Day 12

Today began with breakfast at the campsite and then we headed back into Yellowstone. This time we were heading north towards the Mammoth Hot Springs area.

Again, stinky but the colors and formations are so beautiful (Alex demonstrates 'stinky' above). We spent a lot of time hiking here, checking everything out. It still amazes me how these dramatic landscapes butt up against soft meadows of yellow, purple and pink wildflowers. You'll see delicate yellow daisies growing alongside this white sulfur material that looks like snow or a moonscape.

This journey has made all of us appreciate the intricacies and immense power of nature. Despite the many hours spent in the car, the kids keep telling us how much they are enjoying this trip. And notice Brenna's new pink cowgirl hat. She loves it!

After spending time at the hot springs, we headed over to the visitors center and lunch! Actually decent food and very reasonable prices. Seems like when the park system is running it, as opposed to big hotels, they are more realistic about prices ~ kind of surprising but very much welcomed! And lunch of course finished with huckleberry ice cream. Yummmm!

It was neat to view the hot springs from this new location, lower than the springs and to see how it causes formations over the sides. We then headed South, towards the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and had a chance to check out all the falls. Everywhere you turn here is beautiful. We found a huge geode that had split in half with crystals in it but being the good citizens that we are (and the fact that it was pretty darn big and a ranger was nearby) Dan and the kids took it to the ranger who said they will display it in the station/visitors center. So there you go, we are now part of Yellowstone's history. Trying to get it out would have required Dan looking like the second pregnant man so it wasn't worth it!

We crossed west again, heading back to the campsite. Dan has done all the driving and was feeling pretty tired at this point. We saw more wildlife on the way back and stopped for pizza in town before stopping for the night.

So far we have seen the lower west side, upper loop and east side. Tomorrow will be our third day in Yellowstone and the day we head towards Old Faithful and the Grand Tetons.