Family Vacation Part 1 June 18-20

Summer has finally arrived! That means VACATION! I started planning this trip back in April or so and I thought about camping in Moab because we have never been there. But as we were talking Ryan thought it might be too hot this time of year so I thought of visiting my Grandparents in Idaho and taking Ryan and the boys to Yellowstone National Park. They have not been there and I haven't been in at least 10 years so that fit perfect. It would be a bit of a drive but I wanted to the boys to get to know my Grandparents better as I have fond memories of visiting them when I was little. Ryan and I haven't been to their home either so we were able to check off alot of things on this trip.
They live just south of Salem, ID. You are able to see the Grand Tetons in the distance from their home.
We left SLC Friday morning, our first stop was my Grandma Beth's grave in Lewiston UT. We were there in March for her funeral, and I must say it is a much prettier place in summer. The photo of the tree is her "view" if you will. I miss her so much and can't believe she is gone, but it was peaceful and a big comfort being there to say hello and to tell her I love her.


Afterward we continued North and about 2 hours later we arrived in Rexburg/Salem.
I love being out in the country, the smells, the quiet and the slow pace of everything.
We settled in, played Frisbee in the backyard for a little bit, then Grandma brought out this garden wagon...here comes the fun part! The boys immediately started to take turns pulling each other in the wagon, which soon turned into one pushing from behind and the kid in front steering with the handle. They were going pretty fast!


Well soon this wasn't good enough for the boys and the "redneck roller coaster" was built. (Before this contraption was made, Ryan and I had left to pick a few things up from the store for our trip to the park in the morning so we came back to find this...)

They were having such a blast and thought it was the coolest thing ever, so we just let them play. There were no injuries, fights, etc. just good old fun!
Grandma made dinner, with the kids help and we sat around and talked for a little bit, then it was off to bed.

With the alarm set at 5:30am, we had an early start! It's about an hour and half drive and I knew we had ALOT to fit in that day. The kids were able to sleep in the car and it was just a beautiful drive.


It started to rain, but I didn't care NOTHING was going to ruin this trip. Luckily the rain stopped and the day was ideal.
We entered through the West Entrance. We had to stop for this photo and we met a nice couple from...crap I forgot the state...anyway we exchanged cameras to help each other out with the family pic.

We made it to Yellowstone!
We stopped along the river to stretch and and look at the geese in the water.

It took about 20 minutes in before we saw our first animal, a baby elk (I know the geese, but I'm not counting them). The kids noticed it before we did!

Right after that was Buffalo! These creatures are so amazing up close!


I love driving through this park because you are able to pull of to the side of the road and EVERYONE understands why and doesn't get mad or impatient because they want to see as well!
Next we came to our first geysers at Monument Geyser Basin.These were the first geysers the kids and Ryan have seen!


We continued on and had to stop for construction, I remember having to do this when I came last and we waited for what seemed like hours! I thought we would have to do this a lot more, but fortunately this was our one and only stop with a wait of 10 minutes.
Waiting to go!
We weren't able to stop at Gibbons Falls because of the construction, so we continued on. We saw more Buffalo and this time we saw a bull Elk! They were kind of far off, but still neat!

The next stop was Norris Geyser Basin to see Steamboat Geyser. When it erupts, which is not that frequent as you will see from the photo, it is the tallest geyser in the world.


A ranger was standing there talking to the guests and the boys were able to hold a horn from a big horned sheep.

We walked along the trail that wrapped around other geysers. One view was really neat because you were able to see steam far off rising from the trees, very pretty!

Keaton took a picture for us :)

Once we got back to the car, we had a bite to eat (the kids were so relieved!) We were off once again headed North towards Mammoth Hot Springs. As you are driving along you can tell can tell when an animal has been spotted because cars are stopped all along the road and traffic is backed up. This happens a lot and this time we saw this...


A black and grey Wolf! I have never seen wolves in person and this was pretty neat. One lady that Ryan had talked with said her family comes every year and this was the first time they had seen the wolves, so I am guessing they are pretty elusive! I wish I was able to get a better picture like the people standing right next to the grey wolf...but I wouldn't want to get that close!
Moving on...next we came to Obsidian Cliff. The kids and Ryan climbed the massive boulders while I stayed back to get some pictures...cute huh!


Next was Mammoth Hot Springs, this is also the park headquarters. There is a little town with a nice park in the middle of it all.

View of the town from Mammoth.
We explored the springs, which is more like a mini mountain, but this wasn't as neat as I remember. It seemed like it wasn't as active, barely any water, nothing gushing out of the springs. I was really bummed, but it's still pretty anyway :)


We were driving through town looking for a restroom and somewhere to fill up our water bottles, when the kids noticed more Buffalo standing right in the park! Nolan wanted to get out and get some pictures with his camera because they were super close! I was sooo nervous to let him get close, but we let him walk out a little bit, but not too much, to get some photos. He was able to get what he wanted!
I am glad I listened to my instincts, we found out that the smaller of the two buffalo actually stomped and just about charged at a family that was having a picnic! You never know with wild animals what they will do when you are in their territory!
Also in town there were more elk hanging out in the shade. We were so close!
The next stop was our first waterfall, Undine Falls. I love the falls in Yellowstone, they are amazing!


Driving once again! We spotted a pronghorn antelope right before we came to a BLACK BEAR! This was a first for all of us to see a bear in the wild. They are wonderful creatures and simple awesome to see in their habitat.
Ryan took these pictures, he and Nolan walked up closer, but again I was nervous and asked them to come back!
Pronghorn Antelope


Here is the next waterfall we came too, Wraith Falls. Gorgeous!




Ryan would name an animal that he wanted to see and PRESTO! We would see that animal! He named the Wolf, the bull Elk, and the Bear. After we saw the Black Bear he said he wanted to see a Grizzly. Well what do you think we saw next????


Yup this massive Grizz in a field right next to the road! He walked right across the street like he owned the place! Breath taking and spine chilling at the same time!


We were way North now, almost in Montana and it was pretty chilly. I took a pic from the car of the snow that was still there in Mid-June!
We stopped for a little break to stretch and continued on until we saw more stopped cars and everyone looking up a hill to a Momma Grizzly with her two cubs! They were only there for just a moment before disappearing behind the other side of the hill, but I was able to get a few good shots before they did!


Now to Tower Falls. Unfortunately neither Ryan nor myself noticed the signs, or turn out for the lower part of the falls, so we missed it! Ryan was willing to go back, but I knew we still had so much to see and the kids really weren't that interested in waterfalls so we continued on. But we did see the brink of the falls, so I settled for that.

Looking up before the brink.The water right before falling...
...and looking down.
The next part of the drive started to take us back south. This part of the drive, there wasn't much to pull out and see, unless you saw animals, which we did! Here are some pictures.

Buffalo right next to the road!
Elk in the distance.
Next we came to Sulphur Caldron . Man it was stinky!
Tev and I ignoring the smell!


Keaton not ignoring the smell!
Right down from this was Mud Volcano and Dragons Mouth Spring. The kids wanted to start taking pictures more, so most of the pictures are courtesy of them!
Dragons Mouth was hard to get an up close photo of due to the steam, but farther back wasn't too bad.







After the smelly stuff we came across more vehicles stopped and saw another Black Bear! We really were fortunate to see as many bears as we did!
We continued on to Fishing Bridge, where they do not allow fishing anymore, but it is a very pretty place and worth while to see! We were able to see White Pelicans. They were so beautiful!







Our drive continued South, past beautiful Yellowstone Lake. We were now on our way to Old Faithful. Once again we noticed cars stopped alongside the road so I hopped out of the car and there were two bull Elk right there!

Amazing creatures!
Next we stopped at Kepler Cascades. The kids wanted to stay in the car, it was turning into a long day and we still had a ways to go. So Ryan and I walked to the falls.



We had to try and hurry before we lost daylight. The next stop was for sure Old Faithful! I believe at this time we had been in the park at least 10 hours, so you can imagine the kids were just about done! They were so well behaved though, they hardly complained and were still excited to see animals and get to Old Faithful.
We made it!

It was about 7:50 when we parked in the car. Everyone must have been here earlier in the day because there was hardly anyone there, which made it nice. I remember the place being packed and hardly having anywhere to walk by Old Faithful, so I definitely think waiting until later was to our benefit! Of course when we got there Old Faithful had just finished her eruption, so we had an hour and 10 minute wait. But that gave a chance to walk around and see all the other geysers in the area.


Ryan and the boys looking at geysers.
A small eruption from a geyser View from Castle Geyser
We walked for a bit, but the kids were getting tired and cold so we stopped in at a gift shop for a break. After spending some money (I am a sucker for souvenirs) we headed over to get a seat for the show. It was really starting to get cold and honestly I think we were all ready to go, but we toughed it out.
Waiting for Old Faithful to go!

Old Faithful got everyone wet as she was erupting, so we backed off and the kids said they were done, but we needed to get photos with us and Old Faithful before we left. She is still going in these photos!

I think Old Faithful is loosing her steam. She doesn't erupt very long and it's not that high anymore, but it's still amazing to see nature's power. I am glad the kids were able to see this and that they are old enough to remember this trip.
As we were leaving the park, the car was dead quiet! Everyone was beat, but we had one last animal sighting before we left, a herd of Buffalo crossing the road, the little babies were so cute!


I am not sure of the total mileage that we drove, but we were in the park for 12.5 hours! Next time we are staying in the park and taking two days! It was a wonderful day, I am so lucky Ryan and the kids were there to enjoy it with me. I have a great family and love them very much!
Family Vacation Part 2 coming soon!