Yellowstone National Park

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK---God's Country, a beautiful and breathtaking place.  We were so lucky to be able to spend three days there.

Now that we no longer live in the Mountain West and our kids are official Midwesterners, going to Yellowstone is more than an annual summer camping trip---it's a BIG FREAKIN' deal!!  (I don't usually use the word freakin' but I am trying to make a point!)

Everytime we go to Utah, we talk about taking the girls to Yellowstone, but we just never seem to have time to do it.  However, this year because of our extended stay, we made it happen.  Or I should say Dave's parents made it happen.  They took time off to drive up with us, serve as our unofficial guides of the park and even hosted us in their time share condo in West Yellowstone.  Dave's parents go to Yellowstone every year, so they know what they are doing.  We couldn't have had better guides.  We had such a wonderful time and were awed by natural beauty.  I know it is an experience we will never forget.

The condo property was brand new and very nice.  The girls loved the pool and the playground.

 

On our first day, we saw American bison and their new babies almost as soon as we entered the park.  We also saw a bear but it was so far away, that even with binoculars it wasn't much more than a moving brown dot.  We then went to Madison campground for a ranger show.  The topic that evening was astronomy so we learned all about constellations and even got to see the International Space Station as it moved across the sky.  After the show, everyone went to the parking lot and looked at the stars through big, powerful telescopes.  We saw Saturn and it's rings.  It was very fun.

 

It was also very cold.  In the evenings the temperatures dropped into the 30s.  Thank goodness we weren't camping.  During the day, the temps. were in the 60s, a little cool but comfortable with a sweatshirt.

Our second day, was the geothermal day.  We spent the morning at Midway Geyser Basin, looking at all sorts of hot pots.  Our favorite was the Grand Prismatic Spring.


Paige and Grandma



After, we headed over to Old Faithful, saw the eruption, and walked the trail to see all the geysers.  We started renaming all the geysers, coming up with some of our own names.  We also went into the Old Faithful lodge and had an ice cream on the balcony. 

We ended the day at the new Old Faithful visitor center.  It is really nice, the exhibits helped explain to us what causes all the geysers, mudpots, springs, etc. 


Old Faithful erupting




 It was at the visitor center that the girls picked up their materials to earn the Junior Ranger badge.  I can't say enough about this program.  The girls were basically given a workbook to complete while in the park.  It included questions about different sites, required you to go to a ranger show, document the animals you saw, and map your travel.  If you complete the requirements you get sworn in as a junior ranger and receive a patch.  Let's just say my girls LOVED this.  Okay they were totally obsessed.  Everything revolved around finishing the workbook.  There were a couple time we had to tell them to "chill out" and threaten to take their papers away as they became so concerned about finishing.

working to become a Junior Ranger

Yellowstone Junior Ranger homework

On day three, we drove a big loop and went to Canyon and Grant.  This was definitely the day of breathtaking beauty.  Even the girls were in awe over the waterfalls, lakes and canyons.  As for animals we saw osprey in their nests, a coyote, elk, deer, and a huge black wolf eating an elk carcass!

I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

Yellowstone Canyon

falls

 



We stopped for lunch at cute little diner in Canyon and then went on to see the mud pots--Mud Volcano, the Black Cauldron, and Dragon's Breath.

Dragon's Breath

Mud Volcano

 

Another fun activity on our trip was to find license plates from as many of the states as possible.  We did pretty well, finding 47 of 50 states.  We even found Hawaii and Alaska!  The missing states were Mississippi, Delaware, and Maine.
By the time we stopped in Grant, the girls had finished their Junior Park Ranger requirements!  They had to report to an actual park ranger who checked their materials, asked them questions, and signed their workbook.  Then they were sworn in as junior rangers, promising to preserve and protect Yellowstone and all nature and wildlife.



Swearing in as Park Rangers