July 14, 2018
The day started leisurely. Rob and I did not sleep all that great. The weather was much colder than we had been having over the past several days. We had forgotten how cold it gets at night at this elevation. Rob’s back was still bothering him, so he didn’t sleep well at all. I got up around 8am and started a pot of coffee. I could hear our campground neighbors getting ready to head out for the day. By the time we were ready to leave, almost all of them were gone. I started to write our blog for the past day, and Rob finally awoke. After coffee, we started to get things ready around the RV. Our black water tank was showing full for a long while, so Rob thought he would flush the tank. It worked and the tank finally drained for the first time since we had started this trip. We also planned to clean our dirty laundry since we were all on our last few clean clothes. We stopped at the laundry facility and put a few loads of laundry in and then headed back to our spot to get some breakfast made. After eating, we drove back to the laundry facility to put our laundry into the dryer. While they were drying, we headed over to the Bridge Bay marina since we had about 30 minutes to spare. The marina was close and there weren’t very many people there since it was early and still cool and cloudy. Rob and I walked in to check to see if they had any rentals available for the next day and to see the cost. The only openings they had available for their fishing/sightseeing charters were at 8am or 1pm. The motorboat rentals available were first come first serve. And it looked like that shouldn’t be an issue to rent if we opted to do that. Once we checked out the marina, we headed back to the campground to check on our laundry. Unfortunately, our clothes were still damp, so we put them in for another 30 minutes. Since we had time, we thought we’d go see the Mud Volcanoes nearby. The drive to the mud volcanoes was quick and we arrived about 8 minutes later. We found parking right in front. There were two entrances at the site. As we were looking at the map, a young man interjected and told us that there was a huge Bison sitting at the one volcano to our right. This was just the info we needed, and we walked straight over to that volcano. As mentioned, the Bison was sitting right next to the mud volcano. He was huge and didn’t seem to care at all about the crowd of people that surrounded him. After taking pics of the Bison and of the mud volcano, we started our accent up the tall hill to get to the other mud thermal features. About half way up, the kids decided they did not want to climb up and headed back down the hill to the RV. It was a steep climb and I didn’t blame them. Rob and I kept climbing and eventually made our way to the second thermal mud feature about 2/3 way up. It was a furnole that was in active and not very exciting. I took a pic and we kept climbing until we eventually got to the top where there was a mud spring. A very big mud spring. And wouldn’t you know it? There was a huge Bison sitting right next to it. From afar, these mammoth animals are fun to look at it, but when you can get really close to one, they are truly mesmerizing. Their fur looks so thick and matted. And it appears like they can barely see out from all the hair hanging in front of their eyes. Most of their hair is from their shoulders up. And most of the time their tails are swatting all the bugs that surround them. They seem like very docile creatures, as most of the time that you see them, they are just sitting around, minding their own business. But frequently we hear stories about them charging at people. So many times we see people getting super close to them. Not a very smart move if you ask me. But I can understand, they really are truly amazing creatures. We then ventured down the hill, which was, by far, an easier trek than when we were going up. As we got to the base, we saw yet another Bison sitting alongside another mudpot. It became obvious that these enormous giants like to rest by the warm steam that comes from these features. Personally, the sulphur smell alone would make me move far away. But I guess it doesn’t bother them one bit. Seeing them over the course of the past week, I did have one gnawing question. Why are they always alone? Every single Bison we have seen so far has always been alone. Just an observation really. I’m sure they aren’t always alone. It just seems like that’s the case right now. After the volcanoes, we knew our laundry should be done. So, we went back to the Fishing Bridge RV park but our laundry was not dry. We added more change to the machines and headed off to a scenic point called Steamboat Point for lunch. As we were eating our lunch, we watched a guy fishing in Lake Yellowstone. Jaxon threw a bunch of rocks into the lake, he has such a strong arm. He can throw a really long distance and has taken many opportunities on this trip to throw whatever he can. <insert Jaxon’s commentary now> He’s our favorite child (by far). We are going to lie and say that he isn’t, but he totally is. <back to our Lora’s commentary> After lunch we headed to the Lake Yellowstone Hotel to make a reservation for dinner. No Kids! Yay!!! We decided that a nice dinner date was perfect for us adults. We chilled out in the RV until 5:30 and then Rob and I went into the hotel to grab a drink at the bar and wait for a table in the restaurant. When we had asked earlier, the host said there were no reservations available but that we could be put on the waitlist. So we did just that. The hotel completely reminded us of the hotel in the movie, The Shining. It was kinda eerie. We even asked the bartender if they had ever heard that reference, which they have. In the middle of the lounge area, they had a grand piano with a nice lady playing her music. Then at some point, she left and a string quartet started to play. To our surprise, our beeper went off, they had a table ready for us. Since our drinks at the bar had just arrived, a nice lady named Chandra, offered to bring our drinks to the table. We then sat and surveyed the menu. We decided to start with the Lobster ravioli and then Rob ordered the Elk Chops and I chose the Bison Tenderloin. Both our meals were good and we opted to forego dessert in lieu of a nice cocktail at the bar. We siddled up to the bar and ended up having a great conversation with one of the employees that work at the hotel, who was sitting enjoying a beer on his day off. His name is Chris, and he is one of the valets at the hotel. The two bartenders, Patricia and Devin, exchanged playful banter with us as they made our delicious coffee-chocolate-mint martinis. Boy were they delicious! Only 3 ingredients but man were they tasty! We learned a lot from the bartenders and Chris. They all agreed that Yellowstone really takes care of their employees. The park hosts parties and get togethers as well as has billiard tournaments for the employees. Each part of the park has it’s own employee lounge/bar, separate and away from all the tourists. Tourists are not allowed in the employee areas. In fact, that evening there was a luau type party and it sounded like they all were excited to go to it. We were trying to see if we could go to it, but no such luck. The employees pay about $400/month for their room and board. In exchange, they get lodging and all they can eat food, almost anytime they want. The dorms are nestled in the woods, away from most of the tourist spots. But close enough for most of them to walk to their jobs. Of course they get paid to work, but it’s pretty nominal and probably only a bit more than what they pay for room and board. Personally, I think it’d be pretty neat to work at Yellowstone. The bartender, Patricia, and the waitress, Chandra, are best friends and they go hiking quite a bit. Apparently they had just seen a Grizzly on their latest hike. Chris, the valet, said he had a Grizzly at his window in his dorm just the previous night. We really enjoyed chatting with them and hearing their stories. After we said goodbye to our newfound friends, we took a short walk to the edge of Lake Yellowstone to admire its beauty. We then returned to the RV and checked back into the RV Park for the night. The kids could not stop fooling around and singing the song, Popular from the musical Wicked. They are such goofballs sometimes. Although, our time without them today was precious, listening to their little mischievous giggles and sing-song voices made a very good way to end the evening. It was out last night in Yellowstone and definitely one to remember.
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July 13, 2018
We slept in a bit and then ate a quick breakfast so that we could get going. It was our last day in Gardiner and we needed to check out of our RV park. We headed into town for our White Water Rafting trip. We all were excited and I think it’s exactly what the kids needed. We got to the Yellowstone Raft Company a bit early for our 11am rafting trip. We checked in, signed our waivers, and then put on our wetsuits, water shoes, helmets and life jackets. Our guide, Karch, came and introduced himself to us all. We had another group of 3 people that were also going to be in our boat. A mom and her two sons from Illinois. After we all were strapped in, we piled into a small van and they drove us to our put in, which wasn’t far away. We got the boat off the truck and then Rob, Karch, the oldest kid from the other group, and I, slowly walked it down the hill. At one point, I slipped on the gravel. I almost face planted into the side of the hill. But when you’re holding on to a big boat, it kinda helps a little. And by little, I mean like almost not at all. We got the boat down to the river and then Karch gave his safety drill, basically scaring the crap out of everyone with the ‘what if’s’ and possible dangers of rafting. This wasn’t our first rodeo so we all knew what to expect. But the family of 3, this was their first time, so needless to say, they were a bit rattled. Finally we all got into the boat and we started down the river. It was immediately clear, that the Yellowstone River was much wilder than the rivers we’ve rafted before. Wilder basically equates to more fun in my opinion. What wasn’t fun was the issue I was having with my helmet. It wasn’t tight enough, I think the grip kept loosening up. So I was having problems seeing. It made for a not so fun time when we hit rapids because I literally couldn’t see what I was doing. I wanted to take my helmet off, but Karch wouldn’t let me. Blah blah blah...something about dying…blah blah blah. Actually, there were some people the day before that were in a fishing boat on the river and it tipped over. One of the men aboard got swept away with the current. They had a helicopter out looking for him but had to call off the search once it got too dark. No word on whether they found him. I really hope he was able to get to shore somewhere. That river is really rough and can be unforgiving for sure. We really enjoyed our trip down the river. About half way down, Rob took his helmet off and gave me his baseball cap that he was wearing underneath. That really helped the fit so that my helmet didn’t move so much. It really made the rest of the trip much more enjoyable. The rafting trip was an 8 mile stretch, filled with tons of class 2 and 3 rapids. I’ll tell you, those class 2 and 3’s were way more fun than even the 4’s we’ve done in NC. Their rating system must be different here. All in all, between the gorgeous views and the fun rapids, we all had a blast. We all even got into the water at one point or another along the trip. The river was definitely ‘refreshing’ as Karch would say. I’d say it was downright cold. The 'c-word' as Karch would say, is frowned upon up here, so we will just stick with it being refreshing. I was very thankful for my wetsuit. At one point, when we were calmly floating along, Karch persuaded the people from the other family to jump into the river and swim around for awhile, which they were excited to do. Then he asked our family if we wanted to get in. We all just sat there and smiled, like the penguins from The Penguins of Madagascar. Before we knew it, Jade stood up and decided to jump right on in. Once, she and the family got back in the raft, Karch asked Reece and Jaxon to move a bit to the side, saying there was a patch that he needed to check. The boys got up and without any warning Karch pushed both of them into the river. It was pretty funny! To top it off, making sure everyone got an experience in the water, Karch pushed Rob out of the boat for fun. I immediately told Karch he had his phone and wallet in his pockets so he quickly grabbed Rob and pulled him back in the boat. Boy did Karch feel bad for pushing him out. But he was just playing around and thankfully Rob had his phone and wallet in a Ziploc baggie. So it was all good. Rob did not opt for the wetsuit, so I’m sure there was major shrinkage going on. Brrrr! Later down the river, Karch decided it was a good time to play a game called white water rafting rodeo. This consisted of someone standing at the head of the boat on top and then everyone paddling in a circular motion to buck the person standing off into the river. Jade, with her bravado, was up first. She stood up at the head of the raft, and as we turned in a circular pattern, tried her best to stay balanced. As you can imagine, she eventually ended up falling back into the water. She’s such a good sport! Once we got to the 8 mile mark, there was a van to meet us all. We carried the boat out of the water and they shuttled us back to town. They did a quick loop around town to show us various points of interest. We were all pretty hungry and tired. So after thanking them all and getting our wetsuits and shoes off, we headed back to our RV to get changed. We were soaked and desperately needed to get some warm, dry clothes on. After changing, we walked to the Iron Horse Restaurant for lunch. The kids thought the restaurant was neat and were disappointed once they learned that we had eaten there for dinner the night before. We reminded them that they opted to stay in the RV instead of going to town with us. Maybe they’ll change their minds the next time and come with us when we tell them we are going exploring. Lunch was delicious and everyone enjoyed their meals. We headed back to the RV and took one last look at Gardiner. What a fantastic small town! Now…on to Yellowstone. As we drove back into Yellowstone, I had remembered this place called Boiling River, near the North entrance. It is not labeled and just a place that people ‘in the know’ frequent. I had read that the water there was supposed to be warm. So we thought it would be fun to dip our feet in it. We found a spot to park, not too far away, and walked down to the river. The path was steep and my flip flops were not gripping well on the gravel. I almost fell and then I heard a voice with a heavy accent behind me say, “Grab my hand.” I looked back and there was a gentlemen with a group of people following us. He had a French accent and truthfully I could have listened to him talk all day. He told me to grab his hand again and I did. He had a firm grip, so I grabbed Jade in front of me and we all went down the hill together. Once down, I thanked him and we continued along the river. We dipped our feet in and to our suprirse, it was cold. Hmmm…that was a bit disappointing. Perhaps it was warm further up, where all the people were sitting. We walked alongside the river, a hundred feet or so, through the long grasses until we reached the spot where all the people were. Come to find, we probably should have just walked along the road. But deep down, I liked the short hike through the grass. We got to the spot and again walked down to the river. Rob helped me down and we found ourselves in the river again. And it was cold. Again. So much for ‘boiling river’. But it was a nice spot nonetheless. I just couldn’t help but wonder if there was a hot spot somewhere in that river. I made a mental note to check it out again once we got internet access. We got back into the RV and made our way to Fishing Bridge. And to our amazement, we saw so much wildlife. This time we stopped at Tower Falls to hike up to the Falls. There is a general store there and we stopped in to get the kids some ice cream. I opted for a Root Beer float, which was delicious. But they made it with the 2 different ice creams which surprised me. One had peanuts in it, and I couldn’t help but think they should be careful about what ice cream they put into a Root Beer float given that people could be allergic to peanuts. I had almost given Jaxon a taste when I realized it had peanuts and stopped. Crisis averted. The falls were gigantic and were magnificent to watch! I was so grateful we found a parking spot since it was really crowded. After the Falls, we kept driving and on the side of the road we saw a coyote that had just gotten its dinner. It ran across the road in front of us and I quickly snapped some pics. It was really cool to see a coyote. We continued onto Fishing Bridge campground, but stopped on the way, at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We turned down the North side drive and finally found parking at the Grand view. Which was perfect since it was so beautiful! As we were taking pics, we ran into some people that said the view from the South side of the Canyon was better. We walked back to the RV and immediately headed over to the South side. The drive only took about 10 minute and once we got there we were pleased to see that there was very few people there and we could park right up front. We got out at Artists Point and the view was not anything like we were expecting. It was so beautiful. We could see the waterfall and the river, it was spectacular! There really aren’t words to describe the beauty. After that we headed straight to our campground since it was getting late and we all needed to take showers. On the way, we saw some male Elk sitting in the pine trees and some bison resting in a patch. Jaxon realized that the bison always rest in these patches of circular dirt. So from now on, we always look at the ground for the patches. We finally got to the Fishing Bridge campground and we checked in. We drove to our spot to survey our new digs for the next couple days. We weren’t very impressed. The RV spots were very close together, almost too close. With our slides out, we could literally touch the RV next to us. The only bonus to this campground is that it provides full hookups (i.e. water, sewer and electric). In our opinion, we liked the Grant campground much better. After seeing our spot, we drove back to the front area so that we could all take showers. We got in line to take showers, which was about 10 people deep for the women. The men’s line was much shorter. After Jade and I showered, we headed back to the RV to find Reece and Jaxon standing waiting for us. Rob was still in the showers. He had hurt his back when we were looking at the Grand Canyon, so he took a bit longer in the showers. Freshly showered and smelling sweet, we got into the RV and we headed back to our RV spot. Once at our spot, I got some spaghetti sauce ready and in short order we had dinner on the table. After dinner, we went to sleep. It was quite the long day and we all looked forward to a good night’s sleep. Just another fantastic day in Yellowstone! July 12, 2018
We woke up in Gardiner and the view of Yellowstone was all the caffeine I needed to get me moving. I wanted to get into the park and start seeing all the wonders that the north part had to share! Of course, I did need coffee. Let's be for real. We decided to let the kids sleep in and Rob and I got our coffee and started towards Yellowstone. Our RV park is only a mile or so from the North Entrance. So convenient! Once inside the park, the views were pretty spectacular and it was hard not to take a million pics. We stopped at Obsidian Creek to get breakfast and admire the view. We finally got the kids up, which they reluctantly obliged. We then headed over to Mammoth Hot Springs. Before getting to the springs, you drive through the “town” of Mammoth Hot Springs. I say “town” because it has a small hotel, a restaurant, a couple buildings for the Park Offices and a visitor center. Right alongside the town are the hot springs. They are huge. So the name Mammoth fits perfectly. The Hot Springs really comprise several thermal structures. We found a great parking spot and started the hike up. The walk up comprised a lot of stairs and was about 2 miles long. The kids took one look at all the stairs and voted to stay inside. We let them since we didn’t feel like starting the day with an argument. Plus I totally understood their trepidation. I too was wary about all them stairs. And I was right. It was a bit daunting. We took our time and as we ascended each level, it was like opening a new present. Each structure had its own level and each were magnificent on their own. Once we made it to the top, you could see the vast openness of the spring itself. It seemed pretty dry. But clearly water had been there previously. So it was really interesting to see the entire structure and of course it was beautiful. We snapped a ton of pics and then we headed back down to the RV. As we neared the bottom, there was a huge 8 ft snake, just sliding across the rocks. I had no idea what kind of snake it was, but it was big and I was glad it wasn’t on the path. So many people were snapping pics of it. And yes, I definitely was one of them. We hopped back into the RV and told the kids what they missed. They weren’t very impressed. I think this trip is starting to wear on them. I took a mental note to plan a couple fun outings before we leave this awesome area. We headed south into the park. The entire Yellowstone Park has one drive called the Grand Loop. And the loops will take you to all the different areas. We hadn't seen the Canyon or Tower Roosevelt areas yet, so that was our plan. There was a lot of road construction going on in the stretch between Mammoth and Norris. So driving down that 21 mile stretch seemed to take forever. We stopped several times to see the views of the various lakes and overlooks. We didn’t see many animals on our travels, which surprised us since this particular stretch usually has many sightings. We then took a turn and headed toward Canyon Village. We needed to dump our tanks and we were hoping the campground had a place to assist us. And they did. So Rob got out and took care of the tanks and I checked the map to see where we’d venture to next. Rob was hungry and we were hoping to find a place to eat. I saw the Roosevelt Lodge had food, so that was our next logical stop. We headed up to the Tower-Roosevelt village. We stopped at Tower Falls along the way, which was beautiful. There is a huge canyon there and I confused it for the Grand Canyon of The Yellowstone. It really is amazing how different all the areas are in Yellowstone. As we were walking back to our RV from viewing the falls, I spotted a Bison in the distance. He was alone and just grazing for his own lunch. It amazes me how many bison and elk we see in the park. But it really is rare to see other animals. We then headed to Roosevelt Lodge, but to our dismay, it did not allow RVs or buses down the road to it. So we devised a new plan. We were going to head back to Mammoth Springs to eat at one of the restaurants there. We stopped and found a parking spot in Mammoth Springs and to our surprise there was a huge group of Elk lying in the grass in the middle of the square. Similar to if you're in a park and see a group of ducks lying the grass. Except these were huge Elk. Of course there were a ton of people trying to take pictures, and the Park Rangers were all out trying to keep them away from the Elk. It’s amazing how close people will get to these wild animals. There were a couple male Elk and the rest were female. The male Elk were sitting away from all the females for the most part. The Rangers mentioned that they do this during this particular time of the year. I guessed that mating season is almost over and so they weren't interested in hanging out any longer. We tried to get into the restaurant but it was already closed. It was 3pm and the restaurant closed at 2:30pm. We walked over to the other Grill, and it was open, but the line was long. That's wasn't going to deter us. We were hungry, so we waited in the line, which moved pretty fast. The boys ordered chicken tenders, their go-to meal. Jade ordered a bacon cheeseburger and Rob and I both ordered Bison brats. We quickly devoured our food and even though the meals were just so-so, our bellies were full and we were happy. We piled into the RV and headed back to Gardiner. We got back to our RV Park, and Rob and I thought we’d head into town to check it out. The little town looks so cute. But as you would guess, the kids weren’t interested in hanging with their parents. So they stayed in the RV while we walked into town. Rob had called to arrange for a white water rafting trip for the next day, and we saw the place on our walk, so we thought we’d walk in to check it out. The people at Yellowstone Rafting were very nice and answered all our questions. Turns out they give water shoes and wet suits so you don’t have to worry about bringing anything. The water temperature in the Yellowstone River was about 65. A bit cold for this Floridian, so I knew we’d need some type of protection. Next door to the rafting place is the Two Bit Saloon. Perfect! We ordered a few beers and played a few games of pool; a perfect way to relax in our opinion. We then walked a few doors down to the Iron Horse Restaurant to get some dinner. We shared the Elk Nachos, which were so good I wanted to lick the plate. The restaurant overlooks the Yellowstone River, so we sat outside and admired the view as we enjoyed our dinner. As we made our way back to our RV park, we walked right by an Elk grazing on some grass. It was so weird to see such a big animal on the side of a house. Even though we've seen them several times, it always shocks me to see them so up close and personal. I took some pics but didn’t get too close. They may look sweet and innocent, but they’ve been known to hurt people if provoked. We continued our walk back when we were shocked again, a sweet deer walked right by us. Just casually walking by, like it didn’t care that people were coming its way. It passed us and then headed down the road to eat some grass. It was pretty surreal. We took a quick pic and left it alone to continue eating its dinner. We got back to the RV park and thought it’d be fun to start a fire in the community fire pit area. This time, Jade and Jaxon joined us. Reece was still being a homebody and opted to stay inside. We walked over to the fire pit area to find a sign on it that said it was closed because of the fire threat. Bummer. So we walked to the edge of the RV park and surveyed the beauty of Yellowstone. Even without the fire, it was a stunning view. We chatted and Rob and Jaxon walked down the hill a bit to check out the view. Finally, we headed back in to the RV to relax and head to bed. There’s nothing more relaxing and meditative than the views of Yellowstone and the surrounding forests. Better than any tv show I’ve ever watched. I simply can’t get enough. It fuels my soul more than anything else could. It’s an understatement to say how much I truly love this part of our country. Nature is the best. We woke up too late to get the free breakfast at our RV park. Which was a bummer since we all were looking forward to it. We walked by but they were already cleaning up. And boy did it smell good. There was a scent of homemade cookies in the air and it made us hungry! So we walked back to the RV and made up a leisure breakfast of our own. The kids really wanted to hang out at the Hot Springs facility next door. Since we were customers of the RV park, we automatically got free entrance into the Hot Springs facility. We packed up our stuff and checked out of our RV park and went over to the Hot Springs. When we walked into the door, it was like walking into a small fitness center. There was a smoothie bar at the front, offering a variety of delicious and healthy smoothies, all of which sounded tempting. But we just ate so we we didn’t order anything. We told the lady at the counter that we were customers from the RV park and she let us know that we had full reign of the facility and just had to put our wristbands on. So we all put on our wristbands and then toured the facility. There was a small indoor pool area where they had 7 pools varying in size and temperature. Some were cold (less than 60 degrees) and some super hot (warmer than 95 degrees). We then walked outside, where there were 4 other pools, lots of seating and what looked like a stage area. The majority of the pools outside were a perfect temperature, around 80+ degrees, and 1 was around 100 degrees. We relaxed and swam in the various pools for a couple hours. Soon it was time for lunch and we were all getting hungry. Rob and I went back to the RV to make the kids lunch. Once we finished eating, we realized that we needed to do a quick grocery shopping trip. We just needed a few things and we were going to be meeting a friend of ours that lives in Bozeman. We quickly got everyone ready and we headed out to a local grocery store. Ironically, the grocery store turned out to be just a couple miles away from our friend’s work. So we ended up meeting up in the parking lot of the grocery store. Our friend, Scott, met up with us and we headed to his place in Big Sky, MT. We had driven by Big Sky on our way to Bozeman, so we had a general idea of where we were going. Once we turned on to the main drive, we immediately saw a big horn sheep. Definitely not the type of animal you want to cuddle with. It’s big horns are much bigger in person for sure. We got to Scott’s townhouse so he could change and then he took us up to his clubhouse. Big Sky has 3 private clubhouse, all of which are very nice. The clubhouse was surrounded by multimillion dollar log cabin homes, all of which had Rob and I drooling. We sat at the clubhouse, catching up and chatting, and before we knew it, it was getting late and we needed to say our goodbyes. It was a great visit and we really loved Big Sky. On our way out, we stopped at Beehive Basin Brewery. It was a small brewery but packed a great punch with their brews. We grabbed a quick flight and then we were back on the road. It was a 2 hr drive to get to our next destination, Gardiner, MT. Gardiner is a small town just at the north entrance to Yellowstone. The drive to Gardiner was scenic and we made it to our RV park after hours. Thankfully, they left our info on a clipboard at the front. We found our spot and got settled in for the night.
We woke up too late to get the free breakfast at our RV park. Which was a bummer since we all were looking forward to it. We walked by but they were already cleaning up. And boy did it smell good. There was a scent of homemade cookies in the air and it made us hungry! So we walked back to the RV and made up a leisure breakfast of our own. The kids really wanted to hang out at the Hot Springs facility next door. Since we were customers of the RV park, we automatically got free entrance into the Hot Springs facility. We packed up our stuff and checked out of our RV park and went over to the Hot Springs. When we walked into the door, it was like walking into a small fitness center. There was a smoothie bar at the front, offering a variety of delicious and healthy smoothies, all of which sounded tempting. But we just ate so we we didn’t order anything. We told the lady at the counter that we were customers from the RV park and she let us know that we had full reign of the facility and just had to put our wristbands on. So we all put on our wristbands and then toured the facility. There was a small indoor pool area where they had 7 pools varying in size and temperature. Some were cold (less than 60 degrees) and some super hot (warmer than 95 degrees). We then walked outside, where there were 4 other pools, lots of seating and what looked like a stage area. The majority of the pools outside were a perfect temperature, around 80+ degrees, and 1 was around 100 degrees. We relaxed and swam in the various pools for a couple hours. Soon it was time for lunch and we were all getting hungry. Rob and I went back to the RV to make the kids lunch. Once we finished eating, we realized that we needed to do a quick grocery shopping trip. We just needed a few things and we were going to be meeting a friend of ours that lives in Bozeman. We quickly got everyone ready and we headed out to a local grocery store. Ironically, the grocery store turned out to be just a couple miles away from our friend’s work. So we ended up meeting up in the parking lot of the grocery store. Our friend, Scott, met up with us and we headed to his place in Big Sky, MT. We had driven by Big Sky on our way to Bozeman, so we had a general idea of where we were going. Once we turned on to the main drive, we immediately saw a big horn sheep. Definitely not the type of animal you want to cuddle with. It’s big horns are much bigger in person for sure. We got to Scott’s townhouse so he could change and then he took us up to his clubhouse. Big Sky has 3 private clubhouse, all of which are very nice. The clubhouse was surrounded by multimillion dollar log cabin homes, all of which had Rob and I drooling. We sat at the clubhouse, catching up and chatting, and before we knew it, it was getting late and we needed to say our goodbyes. It was a great visit and we really loved Big Sky. On our way out, we stopped at Beehive Basin Brewery. It was a small brewery but packed a great punch with their brews. We grabbed a quick flight and then we were back on the road. It was a 2 hr drive to get to our next destination, Gardiner, MT. Gardiner is a small town just at the north entrance to Yellowstone. The drive to Gardiner was scenic and we made it to our RV park after hours. Thankfully, they left our info on a clipboard at the front. We found our spot and got settled in for the night. We got up early and ate a leisurely breakfast. We wanted to get on the road as we had decided to leave West Yellowstone and head to Bozeman. Originally we had planned one more day in West Yellowstone, but the kids didn't want to hike anymore. We had connected with our friend that lives in Bozeman and had heard about the Museum of the Rockies, which the kids really wanted to visit. So we bid adeau and got on the road. Must admit, I absolutely love Montana. It is a very beautiful state and one I will want to come visit again soon.
The drive to Bozeman was stunning....the road follows along the Gardiner River and all through the mountains. Rob and I fantasized about moving to Montana and getting a cabin up in the mountain, nestled along the river. Maybe once Jaxon gets into college this dream can come true. The mountains definitely call to us. Once we got to Bozeman, we headed straight to the museum. We didn’t realize the museum is part of Montana State University. The town and the University was quiet and didn't have much activity going on. Makes sense since it's summertime and all the kids are away. We got there at just the right time, there were only a few parking spaces left. We parked and went inside. The museum has 3 levels, however all the exhibits are on the first level. The top level is a kids play area and the lower level is for the museum offices and some concessions. The kids really enjoyed the dinosaur exhibit, as did Rob and I. They have archaeologists on staff that work on fossils right in front of you. It was neat seeing them cleaning the fossils and identifying what body part they belonged to. It was pretty cool. The museum also has a planetarium, but did not stay long enough to see any of the shows. The museum also houses a very cool guitar exhibit. Not sure if that’s something they always have or whether it was just there temporarily. But it was pretty cool. Personally, I enjoyed the Native American exhibit and learning about their history. The entire museum only took a couple hours to see. Which was good since we all were pretty hungry when we were done. After the museum we went into Bozeman, just a couple blocks away, to get some food and drinks at Bridger Brewery. Breweries are a passion for Rob and I and Bozeman does not disappoint. Bridger brewery specializes in pizza and, in my opinion, was super delish! They also have the most amazing selection of beers. We met the owner and the brew master and both guys were super nice. We really enjoyed visiting that brewery. In fact, it was probably our favorite out of the 4 we visited. After eating, we were ready to check in to our RV park. The park was adjacent to the Bozeman Hot Springs facility. And to our surprise, we got free passes upon checking in, to use the Hots Springs facility. We got checked in and found our spot, which backed up to the small creek on the property. The creek was small and there was a deep incline to get to it so we didn't go down to it. The RV park also included complimentary breakfast, which we were excited to try. Once we settled in, we decided to venture out to see more of the Bozeman area. We drove around the town and ended up stopping at a few more breweries and then got some dinner. The entire area is so small and quaint and we really enjoyed driving around. Back at the campground, our RV neighbors were having quite the party. They must’ve had 20 people sitting in their little lot. They were most definitely enjoying themselves and it was fun to watch. But as the rule in my campgrounds, quiet time starts at a reasonable hour. So the party didn’t last long and before we knew it, we all had fallen asleep. It was such a great day and we really loved the small town of Bozeman, MT! July 9, 2018
The day started out with everyone sleeping in. Except me. I was up about 2 hrs before everyone. I guess my body is still on east coast time. But I was ok with that. I enjoyed my coffee and tried to upload more pics. You’d be surprised how long it takes to upload pics when your internet connection is as slow as molasses. Once everyone got up, we went out to breakfast in town. It was the first time in over 40 days that I ate a piece of bread and regular butter. Boy was it tasty! I had woken up with a headache and had to wonder if it was related to the couple bites of ice cream that I had the night before. Having been sugar free for so long, it wouldn’t surprise me if I had reacted to it. But it was worth it. That ice cream was delicious. After breakfast, we headed into Yellowstone. I had found a really short hike that I thought would be easy and fun. The kids are a bit hiked out at this point, so doing a short one was an easy compromise. I chose the 1.5 mile hike to Harlequin Lake. It was a very picturesque hike, as most of them are, through the pine trees. We got to the lake and it was smaller than I had imagined. There were lily pads all over the lake and with the mountains behind it, the view was very pretty. There wasn’t really any place to sit and the bugs were biting us up, so we took in the view and quickly headed back to the RV. We then drove up to Norris Geyser Basin to see if we could check it out, but as expected, it was so jam packed, the parking lot was closed and so many people were parking on the side of the entrance road. We drove past and I checked the map to see what other things we could look at and do. Not to far from Norris Geyser Basin is Griffin Falls. So we drove there and found some parking. The kids didn’t seem very impressed by the huge falls, but I was. I couldn’ve sat there all day looking at the falls and watching the river flow down the mountain. The sound of the falls is so relaxing to me. Jaxon said it hurt his ears. His ears have always been sensitive to loud noises though. After the falls, we found a pull off near the Norris campground to sit and eat some lunch. After lunch, we turned around and headed back. We did a quick stop at Beryn Spring, which sits right along the side of the road. The amount of force of the steam coming out, makes you think it is going to blow like a volcano. It was loud and so cool to look at. The kids weren’t interested in seeing it, so only Rob and I walked up. We sat there watching it for a short while and then we headed back to West Yellowstone. Once in town, the kids were craving some ice cream. So we stopped at this little place and the kids got to cool down with some tasty treats. We then headed to do my favorite activity of the day.....horseback riding! We drove out to Diamond P Ranch, about 5 miles out of town. The ranch is small and the people working there were super nice. Rob dropped us off and then headed back into town with the boys to do a ropes course and ziplining. The horseback ride was so much fun! Jade’s horses name was Turkey and mine was Stick. Such sweet horses. They took us up the mountain and then back around. It was such a beautiful ride. Really made me miss riding and definitely made me want to move to Montana. I just couldn’t get over the beauty of the mountains. The 2 hour ride went so quickly and seemed to only last 30 minutes. Jade and I were both really sad once it was over. The boys did their ropes course in 2 hours also. And picked us up right as we finished. It worked out perfectly. The boys loved the ropes course! We’ll need to try it out the next time we are in West Yellowstone. After all that activity, we all were pretty hungry. I wasn’t in the mood to do any cooking, so we decided to eat out in town. The boys had already eaten, so it was just Rob, Jade and I. We found a really great restaurant called Madison Crossing. The food was soooo delicious! Such a great surprise! I ordered the trout, which was cooked perfectly and came with the best side of wild rice I’ve ever eaten. Rob had the Bison burger, which he enjoyed. And Jade had probably the best bison meatloaf any of us have ever had. I’ve never really eaten Bison before this trip and I think I’m now a convert. I love it! All in all, this restaurant surpassed any expectations we could have had. And to end our meal, we ordered their Blueberry Bread Pudding. Not too sweet and it was paired with the silky Wilcoxson Vanilla ice cream. Totally divine! We all were stuffed and happy as we walked back to the RV to relax. We drove back to our RV park and spent the rest of the night just relaxing. It was another memorable day in Yellowstone! July 8, 2018
Like our previous morning, Rob and I woke up early, around 6:30am, and quickly got ourselves and the RV ready to roll. Today we were going to the Grand Prismatic Spring, and we needed to get there as early as possible in order to get a parking spot. We got to the Grand Prismatic Spring around 7:15am. There were only a handful of cars and 1 bus parked in the lot. So we parked, turned on our generator and got some coffee brewing. We decided to let the kids sleep in. Afterall, we really weren’t in any kind of hurry. 2 hrs later, we got a knock on our door. It was the park ranger. They apparently do not like to have generators running in the park. So we turned our generator off and took it as a sign to wake up the kids. In actuality, the knock on the door woke them up. But let’s face it. They would have gone back to sleep had we not encouraged them to get ready for the day. Once the kids were dressed and ate some breakfast, we headed over to the boardwalk for the Grand Prismatic Spring and Excelsior Geyser. Walking the boardwalk to see both features only took about 20 minutes. Both were pretty spectacular. The sheer size of them both, along with the vibrant colors, made the early morning commute well worth it. Once back on the road, we headed out of the park to West Yellowstone. We made it to the Grizzly RV park about 30 minutes too early for check in. So we waited in our RV until a nice gentlemen knocked on our window to tell us we could check in. After checking in, we headed to the grocery store. There are only 2 in town. Yes, West Yellowstone is a very small town. Did I mention VERY small town?!?! I am pretty sure I could walk the entire town in under 30 minutes. And that's if I took some time to window shop. It’s very quaint town and most definitely has an Old West type of feel. The first grocery store had a small video rental section. The kids were pretty excited about that and spent the entire time looking for a movie to watch. After lots of discussion and compromise, they picked out the movie, The Circle starring Tom Hanks. We had been looking for some tongs to grill with and this grocery store did not have any. So after putting away our groceries, we walked over to the other grocery store in town, which was only 2 blocks away. They didn’t have any tongs either. Do people even cook in this town???? The clerk mentioned we could try the local hardware store, but he didn’t seem very confident that they’d have tongs. Feeling a bit defeated, we decided to just give up and head back to the RV park to relax, shower and get some dinner ready. We opted to go on a short hike through the Gallatin Forest, which our RV park backs up to. The forest was really nice and had several signs cautioning about snowmobiling. Come to find that the forest is a very popular place for snowmobilers in the wintertime. I could see why. Sure a cool place for sure. The rest of the night we really spent relaxing and watching the movie. Jade and I both agreed that the movie was a bit farfetched and the entire ending was horrible. The boys all stopped watching it about 30 minutes into it. So much for movie night. Maybe we’ll try another movie again. Who knows. All I knew was that we had no plans for the next day and we could sleep in. Yay! Another great day in the books for us! Good night! July 7, 2018
We woke up super early to get on the road to Old Faithful. When we had gotten lost yesterday, we saw how crowded Old Faithful gets, and knew it’d be better to go early to get a parking spot. Parking an RV is definitely a challenge and Yellowstone is a very crowded place in the summer. So we left around 6:30am. We got to Old Faithful and, as expected, there were only a couple other cars there. We got front row parking. Perfect! Jade and Reece were still sleeping, but Jaxon was awake so we all got ready and went to sit on the boardwalk in front Old Faithful. Old Faithful usually erupts every 90 mins or so. And we weren’t sure when it was set to erupt again. So Rob went into the lodge to ask. As he came back, Old Faithful started to go off. Perfect timing! It was 7:35am and we watched the magnificence of Old Faithful as it spewed it’s hot water and steam for 5 mins. Once it was over, we walked to the lodge to get a cup of coffee. We were all hungry and there wasn’t much to eat there, so we walked back to the RV. We woke up Jade and Reece and everyone got some breakfast. Then we walked back to boardwalk and decided to do the Geyser Hill trail. Old Faithful is surrounded by many geysers, fumaroles and mud pots. The geyser hill trail is a loop about 1.3 miles. We walked and marveled at all the thermal features. Once we finished the trail, we headed back to Old Faithful so that Jade and Reece would watch it erupt. We waited and waited and waited. It kept doing these mini type eruptions and teasing us. Finally, it did erupt and we all watched again at its glory. Once it was over, we headed back to the RV. Next, we wanted to see the Grand Prismatic Spring at the Midway Geyser Basin. We drove over but found it super crowded with no parking. So, we made a plan to do the same thing we did with Old Faithful and go see it super early in the morning tomorrow. Instead, we went to see the Lone Star Geyser, which is also near the Midway Geyser Basic and Old Faithful. When we got there, we were able to find parking at Kepler Cascades. We walked by the waterfall, which was super cool looking, and then hiked the 2.5 mile trail down to Lone Star Geyser. The hike was gorgeous and parallels the Firehole River. This hike has got to be my favorite so far. When we finally got to the geyser, there were a bunch of people waiting for it to erupt. There was a book that documented the previous eruptions and it said the last eruption occurred at 12:19pm. We had read that it erupts every 3 hours, but it was only 2:30pm. So that meant we’d have to wait a bit longer if we wanted to see if erupt. We did wait for a bit and explored the area. We caught its minor eruption but did not stay for the main one. The boys were tired and hot and wanted to get back to the RV. So, we left and hiked back to the RV. Along the way, we grabbed some firewood that we thought would be great for our campfire. After our hike, we headed back to the campground and stopped at the General Store. We picked up a few snacks for the kids. There was a Restaurant and Grill there, so the kids opted to try the ice cream. The ice cream vendor is called Wilcoxson’s, who have been the ice cream supplier to Yellowstone since 1927. Both Jade and Reece agreed, their ice cream was amazing! If you ever visit Yellowstone, be sure to get some ice cream! Once back at our RV spot, Rob and Jaxon made the campfire using the new firewood that we collected. It worked great and lit so quickly! I made our dinner and the kids relaxed. After dinner, Rob and I went on a walk around the campground and then sat by the campfire. We all went to bed early since we knew we’d be getting up early to head over to the Grand Prismatic Spring. We really enjoyed the solitude, simplicity and beauty of the Grant Campground. The kids, however, were really looking forward to our next campground, which is a full hookup in West Yellowstone, and which includes cable tv and internet access. I must admit, I was looking forward to it too since I was struggling to get our pictures and the blog updated. We really enjoyed seeing the sights and the wildlife of South Yellowstone. Now we’re excited to see what West Yellowstone will bring! July 6, 2018
We all woke up pretty early. The weather was much warmer than the previous couple days. I actually woke up really warm. We ate breakfast and then got ready to head into Yellowstone. Our water heater in the RV has not worked, so none of us have showered in 4 days. We all were ready for a nice, hot shower. We packed up and headed on the road to Yellowstone. We arrived at the Grant Village Campground and checked in. We got spot 283 in the I loop. And lucky for us, the I loop overlooks Yellowstone Lake. We drove to our spot and Jade, Jaxon and I got out and went over to the edge of Yellowstone Lake to check it out. What a gorgeous spot! You can’t really walk along the lakeside, but you can throw rocks and admire the view. Which is exactly what we did. Rob called the service number for El Monte and the technician was working in the Fishing Bridge campground. So we opted to go over there to meet him. Before doing that, Rob wanted to see if we could change our spot. 283 had our RV opening up to the road and he wanted to see if we could have our door open up to the campsite and trees. So before heading to Fishing Bridge, we stopped at the check in desk and asked if we could change spots. Thankfully they were more than happy to accommodate us. We switched to just across the way at 284. Not quite as big of a forest spot, but nice enough for us! We then headed to Fishing Bridge and as soon as we reached Old Faithful, we knew we had missed our turn. Oops! Lesson learned the hard way. So 17 miles out of our way, we turned around and headed back in the correct direction. We finally got to Fishing Bridge around 4:00pm. The nice gentlemen fixed our water heater, which only took about 10 mins. Then we headed into the General Store there to pick up some more tissues and aloe. Jade had been getting so many nosebleeds, because of the dry and cooler air. She had already used up all the tissues we had bought. And she had gotten quite a sunburn on our last hike at Taggart Lake. After picking up those few things, we decided to head to the West Thumb Geyser Basin. It was very close to our campground and we wanted to get some sightseeing in. The West Thumb Geyser Basin was beautiful. It has many beautiful geysers, fumaroles and mud pots. We learned that there are 4 different types of thermal features at Yellowstone. The 3 I listed above and hot springs. Here’s the difference: Geyser: A geyser is a hot spring that spews hot water from underground into the air. The water is pushed out of the ground due to the constriction and pressure underground. The water temperature builds up well over 200 degrees causing the pressure and the pressure must be relieved, so it erupts. Hot Spring: Hot springs are similar except there is no constriction underground, so the pressure doesn’t build up. Therefore, the temperature underground never builds up and the eruption does not occur. The hot springs usually have beautiful colors created by light refraction, suspended mineral particles and heat-loving microorganisms. One of the first microorganisms found on Earth is Cyano bacteria. This organism is what helps create the oxygen in our environment and is one that NASA looks for on other planets when trying to determine whether we could survive on that planet. Fumarole (also called a steam vent): You can see so many fumaroles as you drive around Yellowstone. It seems like everywhere you look, you can see steam coming up from the ground. Basically, a fumarole is just a vent in the Earth’s crust. Groundwater meets the hot rocks underground and then are turned into steam. This steam rushes up through the series of cracks and fissures and out the vent. Sometimes you can hear hissing sounds as the steam escapes. Mud pot: Mud pots occur in places where microorganisms help to convert the hydrogen sulfide, which rises from within the depths of the Earth, into sulfuric acid. When walking around the geyser basin, you can always smell the wonderful sulfur smell. It’s like being in a vat of rotten eggs. The acid created then dissolves the surrounding rock into clay, which then mixes with the steam and groundwater to form mud. The mud can be varying colors and consistencies as well. Ok so that’s the lesson for the day. After walking around the basin, we headed back to our campsite and tried to get a fire going. It was already pretty late, and we still needed to get dinner and take our showers. Unfortunately, the fire bundle, that we bought while checking into the campground, turned out to be a bit damp. That made creating a fire pretty difficult, so it took quite some time. You’d think we’d be able to forage for some dry wood, being in a campground and surrounded by pine trees. But alas, there wasn’t a good supply, so we had to make do. Rob, being the awesome fire starter that he is, was able to finally get the fire going and we got our chicken and veggies on the grill. But we had to cut the cooking short so we all could get our showers in before 9:30pm. Yes, it took that long to get the fire going. The campground allows 2 showers per day at their shower facility. Since we were staying 2 nights, we got 4 showers allocated to us. So, Rob, the boys, and I all showered in the facility and Jade showered in the RV. The boys took their showers when we got back from the West Thumb basin, and Rob and I showered after dinner. The line for the women’s shower was 15 deep and the attendant felt bad that I had to wait so long, so he gave me my shower without checking it off our sheet. So technically Jade could have used the shower facility the next day if she wanted. But she didn’t. His nice gesture was nice all the same. And that was the end to another great day. Our plan for tomorrow will be to see Old Faithful and the Grand Prismatic Spring. Good night from Yellowstone! July 5, 2018
Despite the beds in the RV being very hard, we all slept great. We were prepared this time. We all slept with our warmest clothes on. We did notice though, that it didn’t feel quite as cold as the previous morning. So that was a bonus. We started our generator and got some coffee brewing. We wanted to get into the park pretty early so we all ate breakfast as quickly as possible. Rob set a couple chairs out to reserve our spot and we headed into the Grand Teton National Park. The park was packed. We knew we wanted to hike Taggart Lake but we headed to Jenny Lake first since we had left our RV shoe mat on the ground where we had parked the day before. We wanted to see if we could find it. When we got to Jenny Lake there were twice as many cars! Needless to say, we were glad we opted to do Jenny Lake the day before. We didn’t find our mat though, which was a bummer. We headed to Taggart Lake and found a spot right at the entrance, so we quickly parked and got our camelbacks and snacks ready. We checked the map and it looked like this hike would be about 1.6 miles each way. We started the hike and the first mile was rocky and had some elevation changes. So we took it kind of slow and by the last .6 miles, it was either level or downhill. So that was nice. Taggart Lake was beautiful. We sat and ate our snacks and just enjoyed the scenery. There were some people that jumped into the lake. The water had to be around 50 degrees. Way too cold for this Floridian! We thought they were crazy. Jaxon tried feeding the small fish that were swimming by our feet with his snack. They seemed to love it. The hike back to the RV was nice and easy since it was all downhill. About 3/4 the way down the trail we encountered a Grizzly bear. It was on the opposite side of a small stream and was headed up into the hills away from us. Once we got back, the kids were done hiking so we opted to do something different. A friend of mine, who was also vacationing in Yellowstone and Grand Teton, had just come back from Teton Village where she and her family did the Aerial Tram ride. I asked the kids if they would like to check it out and they all wanted to. We drove out to Teton Village, which took us about 30 minutes. When we got there, we parked in the RV lot, which had a shuttle. I was grateful for that shuttle since it was now 85 degrees and the sun was right over us. The shuttle dropped us off right in front of the ticket office. In the distance we could see some bad weather and figured we’d better forego lunch and get on the tram before that weather hit us. We were so hungry though from our hike, so we hit the general store and grabbed some snacks to eat until we could get some actual lunch. I bought our tram tickets while Rob got our snacks. Then we got in the tram line. Thankfully the line wasn’t long and it moved fast. After about 10 minutes, the previous tram was coming back and we started to board. We were all packed in like sardines, when the tram operator came back and said we wouldn’t be going up because of the storm. Lightening was in the area and they didn’t want to risk sending us up the mountain. What a bummer! So we all piled out. We walked around the village to see what other things were there. It reminded us of the movie Hot Tub Time Machine. It had an alpine village type of feel to it. It was a cool place for sure. We saw the impending storm coming our way, despite it still be sunny where we were. So we went to Guest Services to get a refund. They happily refunded our money and we took the shuttle back to our RV. We were bummed. The kids were hungry and despite being in a RV full of food, we decided to head into Jackson to wait out the storm. On our way, we needed to dump our grey and black water tanks. So we stopped at an RV park that wasn't too far from Teton Village. After we dumped, we decided to try out a local brewery called Roadhouse Brewery. We got a couple flights and were pleasantly pleased with all the beers. We were then invited by their brewmasters, Max and Mike, to tour their facility and see their barrel room. They were brewing a new sour and a saison that weren't slated to be ready for another couple months. But they let us sample them and they both were delicious. We really enjoyed meeting them and talking with them about their craft beer and the local craft beer scene in the area. After Roadhouse, we drove into Jackson to eat at a restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Sidewinders Bar and Grill. We weren’t overly impressed. The kids barely ate their meals. Jade had ordered the BBQ ribs. Reece tried their potstickers. And Jaxon got his usual, chicken tenders. Rob and I both got a bison burger, which we enjoyed. After dinner, we headed back to our camping spot. We got our fire going and Jaxon roasted some cheese dogs on a stick over the open fire. We sat around the fire talking and just enjoying the scenery of our last evening in the Bridger Teton National Forest. Our feet were sore, our bellies were full and our hearts were happy from such a great day! |
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