Thursday was mostly just a driving day. We got into the RV park in Lakeview, Oregon. The RV park was out in the middle of nowhere and it wasn’t very busy. The kids had fun running around in the open grass, playing ball and horseshoes with Dad and going on a little hike. We ate hot dogs for dinner and went to bed early.
As Josh and I were settling down for the night and planning the day ahead I realized that we would be fairly close to Josh’s cousin, Sarah Tyler, on her mission in Nampa, Idaho. I emailed her mom to see if she had a way to contact Sarah and we were able to set up a little get together for the next day.
Friday, 8th, was another day of a lot of driving. I bought these carseat trays before we left and they were a lifesaver! All three littles appreciated being able to color or eat a snack from their trays.
I also bought some pillow that can be bent and hold their shape to help the little ones sleep in the carseats. They worked great!
We got into Boise, Idaho, dropped of the RV at the Riverside RV Park and headed out to Walmart and then it was off to Emmett, Idaho to see Sister Sarah Tyler. We met her and her companion at a little drive-thru restaurant downtown. We had some dinner and visited for a little while.
The next day, 9th, was another day of driving but it wasn’t a great distance. We drove to an RV Park north of Rexburg, Red Rock RV park in Island Park, Idaho. This was our favorite RV park but it was out in the middle of nowhere. It was a long drive on a very rough dirt road and we weren’t sure we were even going the right way when it finally popped up on the side of the road. It was a beautiful spot with beautiful views. And I somehow didn’t get a picture of it! Arg! We got in early enough that we were able to just hang out for a little while before heading out to find some dinner. We had a pretty big grassy area in front of the trailer and the kids started playing catch there. The ball ended up rolling underneath the neighboring trailer that shared the grassy area with us. When the kids asked the old lady sitting out front if they could retrieve their ball she got all grumpy and irritated at them. Most of the people we met were very friendly and nice but this lady must have been having a bad day because she was not. The kids just shrugged it off though and went back to playing. After we got everything set up we headed into the bustling metropolis of Island Park to find some dinner. Our choices were few and far between so we settled on the one option that at least had a few cars out front - Island Park Lodge. It was an OK dinner but a very expensive OK dinner - $85! There really weren’t any other choices though and we were all desperate for something other than a sandwich.
On Sunday, 10th, we got up early and got ready to head off to Yellowstone. It was about 1-1 1/2 hours away. We drove through Montana and Wyoming on the way to the West Park entrance. We drove for quite a while at a very slow place along with the thousands of tourists. This was BY FAR the busiest park we visited. The traffic through the park alone was enough to make us want to turn around and go home, but that would have just put us in the traffic going the other way. So we found a Visitors Center and got the kids set up with their Junior Ranger workbooks.
Then we drove on along the river.
We found a spot to pull off on the side of the road and have some lunch.
They are beautiful but they are stinky! Maddie though she was going to die from the stench because it was making her nauseous.
It was a really open area without any shade plus all the heat coming off the geysers so it made for a VERY hot little hike through the area.
We finally made it to Old Faithful!
The Visitor Center at Old Faithful is brand new and HUGE!
Even after seeing all that we saw we only made it 16 miles into the park because of the traffic and all the sightseeing. We decided to call it a night and head back to the RV. We picked up some KFC in town on the way home. We all slept good that night!
We got up bright and early the next morning and headed back to the park. Our first stop was the Madison Visitor Center again for a Ranger Talk, which was part of the requirements for the Junior Ranger Badges. It was still pretty chilly that early in the morning.
Then we drove on to find some of the majestic views we knew were there. We had spent the previous day in the valley with all the geysers and stuff so we didn’t get to see many mountains. We definitely found what we were looking for.
These limestone steps were pretty amazing. The heat on the very steep walk made entirely of stairs around was not so amazing. It was definitely the hardest and hottest hike we went on.
Look at that manly man! Carrying two kids and the backpack up the steep stairs.
This area is known as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
Everywhere we went Sawyer would find a rock and want me to take his picture on it. (Either that or he’d squat and poop on it.)
The crowds here were unbelievable. It was like China all over again - especially since there seemed to be more Asians than anyone else there!
We saw quite a bit of wildlife today too. We hadn’t really seen any up to this point.
We finally made it to this lake, which I can’t remember the name of now, and decided to eat some dinner at the lodge there.
The lake was beautiful but the cafeteria at the lodge was AWFUL. We wish we hadn’t wasted our money and had just gone hungry.
The kids did finish their Junior Ranger Badges and got sworn in.
That was pretty much the whole trip to Yellowstone - two very full days of awesomeness! Next stop the Grand Tetons and Josh and Mandy’s in Afton, WY!
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