The Ibbotson Muppets: Yellowstone

When we started planning this trip months ago, we had REALLY big plans. I wanted to see as many national parks as we could, and wanted to see all of the country. I wanted to drive up the coast of California and make our way up to Olympic, and drive all the way down the east coast to Everglades, and see literally everything in between. We even talked briefly about trying to drive to Alaska... the sky was the limit! But as we started putting the parameters on the trip (wanted to be out for approximately 3 months, we don't want to drive for more than 4 hours most legs... 6 hours max, we like to stay at least 2 nights in a location) we realized that our plan was overly ambitious and would need to start trimming things back. I eventually landed on a route that basically took us west across I-40 and back east on I-70. Yellowstone didn't make the cut- not because I didn't want to go, but because it was so far off the route that seemed to make sense. That was until Pat looked over my shoulder one day and said "NO YELLOWSTONE?!?!" So the plan was re-worked and we figured out a way to make Yellowstone happen.

I am SO glad we did! Yellowstone is absolutely beautiful, and so unique with its geothermal features.

Before we got to Yellowstone, we did a quick overnight stay just north of Salt Lake City. We rolled in just around dinner time and left as soon as the kids finished school the next day, so we never even detached animal. Unfortunately, because of the short stop we didn't even have time to see Salt Lake, other than a tiny sliver we could see from the highway. Driving from Green River to Salt Lake City was also an adventure- we drove right next to the Bear Wildfire, that eventually shut down the highway we were on a few hours after we passed it. We could see the flames in some spots, and the entire highway was blanketed in smoke. The kids said it smelled like a yummy campfire, lol.

From Salt Lake City we headed north to West Yellowstone, Montana. This camping reservation was another one of those "I don't know how I got it" reservations. Just a whole lot of checking the KOA website until something popped up. The campground was pretty basic, but it put us just 8 miles outside of the National Park gates!

Friday was our first full day in the area and I pulled the kids out of school. The internet in the area was non-existent, so it would have been almost impossible to log in, and I figured that Yellowstone counts as an educational field trip ;-) We left early and headed directly to Old Faithful. We learned quickly that getting around Yellowstone takes a LONG time. Not only is the park absolutely massive, but its all on one figure 8 loop road, with one lane in each direction. Anytime there was ANY sign of wildlife, people would stop in the middle of the road to take pictures, causing massive backups. The road from the west entrance to the main loop was about 15 miles and it took us an hour, all because there was a single elk standing on the side of the road! We eventually made it to Old Faithful and the timing was perfect- early enough to get a bench in the front row, but not too long of a wait to watch it go off. Daddy snuck off for a few minutes and came back with some delicious hot chocolate, which was perfect for the chilly morning.

After Old Faithful, the kids and I walked the boardwalk area around the Geyser Basin, while Pat found the tiniest bit of cell service for a work call. The geyser basin was like walking around another planet. I've never seen anything like it.

From there, we found a place to eat our picnic lunch, and then took the Fairy Trail to the observation point of Grand Prismatic Springs. The colors from all the microorganisms that call the springs their home was beautiful. From a distance, you could see the orange and blues reflecting in the steam that was hovering over the springs.

We called it a day after that, with just a bit more trafficy driving through back to the entrance, and then stayed in the town of West Yellowstone for some dinner. Friday is Kids Pick Dinner night, so of course we ended up with Pizza. It was pretty decent for Montana pizza, haha!

Saturday we got a little later start, which actually helped with the entrance gate traffic, but were once again stuck behind a line of wildlife watchers slowing down traffic. This time we headed north to the Mammoth Hot Springs area. Again, it looked like another planet, but different features from the day before. The springs in this area had deposited minerals which made ice-looking terraces along the walls of the springs. We had our lunch and then walked along the boardwalk up the springs. On the way back down we stopped at Gibbon Falls.

That night we had dinner at the Buffalo Bar, and then had a relaxing night before our longer drive east the next day. There was so much more of Yellowstone I wanted to see, and so much more that I thought I'd be able to see if it didn't take so long to get from point a to point b. But with the length of our trip, we just don't have the stamina to do dawn to dusk all day adventures, so we got what we could. If I could go back again, I'd love to see the more eastern part of the park- upper and lower falls, Yellowstone Lake, and the Lamar Valley.