For the Journey


Any day spent with you is my favorite day. So today is my new favorite day. ~A.A. Milne

"You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance." ~Psalm 65:11
After our plane landed in Denver, we got our rental and headed north.  We drove just over halfway to our final destination and spent the night in Rock Springs, WY.  We went to the grocery store to stock up on bottled water and snacks.  (I had packed two soft, collapsible coolers in one of our suitcases so we'd have them to keep our drinks cold and to take with us on hikes).  The next morning we drove the rest of the way to our final destination:  Yellowstone National Park!  I'd been dreaming of this trip for five years.  When Seth and I visited in 2015, I knew immediately that I wanted to bring the kids back here.  And this was our year!  
I just love driving up from the south entrance to the park because you drive through the Tetons, and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking.  I'd been waiting five years for this view again.  So, of course, we had to stop and take a picture.  Or twelve.
As you get closer to Yellowstone, the landscape begins to change.  It's just as beautiful, just as awe-inspiring.  The beauty of the lakes and rivers is absolutely stunning.

There are lots of rivers and waterfalls throughout the park.  This one here was Lewis Falls if I remember correctly.
Seth and I visited Yellowstone after spending several days at Glacier National Park so our time was limited, and we didn't really get to see a whole lot.  But we got to see enough that I had a long wish list of places to visit once we returned with the kids.  Our first stop was the West Thumb Geyser Basin.  We walked the trail of hot springs and dormant geysers on the edge of Yellowstone Lake.  I've never seen anything like this!  The colors are amazing!  These are the Thumb Paint Pots.
I took A LOT of pictures, but it wasn't until we returned home that I went back through them.  I didn't notice this when I took the picture, and I have no idea where that light is coming from or what it is.  I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation, but I don't know what it is.  Probably something to do with the sun?
There are several pools of hydrothermal water in the basin.  If the wind is blowing in the right direction when you're walking along the boardwalk, you can enjoy a steam facial.
As you walk around the boardwalk, you eventually round the corner to look out over Yellowstone Lake.
I mean, look at this!  This is exactly what we saw that day.  No filter.

After we left West Thumb, we rode alongside the lake for awhile and then north along the Yellowstone River.  We stopped at LeHardy's Rapids so we could get out and walk a bit.

I spy a buffalo!  Just kidding.  It's a bison.  (We learned the difference between bison and buffalo on our last trip, and I had no idea!  Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam . . . well, I guess they had to use "buffalo" because they really needed three syllables to make it fit.  But it's hardly correct.)
We stopped at the mud pots and walked the trail.  This area is so intriguing, but it also stinks!  Mudpots are acidic features with a limited water supply.  The microorganisms that live in this area use hydrogen sulfide, which rises from deep within the earth, as their energy source.  They help convert the gas to sulfuric acid, which breaks down rock to wet clay mud and creates the stinky smell (hydrogen sulfide gas).  This guy here is the Mud Volcano.
We drove through the Hayden Valley area as we continued north along the Grand Loop.  The main roads through Yellowstone are simple, two-lane roads.  We learned during our first trip that traffic backs up often for wildlife sightings and animals crossing the road.  That happened a lot, and we sat for over an hour waiting on a herd of bison to cross the road.  We were prepared this time, and Seth was constantly encouraging the kids to scout the landscape to see if they could find some wildlife.  Sometimes, you get really lucky.  It wasn't long before traffic was backing up.  (I use the word "traffic" so lightly here.  First of all, there weren't near as many people in the park this trip as there was our last trip.  Second of all, regardless of how much "traffic" there is, it's nothing like sitting on I-10 or 12 on a normal day in Baton Rouge).  I kind of feel like that once you see a bison or an elk in Yellowstone, you've seen them all.  And it's really not necessary to stop every time.  But imagine our shock when we got close enough to realize that traffic (meaning the seven or so cars in front of us) was at a stand-still because a BEAR was walking down the hill toward the road!  We didn't see a bear on our last trip so this was a treat.  I was sitting on the wrong side to get a picture, but Mason took this one with his phone.  (He got a little trigger happy with the zoom feature, but you get the point).
Our next stop was Artist Point at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  The canyon is roughly 20 miles long, more than 1,000 feet deep and 1,500-4,000 feet wide.  The Yellowstone River passes through the canyon.  The Upper Falls drop 109 feet, and the Lower Falls drop 308 feet.  The canyon bends between the Upper and Lower falls so there's not a spot where you can see both falls at the same time.  Artist Point gives you a view of the Lower Falls from the south rim.

And then you walk just a little father, and the view is even more jaw-dropping.

We had planned to make Mammoth Springs our last stop before heading to our hotel for the night, but it was already late in the afternoon, and we were tired.  We headed out the west entrance into the charming town of West Yellowstone, MT.  Traffic slowed at one point again, and we got to see this guy right outside our window!  At the end of our first day we really felt like we hit the jackpot with wildlife sightings!