Friday, June 26

Yellow Rock, aka Yellowstone

I'm back! I know you were all eagerly awaiting my arrival. Here's the sad news: I didn't see a single bear. Or wolf! I'm pretty sure I heard coyotes during the night, and we saw a lot of bison/buffalo and several bald eagles...but no bear.

I forgot to pack Tyler's tennis shoes, so we stopped at Wal-mart (I gagged a little because I HATE that store), bought him the only choice we had (white), and they actually stayed pretty clean. It was fairly cold the first night, but we took about 80 gazillion blankets so we all stayed warm and when Alexis woke up in the morning she said, "I can't wait to go to bed tonight so I can sleep in my sleeping bag again". They are turning into quite the little campers. My parents brought along a kid sized shovel and Tyler went to town digging holes and throwing dirt in true boy fashion. And in typical Alexis fashion we made new friends with a family who was camping by the bathrooms. They had four little girls for Alexis to play with, and she was very sad to part with them.

On Wednesday (my birthday) we got up at 4:45 AM to try and see wildlife, but still no bears! We spent the rest of the day in a cloudy sleepy stupor and went to bed at 9 PM. I got more sleep all in a row that night (10 1/2 hours) than I probably have since before Alexis was born.

One of the days Tyler had a kool-aid mustache that could rival any kool-aid mustache ever.

We only took a few pictures with our camera, my dad took probably close to 200 with his, if not more than that. He emailed me a few today but I still need to get the rest from him. Here's a few from our camera:That's Yellowstone Lake in the background--beautiful!

Yellowstone was really pretty, but here's a question for you people that go every year. What do you do there?? We felt we'd seen everything worth seeing (especially with little kids) in the 3 days we were there. I suppose we could go back and hike all the trails and do everything more in depth, but I'm not sure I could go back annually.

Now, here's something that will knock your socks off. My dad takes some gorgeous pictures and if you aren't stunned by this picture than you probably need to adjust the colors on your monitor because they are awesome.

Photo by Steve Hegji

I believe this is Grand Prismatic Springs?? I stayed in the car for this one because Tyler was sleeping. Or had been until we pulled Alexis out of the car kicking and screaming--which woke him up. Did you know Alexis hates geysers and hydrothermal pools of any kind? Well, she does. And seeing as how that's the majority of what you stop and see in Yellowstone, you can imagine the fun she was.

We also saw Old Faithful, which isn't entirely predictable. We showed up a little before we thought it would go off, sat down and expected to wait half an hour or so. 4 minutes later it went off! Talk about lucky.
Photo by Steve Hegji

We are glad to be home , sleeping in our own beds, using toilets that are closer than 50 feet away, and taking daily showers. And though I'm thrilled that it's the end of June and I have yet to turn on my A/C, I am a little tired of the gloom and doom. Some sunshine, PLEASE!

8 comments:

BobbiJo Symbiotic said...

We go every year, and I am in my fifties, and I still have a list of things I need to do... and need to see.... and.... want to do
I hope I accomplish all before ...
but then.... always something to look forward to doing and seeing
the changes

Lindsey said...

BTW the new walmart is open in cedar hills and it is actually pretty nice. i am an avid target shopper so this is a big breakthrough that i'm even saying such a thing. but i was there the other day and dang those everyday low prices.

Anonymous said...

Lisa. First of all, I can't take any credit for that picture of Grand Prismatic Springs. All I did was point the camera and click the button. I think the credit goes to your Heavenly Father.

Secondly, I notice kennewicksheri never specified a single one of the things she still wants to do. I really think there are lots and lots of beautiful places...why keep going to the same one every year? That remains the question. Until this week I was last there in 1963. I plan to return in 2055.

BobbiJo Symbiotic said...

hikes, waterfalls,
watching mammoth terrace change each year,
will the eagles build their nest there near the road...
will the spring be late, will summer come early..
will the water be high, so more bison on the road, or lower, and not as many bison jams
will the wolves be taking more elk calves, will we see moose babies.....
the list goes on...
will Grand geyser have three bursts?
does beehive indicator work this year? or has it gone soft....
will we be there when they are recording data?
the tours,
the chuckwagon rides
the...

see I can go on....
I didn't mention each hike, or trail
or waterfall.. but I could..
in my list of things I want to see...
and do

The friends we see each year in West... shopkeepers, actors, friends...
ahh
so many past memories, and future ones......

Just a few....... of the things I need to do..

Becky said...

Happy late birthday! Sorry I'm late on sending my wishes!

~Jeneece said...

I went one year in the winter and spent the whole time on snowmobiles. Gives you a whole new look at the Bison as they are thinking of charging you for making so much noise. So maybe if you go a few times at different seasons I could see going more...

Adam and Rachael said...

Lisa!! Your family is ADORABLE! I'm so glad I can catch up on what you've been up to. Cute blog! I'm looking forward to reading more. :)

The Shill Spill said...

I think the kool-aid mustache looks like a red hitler thing going on. :) So glad you had fun! The hot spot picture your dad took was AMAZING!