Disclaimer: this is going to be a long post! Also, we are actually in Tahoe, Nevada and headed to Death Valley, CA on Sunday. Internet has been so spotty that I have not been able to upload pictures and publish the Yellowstone and Teton posts. So these are catch up posts!!
After leaving Jake’s a little later than planned, we had a 9 hour trip ahead of us. We knew with the camper and stops it would take us even longer, so we decided to stay the night in Dubois, Wyoming. We arrived at the campground in Dubois around 10 pm. It had been dark for the last 3 hours of our trip so when we woke up in the morning surrounded by unbelievable mountains, we were in awe. With the addition of Tate this year, we are driving 2 vehicles. Ken drives the truck and camper and I drive the minivan. The boys take turns driving with Ken, however, on this morning, I had all four boys and the dog. We were on our way to pick up my parents from the Jackson Hole Airport. We hopped in the van, filled with excitement and set off on our journey. Not a minute down the road, there was a large traffic message board alerting drivers to increased recent bear activity and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. I was like a kid in a candy shop! “Look at this! Look at that! If anyone spots a bear, a prize for all!” I was so happy drinking my coffee and eating a bagel.
And then, red and blue flashing lights appeared in my rearview mirror. I pulled over to let the cop go by, but he pulled over too! What? Long story short, I was off in my little tourist daydream and I had no idea I was driving through a 35 mph town at 45 mph. Surely the cop would see that I was a mom from Ohio, driving with four kids and a dog and hadn’t had a speeding ticket in over 16 years! Surely he would believe my story that I was just awestruck by his town, the mountains, the bear sign, the log cabins on the hill and he would give me grace! $197 later, he told me he catches “starstruck visitors” all the time driving through his town and to have a nice visit in Yellowstone! Seriously?!?! I was speeding, but I am pretty sure cops just sit in Dubois, one of the only routes into Jackson and onto Yellowstone, and ticket us starstruck tourists! Oh well!
I would be amiss to let you believe that our trip is all beautiful views, gorgeous hikes, fun adventures, and happy children! I don’t always write about the mishaps, mainly because I don’t want my parents to worry about us! Ha! But, there is plenty of fighting, arguing, short tempers, wrong turns, tense moments backing in the camper, things breaking or not working, speeding tickets, the camper falling on the truck bed and the camper almost rolling off the cliff in the badlands (you can ask me about those stories sometime!!). But honestly, the good far outweighs the difficult and at the end of each day, I usually fall into bed exhausted and thankful for this amazing opportunity we have to experience God’s beauty together as a family!
Anyway, we made it safely to Jackson, picked my parents up at the airport and headed on to Victor, Idaho. My dad has always wanted to experience Yellowstone, so when I was planning our trip and realized we would be hitting Yellowstone, I asked them to fly out and join us for this leg of our journey. We spent the first few days at a campground in Victor. The campground had adorable cabins for my parents to stay in, a heated pool and hot tub, and was fairly close to both the Tetons and Yellowstone. We did a few days of sightseeing in Jackson and the Tetons including horseback riding, delicious dinners, the tram at Jackson Hole, and famous huckleberry shakes.
The highlight was probably our chuckwagon dinner. We traveled by horse drawn covered wagons from Jackson into beautiful Cache Creek Canyon, ate a delicious all-you-can-eat dutch oven dinner, and enjoyed a show of western music and lots of laughs! The best was seeing Ken called up on stage to sing a verse of “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain!” With full bellies, western songs running through our heads, we headed back down the trail into the setting sun, feeling like a real cowboy!
Then, it was on to Yellowstone! If I am being honest, I thought Yellowstone was Old Faithful and and a bunch bison! However, Yellowstone, America’s first national park, sits atop a dormant volcano and is actually 2.2 million acres of wildlife, geological wonders, and home to more geysers and hot springs than any other place on earth. Approximately 50% of the world’s hydrothermal features are at Yellowstone which creates an effect that makes the ground appear to be on fire. It was like stepping into another world.
We stayed at Old Faithful Inn which was built with local logs and stone and is one of the largest log-style structures in the world. As the name suggests, it is also located within view of the world-famous Old Faithful Geyser. And, it is the inspiration for Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, which is my parent’s favorite Disney resort and their home base as Disney Vacation Club members.
As you can imagine, there is so much to see and do in Yellowstone! We opted to partake in one of the Yellowstone Bus Tours in order to maximize our visit. Our tour guide was phenomenal. He has been doing tours for over 45 years and is now the trainer for all the other guides. Each year on September 30, he fires up the oldest bus in the fleet and takes out the final tour of the season. What a treat! He was a fountain of knowledge and filled the day with all the Yellowstone stops that he could.
We had a tremendous trip to Yellowstone. I honestly knew so little about Yellowstone. It is so much more than a single predictable geyser! I am so glad that we were able to check this one off my dad’s bucket list!
“For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.”
Psalm 95:3-5