Yellowstone 2015

Ahgorrievacay2015!!! went by in a flash and with out a hitch! This year we took to the road with a few destinations in mind.

First stop was the Omaha Best western with the famous frog slide. Well at least its famous in our house. The kids loved it, after our first 7 hours in the car it was great for them to be able to get some pool time in!

We then headed west for Fort Collins, to see our dear friends Kate and Dave. We were greeted by Brooklyn who has grown so much! Michael and Penny were elated to see her! Bently was not far behind her, Hugo's good ole buddy. So good to be with friends!!

We took a trip out to Horse tooth reservoir for a day of hiking, rock throwing and some unexpected swimming! Colorado is such a beautiful place, in my anticipation to get to Yellowstone I was thinking how could anything be more beautiful? Little did we know....

On Tuesday we packed everybody up and headed for the third leg of our trip, Yellowstone National Park. We drove up through  the foothills of the Rockies in Colorado and into Wyoming.  There wasn't much civilization in Wyoming, lots of ranches and cowboys! The drive was simply magnificent. We stopped at rest stop on the old Oregon trail and let the kids play.

As we made our way Northwest we came upon the Shoshone forest. Simply breathtaking! We literately went over the river and through the woods! The forest contained log pole pines which were  the pines the Indians used to use to make their tepees. As we got into the forest off in the distance you could see the Grand Tetons. WHAT A MOUNTAIN RANGE.

We traveled along the curved roads, and got closer and closer to the Tetons, I am still in awe  just thinking about them. A few more miles and we were at the east entrance of Grand Teton National Park. JD rockerfellar actually connected Yellowstone and Grand Teton. The parks are very grateful for his philanthropic work on these national treasures. We arrived in Yellowstone shortly after and headed to our first stop Flagg Ranch. It was a little resort tucked away in the mountains. We had a cabin for the night, got our stuff unpacked and headed to the lodge for dinner.

We got a little crazy from being in the car so long!!! 

Bear proof garbage. BE BEAR AWARE! 

MPG is quite the photographer! 

The lodge 

Elk and bison meatloaf

Hiking around! 

Our "cabinet" as Penny calls it 

Mountain morning!

The next morning was FREEZING! 35 degrees! Good thing Tony bought a fleece at the gift store! We  packed up and headed out for the 99 mile drive to the north entrance of Yellowstone, We saw waterfalls, cascading rock formations, tress as far as the eye could see, and our first stop, Old Faithful. Tony found us a good spot and after some time we finally saw Old faithful do what he is famous for! After that we had our peanut butter sandwich picnic!

WE MADE IT! 

Walking into Old Faithful 

and now we wait 

MPG at the camera again! 

Thank god for peanut butter, seriously it kinda saved them from going insane....

We then headed out to Norris Geyer valley and on the way we saw a lone wolf. Through the trees you could see the steam rising from the geysers, so cool! The kids were in good spirits, the music was jamming and we were halfway to the Mammoth hot springs. The thermal activity is fascinating, its actually created by bacteria from the hot springs. The fumes can be dangerous and everyone that goes to see these thermal patches must stay on the walkways as the ground can be very unsafe.

 As we neared the north entrance the kids were ready for some pool time. We figured we could hit more of the hot springs in the morning. We made our way to the North entrance but before we left we spotted some mountain goats! A bunch of them coming down the mountain! Of course stopped and took pictures.... the north entrance was by far the most epic of the park.

We pulled out and drove into the wonderful little mountain town of Gardnier Montana. I loved it here, every single minute was amazing. We walked the one mile strip of the town, swam in the pool and had dinner. After dinner I sat out on  look out by the hotel and just took it all in. It was a great evening.

Looking and chatting about their Yellowstone rock collections. 

The next morning is was COLD again! 33 Degrees!Once the sun came out it warmed up nicely. Such great summer weather out here in the west! We headed back into the park and began at the upper hot springs. Such cool formations on the rock from the water and bacteria.

The North Entrance ( under construction) 

We continued on the road back down the west side of the park and ran into Canyon village with its majestic waterfalls and overlooks this place was simply amazing! There was a three hundred stair incline that we didn't do we figured the kids had been through enough hiking! Although when we go back  I want to do that! Some of the roads we passed were also a little anxiety provoking for me! Good thing Tony was driving and of course was cool as a cucumber.

Next stop was the mud volcano and dragons breath - or as the kids like to call it the FART volcano. This thermal activity had a number of sulfur deposits  in it. Thus the smell of rotten eggs was in the air. So when the wind blew, well you can guess what happened! PEEEE YOOOOOO

ON the drive to the mud volcano 

Buffalo!!! 

Dragons Breath 

Mud Volcano 

As we continued our journey we decided to end the day at Yellowstone lake before we headed back to Flagg ranch again. As we were driving over the hill we saw herds of Buffalo! We got out of the car and ran over to get a closer look. It was a great sight! Yet who knew that around the next comer another heard was crossing the road!!! A HUGE buffalo came right in front of our car. LOOK OUT MARTY STAUFER THIS IS WILD AMERICA! It was so AMAZING!

After waiting for the Buffalo to pass we got to Yellowstone lake, with the Grand Tetons in the background it was such a sight. We got some ice cream sat out on a log by the lake and just took it in. Back at the lodge we enjoyed a nice dinner ( and a few drinks) we headed back to our cabin ( or cabinet as Penny likes to call it) sadly our time was ending and we needed to prepare to go back to Fort Collins.

Veggie Tacos! 

Ranch breakfast! 

The next morning we packed up and made our way back through the Shoshone Forest and Grand Teton National Park. The Tetons will forever be in my heart.

Here is a short video of the Tetons: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2lGw7u5oL84NFlTdl9SVzNsR0U/view?usp=sharing

Thank you, thank you Yellowstone for showing us that there is so much more in this world than corn. We will be back! What an adventure!!