Yellowstone

I don't know why, but I never thought I would see Yellowstone National Park. I told my kids that and it was funny to hear Nathan and May say that they never thought they would see it either. It was definitely one of the highlights of the entire trip.

One of the things that got me through the long and grey Michigan winter was planning our summer vacation. We went to the library and checked out book after book about the states that we were planning on driving through and visiting. We read them aloud and tried to get everyone involved and excited about the plans. One of the more memorable times was reading to Sariah about Yellowstone. She was interested in the geyser, but even more so with the boiling mud that would make sounds like "Blurp, blurp, blurp!" When we made a chain to count down the days, the final chain said, "Yellowstone, Here we come!" because to her, that's where we were going.

We pulled into Silver Gate, Montana late at night and couldn't really see our surroundings. Waking up to a green mountain, draped in thin clouds with cool crisp air around us was a pleasant surprise. We met my dad there. He goes to Yellowstone at least once a year and is experienced at spotting wildlife. One of our very first "stop and see" sights was a bull moose, probably our best wildlife find. We didn't see a bear or a wolf which was ok with me. I was very caught up in the Geological sights.

The hot springs were incredible! It's hard to believe that boiling water bubbles up the the surface and spills over to create such a beautiful scene.

We saw Old Faithful, which apparently usually spurts much higher than what we saw, but we weren't disappointed having never witnessed it before. While we were anticipating Old Faithful, Nathan spotted another geyser erupting in the background. He has a great eye for nature!

But, indeed, my favorite part of Yellowstone was the bubbling mud. Sariah was right after all. It had been a long day and Fountain Paint Pots was nearly our last stop of the day. It was a bit of a hike to see the sights there, but well worth it. How worth it to see what I imagine our primordial earth may have been like!





We also saw waterfalls, a petrified tree, antelope, deer, buffalo, more geysers, and all the other scenery that you might capture in your minds eye involving mountains, pine trees, a meandering river, and a blue sky.