Our Family Yellowstone Vacation #1

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We decided to take a family trip to Yellowstone the last week of July. Bryan meet up with us there. We missed the Jerome county fair much to Alan's disappointment. (Not!)We left Monday afternoon and made the slow up hill climb with our trailer loaded with 4-wheelers to Don & Laura's. They treated us to a really nice dinner and we had fun visiting with them as the kids ran around screaming. Laura and I ran to Walmart that evening for a few forgotten items and Don & Alan stayed with the kids.
The next morning after a great breakfast we headed to our camp site in Island Park. We pulled into Red Rock RV and hooked up and unloaded. The RV park guy was constantly driving around on his four-wheeler. I think that he was secretly spying on us. I attempted to make a dutch oven dinner but I either didn't have the coals hot enough or the wrong kind because after 1 1/2 hours of cooking I gave up and put it on the camp stove where I ended up burning the bottom. Everyone said that it was great but I think that they were trying to be nice. Bryan joined us and we tried to put up the tent we brought for him but there was enough wind to make it a real challenge. After dinner and a game of UNO spin we settled in for the evening.
The next day we left for Yellowstone park and our Suburban just cruised right along without the weight of the trailer. We were a bit surprised that there was lines and lines of cars to get into the park but we paid our fee and was off to explore. It was so funny how the cars creeped along looking for any animal sightings and if someone pulled over you just knew something was out there. Bryan told Zach that he wanted to pull over and start pointing just to get others to follow.
We spotted some elk not far into the park grazing in a meadow. We continued on to our first stop at Fountain paint pots. There was a little boardwalk that took you on a little tour. There were all kinds of mini geysers and the ground looked as if it had been painted with all different kinds of colors.
Our next stop was at the famous Old Faithful. We pulled up just as it finished erupting. We had an hour to kill so we decided take a trail and hike around. We were not prepared and brought little water but we made it. Rachel was always the leader of the pack and was told frequently to slow down. We spotted some elk right off the trail which was exciting. We arrived at Old Faithful 15 minutes before it was scheduled to erupt (they post a sign that tells you when it is going to erupt give or take 10 minutes). We were hot and thirsty but we held our ground. We arrived after all the seats were taken so we sat in the hot sun waiting forever. Every so often you thought it was going to erupt and then it would go back down. It was funny to see everyone poised for the perfect shot only to be disappointed by a teaser. Of course it didn't erupt until 10 mins. after the scheduled time so we were standing there for about 1/2 hour. It lasted a few minutes and then we were on our way. To be truthful it was a bit disappointing. It is pretty amazing that it is so consistent but I think some other spots were more beautiful. We then traveled down near Yellowstone Lake and ate a sand filled sandwich. The wind seemed to be picking up and it filled our sandwich with dirt.
We wanted to complete the lower loop on our first day but our grand scheme fell short when we arrived at the Fishing bridge and were told to turn around and go back the way we came because there was a fire started by a power line that fell down. We were a bit disappointing but really had no other options. We returned to camp where the tent had completely took a beating from the wind. We took off the rain fly and threw it away. I attempted another dutch oven creation which was even more yucky than the night before. (I really need some lessons!) Bryan and Zach arrived after dinner (they ate at Arby's - lucky them!) to find us trying to figure out why our batteries in our camper were not charging. We gave up trying to figure it out and played Trains by flashlight in the trailer since outside was so windy. Bryan made it through the night without the rain fly and was gone before we stumbled out of the trailer. He decided to get after his two six mile hikes that he had planned for that day.
We left again after breakfast for Yellowstone park to drive around the upper loop. Our first stop was at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was beautiful. It is one of the most picturesque parts of Yellowstone. We were not disappointed. Melissa saw a sign with a hiker with a line through it and she thought that it stood for no walking sticks. We had a good chuckle over it. We were headed for a trail head to the lower falls when Bryan drove up. What are are chances of meeting up somewhere with him and all the other thousand people on the roads. He went on the hike with us and as we were heading down the trail Allison wanted me to carry her baby doll. I said, "I don't know why we brought this dumb baby anyway." Well as I said that a man and his son's were walking past us and I was told that he looked at me with shock. I think he thought I was referring to Allison. Whoops!!! After the hike we parted ways with Bryan. We wanted to go through Mud Lake for the famous animals walking the road experience but we couldn't because of the fire. We headed up a winding road towards Tower Falls. We stopped on the side of the road and a nice lady helped up find a bear through the binoculars. Most all of us spotted the bear but it took awhile. At Tower Falls we saw some Bison far up on a hill and took another trail that lead us down to the water's edge. It was too tempting for the kids to not get in the water so they took off their shoes and skipped rocks and built water pools. It was refreshing but the hike back up was not. We were starving by that time and had planned to eat on the road. I looked at the map and told everyone that up ahead a few miles was a lodge. (It was a long few miles.) We got there at the lodge at 3:30 and they stopped serving lunch. So we loaded back up much to Zach's chagrin and proceeded up to Mammoth Hot Springs. We ate there and continued on our way. We didn't stop at Mammoth for the sights because we were tired and were ready to get back to our campground. On the way back we spotted a moose and more elk. At camp we finally had an evening with little wind so we bought some firewood and roasted hot dogs and had smores. Alan fixed the trailer, and then we went to bed with no games.
The next morning Alan, Zach and Bryan went on a short ride on the four-wheelers and then we loaded up to head out for the Leavitt family reunion in Lava. We had some red-neck experiences trying to unhook our waste hose. We learned that it is important to be a in spot where your waste flows downhill and not up. Alan was a bit embarrassed after some waste came out of the hose (the people next to us were probably having a good laugh) and of course there was the smell! That experience prompted Alan to order a few RV supplies upon our return!
We had a great time in Yellowstone and we were grateful to have Bryan join us. The kids really love him. He is so funny and is willing to just go with the flow. We arrived home after the reunion late Friday night and the kids were up and at the temple the next morning putting on and taking off booties. I am grateful that we are able to take trips with our kids. I know that we are creating memories that will last a lifetime.