::Family Vacation to Wyoming -- The Yellowstone National Park::
June 17-21, 2004
::Entry for vacation is included below--Roll cursor over pictures to read captions::
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Right after Matthew's methotrexate on the June 15th, we packed up clothes/cooler with breakfast and lunch stuff/camera/rain ponchos/thermometer and port-a-cath access stuff just in case Matthew got a fever, and we went on a vacation to Wyoming to see Yellowstone National Park! We were gone from June 17 through 21. The last time we were there was 3 years ago in August and it was really hot. This time it was rainy and very chilly. It wasn't very crowded this time either--we got a front row view of Old Faithful as it erupted, and when we came upon any wildlife we were usually the first ones to spot them ... then the traffic jam would start. Yellowstone is only about 5-1/2 to 6 hours away from where we live.
Lane and Matthew LOVE hot pots, hot springs, and geysers. It seems as though every hot pot has its own unique color. Some are big, some are small. They are all really neat and fun to see. They also love all the wildlife in Yellowstone. We saw buffalo (bison), which isn't that big of a deal unless they are rambling down the road in between all the cars! We saw geese, a coyote, lots of cow elk and quite a few bull elk, and the boys' most exciting moments in spying wildlife was the THREE black bears in ONE day -- all in the same area. Then that SAME night we saw a GRIZZLY BEAR, but it was too far off for Matthew to find in the binoculars. Then the next day was Father's Day and the boys wished that we would find a grizzly bear closer to the road and we DID!!! We were the first ones to spot it behind some bushes only about 50 yards from the road! We took pictures out of the car window and enjoyed watching him and the next thing you know, there is a traffic jam! A really bad one. People were getting out of their cars to go up and take a picture. **Hello People!!! The warnings say to stay at LEAST 100 yards away from a grizzly bear.** It was nice watching him while it lasted and we slowly weaved our way out of the traffic jam. I wanted to stop at the Ranger Station and report the bear because it says that you should do that, but Kirk said that someone probably already did so we didn't stop to do that. The only animal I really wanted to see, which we NORMALLY see every time, was a moose!! We didn't see one single moose. They must have all been hiding...oh well! We got to see FIVE bears instead, and that is very RARE!!!!
We had saved our money so we could stay in a motel every night and one night we stayed in the park at Canyon Village near the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. The boys loved that night the best because we were IN the park and our room was a little cabin. We were also close to the Canyon Village gift shop/cafe/etc and they had a chance to finally search for souvenirs. They had saved their money from chores to buy their own little things in Yellowstone. They each bought 2 pins, Matthew bought a coloring activity kit that had Yellowstone wildlife pictures in it with a set of crayons, and Lane bought a small pocket knife that said Yellowstone on it. Kirk & I bought each of them a Yellowstone t-shirt and a Yellowstone hat for Matthew.
We thoroughly enjoyed our trip together and were sad to come home. We loved it even though it rained a lot of the time.