Here we are! We made it! The mother of all National Parks – the first born – the king…Yellowstone!
We arrived in West Yellowstone KOA and set up at a great spot Rich had chosen right by the playground…the kids got straight to playing and Rich and I got straight to cleaning up and getting ready for the next few days. We decided the day we arrived to take our time, head first to the supermarket, and then to the campground for an early dinner so we could get to bed and start early in the morning the next day. We had a nice dinner of burgers (Vangeli’s current “favorite” – and pretty much a staple this trip – because Rich makes incredible burgers – which is not good for my waistline!) and leftover “Chinese” veggies. It was delicious! As soon as we had finished eating, the rain we saw on the horizon showed up and so we did the only logical thing a family of Floridian’s would do…we ran to the pool! Well…it was freezing! (Not really freezing because the pool was indoors and heated…so they said…but cold enough!) We swam a little and then ran our cold wet selves back to the RV. We all put on our PJ’s and decided it was time for a movie night! This was the first movie night in the camper(we made a rule that movies and ipad was only for when the RV was moving…but this last week and a half though has altered our “rule” a bit!) …we watched Star Wars Episode VIII (which I was smart enough to buy before we left – smart mom move!) – well, the boys watched all of Star Wars and Akira and I played for a good portion of it, which was nice to have some “girl time.”
The next morning we were off early to get into Yellowstone Park and see the much required – Old Faithful Geyser. We arrived just in time (about 20min before the eruption). We got to check out the visitors center and learn more about Yellowstone and the interesting aspects that a super volcano brings to the landscape (such as geysers, mudpots, hot springs) and how you should never, never, never, go off the trail! (I will say this as a mom – Yellowstone can be quite terrifying at times…not only do you need to worry about the typical outdoor/camp experiences such as breaking a leg or a cut or bruise, or even running into a wild animal – but now you have to worry that if you step off the trail in the wrong direction some boiling/acidic water may burn your foot off (if your lucky)! – so a bit intense with our crew!
Our next stop was the Fairy Trail from which you get a great view of the Grand Prismatic Hot Spring. It was a nice hike (maybe a bit stressful for mom “stay on the trail!” ) on a beautiful day – even with Akira stopping every foot and a half to write a special message in the ground with her “walking stick,” and of course needing to be carried the way down on dad or mom’s back! (She really did great though – it was around a 2 mile hike). After our hike and view of the hot spring (and lone Buffalo near the spring) we went to see some mud pots at Artist Paint Pot. This was also a nice hike (we all enjoyed this one the most) and by now we were all getting used to the “stay on the trail!” call from mom (me). The mud pots were the stars of the show and we all really enjoyed their colors, noises and “farts.” Despite all the people (Yellowstone is busy…always busy apparently) it was a peaceful and strangely beautiful walk.
(What a Hottie!)
Once we finished the Paint Pots we headed into the town of West Yellowstone to ask about a fishing liscense. We ended up not getting a liscence (the ones in the park are better and cheaper we learned) but we did get some really good ice-cream and we got to facetime with my mom (who we had to show our ice-cream because its her favorite!)
The boys were going horseback riding so we got back, played a bit, ate a bit and then off we went to the horse stables. Akria got to ride “Snowshoe” around the yard while the rest of the riders were getting ready to be put into their groups. Once Akira was done the boys all got on their horses (Eli rode Snowshoe also). Vangeli was most excited about riding and really listened to what he needed to do to guide his horse and seemed to do a great job. We watched them ride off to their “trail ride” and Akira and I went back to the RV to swim and play. We picked them up that night and we had KOA “almost famous” ribs and trout for dinner…it was really good!
The next day we drove back into Yellowstone Park to visit Mammoth Hot Springs and Boiling River. Boiling river is an area where the river meets the scalding waters of a thermal feature…allowing humans to get our own feel for the thermal waters without being boiled alive (yikes!). This was another really nice hike (although Eli would disagree, because it turns out he does not like hiking! (haha, that’s what he says today!)) and there were Elk along the trail on the other bank of the river. They were beautiful and close to us so it was a great encounter. They also began to cross the river closer to us, so that was extra exciting. We all went in the river to get a feel for the waters (very cold with a mix of scalding hot depending on where you were standing…or a nice hot tub type feeling if you had just the right spot). We enjoyed our dip and we also played some "Animal Olympics" (where the kids had to "compete" against animal skills...we learned that a Mountain Lion can jump 15 feet! and Pronghorns can run 60mph!) then made our way back to the campground for some playtime and then a Rodeo!
Can you spot the Elk?
We really enjoyed the rodeo at West Yellowstone. It was a small town rodeo with great personality and a lot of awesome bronco riding, barrel racing, and calf roping. The kids were called out to “round up” a calf (grab a ribbon tied onto the calf’s tail – that falls off once the pull it). Both boys attempted with their age groups. Eli got close but then backed away and Vangeli was so close he and the calf collided a bit – (no one was hurt) but no ribbons…they had a great time!
The next couple days were a bit of a blur because we moved campsites into Yellowstone Park itself and then we all ended up with strep throat! So…we were pretty useless for a couple days.