We made our Yellowstone reservation six months before we set sail and made it for a whole two weeks. (The longest we have stayed anywhere so far!) The kids think this qualifies them to say they have LIVED in Yellowstone!
Who needs to visit a zoo when you can have bison, elk and deer as close to you as your van window! Our initial greeting to Yellowstone was crossing over Fishing Bridge along with about 20 bison. Hobie was going NUTS as they were so close to us. Later we learned, from the park ranger, that bison are “directional” so once they are headed in a certain direction, they keep on moving forward. One little guy (a teenage we imagine) kept being “NON directional” and was loudly scolded by his father!
We arrived to beautiful days of 70 to 80 degrees. Ken and I celebrated our birthdays at Yellowstone Lodge and the “cafeteria”. Don’t laugh – it was GOOD food! Before dinner, we sat out on the big porch in rocking chairs, overlooking Yellowstone lake, watching a bison act like he was going to charge a freaked out family in a minivan and just enjoying being in Yellowstone!
The weather changed dramatically as a front from ALASKA came through, bringing the HIGHS down to the mid 40s! We were completely unprepared for this change in temperature (our goal was to follow the WARM weather!!) so Ken, Andrew and Lauren had to take a TWO HOUR trek to Walmart in Coty Wyoming. While they were gone, Nikki and I bundled up and took Hobie on some long and beautiful walks. It’s so great to have one on one time with a single child, asking them what they want out of life.
We took two long drives – one on the lower loop of Yellowstone and one on the upper. We left in the morning with temperatures in the low 20s. The fog swirled mysitcally about the Yellowstone lake. Then there are the geysers. They really defy words. It is amazing to see the earth IN ACTION! The kids were not happy about the smell of sulfur but came up with a way to plug their noses while still seeing the beauty. It was really something to finally see a place that we learned about in 4th grade! Old Faithful was amazing – erupting every 90 minutes -each and every day. It was SO fun to have the anticipation build. And the waterfalls were spectacular!
Despite the cool weather, we did manage to take a lot of picnics. It was during these picnics that we got to see bears! In total, we saw a total of 5 bears which is a bit scary but also really cool!
We left Yellowstone, we so many memories in hand and a hope of warmer weather in Montana!
