The Great American Adventure

Don't you feel like everyone should go to Yellowstone at least once in their life?  Probably more?  There is something about it that just screams, "great American adventure!"  So, I told Steven a while back that I thought we should go this summer.  We were going to have some friends come with us, but something about moving and switching jobs and having a new baby all at the same time prevented them from coming.  Boo for them.  We decided to try it out anyway, and had - dare I say - a great adventure!

We were a bit concerned how camping would go with just the three of us (Karyn not being there to cook our food, and Brady not being there to entertain Noah!), but the reservations were made and there was no backing out.  And seriously, it was awesome!  I'd say the only real low of the trip was setting up camp in the rain... the only rain of the whole trip, but it decides to go ahead and poor down while we're trying to set up a tent with a very sad and somewhat scared little boy inside.  Let the adventure begin, right?!

Our first morning we woke up to buffalo in the camp!  How cool is that?!  So, Noah and I went on a little walk to get closer.  "Hey Noah, go stand by the buffalo and I'll take your picture."  - Best Mom Ever
Some lady reprimanded me for walking closer to the buffalo with my kid.  She was not the best mom ever.

But then, the buffalo must have decided that Noah was pretty cool, so the moseyed on up to our camp site!  There were three of them and it really was one of the coolest things I've seen.  I think Steven and I both agree that that first morning was one of the highlights of the trip.

Just resting.  This picture was not zoomed in.  All three buffalo plopped down right in our campsite and took their morning naps. It was awesome!

Steven took this picture from inside the tent so that you can see how close they were to our tent.

After we got our fill our bison, we headed up to what's known as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  This picture is at artist's point.  I think you can see why it's called that.  If I was an artist, I'd paint this waterfall.

Yellowstone river

Same falls from a different viewpoint

We also saw some mud pots and pools on this first day.  Such an amazing world we live in.
Funny story: Noah totally dropped his hat over the side of the trail while we were looking at some mud pots.  Uh-oh!  So, Steven had to use the camera tri-pod to fish out the hat.  (Don't worry, it wasn't actually in a mud pot, just off the trail).  I'm glad he was successful in getting it back, and I'm really glad it wasn't a pacie!  Not sure what this boy would have done without his pacie for the trip.

This picture makes us laugh because Steven is standing in such an awesome pose... apparently, we need to work on good posture in pictures.  Ha!  :)

The second day we saw more bison in the camp.  Let the record show, Noah and I didn't see this sign the first day.

This second day, we spent the morning on a boat tour of Yellowstone Lake.  When you take your grand American adventure, I'd highly recommend it.  Very fun and informative.  Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures on the boat.
The rest of the day, we went to a few visitor centers, played, and saw more mud pots and such.

It was really quite chilly that night!  I was not prepared with the right clothes, but luckily our camping neighbor left us some firewood, so we had a good fire and didn't even have to pay for the wood.  Wahoo!

This picture is really fuzzy, but it makes us laugh.  Noah was trying to walk over to Steven, but then got caught in the smoke, so he decided to close his eyes to block the smoke.  So, I got all worried that he was going to fall into the fire and tried to get my fat pregnant butt out of the camping chair to guide him (easier said than done!), all while Steven was getting a good laugh and trying to take the picture.  ha!  

Love those blue eyes!  And he sure likes camping.  He even got used to sleeping after the first night... or two.  :)  As long as he burrowed up next to Steven to keep warm, he was good.  I'm not sure Steven loved the sleeping arrangements though!

Day three:  we debated and debated whether or not to stay another day or go home.  I'm so glad we stuck with the original plan and stayed the whole day.  It allowed us to see all the geysers over by Old Faithful and not feel rushed through the day.
Of course, what is Yellowstone without a picture of Old Faithful erupting?!

We timed it pretty well and only had to wait about 15 minutes, but Noah was less than impressed by the time that 15 minutes was up.

Slightly happier with Daddy and a pacie. (or Ba-ba, as he started calling his pacie.  Not sure where he got that, but I think it was about this time that started calling it that)

We were about to walk around the geyser loop by Old Faithful when we realized why Noah was cranky... poor little guy fell asleep almost as soon as we put him in the backpack!  So tired.  

Love this shot!  

He enjoyed running/walking on the boardwalks around the geysers and mud pots.  It made me super nervous that he was going to fall in.  Ha!  I guess that's why I'm the mom.  :) 

Oh, and we saw other wild life besides the bison!  Never did see a bear, but a few different elk and a wolf.  (Or maybe it was a coyote, but we're sticking with wolf, because it sounds cooler.)

And, just in case you didn't think these pictures were really taken in Yellowstone, here is proof!
(I need to learn to get these pictures the first day, when we are all clean).

~ 11-15 July 2013 ~