With us having a house in Wyoming, it was a matter of time before
we crossed Yellowstone off of our list!
We invited the Evans to come with us.
Which was a great idea, or else our kids would have killed us
after hours beyond hours of sitting in the car!
They were perfect traveling buddies to keep them entertained.
Yellowstone is massive!
We bit off a big chunk of it in a 3 day span.
First was our flight into Idaho.
These boys scrammed once we hit the entrance of Walmart
and headed straight to the clothing section.
They came back all sheepish with some matching merch they wanted us to buy them.
It reminded me of the instagram videos of girl cousins planning a dance to show the parents
in hopes to say yes for a sleepover.
in hopes to say yes for a sleepover.
How could we say no?
We had no choice but to grocery shop now,
because once you hit Yellowstone there is literally nothing.
With our luggage and bodies, it made for the tightest squeeze!
Groceries in every crevice!
It would be a long hour drive.
It would be a long hour drive.
The big boys with Stephanie and Travis.
We were all slap happy at this point.
Our humble, but very expensive abode super close to the West entrance.
Remind me to buy rental real estate by Yellowstone.
Holy cow.
National Parks are NOT a cheap trip!
National Parks are NOT a cheap trip!
Who would have thought driving to see rocks and bubbling water could cost so much?
We were bushed and had an early start the next morning, but props to us for making prayer happen!
Rise and Shine, it's Yellowstone time!
I dubbed Stephanie our Yellowstone guide.
I usually am a planner, but with graduation and mission I just couldn't give it my best effort.
I usually am a planner, but with graduation and mission I just couldn't give it my best effort.
She was superb and found an app that literally directs you throughout the whole park!
It was called the Shaka guide.
It was called the Shaka guide.
It was so nice just following their car.
We had to laugh because the second we pulled into the Park, we were pulling over!
This trip could take us a year, lol!
But it was a very scenic first look at a river!
Our first look at things smoking out of the ground!
It was fun pointing them out, but then you realize as you keep going
there are lotssss of smoking things coming out of the ground in Yellowstone, ha!
And lots of these very skinny wood boardwalks circling around very hot things!
The Shaka guide told us to pull over to see a waterfall.
Little things we would have never discovered on our own!
Little things we would have never discovered on our own!
We decided looking over the edge is for pansies.
We found a trail to get us to the bottom.
The Fountain Paint pots.
I believe these are the most "famous" or should I say grand of the paint pots.
The poor people around us.
You have to make sightseeing interesting for the kids
somehow! Pretending to throw them off the deck is what seemed
to work best for us apparently...
This was my favorite!
We just missed the exciting uproar of a Bison falling in at this very spot the week prior.
It disintegrating to nothing right in front everyone!
This was a bigger stop with lots more ground to walk and things to see.
There is an option to drive to a different parking lot a little yonder up the road to see the
Midway Geyser and have a really cool back view of Grand Pristmatic.
We also prepped to keep walking passed that to what we thought would be a little
hike, 0.6 miles, to see Fairy Falls waterfall.
We had our backpacks in tow and Casey thought it would be no big deal
to bring our insulated bag to keep our food nice and cool for a waterfall picnic.
Because we are high maintenance eaters like that!
It was a little farther than we thought.
Enough to keep the 2 littles asking are we there yet for about 20-30 minutes.
Poor Casey was cursing the cold lunch idea right about now!
You can see said gray insulated bag on the ground next to us!
So glad we got a candid shot of the bag that
saw as much as Yellowstone as we did!
We wrapped up the day at OLD FAITHFUL!!
Now, I was picturing this to be a single hole in the ground in the middle of
nowhere!
Not so much.
This was the most congested, packed place of all of Yellowstone!
Complete with a massive souvenir store, restaurant, and a lodge right next to it.
Walking from the hubbub to Old Faithful.
Of course you can't put Geysers on a time schedule, but they had an estimated
wait listed on when it would erupt next.
Luckily we only had about 15 minutes until the next blow!
More smoke billowing
Blast off!
It was a tad anti-climatic, but super fun to see it in real life!
We scurried over to church in the lodge literally right next to Old Faithful.
They have a branch for travelers that is open only in the Summer months.
They have a branch for travelers that is open only in the Summer months.
We were late so we sat on the side to not make a commotion.
Trying to keep this one awake.
DINNER!!
They look like they just came back from war.
In fairness, it was a long day in the sun with lots of walking!
This trip in not meant for small kids.
Della and Tanner became dinner buddies!
They couldn't decide on what to get so they each got one and did
halfsies! They seemed to do this most of the trip, cute!
So much for being tired.
Shenanigans back at the house for all.
