Yellowstone National Park

Last weekend we went to Yellowstone with our good friends the Johns Family.  We all stayed in a big cabin together about 20 minutes from the West Yellowstone entrance. We arrived on Thursday night and just as we pulled up there was a loud bang and the power went out.  Luckily we had a flashlight in the car and found a few candles in the cabin. We sat in the front room in the dark and visited for a while. The power finally came back on about an hour later and then we were able to explore the cabin.  On Friday morning we did the lower Yellowstone loop. Our first stop was the Lonestar geyser. It was a 2 1/2 mile hike to the geyser and then 2 1/2 miles back.  It was a pretty hike and on a paved path for most of the way which made it easier with all of the kids. Unfortunately Mason was really tired and not too happy on the hike. He screamed in his stroller so Chad and I ended up switching off carrying him most of the way. The Lonestar Geyser only goes off about every 3 hours, so my mom said a prayer that when we got to the geyser it would be close to going off.  Her prayer was answered and the geyser started pretty much right as we walked up. It went off for about 30 minutes and was really cool. We had some snacks and then hiked back to the car and had our picnic lunch. Then we finished the lower loop. We saw bison, antelope, elk, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, the Upper and Lower Falls, the lake, and lots of other smaller falls.  We also saw some mud pools and a mud volcano.  It was all really pretty and cool to see, but it was also a lot of driving.  We got back to the cabin and had dinner, watched movies, and sat in the hot tub outside.  On Saturday we did the upper loop of Yellowstone.  We saw quite a few waterfalls.  We were planning to swim Saturday afternoon and then do another hike to Mystic Falls, but the Johns had tire trouble and we ended up having to go back to the cabin early.  We watched the BYU football game and relaxed at the cabin for the rest of the evening.  The next day we went to church and then headed home. It was a really fun trip with great company and yummy food. The lower loop of Yellowstone was my favorite and I would probably do that one again, but not the upper loop - too much driving.  Thanks Dad and Brandon for planning such an awesome trip!

These pictures are from Lonestar Geyser and the hike there.

The rest of these pictures are from other parts of Yellowstone.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Mason loved just going up and down the stairs and he wanted to do it by himself as much as possible.

This was our last stop and Mason's clothes were already filthy from going up and down the stairs, so when he wanted to run through this puddle we let him.  We had other clothes in the car that he could wear an we decided after all day in and out of the car he deserved to run around and get dirty and have fun. He ran back and forth through this puddle over and over again laughing and splashing. Other people started to stop and watch him and laugh. Some people took pictures too. He was attracting quite the crowd. He had so much fun - and was so wet and dirty by the end!