Sunday evening, 12 August, found us at Fishing Bridge RV Park in Yellowstone National Park. We were blessed to get a campsite, let alone one with full RV hookups, because Jared's cousin Brian works at the park and totally hooked us up (haha, see what I did there?). When we got there however, we were surprised to find out that while Verizon's coverage map says they have 4G coverage in the area, and while our jet pack said it was getting 3 bars of 4G coverage, none of our devices could even load the Google homepage. Now you might be thinking, geez, can't you just not have internet for 2 days? Yes, we can personally deal with it. But seeing as Jared needs wifi to work and we planned our trip meticulously around him always having coverage during his work hours, this was a problem. After hours on the phone with multiple tech people who could not figure anything out, we came up with a solution. There are only a couple of places in the entire park where you can buy wifi and one of them happened to be Lake Lodge, 2 miles from where we were staying. So while this complicated our days in Yellowstone a little bit, Jared was able to successfully work. We are still annoyed with Verizon as they came up with no solution whatsoever. We think that maybe there are just so many people using the one tower that it just gets bogged down with everyone trying to use it. But of course they would never admit that. So lesson learned- don't assume that if your jet pack says you have 4G coverage and their website says you have 4G coverage, that you will have any coverage at all. Always have a back up plan.
So on Monday morning, after dropping Jared off at Lake Lodge to work, I headed off with the kids to see West Thumb and Old Faithful. West Thumb is nice because the trail around the outer boardwalk is .5 miles, perfect for little kids. Almost the entire thing has railings as well, meaning that when Gryffin insists on running ahead, I know he can't get off the trail and dive into the hot springs. This short trail has a lot of springs, pools, geysers and fumaroles. So there's a lot to see on a short trail, again, perfect to keep the kids' interest.
Then we headed to Old Faithful. This geyser goes off every 90-110 minutes or so and we happened to get there about 20 minutes before it was set to erupt. The kids were impatient to see it, but eventually, it erupted. Then we headed to the Old Faithful lodge for some lunch. By this point, the kids were too tired to do any of the hikes around Old Faithful so we headed back to the campsite.
On Tuesday, we dropped Jared off at Lake Lodge and headed to Canyon. We first drove the South Rim Drive and stopped at Artist Point where we had a great view of the Upper and Lower Falls. We then headed back to the main road and went on the North Rim Drive. Our first stop was Lookout Point. Ophelia insisted on going down this very steep and winding trail down the side of the canyon. The Red Rock Point trail drops 500 ft in .38 miles. The trek down was great and the view worth it. Then we had to climb back up. Avery and Ophelia did a great job not complaining and only took a few breaks. I, on the other hand, had to carry Gryffin the entire way back up. It was quite taxing. We made one more stop for pictures at Grand View and then headed to Canyon Village to eat lunch. When we got back in the car after Grand View, Gryffin asked for his milk cup. Unbeknownst to me, it had soured (it was probably left out overnight and we didn't know it) and Gryffin only took a few sips and then promptly threw up. Chunky, white, soured milk. All over himself and his car seat. Don't worry, I didn't take pictures. But it took quite awhile for me to clean that up and you can imagine how great the car smelled after that. We were able to eat lunch without further incident.
On the way back to Fishing Bridge, the plan was to stop at Mud Volcano. Gryffin had fallen asleep though, so when we got there, we got out to just take a few pictures. Avery and Ophelia wanted to go around the entire boardwalk that passes by Dragon's Mouth Spring and Mud Volcano. Fortunately, the entire trail was visible from the parking lot so they walked around it taking pictures while I stood by the car.
When Jared got off work, we headed for Livingston, MT where Jared's Grandma lives. We took the western loop through Canyon Village, past Tower-Roosevelt and then to Mammoth Hot Springs. This drive was stunning but very, very windy. We were pulling into Mammoth Hot Springs and Gryffin suddenly projectile vomited all over himself, his seat, and poor Ophelia. Luckily, we had just pulled into the city and were able to find a spot to stop almost immediately. While Jared and I cleaned up the mess, Avery and Ophelia took advantage of the stop to take pictures of the dozens of elk that had taken up residence in the city. They were everywhere.
At this point, we are hoping that it was just Gryffin getting carsick from the drive. If you're counting, that's two vomiting incidents in one day in the car. You know, the easiest place to clean that up. I won't make you wonder- there were no more vomiting incidents and Gryffin has been fine since.
We left Mammoth Hot Springs and Yellowstone and entered Gardiner where we met Jared's cousin Brian. We ate a picnic dinner at Arch Park, right in view of Roosevelt Arch, the northern entrance to Yellowstone. We had another 1.5 hour drive to Livingston, where we pulled in around 9pm.
We spent the next 2 days with family in Livingston. We got an oil change, went grocery shopping, caught up on laundry and relaxed.
Our biggest takeaway from Yellowstone was how little wildlife we actually saw. When we were there 7 years ago, there were bison everywhere. Since we were only in Yellowstone for 2 days, it didn't leave us a lot of time to see much of the park. The bison are still there, we just didn't see them. The next time we come to Yellowstone, we'll be sure to spend more time there.
Up Next on the Blog: Devil's Tower
So on Monday morning, after dropping Jared off at Lake Lodge to work, I headed off with the kids to see West Thumb and Old Faithful. West Thumb is nice because the trail around the outer boardwalk is .5 miles, perfect for little kids. Almost the entire thing has railings as well, meaning that when Gryffin insists on running ahead, I know he can't get off the trail and dive into the hot springs. This short trail has a lot of springs, pools, geysers and fumaroles. So there's a lot to see on a short trail, again, perfect to keep the kids' interest.
Then we headed to Old Faithful. This geyser goes off every 90-110 minutes or so and we happened to get there about 20 minutes before it was set to erupt. The kids were impatient to see it, but eventually, it erupted. Then we headed to the Old Faithful lodge for some lunch. By this point, the kids were too tired to do any of the hikes around Old Faithful so we headed back to the campsite.
On Tuesday, we dropped Jared off at Lake Lodge and headed to Canyon. We first drove the South Rim Drive and stopped at Artist Point where we had a great view of the Upper and Lower Falls. We then headed back to the main road and went on the North Rim Drive. Our first stop was Lookout Point. Ophelia insisted on going down this very steep and winding trail down the side of the canyon. The Red Rock Point trail drops 500 ft in .38 miles. The trek down was great and the view worth it. Then we had to climb back up. Avery and Ophelia did a great job not complaining and only took a few breaks. I, on the other hand, had to carry Gryffin the entire way back up. It was quite taxing. We made one more stop for pictures at Grand View and then headed to Canyon Village to eat lunch. When we got back in the car after Grand View, Gryffin asked for his milk cup. Unbeknownst to me, it had soured (it was probably left out overnight and we didn't know it) and Gryffin only took a few sips and then promptly threw up. Chunky, white, soured milk. All over himself and his car seat. Don't worry, I didn't take pictures. But it took quite awhile for me to clean that up and you can imagine how great the car smelled after that. We were able to eat lunch without further incident.
Lookout Point
Red Rock Point Trail
On the way back to Fishing Bridge, the plan was to stop at Mud Volcano. Gryffin had fallen asleep though, so when we got there, we got out to just take a few pictures. Avery and Ophelia wanted to go around the entire boardwalk that passes by Dragon's Mouth Spring and Mud Volcano. Fortunately, the entire trail was visible from the parking lot so they walked around it taking pictures while I stood by the car.
When Jared got off work, we headed for Livingston, MT where Jared's Grandma lives. We took the western loop through Canyon Village, past Tower-Roosevelt and then to Mammoth Hot Springs. This drive was stunning but very, very windy. We were pulling into Mammoth Hot Springs and Gryffin suddenly projectile vomited all over himself, his seat, and poor Ophelia. Luckily, we had just pulled into the city and were able to find a spot to stop almost immediately. While Jared and I cleaned up the mess, Avery and Ophelia took advantage of the stop to take pictures of the dozens of elk that had taken up residence in the city. They were everywhere.
At this point, we are hoping that it was just Gryffin getting carsick from the drive. If you're counting, that's two vomiting incidents in one day in the car. You know, the easiest place to clean that up. I won't make you wonder- there were no more vomiting incidents and Gryffin has been fine since.
We left Mammoth Hot Springs and Yellowstone and entered Gardiner where we met Jared's cousin Brian. We ate a picnic dinner at Arch Park, right in view of Roosevelt Arch, the northern entrance to Yellowstone. We had another 1.5 hour drive to Livingston, where we pulled in around 9pm.
We spent the next 2 days with family in Livingston. We got an oil change, went grocery shopping, caught up on laundry and relaxed.
Our biggest takeaway from Yellowstone was how little wildlife we actually saw. When we were there 7 years ago, there were bison everywhere. Since we were only in Yellowstone for 2 days, it didn't leave us a lot of time to see much of the park. The bison are still there, we just didn't see them. The next time we come to Yellowstone, we'll be sure to spend more time there.
The view from Jared's Grandma's house
Up Next on the Blog: Devil's Tower
Poor Gryffin! Other than the sick ess, though sounds like a great few days!
ReplyDelete