yellowstone trip

we left wednesday afternoon. on the way, we had to stop 3 times for potty breaks (we only live an hour and a half away. this should not have been a problem).
after we got into the park, and on the way to our campground, we saw some elk!
that night, was the last ranger education night. it was about wolves.
it rained a little that night, and the elk in the meadow called out ALL NIGHT LONG!
turns out, we forgot a jacket for me, and socks for michael. i put my socks on him, and brianne let me borrow her hoodie (she'd brought 2).

thursday, we had to go back into west yellowstone for groceries. stephanie also got a sweatshirt for ashley, as she forgot hers, and was wearing one of elizabeths. on the way out of the park, we saw some buffalo.
the first place we went in the park was old faithful (all the kids told me it was "incredible"). it teased us for about 15 minutes before actually going off.

next on the list was excelsior springs.

there are hidden items in this picture. this is the "bank" of excelsior spring. a fedora, a ball cap, and a scarf are down there.

this is an island in the middle of excelsior spring...

hm, some people obviously can't read.

i think this was firehole lake drive.

i'm standing at the back of the car. those are buffalo across the road.

the paint pots

in all, we walked more than 6 miles that day!
it rained all night long, and taylor got leaked on (i think the tent has a few issues. either that, or the people that put it up did something wrong).

friday
stephanie had really wanted to see the paint pots. the ones we saw an thursday were not the ones either of us remembered. these didn't look very familiar either...but as it had been 16 years since we'd been there...i wasn't all that surprised.

brianne and i thought this pool looked so inviting! 5 minutes later it was a boiling mess!

steamboat. this is the largest geyser in the world, i think.

*note*(when using a restroom, please make sure to lock the door behind you) i went to take michael to the bathroom at steamboat, and walked in on a guy. the port-a-potties had locks. i don't know why he didn't use it!

(i got smart and started taking pictures of the places we were at.)

we decided the way it got this name was because it's a big tease.

it's hard to see, but this cave is almost emerald green.

we ran into our camp neighbors at steamboat. the kids all had fun running around together.

i wanted to see the falls. unfortunately, we only made it to the lower yellowstone falls. i had also wanted to go to artist point, and inspiration point for shaun. maybe next time.

there's a reason the kids complained about the red rock hike.

     

this bus turns into a huge snow cat during the winter. but i love the name...

 alphabet trees

cold and rainy back at camp. EVEN more rain, and elk calls. we walked more than 7 miles this day.

how many can you fit in a double sleeping bag? there are 5 of us.

 
 some pictures i took for shaun.