Yellowstone

This year my dad, mom, brother Jakob his wife Angie, my brother Kyle, sister Tami, Jeremy, Ethan and I took a five day trip to Yellowstone National Park and up to Cody, WY. It was good to

spend time all together in such beautiful surroundings.

Day 1: We left on a Wednesday morning to meet my parents in Jackson. Jakob and Angie picked us up and we loaded all of our things into their truck. (Thanks to Jakob for taking his truck and driving the whole time.) The drive was not bad and Ethan even got a little nap in. We got to Jackson first and played on the Albertsons lawn while we waited for everyone else.

Ethan and Jakob playing while we wait.

After everyone got there we went to North Park in Jackson to have a picnic lunch and got some gas before heading to the park. We stopped at Chapel of the Transfiguration in Grand Teton National Park. It is just a little wood church with a big window that frames the Tetons. With that view I am sure even if the preacher got boring you would enjoy church.

On the bridge to get to the Chapel of the Transfiguration: Jeremy, Heather, Dad, Tami, Mom, Kyle, Ethan, Angie, and Jakob.

We then walked over to Menor's Ferry. We looked through the little general store and joined a tour that had already started. I am not sure how much we missed, but it was free. The tour guide talked about the history of the ferry and of Teton National Park. We saw a few old wagons and cabins, as well as seeing how the ferry worked. We did not get to ride on the ferry because there was not enough room and we had not started the tour from the beginning, but it was cool

to see how fast it crossed the river.

One last picture with the Tetons: Jeremy and Heather

After we left Menor's Ferry we unhooked the trailer and drove up Signal Mt. As we went past a group of people some of us saw a black bear and her cub. Not me! There were great views from Signal Mt. and we could see some elk in the valley with our binoculars.

Family photo on Signal Mt.:Kyle, Tami, Dad, Me, Mom, Jeremy, Ethan, Jakob, and Angie

Grandpa Avery and Ethan just hanging out on a cool tree.

After hooking the trailer back up we left Teton National Park and entered Yellowstone. We set up camp at Bridge Bay Campground and got our spaghetti dinner started. The camp hosts told us that earlier that day they had chased a Grizzly Bear out of camp, so we needed to be extra careful. I was very spoiled and got to sleep in the camp trailer in the biggest bed.

This will embarrass my sister-in-law, but it is to funny not to tell. She was looking at the paper they give you when you come into the park and it has a photo of a Moose on it. She then asks Jakob if Moose eat meat? We could not help but laugh. It was a joke the entire trip. She was a really good sport about all the teasing.

Day Two: We started the day with a pancake and bacon breakfast. Then we drove to Canyon. We hiked down a 3/4 mile one way trail that was fairly steep but had lots of switch backs down to just above lower falls. We also could see Upper falls.

Heather and the Upper Falls.

Jeremy packed Ethan down, but Ethan really did not like being in the backpack, so he got to walk part of the way back up.

The way down was not hard, but going back up took me some time. It was steep, and I have not realized how much being pregnant slows me down. It was not too bad. I just went slower than most everyone else.

We saw hundreds of buffalo on our trip. Ethan was trying to sound like them as we drove in the truck and it did not matter how many we saw he always got excited to point them out to us.

We stopped at Roaring Mt., but only my mom and Jeremy could hear it when other cars weren't started. There was lots of steam coming out, but not a lot of noise. We also pulled over to see what everyone was looking at. Some people said it was a bear. Come to find out it was just a really big rock.

Trying to see the bear that was a rock. Ya, we make great Yellowstone tourists.

We stopped for lunch in Mammoth. To our surprise there were not elk there, but we did see this coyote and a bunny rabbit.

Parking was horrible. We did get to walk around the Lower Terrace at Mammoth after finding parking, but then had to hike quite a ways back to the truck.

Jeremy, Ethan and Heather at Mammoth Hot Springs.

On our walk back to the truck. Ethan was asleep as soon as we put him in his car seat.

We drove around the Upper terrace and everyone but Ethan and I got out and walked to see a few things. We then left Mammoth. We stopped to see Undine Falls,

and the Petrified Tree.

We took turns staying with Ethan because we thought he needed some sleep. He woke up just as we left the Petrified Tree. We stopped at Roosevelt Lodge and were told that people had just seen a black bear there, but we missed it. It was getting late, so we only walked to the lookout at Tower falls not all the way to the bottom of the falls.

Heather at Tower Falls

We made one last stop on the side of the road where we saw a lot of people gathered. They started running as soon as we got there. We were told they had been watching a Grizzly Bear and it had just crossed the river and was in the trees. We never saw him. All day we had been close to seeing a bear, but no luck.

It was our luck to get stuck behind some buffalo and have to just sit there for a very long time. Ethan was so patient with us though.

One more embarrassing thing for my sister-in-law: While we were waiting for the buffalo she asked if they eat fish. Jakob tells her that they have a very strict sea food diet. She totally believed him to. We did tell her the truth, but it was funny.

After we finally got back to camp we cooked some hamburgers and enjoyed talking around the campfire.

Day 3: We had to pack up every thing this day because we were heading to Cody, WY. Ethan enjoyed trying to catch a squirrel while we packed up and made french toast and sausage for breakfast. He was just like a dog running around and around the trees.

Ethan trying to get the squirrel

We stopped by Fishing bridge to use there showers. This was a long wait, but it was nice not to smell like smoke to go to Cody. On our way out of the park we finally saw our bear. It was way out there, but with binoculars we could see it pretty well. At first we thought it was a black bear because of how dark it was, but when we looked closer we could tell it was a Grizzly.

Just outside of the park we stopped and saw a moose. No one was eaten by this moose. J/K Angie.

Dad and mom with the moose. I promise this is a moose. You just cant tell very well in this photo.

We got to Cody in no time. That is because everyone but Jakob was sleeping. We set up camp and had lunch before heading to the museum.

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center was HUGE! We were there for three hours and did not come close to seeing everything. We all said we should have planed more time there. Ethan was as good as a two year old boy could be in a museum.

We started by looking through part of the western art museum on our way to the firearms museum. They had guns there from old western T.V. shows like Bonanza, as well as every kind of gun every made. This was Kyle's favorite part of the museum. We only saw the upstairs of this museum. They still had lots of guns down stairs.

Jeremy in the Gun Museum

Ethan's favorite part of the Gun Museam was the taxidermy animals in there.

We quickly went outside and saw the Joseph Henry Sharp Cabin. Then we went down to the special exhibition gallerie. It was about Native Americans. They had lots of cool things, but this is where Ethan had his hardest time and was running all over. I have to say I was glad to leave this area mostly because we went into the The Nature of Yellowstone museum. I love animals, so I really liked this anyway, but Ethan loved all the things he could touch, watch, etc. This made it a lot easier for all of us. We also got to see a live bald eagle and a falcon.

Jakob's favorite thing came next: Buffalo Bill and the American West. They had lots of things things that belonged to Buffalo Bill Cody as well as things from other famous people that he knew like Anne Oakley.

Ethan in the Buffalo Bill Museum

While still looking at this museum they came on the loud speaker and said the museum would be closing in a half hour. This is when Tami informed us that we had not really seen the Western Art museum. She is really artsy and this was what she really wanted to see. We hurried over to see the Wester Art museum. We had only seen a few painting on the outside of the art museum on the way to the firearms museum. I felt bad that we did not get to spend more time there because that was Tami's favorite. I did not go in to the Western Art museum. I sent Jeremy and Ethan then went to the Gift Shop to hurry and pick up a few souvenirs.

When everyone else finished in the Western Art Museum we took a few photos outside the museum. We had been there for three hours and still did not get to see the Plains Indian People Museum, Buffalo Bill's Boyhood Home, Sculpture Garden, and many other parts of the museum. I think we all agree that we should have planned more time here.

We hurried to downtown Cody to see the shoot out. I don't know why we bothered hurrying because they had a half hour of talking about the show, sponsors, etc. Then the shootout was like a soap-opera and took forever. They all wore microphones, but we still could not hear them most of the time.Then the shootout part was lame. All in all it was a long hour standing on the hard ground for this pregnant lady. If we were to ever go again I would not bother going to the shoot out. the shoot out in Jackson Hole, WY is a lot better.

There were a few things we thought about going to in Cody, but everything closes at 7 p.m. to be ready for the night rodeo, so we picked up a few things from Wal Mart and went back to camp. We did stop back at the Historical Center to get a whole group photo, and try and see the sculpture Garden, but we could not see much.

Kyle, Jakob, Angie, Mom, Dad, Ethan, Tami, Jeremy, and Heather

When we got back we found that there had been a big storm and it tore up our sun awning. I guess from what other campers said someone had a pop up camper and it got ripped apart. They had no place to stay that night. We cleaned up camp then enjoyed roasting hot dogs and s'mores over the fire for dinner.

Day 4: The next morning we packed up, had pancakes and bacon for breakfast , then headed back to Yellowstone. Ethan and I took a little nap on the way back. Our first stop was Fishing Bridge to see if we could find any fish, but we did not see any. Ethan enjoyed throwing rocks in the river with his Grandpa, Aunt Tami and Uncle Kyle anyway.

Ethan, Grandpa, Tami and Kyle

We then went to Bridge Bay Picnic area to park our vehicle and set out on a hike to Natural Bridge. It was a nice mile and a half walk through the woods to get there. We thought it may rain on us, but it never did. It was just nice cool weather. Ethan ran in front of everyone for over a mile. I could not believe he made it that far. He wanted to be first, so he would pull things from the side of the road and put them as obstacles to stop Jakob and Angie who were behind him. At first he pulled tree branches then that got too hard so he would pick flowers and throw them in front of them.

When we got to Natural Bridge, Ethan was broken hearted because I made him stay at the bottom with me while Kyle, Tami, Jakob, Angie, and Jeremy hiked up to the bridge. I thought it looked a little steep and not a good trail for a pregnant lady and a two year old.

Ethan and Mom

Jakob, Angie, Tami, Jeremy and Kyle under Natural Bridge.

On the way back to the picnic area Ethan took of strong, and I thought he may run quite a bit of the mile and a half back, but he went too fast for his feet and fell. He got a bloody knee and Grandpa carried him the rest of the way back.

After lunch we pulled out of the picnic area and saw to bucks eating by the side of the road.

Our next stop was Old Faithful. We got there a little before it was suppose to go off. We had to wait longer than we thought as it would sort of act like it was going to go and then stop. We did see Daisy Geiser go off while we were waiting. It was impressive. Ethan sometimes thinks he is a dog and while we were waiting he started licking and bitting Kyle's hat.

Kyle being patient with Ethan

Old Faithful when it went off.

We then walked over to the Original Old Faithful Lodge and took this family photo.

Heather, Jeremy and Ethan

We looked around the lodge, but Ethan was being a little stinker, so we did not stay long. We shopped for some souvenirs and got some ice cream. Just as we found a place to sit down outside and eat our ice cream Old Faithful went off again. We were lucky enough to see it twice.

We made one quick stop at fire hole lake on our way to our campground. It was cool because the lake was steaming and bubbling. We got to the Madison Campground just as it started to pour. Lots of people were trying to check in. We set up camp in the rain then the rain stopped. It was a cold night, but we still enjoyed our tacos and a warm campfire.

Day 5: We kept it simple for breakfast with cold cereal and muffins for breakfast, packed up, and got ready to go to church in West Yellowstone. Church was nice and Ethan was good for the most part, so we could actually listen to the speakers.

After church we drove to Island Park to Big Springs. We changed our clothes and started exploring.

Jeremy, Heather, Kyle, Tami, Mom, Jakob, Angie, Dad and Ethan at Big Springs.

We saw a few small fish right where the spring starts, but walked over to the bridge to see the really big fish. Ethan loved feeding the fish and birds. He did not even care that they did not eat half of his bread. Our final thing at Big Springs was to walk over to the Johnny Sack Cabin and look around. I always find this interesting. Ethan just loved going up and down the stairs until he got to loud and had to leave.

The last stop of our trip was at Mesa Falls. We ate lunch then walked down to view Upper Mesa Falls.

Ethan and Jeremy at Mesa Falls

We went inside the visitors center to look around. They were giving away Smokey the Bear Fire Prevention Bags and Ethan got two. Thanks to his Grandma and Uncle Jakob and Aunt Angie. He also got to touch and see lots of animals. Mostly he just liked the bear.

We said our goodbyes and headed home. Jakob and Angie dropped us off at home before they went home. Poor Ethan got his arm slammed in the door twice thanks to the wind while we were unpacking, so it was a quick good bye then the vacation was over. It was nice to be home again even though we had a lot of fun on our trip. The not fun part was the unpacking that comes after every trip.

The next day Ethan got into his Smokey the Bear Bags and found a tattoo. He loves it and likes to show it off. He also really likes to read the Smokey the Bear comic book. We have read it like 10 times in a week.

Ethan's Tattoo