Old Faithful

Mike had everything ready to go in the motorhome last night, so this morning we were able to just drive away. Bubs had warned us that parking gets crazy at Old Faithful. Because we were in a motorhome, we wanted to get there really early. They didn't have people outside the gates taking payments, so we just drove on through. There was hardly anyone waiting on the benches at Old Faithful this early. The benches were covered in dew, so we should have brought something to wipe them off with, but it wasn't too bad.

Mike, Preston, Maysen ~ sometimes it is really hard for Mike to take pictures

 Waiting for Old Faithful

There she goes!

We walked around some of the paths in the morning. That was pretty cool. We didn't go too far though.

Maysen, Preston, Mike

 This looks so fragile ~ hard to tell with the picture, but it is really beautiful

We got such a kick out of this little critter. We watched him for a long time.

We were about to leave when we noticed Old Faithful was about to erupt again. There were A LOT more people this time! We walked right up and were able to have a fantastic view. The benches were full, but there was space in between. The last time it erupted there was steam everywhere. This time it was easier to see. I guess it was just that much colder in the morning. The sky was so beautiful today. 

Old Faithful

 Preston & Maysen

 Maysen & Preston ~ that kid adores his big sister

 Preston on the drive to the Lower Falls

Bubs told us to go to the Lower Falls. The Lower Falls and Upper Falls are pretty close together, but he said if we only had time for one to choose the Lower Falls. Good thing too, because the Upper Falls was closed. I'm glad we stopped here. It was a bit tricky to find a place for the motorhome to park, but Mike is amazing and got us a spot. There was a perfect little hike. Maysen loved it. She said it was exactly what she wanted to do. It was so pretty too.

 Mike, Maysen, Preston

 Maysen

 Maysen & Preston

 Stephanie & Mike

 Lower Falls

 Hard to tell how big it is from this top view

 Mike & Stephanie

 Maysen

 Mike, Preston, Maysen

We drove North to the top of Yellowstone because the guy at the information desk told us that was the best place to see animals. Well, it was a SCARY drive in the motorhome and we didn't see any animals. I wish we didn't do that. I was sure glad when that was over. We took a big loop and headed back to Montana to do the rope course again. We could have cut across Yellowstone and saved us a couple of hours and several scary moments. Anyway, because we got rained out yesterday they let us go on the course again. This time Mike followed Preston and I followed Maysen. This was so much fun! Of course Mike has been trying to figure out how he could build one in our backyard. Oh boy.

Stephanie, Maysen, Preston

 The lower part of the spider web is pretty easy, but the upper part is scary! It's all in the angles.

The lower part you are able to lean into the rope, the upper part you lean away from it.

 Preston

 Nice spot for a nap

The kids loved this frozen yogurt place we found. We had dinner there tonight. Maysen and Preston shared a crepe.

 Maysen & Preston

We stopped by the stores one more time. Preston wanted a jacket like Maysen. We found a perfect one for him and he loves it. Last stop...home. Mike drove all the way home tonight. We got home about midnight. Maysen and Preston both wanted to stay sleeping in the motorhome, but Mike and I were able to enjoy our own bed. What a quick, fun trip! The kids loved it!

Montana

Stockton is in Arizona, Jorja is in Taiwan, and the rest of us are in Montana. Today was a great day. We went to the rope course and spent a lot of time on that. The rope course was pretty cool. You had to transfer to different ropes, but you were always locked in. I followed Preston around. Some of the transfer stations were just a bit out of his reach. Mike followed around Maysen. This spider thing we went on was a lot more scary than it looked! I hurt my shoulder jumping from one thing on the top level though. That hurt the rest of the day. I am old. We ate at some cool shops in town and got some fun candy as we left. I was tempted to buy a box of Necco chocolate wafers. They would be so cool for gingerbread houses! Won't be able to get those anymore. It would have cost me $40, so I didn't go for it. Mike and Maysen hung out in the grizzly and wolf place for a little while. We met them there for the bird show. The cool bird show was yesterday, but we missed that. This was more of an informational show. Maysen still loved it. We went back to the rope course because we had an all day pass. Too bad there was thunder. We had to wait for an hour to see if it would clear. While we were waiting we headed back to town. Maysen picked out a Yellowstone jacket that she is quite happy with. We found these awesome light hats that will be perfect for night sledding at the cabin. While I was holding the hats, in walks my friend from high school! Susan Smith! Susan Stokes now. I haven't seen her for over twenty years! She actually contacted me a few months ago and we were hoping to get together for lunch, but haven't done it yet. How funny to see her in Montana! I talked to her for awhile and it was awesome. Too bad I didn't get a picture. So fun. Anyway, when we left Mike and Preston were a bit ahead of us. Maysen and I found this fun hotel that we walked around for awhile. Very old. We got back to the rope course to find it closed. Mike was so disappointed. The lady told us that if they didn't reopen we could come back tomorrow. We were planning on packing up, driving through Yellowstone and heading out the South exit. That way we could stop by the cabin on the way home. Mike wants to come back here tomorrow. We'll see what we end up doing. We have no plans, so whatever happens will be fine.

 Maysen

 Mike & Maysen

Grizzlies and Wolves

I texted Jorja back and forth early this morning. She said she misses home and three weeks is too long. She is having a great time, she just misses us. She also misses her friends. She gets worried that everyone forgets her when she isn't around. I told her that if it made her feel any better, we were leaving for Yellowstone in a few minutes so she wouldn't be home anyway. Funny, that did make her feel better. Haha!

Mike and I were able to get out the door close to schedule. Mike drove all the way to Montana. We stayed at Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park. We got there right at 1:00, which was check in time. Couldn't plan that any better! Mike loved this park. He said it was his favorite RV park we have stayed in. After we got everything set up we walked over to this rope corse thing we could see. We decided to come back tomorrow and get an all day pass. We walked to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center and got a two day pass there. Maysen loved it. They had bears, wolves, critters, hawks and eagles. All of these animals couldn't survive in the wild. They had stories about what had happened to each one. Some were fed too early by humans, others were shot, others hit by cars and one eagle had brain damage from lead poisoning. It was cool to see the animals close up. They were doing bear proof container testing when we were there. That was fun to watch. This bear was relentless getting to the fish that was inside this cooler thing. That cooler didn't stand a chance!

Maysen and the bear hard at work

 Uinta Ground Squirrels 

 Successful bear

The victims

 Bear

 Mike & Stephanie

Preston got to go into the bear cage and hide food. You had to be 12 or under, he barely made the cut! Preston stuck his between rocks and then pulled a log on top of it.

Preston in the bear cage

 Searching for the food

 It was funny watching all the ravens show up to get the bear scraps

 Wolf

 Preston loved them

 Preston at the gift shop

 Masyen and Preston ~ now that's a large bear!

We walked to a pizza place for dinner and then had frozen yogurt on the way home. The town is a cute little tourist town. It has lots of little souvineer shops. We didn't get anything today. We had a nice walk home and then crashed in bed. Well, Mike and I crashed in bed. Maysen and Preston stayed up for awhile giggling about something or other. I love them. Oh, one more thing! I got the coolest message when we were doing family scripture study. A random lady from Tucson texted me these pictures and said, "Elder Smith came over this evening and taught our girls a lesson with connect 4! Best lesson ever!!!! He's a very nice young man." How cool was that???

Elder Alia, Elder Smith, two Tucson girls