YELLOWSTONE OR BUST

On September 2, Greg and I went to Cody before heading to Yellowstone. Greg had to work on Thursday and Friday, so the girls and I got to hang out at the cutest little Inn. It's called the Chamberlain Inn. It has claw footed tubs, great craftsman details, and tons of character. I love it! They also have a court yard where we were able to go outside and play.

While we were in Cody we went to the Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, went window shopping, ate pizza, and Kinley got to choose some candy at a cute candy store.

Friday evening came too soon! Sign...here comes sleeping in a tent for 3 nights. Don't get me wrong, I love camping, but I was a little worried about the temperature with a 4mo old. I was also very skeptical with Greg's plan of setting up and taking down camp 3 times!

I could see his point of camping in different places so we wouldn't have to do a lot of driving, but that's a lot of work! But I just held my tongue and said OK, maybe we'll learn from this little experience:)

Okay, I was really excited, just a little nervous with some of the plans... here we go.

We were on our way! We stopped at Buffalo Bill Dam, and looked around. When you are standing on the dam it's 130 ft down! At the time that the dam was complete it was the tallest dam in the world. There's a history lesson for you!:) I just wish I could remember what year it was finished in:) Here's a side story nothing to do with Yellowstone...Greg and I took some friends boating at Flaming Gorge. while were were there we decided to go look at the dam. When we got there everyone started making dam jokes, like..."let's go look at the dam fish" or "I can see the dam water" anyway, I thought really hard about a good one, or so I thought, and I blurted out..."Look at the damn dam!" Ya, not one of my finer moments in life:) On with Yellowstone...

We got into the park and took our first hike to what's called Storm Point. We both recommend this hike, it is beautiful when you get out there. On our way out, we saw a buffalo right on our path. We decided to take a long way around him, and it's a good thing we did! As we rounded the corner there were at least 20 more buffalo that we would have walked right up to and surprised them! Talk about scary! So we got to walk through the brush, but not for long, and we made it to the point. The view was so pretty looking out on Yellowstone lake! I love how beautiful Yellowstone is! I am so grateful for nature!

After the hike we headed to our campsite at Grant Village. The weather was cooperating, it was just getting really cold fast! McKinley wasn't having fun while Greg and I set up camp so she complained enough that we just let her watch a movie in the car while we got things situated. An hour later we were eating our yummy cup of noodle wearing our winter coats! It got cold SO FAST! After dinner McKinley finally said..."Can you put me to bed now and make me warm?" Poor thing!

(This is what the girls looked like each day we set up and took down camp!  Aren't they adorable?!?!?!)

It's only the first night, and I am already dreading the other 2! I think I did an awesome job staying positive though...Greg had no idea I was grumpy about it until the 3rd night, but we'll get to that in a min.

While Greg cleaned up dinner, I got the girls ready for bed. I love that we are such a great team!

McKinley slept in the pack and play with a plethora of warm blankets, Kasidy was on the floor with lots of blankets around her, under her, and over her,(I couldn't really see her:) and Greg and I were in our sleeping bag on the air mattress. It was so cold Greg and I had to huddle together ALL NIGHT to stay warm. I could not stop thinking about Kasidy and McKinley all night!

The nice part about it though...McKinley slept through the night when she usually has to go 50 times. I'm sure she'd wake up lift her head out of the blankets, feel her nose hairs freeze, and change her mind:)(It wasn't that cold, but it was COLD!)

Kasidy, on the other hand, did not sleep through the night. I'd pick her up, jump in the sleeping bag, wrap the blanket around us and feed her. I would have had her sleep with us, but the air mattress wasn't firm, and I was afraid she'd get smothered with our huge sleeping bag.

This trip was such an up and down experience for me! I love to see everything, I even like to camp, but the weather was...LAME!

Needless to say I was grateful when morning came! We packed up camp (IT TOOK 2 HOURS) ate breakfast and we were on our way to see more beautiful Yellowstone.

Our first stop that day was to Natural Bridge. It was a fine leisurely walk and when we got there the sign said..."If you think this is cool, you should see rainbow bridge, and the arches in southern Utah!" We don't recommend that hike. It was fine for a one time thing, but we've been there, done that...Check!

Then we went to Old Faithful! I love Old Faithful! The touristy feeling you get, the ice cream, the people! I just love that area of Yellowstone. While we were there we went on the board walk and walked around the loop. On our way back we had a run-in with another buffalo. I don't know what it was with the buffalo this trip, but they were out to get us!

As we were walking on the path there was a buffalo headed toward the path from the field. At the rate we were going we would meet up at the same time, so I started to speed up! Greg on the other hand took his sweet time! Crazy MAN! And he was holding Kasidy! HELLO! :) At this point they were 10 feet away from each other, and the ranger started to get mad at Greg! THANK YOU! In reality, it was just fine, but still, you never know what could happen! It's one of Greg's favorite stories about our Yellowstone trip. (Mine is soon to come!)

After this we went to Maddison camp ground and set up our tent again. McKinley complained enough that we let her watch a movie in the car:) This sounds so familiar:) Kasidy sat in her bumbo on the picnic table and was a good girl! The weather wasn't bad! In fact is was just jacket weather! We were enjoying ourselves...WHAT? This is great! We stayed up late reading stories to McKinley, talking after the girls went to bed, looking at the stars. That is why I love camping! It can be so peaceful, calm, beautiful etc. Greg and I climbed into our sleeping bag and slept really well. Kinley woke up once, late night feedings for Kasidy weren't freezing! I could do one more night! This wasn't too bad! I just wish we didn't have to take down camp again just to set it up somewhere else:) IT TAKES 2 HOURS! When you have little kids everything takes longer. But all in all things were great!

The next day we went to Norris Geyser Basin! WE LOVE THIS PLACE! It is nothing but board walk around awesome geysers! Kinley loved it too! It was a little cold, but we had our jackets and things were fine! After that we went to the Brink of the Lower Falls! This we recommend to EVERYONE!!! You hike right out to the edge of the huge Artist Point Waterfall! It is a Rush to look over and see it! It's a steep hike down, and back up is a work out, but it is AWESOME!

The day was starting to wind down, so we decided to go set up camp at Canyon Village. As we pulled up to our spot I asked Greg if we could just go home now. I had a wonderful day, I just didn't want to set up camp AGAIN. Being the wonderful man that he is (Cup half full) he said..."Just one more night honey!" Okay I told my brain just one more night. If it's like last night it'll be great! Well it wasn't like the previous night it was...To put this bluntly 'H' 'E' double Hockey Sticks!

It started to SNOW! Not just a little sprinkle, no this was a full on storm! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Picture this...McKinley sitting in the car with the heater on full blast (You can't see her cause the snow has covered the windows), Greg trying desperately to start a fire, Me in the tent wearing my coat and two blankets while nursing Kasidy so she will go to sleep for the night in the pack and play. Lovely picture isn't it? It's okay... Just ONE MORE NIGHT:)



The look on our faces tells it all!  Doesn't Kasidy look like she's having fun?



After Hot Dogs in the car, yum! (Sarcastically) We headed to bed. Or so we thought...Our little McKinley kept having to go potty! Perfect timing! Why couldn't she have had this problem last night when it was warmer, and not snowing outside? Greg was getting really frustrated and finally told her NO MORE! She'd cry and cry. I'm sure the rest of the camp slept real well because of us! I was to the point that I couldn't stop laughing because the whole situation was just too ridiculous. There's a nice thought for the campers around us..."Why is the mom laughing when her little kid is crying." Another mother of the year award! Finally I just had McKinley climb in the sleeping bag with us. This worked out great until Kasidy woke up. When I was trying to climb over my two year old to get to the baby I suddenly realized that I was soaking wet! McKinley had peed ALL OVER ME! GGGGRRRREEEAAAAATTTT! So I sat on the edge of the air mattress smelling of pee, feeding a 4 month old, trying not to get her wet, and trying not to freeze.

There is a lesson here...When your husband says...'Just one more night.' You tell him NO WAY!:)

Morning couldn't come soon enough! I had our stuff packed ready to go and we were out of there by 8 am. You do the math...if it takes two hours to pack, yes I made everyone get up at six in the morning!

Needless to say we were all tired! We all just wanted to go home! On our way home, we took the scenic route through the Lamar Valley. Things started to turn around and not be so bad. While we were driving...WE SAW A BEAR! It was really awesome! We'd never seen a bear in Yellowstone, so that was really neat! We also took the most beautiful drive along the Bear Tooth Highway! It was breathtaking! You felt like you were on top of the world! I am really glad that we took that way home! Was it worth one more night? I hate to say it, cause it was a BAD night, but ya...it was so pretty! We wouldn't have been able to see what we saw if we'd been traveling at night.

So, we finally made it home! It was a wonderful sight! We took baths, and showers, and slept like babies:)

It was really a great trip, one for the books. I am glad to see all the amazing things, but Greg has promised me that he will never do that to me again! No more camping when there is a possibility that it will be cold, and we won't be taking down camp like that again EVER! We will take the driving, thank you very much!



Sleeping in the car!  I love how her leg is crossed!



So there is Yellowstone or Bust! I am so thankful that I can make memories with my little family, even if it does involve kids wetting the bed:)