Yellowstone

Instead of camping over Memorial Day this year, we waited a couple of weeks and met NomiAnn and Papa Kay in Yellowstone mid-June.  Neither Jason nor I had been to Yellowstone since we were children.  Both of us remember the park being charred and smoky due to extensive forest fires.  Coming back decades later, it was pretty amazing to see the transformation.  How I love our National Parks!  How I love our camping tradition!  Thank you so much Papa Kay and NomiAnn for traveling so far to be with us.  A special thanks to Papa Kay for planning our great itinerary and to NomiAnn for doing most of the food.

Friday:

The kids were really excited about Yellowstone.  Even though it's only a five hour drive to the West entrance, we'd never been.  Here we are at Gibbon Falls on our way to the campground.

The evening drive through Hayden Valley was stunning.  Having never visited Yellowstone, the kids were surprised to see bison.

I was surprised to see so much water.  Our campground at Bridge Bay was right on Yellowstone Lake.  As we turned into our loop, we were greeted by both the water and a couple more buffalo.  When Brooklyn and Talia saw the animals they said, "Hey!  They stole our frisbee field."

Papa Kay and NomiAnn were already waiting for us, having arrived earlier in the day to set up camp.  We are so spoiled!

I know camping's not for everyone, but if everyone were greeted with brats like these, it would be.

The first evening was chilliest, so we were grateful for our hats and winter coats.

Home, sweet home.  (For the next four days, at least.)

Saturday:

To be truthful, the first night was the hardest because Annika wouldn't stay on her sleeping mat (the tan and green one).  Apparently she preferred Brooklyn's yellow.

I decided to go for a run while the kids slept in, but had to choose a different route because there was a bison blocking the road.  I'm not going to argue with an furry mammal the size of an Expedition, especially when it has horns.

Then, when I went to cut through a field my way was blocked again.  Only in Yellowstone.

Back at camp, NomiAnn and Annika shared some morning snuggles.

Hugs from the other grands during our grand adventure at Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Did you know Yellowstone had a Grand Canyon?  I had no idea.  

The view of the Upper Falls from Artist Point is amazing.

I'm so grateful the Memorial Day camping tradition lives on!  It would have been easy to call it quits last year after the freezing cold and Papa Kay's strangulated hernia.

From Artist Point, most of us took a hike along Uncle Tom's Trail.  Papa Kay and Eli were kind enough to drive and meet us at the other end so we wouldn't have to hike back.

More dramatic vistas of the falls.

After lunch we headed to the North Rim to see the brink of the Lower Falls.  The sheer power of the water rushing past made my heart race.  Thrilling, but terrifying

Here's Jason keeping a close eye on Annika.

The canyon as seen from Grand View.

Instead of heading straight back to our campsite, I talked everyone into stopping by Mud Volcano, near Sulphur Caldron.  The smell lived up to its name.

Dragon's mouth spring was particularly intense!

So sour.

The boiling mudpots were pretty fascinating.  We had plenty of time to admire since Papa Kay had to make a run back to Canyon Village to retrieve a lost cell phone.  Fortunately it was found; the kids even scored an ice cream along the way.

Our greeting party as we pulled back up to camp.  Wish I'd named these guys.

Jason and Annika went for a walk to the lake while dinner was being prepped.  These pictures make my heart melt.

After a yummy dinner of chili mac, Papa Kay broke out the annual soda tasting challenge.  This year's winner was a tasty sarsaparilla.  

To tell the truth, the expired Twinkies stole the show.  Papa Kay stowed this package away more than a decade ago when there was a threat that Twinkies might be discontinued.

"17 November 2012.  Personal Property of Kay Andrus.  To be consumed on Thanksgiving day 2025.  Hostess stopped producing Twinkies in November 2012.  DO NOT Eat or remove.  Thank you."

Well, the Twinkies didn't make it all the way until 2025, but NomiAnn was ready to throw them out so Papa Kay intervened.  At nearly 12 years old (the same age as Eli), the Twinkies were hard as a ROCK and smelled horribly stale.

Papa Kay was the only one brave enough to eat a bite.  They tasted so bad that he discouraged the rest of us from following suit, just in case they really did poison him.  Good news...he didn't die.  Plus, his grandson thought he was uber-cool for taking the Twinkie challenge.

You'd think that would be enough fun for one day, but we still had another treat in store: an evening boat ride around Yellowstone Lake.  It was interesting to learn more of the history, whether inspiring (James Stevenson's 1871 survey of the lake, calculating its area with astounding accuracy) or dubious (someone intentionally bringing in predatory lake trout, which have now established as an invasive species that is eating the native cutthroat trout, an important food source for eagles, ospreys, and bears.)

All tuckered out.

As dusk set in, Talia and I headed to the lake.

The bison had moved on and we saw elk in the field instead.

This elk crested the hill at the same moment we were headed down.  I don't know who was more startled--the elk or us.  Either way, it was annoyed enough to donkey kick twice before trotting away.

Rumor had it that Yellowstone Lake is frigid.  Here I am verifying.  Yup, cold!

While I don't have a picture, Talia and I saw a river otter swimming around the shore.  Talia must have a special otter connection because she and I saw another two days later.

Sunday:  Early in the morning, Jason, Brooklyn, Talia, and Eli took a hike to Natural Bridge.  

I was a bit nervous about not having bear spray, but the only wildlife we encountered was this adorable yellow-bellied marmot.

Not only could you see the arch from below, you could follow a trail to climb on top.  Careful!

Back at camp, Annika was making fast friends.  They loved using the pole to rock their hammock boat.

Our next adventure?  Geyser basin at West Thumb.

Pretty spot for a family photo.

Doesn't the water look so enticing?  It took self control to not jump in.  (Who knows?  It might have boiled me if I had.)

Without knowing the context, you'd think we were at a seaside resort.

Tic Tac Time!  Papa Kay came well-supplied.

After lunch we explored Firehole Lake Drive.  Here's the White Dome Geyser.

I liked the name of this spout, the Young and Hopeful Geyser.

I think this picture was taken at Firehole Lake.  The closeup of Talia and Annie's faces is priceless.

 

Back in the minivan.  As you can imagine, we had lots of together time.

Our next stop was supposed to be church at the Old Faithful Branch somewhere on Old Faithful Road.  We tried really hard to find it, even enlisting the help of a ranger to look up the number of the branch president.  (There's no cell service in Yellowstone.)  Guess we're not that faithful after all.

Fortunately Old Faithful is.

Old Faithful was spectacular, especially against the background of a Wyoming sky.  Everyone left after Old Faithful finished spouting, but we hung around a moment and were delighted to see Beehive Geyser spout for 4-5 minutes.  This geyser is nearly as tall as Old Faithful and only erupts once or twice a day, so it was a great surprise.

Here's the historic Old Faithful Inn, the largest log building in the United States, and possibly the world.

It certainly had been a day full of thermal activity, but we weren't done yet.  We took a slight detour and headed back to Grand Prismatic Spring.  It was well-worth backtracking, even if we almost lost Annika when she decided to hunt for bugs instead of sticking with the group.

Aren't the colors amazing?  I love seeing the sky reflected in the pools.

On our way out, we noticed a bison creating quite the stir outside the outhouse.  Brooklyn had a similar experience at our campground when she rounded a blind corner and discovered a bison was right there.  Unsure what to do, she retreated into the restroom until the buffalo moved on. 

Back at camp, Eli and Jason headed down to the lake to cool the watermelon while the rest of us fixed dinner.  Apparently the watermelon started to float away when a big wave hit and Jason had to ford in after!  Kind of wish I'd seen that.

Just for the record, Jason really loves his iPhone 12 because it takes great pictures.  I concur.

As the perfect ending, we lit the giant teepee fire that Eli constructed.  This is fifth grade bliss at its max, even if the fire did come tumbling out of the fire ring when it collapsed.

Monday:  

Our last full day at Yellowstone, Monday was spent driving northwest to Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower-Roosevelt.  On the way we saw sizzling hot fumaroles at Roaring Mountain.

On to Mammoth Hot Springs.  My apologies for the blurry picture.  I wonder if I accidentally smeared my camera lens with sunscreen.

I love how when Talia gets ahold of my camera, she immediately finds beauty in the little things around her.

Here's beauty on a mammoth scale as well (enough puns, I know.)

Brooklyn, brimming with confidence.  But my, too grown up.

Pausing for a book break outside the Albright Visitor Center.

For lunch, we headed over to Roosevelt Lodge.  There was a bit of a wait before we could get a table, but we didn't mind given the covered porch and rocking chairs.

Lunch was both tasty and memorable.  Brooklyn and Talia got to split an entire rack of ribs.  Meanwhile Eli and I shared a bison burger (with apologies to all the buffalo we passed on the road.)

On the way back we overshot Norris slightly so that we could explore Artists Paintpots.  What colors do you prefer?

Finally back to Bridge Bay for dinner and lake time.

Eli's a pro at skipping rocks.

Annie likes making sand castles.  (And in her undies, no less!)

Jason and I like to get our feet wet.

As for Talia, this was the perfect opportunity to brush up on her gymnastics skills.

Beautiful!

All went well until she didn't land the backbend and got soaked in the water.  Brrr!  We made a rapid exit to get her home and dry.  The elk were waiting for us.  According to our camp neighbors, they'd visited our campsite that day, licked the picnic table, and knocked over the camp chairs.

Before dining on s'mores that evening, Papa Kay officially made the kids Junior Rangers, having been deputized by one of the Park Rangers.

Our last blazing fire.  Worth every bit of smoky laundry.

Tuesday:

Jason, Talia and I went for a morning run before breaking camp.  

The kids were really helpful packing up, being motivated by an evening swim party at Waterhaven in Salt Lake.  Talia found a delightful surprise in NomiAnn's van: yarn!

As much as the kids wanted to hurry, we still picked a scenic route on the way home, heading south into Grand Teton National Park.  The jagged mountains are breathtaking.

For lunch we stopped at Jenny Lake.  It's hard to imagine a prettier place for a picnic.

It was here at Jenny Lake that we split our separate ways.  Eli and Annika headed back to Omaha with NomiAnn and Papa Kay for Hummel Day Camp, the College World Series, and cousin playtime.  Meanwhile Jason, Talia, Brooklyn, and I headed back to Salt Lake.  To be honest, the house feels too empty with Eli and Annika gone.

Eli and Annie, we miss you!  Be good for your NomiAnn and Papa Kay and enjoy cousin Eila.

NomiAnn and Papa Kay, thank you so much for the amazing Yellowstone camping trip, and thank you for taking such great care of our littles.  We love you all!