Thursday, September 4, 2014

Yellowstone

A few months ago Cole mentioned that he's never been camping before.  We were like, "of course you have..."  Then we got thinking about it.  And we could not think of a time that Cole had slept in a sleeping bag in a tent.  (Parent fail)  
So, we planned a little camping adventure to Yellowstone so that we could "rough it."
Rain was in the forecast.  We got up at 5 am to get an early start and arrive in time to get a good camp spot.  It threatened to rain for our entire drive to Yellowstone.  And started to rain just as we got our campsite.  So, we hurried as fast as we could to unload, put up the tents, and set up camp.  The entire time, in the rain.  And just as camp is set up, the rain stopped.

Here we are setting up the solar panels, because we are "roughing it", remember?

Good thing we brought lots of blankets.  It was darn cold that first night.

Our camp sight was just a short walk through the trees to Yellowstone Lake.

Yellowstone Lake

Kepler Falls

The first thing we did when we got our camp set-up was head on over to Old Faithful.
It was raining so good thing we had our rain gear!!  We did learn something from showing up to the Grand Canyon last year without warm clothing or rain gear!! I even remembered the umbrella.  See how wet the benches are?  It was pretty chilly.

The skies were dark.  But the sun came out just as we got to Old Faithful.


It was totally awesome to see the supermoon over the top of the Old Faithful Lodge.

This was taken in Hayden Valley which is known for the abundance of wildlife.  Of course we had to stop and take (300) Hipster pictures of Summer and the bison. 

Here's another one.  There are about 298 more.

 Sierra was good with just one quick shot.
Cole refused to walk down to see the bison.  We stayed up in the parking lot and kicked some rocks around.  Besides, we have 300 pictures of bison.








This was at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  We asked this cute British girl to snap a pic.  
She took one picture, and then said, "Second one for luck" and took another picture.
I told her thanks, and she replied, "pleasure" in the cutest British accent.  We kept saying, "pleasure" for the rest of the day.

We played the license  plate game where we had a list of all of the states and then crossed off each state as we found a vehicle with that license plate.  This van was from Florida.  Those are all plastic caps from milk jugs, drink bottles, peanut butter, etc.  
Summer wanted a hipster pic with the 1984 reduce/reuse/recycle van. 

The twins at Steamboat Gyser

Our favorite hike:  Norris Geyser Basin

We saw Old Faithful erupt at least 6 times.  Had to document each one.

The kids did the Jr. Ranger program.  Here they are with Ranger Marilyn.  She taught a cute class about things you should take with you on a hike.  I asked her where home when she is not in Yellowstone and she said, "anywhere my RV takes me where my pipes can't freeze."  Her father was a Park Ranger in Yellowstone and she followed in his footsteps.  I think she has been hiking since she was born.
Jr. Rangers!!

Cole and Sierra also did the Jr. Scientist Program at Old Faithful.  It was pretty intense.
Cole was taking his work very seriously.



One last picture.  Trying to hoist Cole up...

Too heavy...

Climb Cole!!

Or just duck down under the sign!!

Also, we saw our first Yellowstone Bear on this trip.  Unfortunately, no picture.  It was while we were driving and it last about 2 seconds.  We had just entered the park and were heading towards our camp area (West Thumb/Grants Village).  We were going about 40 mph and a cub blasted out of the trees next to the road at about that same speed.  Mama Bear must have been close by.  Within a second of making an appearance, he turned around and was back into the trees.  It happened so fast, I couldn't even yell at the kids to take a look.  I bet he got a good scolding from Mama Bear.

2 comments:

Amara said...

I guess it's too late for me to grow up to be Ranger Marilyn. What a cool lady. Badge of honor AND a gold star for seeing a bear at all. We looked and looked on our trip and finally went to the wolf/bear place in town. Which was cool, but not that cool. I love those colored mineral springs though.

Carroll Family said...

I love Yellowstone.....