Today was all about Yellowstone! We knew what we wanted to
see again, had some new spots we wanted to visit, and were looking forward to
more animals.
The animals thing kicked off right away. On the drive into
Yellowstone from Cody, we saw a big old buffalo and a newborn baby deer. The
deer unfortunately was on the road, but thankfully there was no sign of the
deer or its demise on our way back at the end of the day.
The travel was slow, thanks to construction, following a
couple RVs, and rainy weather. And we had some kids grouchy, some impatient,
and one who wouldn’t quit reading. So, I randomly started a game; with each
animal a Sleichter saw, birds not included, they would get a poker chip. Yes,
we had a pocket full of poker chips in the van; long story for another time.
Anyway, it worked. Immediately, my highly competitive children started looking
out the windows and seeing their surroundings.
Despite the traffic delays, we made it to Yellowstone, and
based on the online geyser predictor, we had just enough time to make it to Ol’
Faithful before it blew.
Old Faithful was on John’s wish list, so Jay busted his tail
as best he could through Yellowstone traffic. And we happened to pull into the
parking lot by the geyser just as it blew! John saw it start from the parking
lot, and saw it finish as we walked up there closer. The trail around the
geyser was closed, so there wasn’t much more to do there, so we piled back in.
I guess you could say, we came, we saw, we left.
I should probably add here that, if you intend to go to
Yellowstone, make sure you load the Yellowstone app on your phone, and load up
the map while you still have wifi. Because once you get near the park, you can
forget about having reliable wifi, cell service, or ability to make or receive
calls. Plus you can pick the spots you are interested in, and it will highlight them on the map.
Next after Old Faither, we were onto the geyser basins. I
could probably spend an entire day walking amongst the geysers and the trails
surrounding them. Despite the awful smell of egg farts aka sulfur, the geysers
are very humbling. It really shows that the whole park sits on a huge volcano,
and it’s the only place I’ve ever seen that looks so very volcanic. Still, the
girls weren’t in the best of moods on day 532 of our family vacation, and John
was still disappointed in Old Faithful, so we only hit two geyser stops.
We went to Grand Prismatic Springs, one of the most
beautiful blue/green geysers in the valley. It was a cold 44 degrees with
drizzle, so we had our winter coats on, and weren’t much for dawdling. Still it
was great to see them all, the various colors, boiling liquids, steam rising,
dribbles of water down the rocky sides.
We really had ran out of patients at this time. So, I told
the kids they could stay in the car or get out with me, but we were going to
the places on our must see list, whether they liked it or not. It was also
cold, drizzling, and lunchtime. So we had a very quiet picnic in the parking
lot a trailhead. We enjoyed watching the fly-fisherman, and watch the cars load
up and unload while we sat there.
Next on the list, our favorite, Firehole Falls. There is a
special branch there, where we have taken our family picture every time we have
come to Yellowstone. We were the only ones down the hill near the water, and
got the required family photo thanks to the timer on Katie’s phone. Then the
kids and parents wandered around, a couple kids heading up to a mini cave; a
couple climbing on rocks; and parents heading up a little trail. That
particular hike showed us why the falls sounded less intense than usual. Just
around the corner from our favorite falls photo, was a giant rock slide that
landed in the falls. No wonder it seemed different. It was just another example
of how Yellowstone is different every time you go there.
Our next requested stop, and by “our”, I mean “mine” was
Mammoth Hot Springs. We had cruised by it yesterday in our state of exhaustion,
but I wanted to climb through the rock formations there, and the kids wanted
ice cream from the shop there. And Jay wanted wifi to check weather, with the
impending winter storm warning heading in from the west. We all got what we
wanted, and the littles and I had a leisurely stroll through the maze of
boardwalks that make up the northern most part of Mammoth Hot Springs
geothermal feature. And the ice cream and clean bathrooms were nice, too!
Back in the car, with three goals to go, the day getting
long, and weather on the way. Jay was a trooper, cruising through the park. I
did get a lovely video of him asleep at the wheel, while we waiting a long time
for a construction flagman to let us through. Otherwise, he’s a rock star,
didn’t complain once. To Tower we went, to see the big waterfalls, Upper and
Lower Falls. This was high on John’s list, and we all like them for their
magnificent beauty and intensity.
Jay happened to turn a road or two early, so we found
ourselves on a one way on the north side of the falls. We have always visited
the south side. But the new view of the old falls was just as spectacular! I
was nervous with the wet pavement and steep inclines and deadly distances to
fall. But no one fell, and the photos and memories are amazing.
Back in the van, two more stops. We had no idea the
surprises we’d see on the journey, though. Another bear sighting, two for one!
A black bear and a brown bear crossed the road right in front of us! We sat
there and watched them for a couple minutes, amazed at their playfulness and
speed. But we moved along, so others could stop and gaze.
First up: mud volcano. More specifically, Dragon’s Breath
geyser. If you only visit one spot, this would be the one. The sounds coming
out of that hole are terrifying and amazing. The earth is alive and breathing,
my friends! And, it’s not a far walk from the road.
And lastly, Yellowstone Lake. This is one “must do” for all
five kids. At this point, I was cold, and it looked wet, so I waited in the
car. But the kids had fun, and John had a blast! The lake is so massive, the
waves coming off it are similar to what you’d see in the ocean. And what an
idealistic, peaceful way to end our Yellowstone visit.
But the park had one more surprise for us. On our journey to
Trail Inn at Wapiti, the cars stopped on the highway in front of us. And since
there was no flagman, we knew there must be animals. And what do you know, it
was a new species to us: mountain goats! I had never seen them in the wild
before this day. What a great ending to our park experience.
We weren’t up for another trip to Cody, and the littles only
wanted quesadillas or grilled cheese, and TV. So, after we got John ready for
bed, fed John and Lainie and Nat, and gave instructions to Nat and Lainie, we
walked across the parking lot and ate at the hotel restaurant. We were the only
ones there, which felt sad. But the meal was delicious, and service friendly.
We even got to hear the rest of the story about the wild fire and all the
firefighters hanging around the area. Apparently, the mountain just west of the
inn had caught fire a couple days prior to our arrival. Thank goodness the
firefighters were on it and got it under control before the neighboring ranches
were burned.
So supper and showers done, half the van packed, kids asleep
on time-ish, and plans for an early start in the morning. We have a 13.5 hour
drive time tomorrow, not including stops for meals and bathrooms and apparently
Jay is holding me to a mile run in Colorado. And so I sign off, and pray for
safe travels and sleepy kids in the car tomorrow, while we diagonal across
Wyoming and power through to home.
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