Yellowstone 2015

This trip has been talked about and planned starting back in December! Chan was the one who kept bringing it up and insisting that we all go together. Over the months the planning changed from staying in cabins at the KOA to staying in trailers! His parents bought their trailer a while ago but this summer his sisters got a trailer and motor home so suddenly the cabins weren't needed- in fact they had extra room for us! It worked out beautifully! We were all very excited! The ONLY bummer was that Will wasn't with us. He stayed behind because he had football camp the same week we were going- bummer :( But I am certain we will go back and next time he'll be there no matter what!!

We all arrived in west Yellowstone on a Tuesday and got settled at camp before hitting town to do our grocery shopping. It just made more sense to buy everything there. Each family had one night to make dinner for everyone and then we were on our own for breakfast and would picnic for lunches. The plan was set! So we went to a local pub to eat called the slippery Otter, got our groceries, put them away and then made a plan for our park time the next three days!

 This was our first day in the park! Nothing like a goofy group selfie to get things started off! Haha! We snapped this as we were walking a trail by the mud pots. No one mentioned the smell of these things... yikes! But the sounds and beauty from them are so neat!!

 That first day we drove ALL OVER! In fact we clocked 126.5 miles that day! We drove over by the lake and also toured the different geysers! It was awesome!

I loved this picture! It was taken by either Chan or Brianne! I love that they got the reflection in the water! I loved this area and how it looked like veins in the water. It was gorgeous! And the crater in this area was SO BLUE! It's actually very inviting looking if you didn't know you'd burn to death!

 We also went to see Old Faithful that day! That's one thing I have ALWAYS wanted to witness! And it did not disappoint! It was interesting to see the variety of people in the park from all over the world! And all of them walking around with their selfie sticks and GoPro cameras! It was crazy! Old Faithful was awesome and loud! I loved it!

 We found this great picnic area right near there and decided to stop for lunch! Each day we would bring in our lunch and drinks and find a pretty spot to sit and eat! I loved this area- the trees were amazing! I think I must have said a thousand times that the trees were so dense there! I have never seen anything like it before! In fact these pictures don't do it justice! We must have taken a thousand or more photos while we were there- this is just a small snippet!

Day 2 was our waterfall day! We saw many, mainly around the Grand Canyon area, but others were near the firehole area. They were all incredible!

 When I got home and looked at these pictures they look fake! This places colors and textures are so unreal! I suppose that it what makes it so incredible to see in person! We had fun driving all through the park again and hiking up and down trails. And the kids were the real troopers! Every day I was shocked and how they would just continue to go and go! I suppose they did get little naps in while we were driving though!

 The Grand Canyon there was awesome! It was something that Brianne really wanted to see and me too! And do you see what I mean by the pictures looking fake! I guess it's too beautiful to capture! Haha!

 This area was one that freaked me out getting there! Where we are standing there is a barrier but the road to get there didn't have any! And of course the cliff was on MY passenger side! It was straight down! SCARY! But we survived! It was a gorgeous spot.... just don't look down!

 This waterfall area was stunning!! I would have to say it was my favorite! And I can't remember the name of the area. It was a big waterfall and went into a stunning valley covered in pine trees!

Don't you love the rolling hills and mountains in the distance! So pretty!! And thanks to Dakota for this awesome picture! He was quite a helpful photographer! :)

 I also forgot to mention that we were not short on seeing wildlife in the park! On our first day we saw a buffalo and after that saw several of them as well as a bear, elk, fox, many different kinds of birds and of course squirrels!

 This is a photo of the bear we saw. It's a crazy good shot of it too considering we were in our truck, moving, while I took it using a very long lens! I am pretty proud of it! And you can't see it very well but the kids said their was an elk carcass right by him. He was feeding and then resting according to the park rangers. He was there for days!

This guy was right by the side of the road- like most of them! I love their attitude about the people around. They know we will wait for them to move and the look they give us is like "yeah, yeah, move on people"! It's awesome!

This day we found another great picnic site to eat lunch. Brooke and Mark were huge in helping us navigate the park. They've been there a few times and know the lay of the land!

 Every night after spending hours in the park we'd head home for dinner. We were smart and planned crock pot meals so that dinner would be ready when we got there. Thanks to hook ups at the camp site- it made our plan easy! We ate VERY well! Chan and I also took all the kids one night in the back of the truck to the KOA store for ice cream! They LOVED sitting in the bed of the truck! We told them it was like being in a parade! 

 They also had these park swings at every site and the kids loved swinging together. It was cute!

Once dinner was eaten then it was time for the games to begin! This has always been a favorite for Chan's family- Tripoly! :) Believe it or not we got everyone in this picture! This was in Brooke and Marks trailer. The best part is we could watch cable TV while we played! It helped keep the kids entertained too! Game nights happened almost every night! Fun!

 The last day we went to another totally different part of the park. We went over to Roosevelt Lodge on this day for our lunch. We were all a bit tired of sandwiches so we decided we would eat there instead!

 These antlers were above the door to the lodge and I had the bright idea to take a photo at just the right spot! This is a favorite picture from the park!

 I was proud of myself because I ordered a taco salad that had "wild beef" in it, which I found out was a mix of bison and elk. It was actually really good and didn't taste that different that beef!

 The food was good, it took quite a bit of time to eat, but I enjoyed it and I think others did too!

 It was nice to slow down a bit because we had been going from one thing to the next for days!

 One of the last things we saw this day was the Mammoth area. Our drive there ended up being longer than anticipated because of some construction on the roads in that area. Because of time we didn't get a chance to hike that part, but Chan's foot (he had surgery on it in May and it was still healing) was getting very sore from all the adventure and I don't know that we would have done it anyway.

The next day several people went back to hike it but Annie, Gerardo, Dakota and our family stayed behind to have a "chill day". We really wanted to spend some time in West Yellowstone so we grabbed Dakota and went to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. Annie Gerardo & Chloe stayed at the KOA doing laundry and swimming.

 At the Discovery Center we could see the bears up close! I mean LOOK at this picture! Is that not great! There were three bears out while we were visiting and they were all big! It was awesome to see them up close!

 They also had a bear skin you could touch- Brianne thought it was gross! It was more rough than I had imagined! Looking from a far their fur looks soft, but it's really not! After seeing the discovery center and checking out the bears, wolves, bald eagles, owls and more we were hungry and Dakota had been craving a burrito so we went next door for some Mexican food! Our tummies were full and it was time to head back but I insisted we go to the entrance for these pictures!....

 It is NECESSARY to do the tourist picture by the sign! We saw people doing this every day we entered the park!

I had to get one of Dakota too! He was kind enough to get our family so I had to get his! :)

All in all Yellowstone was just amazing. We loved the scenery and we loved being there as a family and playing together! I am certain this is a trip we'll not soon forget! And I am sure that we will be doing it again. Like I said Will wasn't with us and I KNOW that Carter wants to see this place, so here's to hoping that we'll be able to go again with them!