Our Vacation out West

Our trip to Yellowstone started just after we moved to Kansas. We headed North through Iowa and then West through South Dakota. The above picture is from a stop in Mitchell, S.D. in front of the Corn Palace which is a building decorated in corn. Who knew?

After our first long day of driving we finally made it to the Black Hills. We quickly set up tent and fell asleep but the next morning the girls were full of energy, as you can tell by the pictures.

Our first day at the Black Hills was spent visiting Mount Rushmore, quite an impressive work of art. We took a walk around the base of it to get different views of the carvings. We also went into an old mine and did our own panning for gold. We did find a few small flakes of gold which Rebekah thought was exciting. Unfortunately, our panning adventures got rained on and had to end early.

On our way out of town, we stopped at a large gold mine that has produced billions of dollars in gold and silver near Lead, SD. It was quite impressive. After passing into Wyoming, we stopped at Devil's Tower. There were people climbing it while we were there and we walked around the base and saw the whole thing!

Scott was fortunately able to get us last minute reservations at Old Faithful Inn for our first 2 nights in Yellowstone. It was a good thing because we did not get there until 11 p.m. We stayed in the old section with original wood paneling on the walls and shared bathroom (made out of tile and marble!). On the second day, Andy and Allisa joined us. We saw Old Faithful erupt several times and even had a buffalo right outside our room the first morning we woke up.


We spent our first two days exploring the geysers and hot springs around the area. The colors were fantastic. We saw Old Faithful, Beehive Geyser, and Giant Geyser erupt, mostly by simply being in the right place at the right time.



After our first two nights in the Inn, we camped at Canyon Village with Andy and Allisa. The girls enjoyed sleeping in sleeping bags and the tent. The days were nice around 65-70 degrees and the nights got chilly around 45 degrees. Fortunately we had a good tent and sleeping bags. We had wonderful food, as usual. Kara enjoyed marshmellows the best although they are very messy when you are 2. Scott even made an "oven" out of a box and aluminum foil that he placed by the fire to make biscuits.

We obviously saw a lot of wild animals: buffalo, moose, wolves, marmots, bear, elk. We took a hike around Manmoth Hot Springs but unfortunately the water was not flying. They said this happens periodically and then will randomly start up again. Scott got the girls blue "Yellowstone" hats which they liked to wear.

We took a long hike around Yellowstone River to "Artist's Point." Rebekah did great hiking on the trails and Kara fell asleep, of course. Scott and Andy ran back to get the car since the going was slow with the girls.

On our way home, we headed south through Wyoming then Colorado. We stayed at Rocky Mountain National Forest. We got there late in the evening and there were not any campsites but fortunately we ran into a nice couple we let us put up our tent on their site. That was a blessing since we drove over the mountains late at night and it was not something we wanted to do again. We spent the next day climbing and playing in the snow. We hiked along a trail the Indians used to pass through the mountains and ate lunch on our way. The area was beautiful but definitely very rocky, hence the name of the mountains. Kara is bundled up in her sleeping bag with George, how cute!