British Invasion {Bear Lake}

After driving non-stop for three days, we headed up to Bear Lake for three days of relaxation and fun in the sun! 

I'll admit this trip taught me something about myself... I am way more controlling than I realized. It took all my mental strength to not completely lose it because we didn't have a set plan for meals in Yellowstone or Bear Lake. Well, I wrote a menu for three days but Jeff wouldn't let me buy the food. I wrote a huge list for Glen to go to the store and purchase and bring to Bear Lake. It about killed me. I had good reason in my mind for just doing everything myself. Like the fact that the only grocery store up there on a holiday weekend is the last place I or my wallet want to be. 

But he told me to relax and let go.

We only had a slight food mishap with some key ingredients being left in Logan but it was fine. We had a great time doing nothing. And only driving the ATVs when we felt like it, not all day long!

We read on the beach. Well, Aurelia read on the beach. The rest of us swam, played in the sand, and played fetch with Blu.

We made my father-in-law do a dutch oven dinner and cobbler. Yum. That should happen way more often!

{Grandkids from left to right: Ty holding Ashyln, Shelby, Cassie, Aurelia, Alexis holding Cole, Samuel, Pearl, Jacob}

We went on "side-side-side" rides and prayed Alexis didn't kill anyone on the 4 wheeler. Even Jeff said he was a little scared riding with the speed demon! But oh, did she have fun... said it was the best part about coming to America!

We sat around the fire and made smores. 

We went moose hunting. And the mooses did not disappoint. We saw two bull moose run right in front of us. 

And with a raspberry milkshake, our 1,500+ miles trip with the British Invasion is over.

 

 

Honestly, the thought of more driving just might kill me

I love my family. But this is how I'm feeling at the thought of another 3+ hours sitting in the truck with them after four days and 1,000 miles of sightseeing with the British Invasion!!!!!

The drive from Jackson, WY to Logan never seemed so long!!! And that doesn't include the re-packing, grocery shopping, and driving back up to Bear Lake for another three days of fun tomorrow.

On the bright side, my anxiety was so high that I finally pulled out the Divergent series books I swiped from my sister and finished them on the drive/weekend to Bear Lake. Reading kept my mind {and rear end} off of the road and helped calm me down.

British Invasion {Wildlife}

I just wanted to make it clear, I am not part of the wildlife in the park. I just didn't know where else to share this picture. 

We didn't see as many animals as we had hoped, but we did see elk. And some big bull elk at that! Again though, the idiots swarmed with their cameras way, way too close to these three big bulls hanging out in a bunch of burned and fallen trees.

Oh and this guy on the side of the road. 

A black bear and way, way, way off in the distance of a meadow a momma grizzly and her two cubs.

The ranger in charge of keeping folks a safe distance from the black bear was more fascinated by this caterpillar than the bear. 

And bison {intermixed with a few antelopes}. Finally! We drove all over looking for the herds.

This guy decided to have a dust bath. 

And this guy, Samuel, took about 10,000 pictures with Grandpa's camera. It was like driving the paparazzi around with all the clicking. If he wasn't taking 70 pictures {I am NOT exaggerating} of the same bison, it was Alexis. 

We also saw a moose, heron, an eagle's nest, deer, beaver, geese, ducks, a mystery animal near the meadows where the wolves hangout {Jeff swears it was a wolf}, and a badger. The badger was sweet! It's the first time I've ever seen one. They do this funny waddle as they walk and run and look pretty ferocious. Not something you'd want to run into on a trail!

British Invasion {Yellowstone Day 2}

Another day of driving. Norris Geysers first. 

Then a really long drive to Mammoth Hot Springs for lunch, animal searching, and getting our Junior Ranger badges. If you're ever in a National Park and have kids, you really stop at a ranger station and see if they can do the Junior Ranger program. We did this with the kids at the Tetons earlier in the spring and they had a blast learning about nature. Yellowstone's program was a lot more intense to finish but all five kids {two little, one medium, and two big kids} finished their packets, learned about snakes in the ranger presentation, and pledged to always be a friend to nature.

Oh, and did I mention that Pearl somehow lost her Junior Ranger badge between Mammoth Hot Springs and our drive back to the cabin? Yeah. That did NOT go down well... especially considering there were limited chances to listen to a ranger program to pass off the requirements. Jeff was able to convince the West Yellowstone Visitor Center rangers to let us buy a new badge because we had proof that she'd finished everything the day before. But they still made her do a pledge and recite all of the things she'd learned on our trip.

We drove all over searching for wildlife {another post to come!} and then hit Hanging Valley and Tower Fall. The cliff walls were really neat, with this line of rock sticking out all along the ridge. I'd never seen rock formations like it. 

And on the other side of the road, there was this HUGE cliff wall, just a sheer rock wall. You felt like a tiny ant next to it. There was also evidence of a massive rock slide.

 

Exploring Hanging Valley.

These two were such troopers! As were their cousins for trying to keep them entertained on our 15+ hour driving days. 

When we were at the park last May, some of the roads were still closed due to snow. This time we were able to take the road over to Canyon for a long overdue dinner... the high road. It was really, really high up! The hillsides were covered in all of these sunflowers. I wish I had made Jeff stop for a picture.

British Invasion {Yellowstone Day 1}

Day one of our Yellowstone adventure found us at Gibbon Falls and the Continental Divide.

After Gibbon Falls, we drove up to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We hiked down the trail to see the falls and were surprised with a beautiful rainbow over the mist. Pearl was a trooper and only had to stop a few times on the way back up. Of course she was wearing flip flops and it was hot. 

We then proceeded to watch a giant bison charge at some idiot who thought it would be cool to take a selfie with Mr. Bison. The bison was sitting between a shed and the public restrooms, where a ton of people were coming in and out of. He was totally content just hanging out feet from people. Thank heavens Pearl didn't notice him when she went to the bathroom because I'm pretty sure it would have scared the crap out of her {no pun intended}. People must not read the warnings on the pamphlets the rangers give you when you enter the park... the ones that say NEVER get within 25 feet of them. Something about weighing 1,000+ lbs, horns, and the fact that they can and do kill people every year in the park. Everyone was trying to get a close-up picture of the bison and this idiot decided his camera's zoom wasn't cutting it so he hopped over the fence {like that fence would stop a charging, angry bison}, walked right in front of him {seriously, the dude was within arm's reach of the bison}, and held up his camera to say "cheese!" Well, cheese indeed because that bison turned and charged. I screamed. Cole screamed and ran back to the truck, where he stayed for the rest of the time we were there. I seriously thought I was going to watch someone get gored and stomped to death! That guy was lucky, lucky, lucky.

Here's how Jeff re-enacted the scene after I told him what had happened.

Maybe Darwinism isn't such a bad idea. 

We went to Old Faithful next. And waited. And waited. And waited. Old Faithful apparently wanted a few other, less predictable geysers to show off before she blew. 

I was excited to see on of the old Yellowstone tour cars stop at the lodge.

We had some ice cream, spent all of Jeff's money on souvenirs, and then started to drive back out of the park stopping to explore the Biscuit Basin Loop Walkway. We'd never walked around this walkway before and I have to say, it was probably my favorite place in Yellowstone. The evening weather was perfect and the scenery was spectacular.

Sapphire Pool was absolutely breathtaking! The blue was super bright and then as the pool sunk deeper, turned darker blue. It was so clear and mysterious looking. Kind of scary too knowing how incredibly hot the water is. 

I thought this old tree was really cool looking. 

 

Avoca Spring

 

Mustard Spring

We all thought this sign next to Sapphire Pool was pretty funny. Spelling oops. 

The different colors of algae that grows in these hot springs is really beautiful too.

And proof that at one time a herd of bison decided to walk by and get warm.

Our last stop - and one that I insisted we don't actually stop at due to two children who had reached their limit for sitting in the car {as had a few of the adults} - was driving by a few other geysers that only shoot up every few weeks, if you're lucky. It was really pretty, but there was no way I was sitting there for even another hour to wait and hope.

That's what Google search is for!