Yellowstone National Park

After the Tetons, we drove a short distance up to Yellowstone National Park.  We started in West Thumb Geyser Basin.  It was spectacular to see the steam rising from the ground, hear the gurgling noises and watch the water bubble and boil!

      

   

     

     

  

   

   

    

   

   

   

   

    

   

     

    

The bison were very close to the trail in Mud Volcano.

   

    

    

    

    

   

My favorite was Dragon's Mouth Spring.

   

   

Our first bison crossing!

     

There was a buffalo along the trail of Natural Bridge too!

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

There was a hail storm on the way to Old Faithful Inn.

   

I planned our entire trip around getting two nights at Old Faithful Inn.  The view was nothing like Jackson Lake Lodge, but it was a special treat to stay at the largest log cabin in the world and such an iconic inn.  The hotel we stayed at in Disney World was inspired by / designed from Old Faithful Inn.

    

     

We could see the steam from a hot spring from our room.

    

   

   

   

    

   

    

     

Our first glimpse at an eruption from Old Faithful Geyser was in a hail, thunder and lightening storm.

   

     

      

We came back after dinner to see it again.  It was actually 9pm in these photos and still light!

     

      

   

   

   

   

I work up earlier than Alex and the kids so I could enjoy my latte in the lobby of the inn.

   

   

      

More cinnamon buns!

     

We did a hike to Morning Glory Pool in the morning and ended up catching two geysers erupt!

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

      

Daisy Geyser 

   

   

   

    

Morning Glory Pool

   

   

Grand Geyser 

   

   

   

   

   

   

We explored Grand Prismatic Spring in the afternoon.  We did the overlook hike as well as the close up.  The overlook was better.

  

   

   

   

   

   

    

   

There was a lot of steam close to the spring and you could not appreciate the colors as well.

   

When the sun came out, it was easier to see.

   

    

   

Ethan and I watched Old Faithful from a balcony in our lodge when we returned for the evening.

    

We ate at the Old Faithful Inn Dining Room.

    

   

One last eruption from the end of our hallway!

   

Ethan was my coffee buddy Thursday morning.  We sat inside for a bit then moved outside.

     

      

     

We saw a coyote on the way to Norris Geyser Basin!

   

   

    

     

      

   

   

   

   

   

     

The kids explored Sheepeater Cliff.

    

Mammoth Springs

     

We had to start with ice cream.

     

We explored the upper and lower terraces. 

    

   

   

   

   

    

      

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

    

   

   

Our last hotel was Canyon Lodge.

   

   

   

   

    

We saw a lot of bison driving in the Hayden and Lamar Valleys.

    

  

     

We went fishing on Yellowstone Lake Friday morning.

   

   

   

Alex caught a fish!

    

   

   

   

I was excited to see Artist Point in the Canyon area.  One of my favorite dining experiences in Disney World was at Artist Point restaurant with tons of paintings of this view.  It was amazing to see it in person!

   

   

   

   

   

   

Ice cream treat!

   

    

The buffalo was right outside our building!

   

    

   

   

   

   

   

We celebrated Harper's 8th birthday in Yellowstone!

   

   

    

   

   

We took a road trip on Harper's birthday along the Beartooth Highway - the "most scenic highway in America".

    

     

We saw a second black bear!

  

   

And had a snowball fight!

   

    

    

   

    

   

    

   

Harper's special birthday treat was seeing a grizzly bear!  We were supposed to have a Covered Wagon Dinner from the Roosevelt Corral, but a thunderstorm canceled it.