We Finally Made it to Yellowstone

Today was Day 3 of our three week adventure and we reached our first national park: Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. 

The night before we ended up driving until 12:30a.m.(that’s 18 hours of driving in one day) and then found a nice Wal-Mart in Cody, Wyoming, just an hour outside of Yellowstone, and quickly fell asleep in the back of our truck. We awoke this morning exhausted from the previous day of driving, but were excited to journey through the park. 

Then we headed for Yellowstone and were instantly greeted with rocky mountains, both near and far, along with large and small bodies of water. Upon arriving, we purchased the Interagency Annual Pass that gets into all national parks for one year. We figured this was wise seeing as it cost $80, but each park charges $25 per car to enter and we will be going to approximately 5 or 6 parks on this trip alone. The ranger was also kind enough to give us the friendly flyer below.

 The drive into the heart of Yellowstone is a bit long, but the majestic mountains, the search for wildlife, and the growth of new trees among those that have died off our were burnt in a wildfire a few years ago, keeps you in awe.

In route to our first point of interest, we saw signs for rapids, so we decided to take a quick look. The two pictures at the top of this post are from that location. We then continued the drive through the wilderness and valleys toward the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Along the way we took another pit stop at the mud volcano. This clearly isn’t a volcano like we would imagine, but in simple terms it was a puddle of mud that along with some chemical and gas reactions beneath the surface of the earth, cause the mud to bubble pretty intensely. And not to mention that while this and other hot springs are incredible and fascinating, they smell terrible. One fella that we met right away described the smell as “rotten eggs and sauerkraut”, and boy was he right! We finally made it to the Grand Canyon, which is absolutely stunning from the look out point known as Artist Point. 

While at Artist Point we decided to start hiking on a trail that leads to a lookout point and two lakes. However, a sign at the beginning of our hike, along with previous warnings, didn’t allow Kaddie get over the idea that she could encounter a bear face-to-face, so the hike was short-lived, but still worth it. (Kaddie is going to jump in here for a sec. We were not prepared! I love bear if I have bear spray :) thank you, back to ty)

Throughout the rest of the day we visited Mammoth Hot Springs, the Norris Geyser Basin, and drove most of the Grand Loop Rd that winds through the park. Driving through the park alone is worth every minute because there is unending beauty everywhere and, if you’re lucky, some wildlife. Bison are definitely the most prominent, but we were also able to see Bighorn Sheep, Deer-Elk(?), and spotted a few bears from a distance. One man also told us that he saw a mama fox playing with two cubs...unfortunately we missed that one. 

We concluded the day by treating ourselves to a one night stay in a simple, yet comfortable cabin to 1)allow ourselves to shower and 2)to celebrate our one year anniversary, which is actually on May 27th. Below is a picture of us eating our one year anniversary cake, which was well preserved and still tasted delicious! 

On Monday we will be seeing the Old Faithful Geyser and Inn and then beginning the approximately twelve hour drive to Seattle and Olympic National Park. If anyone has ever been to either of these places, we would love suggestions on what are “must see” attractions, so please comment below and subscribe to our blog to continue following our trip! 20 more days to go!

Fact: The term “Bison” and “Buffalo” are both names for the same animal, for those of you who don't know. (Kaddie adores bison)

What did the buffalo say to his son when he left home?

Bison.

Kaddie doesn't have a zoom lens, so just imagine how close he was! 

Time Capsuled Cake

Big Horn Sheep

The little black dot is a bear!

Top of Mammoth Hot Springs