Our Yellowstone Roadtrip

Aug 19-22 we took a road trip with the kids. They did great. We planned it so that we never had to drive more than 3 hours in a day (except for the trip home) and that we'd be in the car for nap time, so they always got a nap, even if naps were short. Our first stop was Idaho Falls. We visited the temple there and took a walk along the river. It's really pretty in parts. You can see my baby bump in this first picture.

After Idaho falls, we drove just a bit north to Yellowstone's Bear World just outside Rexburg. We really enjoyed seeing the wild life. We drove through the reserve 3 times seeing the animals. The bears were active the first time we drove through in the morning, and then they were pretty sleepy later. These 2 elk were fighting at first, rubbing their antlers together. There were a bunch of elk and about half the young ones were white and the other brown. The albino trait gets passed on for sure. The wolves may have been the highlight. They are really getting around. At one point, a bear got annoyed with a wolf and chased it off. Fun for us.They probably have 30 bears. They are not enclosed, except within the whole park. So, they can walk up to your car and walk in the road and go around wherever they want. It's really cool. I've never seen bears up that close, like right outside our car. We got a little nervous that we might run over one of them at one point because they don't seem to mind the cars at all. He just kept walking and we could have run him over! They also have several bear cubs. They were in an exhibit that you walk by. They were really fun to watch because they play nonstop. They were great. I loved them.

Then, we went to their petting zoo. The kids got a kick out of feeding the deer. Zach was so proud of feeding the fawn (not pictured).

Then we drove to West Yellowstone and spent the night in a tent. We thought the kids would get a kick out of it, and they did. It would have been a good experience if the air mattress Jake and I were on didn't leak and leave us on the hard ground for the majority of the night. Jake's sworn off camping forever, but I don't think he really means it. Although, it was one awful night. We were both wide awake at 3 am, talking about how uncomfortable we were and how we both needed to go to the bathroom, etc. We were pretty miserable. But if we weren't awake at that time we wouldn't have heard the howling. We heard either coyotes (most likely) or wolves howling to each other. It was pretty cool.

The next day we spent in Yellowstone Park. The kids weren't super interested in it, but Jake and I decided we should go back soon, probably without the kids. We'd love to do some hiking and spend time in the park. We did see a bison on the side of the road, which the kids loved. The only other wildlife we saw were some elk, some big birds, and a squirrel.

Of course we stopped at some hot pots. I like the picture above because it smelled of sulphur, and so Zach was covering his nose. He was also wining. He didn't want to pose for the pic, he wanted to run away from the smell!

Old Faithful, of course, faithful as ever.

Our last stop was Jackson Hole. We had a good time there. On the way there we saw a whole herd of wild buffalo. That was really cool. The kids were awake and Zach got to use the binoculars to see them a little closer, but Cade saw them too because he was talking about their tails. He could see their tails swishing back and forth. Wow, that was amazing. There were a lot of them and those males are HUGE!

Then on the way out of Jackson, we stopped at the Big Kahuna and Lunchbox and the boys threw rocks into the rushing river. Jake kept assuring me that he had a good hold on the boys, but that didn't mean that I was calm about the experience. I was really nervous and kept saying things like, "no closer," "stay back," "don't move," etc, etc. It was not a calm experience for me, but the boys had a blast!

All in all, it was a good trip. It was a fast one, just to get us away. Jake got away from work, which did wonders for him. Of course, as soon as we got back school started and work was just as busy as ever. Thanks for working so hard for us, Jake!