Leatham Life: Yellowstone

Aug26- 30-
What a fun 5 days we got to spend with Nana and Papa. It was kind of impromptu, but since I'm only working PRN, it was the perfect opportunity. Nana and Papa were taking the RV on a Yellowstone adventure and we were coming too!
Wednesday morning/afternoon, we loaded all of our stuff (and there was a lot of stuff) into the RV, buckled the carseats in, and we were headed out. Traveling in the RV is so comfortable with a fridge, bathroom, and room to stretch your legs. With two kids, we couldn't have done it any other way!

We stopped for dinner in a hospital parking lot so Nana could visit her friend. We enjoyed our picnic dinner of macaroni and cheese!

We made it to West Yellowstone around 8:30 and found our RV spot. It was a long day of traveling so we just settled in for the night. Kingston got to sleep in the bunkbed and Julienna had her pack n' play.
The morning came early...thanks to the kids! But it was a beautiful day. It was a little bit chilly, but once the sun was out for awhile, it warmed right up.

Our plan was to make the upper loop in Yellowstone and hit some geysers before animal watching in the evening. First stop was Mammoth Hot Springs. Just as we were about to hit the shops, there was a downpour. It was raining and hailing and the streets were flooding, but after about 15 minutes it stopped and the sun came out.

Kingston was napping so him and Jonathan stayed behind while the rest of us explored Mammoth. Julienna didn't know quite what to do with all the big stuffed animals everywhere, but when we got some ice cream, she knew exactly what to do with that!

Kingston woke up just in time to see a herd of elk grazing outside the RV. It's fun to see them so close.

Then we loaded back up and continued our trip around the upper loop.

Next stop was Tower. First we learned a little bit about Yellowstone and all of its seismic activity and then we went shopping!

By the time we made it to Dunraven Pass, Jonathan was more than ready to see some animals. I'm not sure what animals we saw what day, but I'm thinking we saw bison, 2 bald eagles, and maybe a wolf here.

Friday, was split between the Grizzly and Bear Museum and Old Faithful.

We started at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. They were doing an experiment to see if a trash can was bear proof so they filled it with food and put it in the enclosure. It did not pass the test!

Jonathan and Kingston were excited to see the Bald Eagles. There were 3 of them; 2 adults with white heads and 1 "kid" with a brown head.

Julienna and I checked out the bears inside!

Back in the RV till our next stop...Old Faithful. We did make a quick geyser stop on the way.

Joan, Cam, Julienna, and I barely caught the first Old Faithful eruption so we waited around for the next one, plus Kingston was napping during the first one. So what better to do than have some icecream while we waited. The eruption was pretty cool, although I don't think Kingston was too impressed.

After that, we headed to my favorite spring; Grand Prismatic Spring in Midgeyser Basin! I was a little disappointed because the colors weren't quite as vivid as I remembered and it was a bit cloudy, but I still enjoyed seeing it.

As we headed back out of the park, Jonathan spotted a herd of elk. There were probably 15 total with one bull and many calves and cows. We spent some time just watching them settle in for the night.

Saturday we went to the Grizzly and Wolf Center again for a bit. Kingston was most impressed by the squished trash cans and coolers.

Then we were back on the road toward Norris to see more sites. This time we were going to see the artists paint pots. We made a quick stop to get our picture by the river, but it was pretty windy!

I hadn't remembered the paint pots before, but I was really impressed! The colors were so pretty and it was just a really neat area to walk around.

Then we explored Norris Geyser Basin. My favorite part is looking at all the natural features, although I could do without the smell! And Julienna was such a trooper in the pack the whole time. She loved smiling at the people as we would walk by.

We made one more stop for ice cream before settling in for some animal spotting.

As we were driving, we noticed a group of cars pulled over, so we knew there must be something. Luckily someone was pulling out, so we got a great spot to watch the grizzly bear! Jonathan was excited to see some real wildlife (the buffalo just weren't cutting it for him)! and we got to see the grey wolf again, too!