Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Yellowstone

Alright, finally, my post about Yellowstone National Park. We went up a month ago for Ben's family reunion. We stayed in West Yellowstone, in these cute little cabins. We had zero dollars, so Ben's mom and stepdad graciously shared their cabin with us.

The day we all arrived, we just kind of hung out in West Yellowstone and looked around. I wanted to go to an Imax movie at the Grizzly Discovery Center, but no one else really felt like it. I should have just gone by myself, because we never got a chance to go. :( This is a family friend, Morgan, pretending to smoke - another family friend bought all the teenaged girls pretend cigarettes, so that they could freak their parents out. It was pretty funny:


The first full day in the park, we took a few quick pictures at Banner Falls. The picture at the heading of my blog right now is at Banner Falls, and here is another one that actually shows the falls:




We then planned to stop at Artist's Paintpots, but it was closed. Bummer. We were supposed to meet Ben's dad and sister there, but apparently Artist's Painpots aren't the only paintpots in Yellowstone, so they had gone to the other paintpots. And no one had reception in the park to call each other. So that kind of threw everything off, as far as hanging out in the park with Ben's dad and sister, because they went to different stuff the first day, so the second day, they didn't want to do the same stuff again. Does that make sense? It's hard to keep 45 people together when you're driving through Yellowstone. It got frustrating at times. I felt bad.


Then we went to the Norris area, and I'm not sure I've ever been there before, that I can remember. They just have a big old Geyser basin, with hot pots, steam vents, geysers, hot springs, etc.:




My children found it very boring. I found it very hot. :) And I found my children very annoying. Micah hated the whole Yellowstone experience. I ended up illegally holding him in the front seat with me for basically the whole trip. 'Cause I'm a bad mom. Sorry; I can't stand to hear him screaming non-stop.

Then, to finish the day off, we did the coolest thing ever - the Boiling River in the Mammoth area:




Mom says our family went to this years ago, but I can't remember it. It's where a hot springs and a cold river meet, creating a natural hot tub of sorts. So much fun. As an homage to Lexi, I kept yelling, "Boiling River 2008!" over and over again. Holla, Lex. :)

The next day, we stopped at Firehole Falls. We really should have gotten out to swim there. There is this crazy part where the rapids suck you under a watery cave and then spit you out the other side. You seriously feel like you are going to die. Very freaky. The teenagers would have loved it. This was my kids' favorite spot ever, because there were these chipmunks there that would come right up to you and get food out of your hand:




I know it's bad of us, but they were so flippin' cute! They were taking all the food to a little storage area down the cliff, and then coming back for more. They would actually jump up and down. My kids could have stayed there all day long.



Then my lovely camera battery died, so no more pictures. Sigh. Sad. We went to Old Faithful, which was spectacular, as always. When it went off, we were sitting by some teenagers on a youth group outing or something, and one of them goes, "Is that as tall as it gets? It's not very tall..." I just wanted to turn to her and say, "Um, dude, it's NINETY FEET TALL!! That's huge! And incredible!" The little punk.

Then we drove through the Canyon area and got to see all the bison that hang out there. That was fun. I'm still really upset about my lack of a camera...



We wanted to get a big group shot in the canyon area, but there were too many cars, and everyone was grumpy, and we had to head back to West Yellowstone to prepare to go to a play...





At the Playmill Theater!

My favorite. They have the cutest plays there; they always do a really great job. We watched Hello, Dolly, which was fantastic - I've never seen that play, ever, so it was a lot of fun. The best part of it was that Ben's dad and stepmom offered to watch the kidlets while we went. Oh my gosh, it was so fun not having the kids there, to just enjoy the play as adults. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Tim and Brenda!



And thanks, Greg and Gloria, for letting us stay with you in that cabin!



I'd like to go into the park again, just me and Ben, and really spend some good time sightseeing there. There is so much to see, and so much that we missed. Next time...

Here's a slideshow:

10 comments:

Nat said...

I love Yellowstone. Pete's parents were talking about coming up this fall, but I don't think it's going to happen now. Oh well. Maybe next year (or sometime when we all have money-ha, ha) we should all go together.

Autumn said...

One of these days I hope to go to Yellowstone, so many cool things to see and do. Sounds like you had a great time!

Gifford Family said...

Last time we went to Yellowstone the tumblers broke in our car ignition and it cost us 500 bucks to be towed from Old Faithful to our hotel! Nice!!! Frustrating as that was... I still love Yellowstone! Dave's Uncle started the Playmill YEARS ago... pretty cool.

Unknown said...

That cigarrett is tatally creepy.... :P

ok and BTW if you click on the word "they" that is in blue on my post about the "special neighbors" it will take you to the article about them in the newpaper... fun fun shady contractors that get sued by a gazillion people.

Unknown said...

oh! PS Ross Park in Pocatello the kids had a blast and they have one waterslide for the adults... We went mostly for the kidlets though...

and hey! if/when you go to the fair kids under 5 are free :D

Megann said...

Wow! I didn't know there was so much to do in Yellowstone. Love the Playmill!
You totally make my day when you comment on every single post on my blog. Thanks!
My b-day is next month, and I'm going to have a chocolate party. You'll get an invitation....sometime.

Amy said...

The last time I went to Yellowstone I was a kid. I remember all of the sulfur bad smells around the steamy holes and water. And watching Old Faithful. I guess it's time to go back and see all the rest and drag my kids along for a family vacation. Add it to the list!

Lynita said...

I hope to go to Yellowstone too, just not with 40 people who probably don't want to do the same thing. I hate those big groups because someone is always whining and complaining, seriously people grow up! You got some great pix though and did your best to get along with all the fam, so that is worth something right? I am glad that you got the experience with your little family, after all it is pretty expensive to stay there.

Anonymous said...

I love Yellowstone, I wanted to go there when we drove Thru Jackson Hole. But we were time crunchin' our trip. I want to go back (when Soren is out of diapers). That would be cool if We went together.

Beej said...

I have a ton of memories from Yellowstone Park. That chipmunk was so cute begging for food. And it's cheeks were just full of food. So flippin' cute! It looks like you had some fun.
And I think that if you think about it hard enough you will remember going to Boiling River. I kept singing "Funky Towel...Towel's got the funk!!" Over and over again I sang that song. I was super hyper on that trip. In spite of all of our trips there, I still have not seen a bear. I've seen a million in Island Park, but never in Yellowstone. Someday, before I die, I am going to see one and get my $50! Although I guess it needs to be before dad dies...
We'll have to go when we come visit. Maybe next summer or something.

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