Day 13

This is being written the day after but..... I was just too tired when we finally landed to write.

Wednesday saw us leaving Montana and entering Yellowstone for the third day. We were lucky enough to be camping at the edge of the campground and awoke to a herd of horses right next to us. It was so pretty to see all these horses on the hill with miles and miles of beautiful scenery behind them. The kids had a great time petting and feeding them.

Today our plan was to cover the lower part of Yellowstone and head out to the Grand Tetons. We pulled over on many side roads and saw incredible geysers, paint pots, etc. It is just impossible to describe everything we saw and give it proper justice. The colors and sights are just unbelievable.

We also fell in love with the funniest sign and Alex requested that I post it here for your enjoyment. We especially love the dad who is completely oblivious to his children... hmmm, please notice it's not a mom....

We eventually made it to Old Faithful. Of course, as we pulled in there was a huge crowd leaving so we knew that we had just missed the eruption. No problem. It was 2:00 and we still hadn't eaten yet so it gave us a chance to pick up some really great sandwiches and picnic near Old Faithful. It was a cloudy, rainy day so the impact of Old Faithful doesn't show up as well in photos as it does against a blue sky. Still, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was also a great chance to observe human expectations now ~ we are such an instant gratification society that when it didn't erupt exactly at the predicted time, people started grumbling. Like someone is flipping a switch or something! Anyway, on to the Grand Tetons.

On our way out of Yellowstone we crossed the Continental Divide three times. But we were too tired to stop, get out, pose and take pictures next to the sign. But I did get pictures of complete strangers next to it!

The Grand Tetons are just spectacular. What an amazing range of mountains that look like they just erupted out of the earth. Still covered with snow, they are a sharp, dramatic range overlooking meadows and lakes. The rain started again and gave us some beautiful images. We checked a few places there for lodging but didn't find anything that really suited us. We pushed onto Jackson Hole...

Remember the 'loose' trip that this is? Well, we hit Jackson Hole and there was NO WHERE to stay. No where. Not even the gross, scary places. We headed to campgrounds... booked. Headed out farther. No vacancy. By this time it was getting pretty late. The kids were starting to stress and we were a little... We continued heading out through the canyon towards Alpine. Found a cute place that said Vacancy... phew. Nope, we need two nights and they only have one. She was nice enough to direct us to another place, much farther down the road. We booked it sight unseen, with me worried to death that they might also be renting rooms by the hour... kidding. Anyway, we finally find it ~ the Wolves Den. By now it's after 9:00. Turns out to be a great place. New, big rooms and very, very clean. We all are thankful for a hot shower and big comfy beds. Ahhhhh.