Hey, everyone! Jaclyn here! I’ve mostly been the photographer so far, but I’ll take a stab at writing this entry. Today we packed up as usual in the morning and we were on the road for Yellowstone a little after 7am. I was sad to leave Grand Teton – it was so beautiful! The mountains and lake provided such gorgeous views everywhere we looked and it was exciting to spot all the wildlife yesterday!
As soon as we left, we panicked for a few moments when we saw a “road closed” sign and our GPS tried to re-route us with an additional 4-5 hrs of driving. Without good cell service it was tricky to figure out what we should do, but luckily, Jay found a better route that wasn’t too much longer. Guess he’s smarter than Google maps!
We got to West Thumb Geyser Basin around 10 and walked along a boardwalk with hot springs and lake views. There were signs everywhere about not stepping off the path, because of the scalding water from the hot springs just beneath a thin crust of earth. Needless to say, we had to remind the kids to be careful about staying on the boardwalk about a million times. Brooke thought the hot springs were neat, but was preoccupied with talking to the little boy about her age who we kept passing along the boardwalk.
We had a quick lunch outside overlooking a nice lake and then it was back in the car to drive to our next couple sites – Artist Point to view Lower falls and Grand Canyon at Yellowstone. I don’t think Jay and I realized just how expansive Yellowstone really is – it certainly takes awhile to drive around. The kids were getting restless by the end of the day.
Both of these sites provided great views, especially the colors of the rocks in the canyon! Once again, the kids seem to spend more time playing than looking at the views. Brooke collected dandelions on the side of the path and walked across the fallen logs like it was a balance beam, while Beckett tried to copy his big sister. He eagerly awaited heading back to the parking lot to find more cars, trucks, and RVs. I swear his core memories from this trip will revolve around seeing all the different vehicles he gets so excited about! He pronounces the word, truck, like “duck” which is pretty cute.
Jay and I joked that we may have been in lines to take Brooke to the bathroom longer than we’re actually sightseeing today. Sadly, that may not have been much of an exaggeration. And the bathrooms were essentially port-a-potties. Beckett was also fussy most of the day. Not sure about the exact reason, but he had his fingers in his mouth all day so I’ll attribute it to teething 🤷🏽♀️.
We grabbed a pizza to share in our next Airbnb, which was very rustic/basic but provided an amazing view from the front porch. I’m still shocked the hot water worked in that rental!
Our saving grace at the end of the day was an audiobook about fairies that I checked out of our local library before the trip. A very tired Brooke listened quietly to the story while we quickly got both kids ready for bed and they were asleep around 7!
Nice job Jaclyn! Such awesome pics again. I’ve never been there. Seems like you could take weeks exploring that area.