Yellowstone

While we were up in Wyoming for a reunion (see previous post) we decided to go the extra distance to Yellowstone. We go to Grand Teton National Park pretty much every year but don't make the trip up to Yellowstone quite as often and even then we stick to the lower loop. I think I've only been on the northern loop once. But it is still just as cool each time I go back. We started off bright and early 5:30am loaded the sleepy kids in the car and drove.

Just after eating breakfast, who's not happy after that.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. You can see the Lower Falls in the background.

While we were partaking of the view a butterfly landed on Jeremy's shirt. Ally put her hand in front of it and it climbed on. It sat there for quite awhile until Ally put it on a rock because we had so much to see in so little time.

While I stayed back and fed everyone lunch, Jeremy grabbed the camera and hiked the grueling trail to the brink of the lower falls. He said it was totally worth the hike and yes that is snow. Someone told us that the force at the bottom of the falls created a wind that could be felt 100 feet away.

A close-up of the Lower Falls. If you closely you can see a platform just to the right of the falls. This is where Jeremy went. The people seem so tiny in comparison.

Dragon's Mouth. They were pretty curious about this dragon, I asked what they thought it might look like, to sum it up it was pretty but a little scary.

When we stopped to see Dragon's Mouth we drove right past a bison in the parking lot. We drove over, parked, and checked to make sure that there weren't any around us before we got out. The one we passed was following us so we had to wait for us to pass us before we got out. Except that it didn't pass us it walked right up next to the car ( I could've touched it) and paced right in front of it. (I used no zoom for that picture, that's how close it was) Then it turned and hopped right over the fence like there was nothing to it.

Here he is on the other side of the fence. It was wild!

Collapsing Pool. The girls wanted to go swimming in these. We had to show them the bubbles and explain to them that these were all filled with hot boiling water.

Old Faithful. Ally and Andie were so excited to see a geyser, and a famous one at that!

The Continental Divide. Elevation 8262 feet. This is where the water runs both east and west.