Stringham Family: Yellowstone 2014

Friday, August 22, 2014

Yellowstone 2014

This was our second trip to Yellowstone. This time we took Scott's sister and 2 of her kids. We also got a hotel room this time instead of driving an RV. This vacation was a salvage vacation. We were originally supposed to go to Italy when that didn't happen we toyed with the idea of going to Orlando Florida, that also fell through, so at a last ditch effort to get some kind of vacation in we booked a stay in Yellowstone. While I would have loved to go to either Italy or Orlando I am not disappointed that we ended up at Yellowstone. This place is so incredibly beautiful, I believe God paid special attention in creating it and I marvel every time I get to experience it.

We actually did significantly less hiking this time than last time to accomodate our extra crew, so instead of hiking around 10 miles a day we only averaged 3-5 miles a day. Thank goodness for the hotel swimming pool. After a day in the park we would take them swimming to burn off all that extra energy. It was also great to hang it over their heads to cooperate at dinner. When we asked my nephew what his favorite thing was he answered, "the pool".

My favorite experience this time was the grand geyser. We first saw Old Faithful which took a lot longer than it normally does, it was over 30 minutes late from its usual erruption,but the wait was worth it, apparently it shot taller and longer than it ever has (according to the park rangers). After that we walked the park and came upon the grand geyser which just began errupting. Grand Geyser was aptly named. It is more like a triplet set of geysers that errupt at the same time. It shot much taller and more than twice as long as Old Faithful and we were mesmerized for every second of it. We stared in awe as the warm mist drenched us and the sound of the forced water pummeled our ears with its awesome force. After a few minutes of admiring its incredible power the waters subsided and all was stillfor just a few seconds then it started up again in full force. It really was a once in a lifetime experience. As we talked to more and more people we realized how true that statement was. Many who have worked at the park for years have never witnessed the Grand Geyser in all its glory.

In addition to the water fireworks as my son called them, we were blessed to come across all kinds of wildlife that roam the park. The Bison are really quite numerous especially on the west side. We came across this valley of meadows that was so pretty I just had to stop the car so I could admire it. This happened to be the grazing grounds of hundreds of bison, and I could see why they chose it. The sky was so blue, the grasses were lush and the water sparkled. A handful of calves pounced around teasing one another and annoying their parents. They were just like my boys, wresteling, running, and rolling around. I could have watched them for an hour. As we walked around Peter noted, "Hey a pancake!" then changed his mind saying, "nope, that's poop."

Another animal species that we saw lots of this time was the elk. They were close enough to touch (but don't worry we didn't) As were were coming around the backside from Mammoth Hot springs we came across a pair fairly young of elk frolicking in a pond. I have never seen elk play like that, they were splashing each other and diving under the water, definitely something you don't see every day. We also saw a black bear and wolves which was pretty awesome.

One more must see is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We hiked to the lower end of the falls and I am not going to lie it made me nervous. I had a death grip on my little ones as we watched the awesome power of the water surging down the cliff creating a mist and a roar that had my heart beating out of my chest. As I looked out through the canyon and I saw the ever present rainbow I was filled with a sense of wonder and all these amazing things our Heavenly Father has created for us. I feel so blessed.
This is such an incredible place I am thankful I have been able to see it.