Go West Day Four: Yellowstone

Today's mission: Yellowstone
Mission accomplished: Barely

Yes, today we had high goals of visiting Yellowstone National Park. We did visit, we did see, and then we left. Let's just say that it was not what we were expecting in all senses! We had booked the most affordable hotel as close to the park as we could : 80 miles away. Thinking that an hour to an hour and a half wouldn't be a bad drive to the park, we really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Our nice little 80 miles treck was not on a major highway, but on a much smaller road under going construction. Yes, construction. After almost three hours we finally reached the main gate to Yellowstone. We were then handed a map, and made our way to Old Faithful - the Mickey Mouse of Yellowstone. Distance-wise it didn't appear that far....after an hour in the car, it felt much further than the 30 miles on the map. We were all relieved to get out of the car for a stretch and some lunch. We timed it just perfectly, because after lunch the geyser was due to spout off. Our little ones weren't able to wait the standard 65-95 min wait, so our ten minutes to eruption was perfect!

A buffalo we met on the way to Old Faithful.


Old Faithful in all of her glory!

As we drove away from Old Faithful and began to chart out our path around the park, it became clearly evident to us that from pitstop to pitstop would be at least an hours journey away from our hotel. Already surpassing naptime, and heading into the late afternoon didn't appear to be in the best interest of all parties.

As we neared the south exit, Dan thought it may be a shorter route home for us, and a more scenic route than backtracking thru the land of R.V's and rental-car driving tourists. Thankfully, Aunt B, our GPS, was able to track the trip for us thru the Grand Teton Mountains on 30 miles of unpaved roads.

Our average speed during those 30 miles was around 5 mph. Even at that rate - it was very bumpy and nausiating at several points. Thankfully the boys slept thru the first fifteen or so miles. Here are some pics of the road, and our views as we drove.

About halfway thru our drive, just when the nauseousness was beginning to wear on me - we pulled around a corner and saw this field of wild flowers. They were breathtaking! I don't think Dan had the truck as much as stopped before I was out the door to soak them all in. By this point the jostling of the road and woken both boys up, so they were able to enjoy the field with us. I could've spent the entire afternoon there just taking pictures!




This break in the 30 mile trip on the dirt road sure helped! The last 15 miles seem to breeze by, and not be nearly as bumpy as the first half. I was so thankful for Aunt B. our tom tom as she ticked away at the miles left. While the first 15 seem to take forever, the last 15 went fairly quickly. I was so realized to see that less than a mile and we turned - little did I know that we'd be turning onto another dirt road. I seriously could've cried. Here were had been, for over two hours in the middle of nowhere with no snacks, juice, bathroom (yes, I had to use a tree), and now our gas was dwindling. I thought the end was near and we were gonners. Dan assured me we'd be fine, and as the miles on this dirt road ticked away I could see that civilization was nearing.

The paved road was a welcomed sight to see, and the farms that surrounded us looked more promising that the mountains and dirt road we'd just spent the last few hours on. Praise the Lord, we had made it - with some gorgeous pictures I might add.