Our Yellowstone Adventure
We made the short drive from the Tetons to Yellowstone on Tuesday. Our first stop was Old Faithful. As we circled the parking lot for what seemed like hours we quickly learned that Yellowstone is SUPER popular, therefore it is SUPER crowded. Once we found some folks that allowed us to block them in with the #airstreamstarship we headed towards the visitors center where we met up with our friends Justin and Clay. They were on a hiking adventure and took a little detour that allowed them to spend two days with us in Yellowstone (God bless them but they’ve known Evan for much longer than I have so at least they knew what they were getting in to… well except for maybe how much attention the big kids would want from them). As we waited on Old Faithful to erupt we learned so much we didn’t know about Yellowstone. Evan and I both knew a little about the the prismatic springs and the geothermal elements that make Old Faithful what it is but we didn’t realize that it also causes Yellowstone to hold 2/3 of the Worlds geysers. Crazy, right? After Old faithful we headed to take on some of the views of the hot springs. The hot springs are so teasing when you see them on a hot day in the middle of summer because you think you could jump in these gorgeous pools of water but, nope, they are boiling and it would kill you so that’s a no go. After more crowds we decided to head towards the campground and setup camp and make supper. Our campsite wasn’t as picturesque as the Tetons (oh man we’re still thinking about how awesome that place was) but it had great showers and laundry so we felt like we were winning.
On Wednesday Evan and the guys headed off to take on a little adventure while the kids and I stayed behind at the camper for a few hours. It turns out that their adventure ended up being mostly traffic stops but at least they got some time to spend together. Phoenix decided that a fever would be a fun element to add to the trip so snuggle time became top priority. We met back up with Evan, Clay and Justin that afternoon so they could take the big kids on a waterfall adventure while Phoenix and I did some intense car napping. We ended the day by Gray and Kyrie proudly earning their Junior Ranger Patches.
Thursday morning we took it slow so Evan could work and we could watch Phoenix a little bit. His fever was still going up and down so when Evan went off to check out the north side of Yellowstone we stayed behind and let the kids have a little rest and movie time. The park was less crowded and the sunset was perfect so Evan got some great shots so the day wasn’t wasted. Also, our campsite was about 30 minutes from Yellowstone and took us by a spot called Earthquake Lake Geological Area in the National Forest so Evan was able to make a stop and see what it was all about. Almost exactly 60 years ago there was a massive earthquake that triggered a landslide and created a dam in the Madison River. 28 people died in the occurrence and there are dead trees still sticking out of the water. It is a gorgeous drive around the lake but such a crazy realization of how it came to be. Luckily there were no earthquakes during our camping experience in the area.
Friday we loaded up and started towards our Idaho destination of Craters of the Moon National Monument by way of Mesa Falls and an Urgent Care for Phoenix. Mesa Falls wasn’t a far detour off the road on our route and it was a gorgeously huge waterfall with a nice boardwalk to make for a nice and easy stop. Beyond Mesa we continued through Idaho where we didn’t see much honestly. People give the south a bad wrap but there are WAY MORE boonies in Idaho. You will drive for hours before finding a town with a doctor and grocery store. Idaho Falls, however, was a great town with everything we needed and we had the best doctors experience we have ever had. We were in and out before Evan and the big kids were done eating Chick-fil-a (which Kyrie was SO EXCITED to find) and I could rave about the treatment we were given there for hours. I’m happy to report that Phoenix is much better and ready for more adventure. And so are we!
