Road Trip 2011!

Seems like every odd numbered year since Paul and I have been married we take off on an extended road trip. Alaska in '03, Four Corners area in '05, Maine and back in '07, Canada and Glacier National Park in '09, and Yellowstone in '11! We packed up the trailer and headed east Saturday, July 9th. We drove to Caldwell, ID and camped for the night. The next morning we met my sister in Nampa and exchanged another sister's baby backpack. She was heading home from her road trip and we were starting ours so it worked out perfectly. Kind of funny meeting in a Wal Mart parking lot in Idaho. That day we made our first stop at Craters of the Moon National Monument. Not quite a National Park but it was cool enough to be one. And it had the stamp for our NP passports so I was happy. We had a great time here. It was hot walking the trails in the black lava fields but the kids did great.

This mountain we all climbed was made up of very small lava rocks. It was a neat place when you got to the top and could see the valley below you. Its hard to believe that so much black rock could be so pretty but that area has a beauty about it. All our legs were able to make the climb, even Darcy's, I was so proud of her.

We made our way to the lava tubes and chose Indian Cave, where you didn't need a flashlight and much to Mason's dismay, this cave had no bats. It was nice and cool and we had a great time exploring it. I think this was Drew's favorite part of the trip. She said there was no way Yellowstone could be cooler than that and I never heard her say otherwise on the trip. She wanted to explore more tubes but in our true road trip style, we needed to push on! We don't stay put for long. That night we stayed at the KOA in Arco, ID and swam and had licorice ice cream(yuck).

Monday we drove to Jackson, WY and camped at the KOA. We had heard this was THE place to stay. Maybe if we were planning on rafting the Snake River, which we weren't. We were practically on top of the trailers around us but we had plans to explore Jackson, where Paul had great memories of as a kid so we didn't mind too much. Well, Jackson has changed since Paul was a kid. He remembered cowboys in chaps, acting out bank robberies, and crafts for kids to do. The Jackson we met was an upscale cowboy town, if you can picture that. All the shops downtown were very pricey. Even the ice cream shops were gourmet. So we spent about an hour and a half walking around in the heat and headed back to our air conditioned trailer and spent the afternoon cooped up together, eating Domino's pizza! I guess I can say I've been there, but I don't know why I'd ever need to go back to Jackson, WY.

Tuesday morning we entered Grand Teton National Park. I had supposedly been there when I was 2 but I didn't remember it. Well, Grand Teton National Park is what you see in the background of this picture. Just a mountain range. It was an impressive mountain range, but just a mountain range. We stopped at the visitor's center to get our stamp of course, but I think that may have been the only stop we made. Not much to do there, just a range to look at out the car window.

Here are 3 of our moose droppings showing off their antlers!

I had scheduled a much longer stay at this park but we ended up being done with it and pulling into our campground just north of the park at 12:40pm. Luckily we could check in that early!

Since we got there so early in the day we set up our trailer and headed north 5 miles into Yellowstone! Mason was grumbling as we got out of the car to take yet another picture of a sign. Better get used to is Mase, those are mom's favorite! That evening we visited the West Thumb area and got our first smell of the stinky geysers. Surprisingly the kids handled the smell a lot better than I did when I was 2, according to my parents. I guess it made me gag the whole time. Fun! That night we were finally able to whip out the fire materials and roast marshmallows. The mosquitoes were pretty bad at the camp site so Bree and I stayed in the trailer as much as possible. I guess the pull of a roasted marshmallow was stronger that an aversion to bugs for the others because they were out 2 of the 3 nights around the camp fire.

On Wednesday we went to see Old Faithful. Mason LOVED it. We were lucky enough to have it erupt about 5 minutes after we got there. What a way to start the day! We took the 3.5 mile walk around the geyser basin, looking at all the different stinky geysers and pools. We saw the beehive geyser erupt, which they say can erupt anywhere from every 10 hours to 5 days so I think we got pretty luck on that one. We loved the Morning Glory pool with its beautiful colors and Darcy and Drew were very concerned that stupid people actually throw trash into it, which lowers the temp and changes the colors. Darcy talked about that all day. My kids were very good about staying on the board walk that took you through the geysers. Well, the 3 oldest were. We never gave Bree the chance to prove herself. The poor girl was either strapped in her car seat or strapped in a stroller or back pack for 8 days. She was so not having fun. She would go stiff as a board and start screaming when we would try to put her in her seat and we just had to wait for her tummy muscles to get tired so she would bend and we could lock her in. The very few chances she got to run she took full advantage of. Good thing she won't remember the trip or she would probably claim child abuse. We went north to Mammoth Hot Springs and then out the North Entrance to see the famous Roosevelt Arch. Also to go into Montana so Bree can say she's been there ;) That night we got back to camp around 8 pm. Usually 3 nights camping in one spot for me is my limit but with all the exploring we were doing outside of camp it really didn't seem like we were there for 3 nights.

This beautiful bison was our first wildlife sighting! Well, I saw a couple of moose bodies in the bushes by the river the first evening but we figured we would see lots more so we didn't go back for everyone else to see. This bison walked right up the center of the road and passed withing inches of our car. Luckily on Paul's side. He has a picture of the guy's face right at the window. He was pretty impressive and just beautiful. The kids loved it. When all was said and done, we saw a million bison, a million elk, a coyote that may have been a wolf, a yellow bellied marmot, two halfway concealed moose bodies, and some squirrels and chipmunks. I was sooooo disappointed that we didn't see any bears! How in the world could we have seen all the northern National Parks that have these dire bear warnings posted everywhere and not see a single bear!? I don't get it. I was bummed. We were all bummed about not seeing anymore moose either. Guess we'll have to go back in a few years and try again.

Our last day at Yellowstone we stayed to the east. We went to Lake Village, where Bree terrorized the gift shop, and then on to Lower Falls, the most photographed spot in the park. Drew, Mason, and I took the mile hike along the Yellowstone Canyon to reach this picturesque spot. Paul and the little girls drove in a nice air conditioned car. It was beautiful though and the pine trees smelled so good! I recommend that hike to everyone. We were blessed with perfect weather in Yellowstone. There were a few minor thunderstorms and showers but we were always dry when we were hiking and it was about 75 the 3 days we were there. Perfect.

We had an extra day to mess with at the end of the trip and we considered trying for Mt Rushmore, but we didn't think the kids would enjoy it all that much being so young so we headed south to Utah instead. We got there Friday evening and went to Temple Square. It was HOT! UGH! Drew enjoyed the visitor's center and would have liked to stay longer but after Bree threw a handful of dirt from an indoor tree all over the cream colored carpet we were out of there. Maybe that was her payback for being cooped up for days. I was so mad.

Saturday morning we went to Heritage Park and saw "This is the Place!" Looks like a great place now, but I'm not sure I would have been thrilled with it if I was a pioneer coming through those mountains, seeing a dry desert valley and realizing this is the place. I am thankful I live when I do! The heritage park had a great place for kids. The 3 oldest took a pony ride, they washed clothes on an old scrub board, and thoroughly enjoyed the petting zoo. Bree could have played with the pigs all day long. She got in the middle of a head butting contest between a pig and goat, and she hugged a goat's behind. Luckily she didn't get kicked or pooped on before we got her off of him. We also drove around the U of Utah campus and tried to get a t-shirt but the bookstore was closed. So we headed west with thoughts of maybe camping that night back in Caldwell, but knowing we would probably just drive through the night to get home. We arrived home at 3am Sunday morning. I ended up with 9 loads of laundry but we had a really good trip and I'm so glad we did it. My kids are pretty good road trippers, Bree excluded. She better suck it up though, this is what we do best! Summer of 2013 Paul will be taking his sabatical which means 2 months off from work. You can bet I'm already planning a massive road trip!