Yellowstone Day 4

  Day 4 we slept in; well as long as the kids would let us, loaded up the suburban and hit the road by 10:30 a.m.  We had to stop in Idaho Falls to pick up a truck for Shawn so we decided to stop for a quick lunch and Wendys before making the last stretch home!  Grandpa Vance and Grandma JoAnn took the Arbon kids to the movie Finding Dory and since we made it home so much earlier than expected Heather suggested we go to Finding Dory too as a way to end our vacation!  My kids had showed no interest in the movie so we were worried but they ended up loving it!  Everyone else went out to eat after but we decided to head home to be with our Cleo!

Everyone's Favorites from the trip:

    Zach - Watching the bear playing with the cooler, the prime rib dinner at the play, seeing the black bear with her cub off the side of the road, Old Faithful Geyser, geysers, hot pools and spitting mud pots.

    Jessi - Remembering our childhood trips to Yellowstone, The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, Macks Inn Playhouse, seeing the Mommy and baby black bear on the side of the road, hiking and Midway Geyser Basin.

    Kabree -Macks Inn Playhouse, hiking and getting her treasures (her souvenirs especially her rocks).

    Keagan - The Bear Zoo (The Grizzly & Wolf Discover Center), Macks Inn Playhouse when they sang the song "I Lobster and never Flounder..." and going to the movie Finding Dory.

    Heather - The memories that seeing different places brought back.  Seeing little ones get excited about the animals, saving Kiki's necklace (Keagan said she didn't like that part lol)!

    Hanna - Mammoth hot springs, the black bears on the side of the road and the play!

    Justice - The geysers, black bears on the side of the road, the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center and going to Finding Dory.

What we learned from this road trip:

• Once again having an awesome neighbor dog sit and your niece take care of your mail and lawn are priceless because we didn't stress a single bit about any of it!                                                  -Thank you so MUCH Jan and Whitney!-
•  Blankets were again a must for the road trip!
• Grandma JoAnn makes trips more fun and we missed her terribly!
• Yellowstone National Park should not be attempted in 2 days!
• Do not plan on using your cell phone for directions or fun facts about the places you are going while in Yellowstone National Park....you have no service!
• Good shoes are a must and you will regret trying flip flops or sandals!
• Cute hats are fun but stressful when it's windy.....Yellowstone National Park is always windy!!!
• Crustables are a must have for hangry adults!
• Washing your clothes the last night makes for a wonderful unpacking experience!

  We are so grateful we were able to have such a great vacation!  No one got hurt or lost, everyone got along and had great attitudes!  It was so much fun and we already can't wait for next years vacation!!!

Yellowstone Day 3

  Friday, due to our late night Thursday we didn't get as early of a start but we were still on the road by 9 a.m.  However, right out the gate into the park we hit a traffic jam that took us 20 minutes to go 1 mile.  It was a little frustrating when we discovered the reason was an Elk and her baby,  not that that isn't awesome but considering how many Elk you see in the park not really a reason to stop traffic for 20 minutes.  Day 3 we decided to try to tackle the bottom loop.  Day 3 was by far the windest!!! We saw hats everywhere, we even saw a pair of sunglasses and an umbrella because it was blowing so hard it would blow the hat right of peoples heads into the geysers or pools!
Fountain Paint Pots  

   

Great Fountain Geyser  

  After the Fountain Paint Pots we did a quick drive across the main road to drive a quick little loop around the Great Fountain Geyser.

 Surprise Pool

Old Faithful
  We grabbed a quick lunch from the cooler before heading over to Old Faithful.  We decided to just grab a seat and wait the 45 minutes for Old Faithful to go off.  It did several small spurts and honestly Heather, Zach and I kind of wondered if that was going to be it but we patiently waited and got to see the full thing.  Most of the kids thought it was great and were excited to get pictures with their kindles, Justice was more entertained playing with the rocks on the ground lol!

 More smashed pennies

Midway Geyser Basin

  After Old Faithful us adults all had headaches from the wind and allergies so we decided to make our way back to West Yellowstone.  On the way back we stopped at Midway Geyser Basin.  By far my favorite and the most spectacular of all the sights!  I wish pictures even did it justice!

  

  Turquoise Pool has no apparent overflow channel, instead water drains through seepage. There is an underground connection with Excelsior Geyser. When Excelsior was active, Turquoise lowered nearly ten feet and took nearly a year to recover. In June and July purple fringed gentians are common and bloom on the barren ground surrounding this pool.

 This picture was included to show just how hard the wind was blowing!!!  It was soooo windy at the top I thought my sun glasses were going to come off my face!

  Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone, and is considered to be the third largest in the world-New Zealand has the two largest springs. Grand Prismatic sits upon a wide, spreading mound where water flows evenly on all sides forming a series of small, stair-step terraces. Steam often shrouds the spring which reflects the brilliant colors. Grand Prismatic discharges an estimated 560 gallons per minute.

  

   

  Excelsior was once the largest geyser in the world. However, the last known major eruptions occurred during the 1880s, when there were numerous eruptions up to 300 feet. The violent eruptions of the 1880s may have caused damage to the siliceous center lining, allowing gas leakage and the loss of thermal energy. No observed eruptions were known until 1985 when it erupted for two days. However, it only obtained a height of 20-80 feet. Since its eruptive activity in the 1880s, Excelsior is now a productive thermal spring, presently discharging 4050 gallons per minute. Numerous vents boil and churn the water within the crater, covering it in a dense layer of steam.

  After Midway Geyser Basin we headed back into West Yellowstone for pizza and maybe a few more sweet treats : )!  Then it was back to the cabin to shower and hang out for a bit before bed!