a nutty mom with her camera.
*****
Next stop:
Gibbons Falls
It was a quick stop.
It was really cold, so Brent stayed with the little ones in the car.
It was just a short walk to see the falls.
It was pretty impressive.
Huge amount of water.
We got to see another buffalo.
We had a very happy little girl.
Port finally fell asleep.
He was so exhausted!
Madi grabbed a snooze too.
We came to Canyon Village and needed another bathroom break.
Porter was still sleeping, so I stayed in the car with him.
But I got to hear all about the buffalo that was inside.
Oh so exciting, right???
*****
Then we went to the Lower Falls.
The sun was out and shining by this point, which was nice.
And this was a pretty happening spot.
As we were walking down the stairs to the place, we were behind a guy who was smoking a cigar.
Cassi said, pretty loudly, "Why does it stink so bad?"
Woops.
Out of the mouth of babes, right?
Well, it is no secret that cigars stink, right?
Port was still sick of pictures.
It was a very pretty waterfall.....rainbow and all.
I was looking over the side with the girls, and the guy who was smoking the cigar came up and asked if I wanted him to take a picture of us for me.
He was really nice, and I am almost thinking he really did hear Cassi and wanted to make sure she knew he was nice anyway, even if he did smoke cigars. :)
Then he was willing to take one of the whole family.
Port had just woken up form his nap, so he was a grumpy little guy.
Plus he was very sick of taking pictures.
When is that kid gonna learn?????
*****
Next stop:
The Upper falls.....Artists point
This was a major highlight for me.
I think it was for all of us.
It was so beautiful and breathtaking.
I roped another tourist into taking a group shot of our family with the water fall in back.
And Ports face was too funny, I had to save this one too.
Then there was this picturesque spot that I loved.....so we took a kids shot.
And then Madi made Port happy....so that was a good one to keep as well.
And Madi shot one of Mom and Dad.
Ahhhh....aren't we cute?
Cassi and Madi did a good job helping with Elsie.
They are sweet sisters.
Again, the picture just does not do this justice.
It was amazing!
Sweet Elsie.
Oh, and I can't forget to introduce Buff.
Dad bought this buffalo for Elsie as a souvenir.
She just loves him.
Madi and the falls
Cassi and the falls
Elsie, Buff, and the falls
There is my happy boy.
Port and the falls.
*****
Then we were headed to the Mud Volcanoes.
People were pulled off to the road everywhere.....and you don;t want to pass up what they might be spotting.
So after about 3 stops to see plain old Elk.....we came across this place.
Lots of people were stopped and it seemed to be a big deal.
We thought it was more buffalo.....
But nope.....it was a mama grizzly bear and her two cubs.
Pretty cool.
It was exciting to see a bear, we didn't think we would.
They were pretty far away, but there was a park ranger there to make sure nobody tried to get any closer.
*****
Then we got to the Mud Volcanoes.
I tried to piece together some of the pictures I shot....I didn't really take very good ones to piece together.....oh well.
It was very cool.
This was called the Dragons cave....so something like that.
It looked like a dragon was breathing smoke out from the cave.
These mud volcanoes were pretty cool!
***
At this point Elsie decided she needed to go potty.
We had tried in other toilets, but she has a problem with toilet that have an automatic flush.
She is always so nervous about the toilet flushing on her......she can't ever relax.
Anyway, we waited in line here......then she saw the rest stop potty and refused to sit on it.
It was already about 5:00, and she hadn't gone to the bathroom yet.
Anyway....a little further down the road, she had to go bad, but we were out of options.
I asked her if she wanted me to put a diaper on her, and she agreed.
It took her a while, but she finally relaxed.
And lets just say that diaper was not very absorbent, or absorbent enough.
But at least she felt better.
MUCH better!
********
Then we were ready to make the drive back to Jackson.
During the whole time in Yellowstone, we kept track of the licence plates we saw.
We were so close to finding them all....
The ones with stars are the ones we found.
And we found more after I had taken the picture.
So the only states that we didn't find plates for were:
Hawaii (I don't blame them for staying put :)
Maine (The girls really wanted to spot Maine, they thought it would be the furthest place from home)
Massachusetts
Mississippi
Nebraska
New Jersey
North Carolina
North Dakota
Pennsylvania
Vermont
and Virginia
Not too bad, right?
The kids thought it was pretty fun to spot the licence plates.
***************
Our first stop was to see Old Faithful.
Our timing worked out perfectly.
We parked and found our spot just in time for Old Faithful to erupt.
It was great.
We didn't have to wait at all.
It was pretty neat to see.
After that, we walked around and watched a movie in the amphitheatre.
Had some lunch and did some souvenir shopping.
So we got her a Yellowstone sweatshirt....and she just loves it.
Port wanted this wolf candy thing.
He thought it was River, my friend Jenni's dog.
And he thought that was pretty cool.
He calls it his River Dog.
*****
Next stop:
Black Sand Basin
We weren't gonna stop, because it was raining.
But we thought...what the heck.
I stayed in the car with Elsie and Porter and we suited Madi and Cassi in the best rain gear we had available.
It was only a few minutes later and it had stopped raining....so I got the little ones out and went to find the others.
So crazy with such amazing things and colors going on everywhere!!!
This just does not do the place justice!
But we did see these footprints.
So we were excited that they may be close.
****
And we were right.
And we came upon this.
Elsie was a very excited little girl.
We were bummed they weren't closer.
We tried to get closer, but the grass was one giant puddle, it was way too wet.
We hopped back in the car, and not too much later, we came upon these guys....
Who knew her next obsession would be Buffalo's?
Next stop:
Fountain Paint Pot
Another amazing wonder.
It had a walkway all the way around.
The ground was bubbling all around us.
Very cool.
Apparently we got here at a good time too.
A guy by us told us that these only go off every 3 hours for 15 min.
So we hit it at the right time.
Stinker.
I was happy to see my girls taking care of each other.
The thing about stopping along the side.....others think you have spotted some kind of animal, so they stop too.
Sorry, no animals guys.
Just a nutty mom with her camera.
*****
Next stop:
Gibbons Falls
It was really cold, so Brent stayed with the little ones in the car.
It was just a short walk to see the falls.
It was pretty impressive.
Huge amount of water.
We had a very happy little girl.
He was so exhausted!
Madi grabbed a snooze too.
We came to Canyon Village and needed another bathroom break.
Porter was still sleeping, so I stayed in the car with him.
But I got to hear all about the buffalo that was inside.
*****
Then we went to the Lower Falls.
The sun was out and shining by this point, which was nice.
And this was a pretty happening spot.
As we were walking down the stairs to the place, we were behind a guy who was smoking a cigar.
Cassi said, pretty loudly, "Why does it stink so bad?"
Woops.
Out of the mouth of babes, right?
Well, it is no secret that cigars stink, right?
He was really nice, and I am almost thinking he really did hear Cassi and wanted to make sure she knew he was nice anyway, even if he did smoke cigars. :)
Port had just woken up form his nap, so he was a grumpy little guy.
Plus he was very sick of taking pictures.
When is that kid gonna learn?????
*****
Next stop:
The Upper falls.....Artists point
This was a major highlight for me.
I think it was for all of us.
It was so beautiful and breathtaking.
Ahhhh....aren't we cute?
They are sweet sisters.
It was amazing!
Dad bought this buffalo for Elsie as a souvenir.
She just loves him.
Port and the falls.
*****
Then we were headed to the Mud Volcanoes.
People were pulled off to the road everywhere.....and you don;t want to pass up what they might be spotting.
So after about 3 stops to see plain old Elk.....we came across this place.
Lots of people were stopped and it seemed to be a big deal.
We thought it was more buffalo.....
Pretty cool.
It was exciting to see a bear, we didn't think we would.
They were pretty far away, but there was a park ranger there to make sure nobody tried to get any closer.
*****
Then we got to the Mud Volcanoes.
It was very cool.
This was called the Dragons cave....so something like that.
It looked like a dragon was breathing smoke out from the cave.
***
At this point Elsie decided she needed to go potty.
We had tried in other toilets, but she has a problem with toilet that have an automatic flush.
She is always so nervous about the toilet flushing on her......she can't ever relax.
Anyway, we waited in line here......then she saw the rest stop potty and refused to sit on it.
It was already about 5:00, and she hadn't gone to the bathroom yet.
Anyway....a little further down the road, she had to go bad, but we were out of options.
I asked her if she wanted me to put a diaper on her, and she agreed.
It took her a while, but she finally relaxed.
And lets just say that diaper was not very absorbent, or absorbent enough.
But at least she felt better.
MUCH better!
Then we were ready to make the drive back to Jackson.
During the whole time in Yellowstone, we kept track of the licence plates we saw.
We were so close to finding them all....
And we found more after I had taken the picture.
So the only states that we didn't find plates for were:
Hawaii (I don't blame them for staying put :)
Maine (The girls really wanted to spot Maine, they thought it would be the furthest place from home)
Massachusetts
Mississippi
Nebraska
New Jersey
North Carolina
North Dakota
Pennsylvania
Vermont
and Virginia
Not too bad, right?
The kids thought it was pretty fun to spot the licence plates.
And we spotted one more animal before we headed out of Yellowstone.
She didn't much care that we were there....but the kids thought it was cool to be so close.
*****
It was such a great trip.....so much fun.
It would have been so fun to be able to make the whole loop around Yellowstone, but we had some very worn out kids.....and the lower loop took lots of time anyway.
I think we picked some pretty good spots to see.
The kids will always remember this....and I can't wait till we go again!
2 comments:
Very cool! Can't wait to see more pics!
Can't wait to hear all your adventures!!
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