We were on the road before 6am the next day to make our way to Yellowstone, WY for two nights of camping. It was going well until we were right outside of Belgrade, MT. We had a blowout and are very lucky to be okay and not have any car damage. Jason handled it really well(he's had experience with that happening before). He was able to get us safely off the road in one piece. A kind Montana driver who saw the whole thing pulled over and helped us. We had to unload the trunk(which was completely full) to get to the full size spare. After 30 minutes of fighting with the jack that wouldn't stay in place and kept collapsing, we finally called Triple A. We thanked the kind man for his help and he went on his way. A little over an hour later the tow truck pulled up and had us ready to go within 10 minutes. The driver stayed until we had the car repacked and were on the road again. That little adventure put us about 2 hours behind. We made it into the park between 5-7pm and then checked in at the camp office, found our spot and set up camp. We stayed in the Grant Village camp grounds which are located in the West Thumb area of Yellowstone Lake. Another great campsite, clean area, bathrooms close and clean, showers just a short walk away, and again great neighbors. We had hamburgers the first night for dinner. Daddy did the cooking at both campsites. We settled in and went to bed late.
We spent our full day going to see all the wonderful views that Yellowstone has to offer. We had a few things that we definitely wanted to try to see, but didn't plan too much. We wanted to see how the kids would do. We went to the first area in West Thumb and its trails and wildlife viewing area were closed due to elk. They must have been abundant and maybe a bit aggressive that morning. So we decided to check back on our way back to camp later in the day. We then headed to Old Faithful and walked the path all around that area looking at the different geysers and seeing some amazing colors. We tried hiking up to one of the waterfalls, but the kids couldn't make it so we turned back. We had about a 35 minute wait until Old Faithful gave us a show! The kids were growing impatient(especially Henry), but as soon as the eruption started, he and Emma were speechless. And then it was, "That was really cool!"
We also saw the Kepler Cascade, Fire Lake, Black Warrior Lake, and many other sites in the park. We didn't have any close encounters with any bison and I was a little disappointed, but we saw a group of elk staying cool under the shade trees as we drove through the main part of Grant Village. We saw lots of different birds, squirrels, and chipmunks, but the larger animals we missed. We did see some bison from a distance as well as elk. And before the kids were up, we did see a yearling behind our camp and Jason saw an older elk a bit earlier that had been calling throughout the night and into early morning.
We returned back to our first stop and they had opened the trails and pathways to the geysers down by the lake. Jason and I did this trek when we went years ago and I still remember it. We went early in the morning and it was freezing. This time around it was in the late afternoon and it was warm, sunny, and we had a breeze off the lake. We learned a few new things about the lake and the area around it. There is a reason you don't swim ANYWHERE in Yellowstone Lake. There are thermal geysers all over the lake under the water and the temperatures vary a lot. You can either instantly freeze to death or be burned alive or it may be just right, but you never know. So only research vessels and crews are allowed in the water. We learned this and a few other things because we were behind a group from a tour bus that were being led by a Park Ranger.
We headed back to camp after that. Emma, Henry, and I went for a walk/hike in the campgrounds. The kids did more running then walking and I sure am glad that for the most part they are sure footed. We made it back to camp and started prepping for dinner. We had steak for dinner and it was GOOD:) A little later once it got dark we roasted marshmallows and made smores and hot cocoa. Daddy and Mommy enjoyed some wine with dinner and we had a pretty good night. Everyone again got tucked in and had a good night of sleep. Daddy and Mommy woke up the next morning and started to breakdown camp and got the kids loaded in the car and finished up packing. We said goodbye to beautiful Yellowstone National Park and started to make our way to Custer, South Dakota.
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