Yellowstone

Where to begin. If you haven't been-go, if you have been you already know. We entered the North Gate through the Roosevelt Arch. It is a very inspiring thing to behold the mountains snow capped and see the huge arch and then the sign Entering YellowStone National Forest. I never thought I would ever make it to Yellowstone in my life, but this trip has made our family realize our country is large as a whole but small enough we can get there. Anything is possible! Tom and I were in awe of just being there. It is breat taking. As we drove into Mammoth we saw a Bison and Elk just standing there and eating. Chloe was beside herself. She was so excited to get a picture with them. (before we knew of the warning). We did Mammoth hot springs and the kids not impressed because of the smell really just wanted to be in the car. They are really beautiful though. The colors are amazing. The smell not so much. Plus, I am paranoid when there is a warning not to breath in the steam as it contains microorganisms that cause Legionare's Disease and Fatal Menegitis. Yea!
we were to check in at Old Faithful, so we just stayed on the loop and headed in that direction and stopped at everything we could on the way. AS well as a few unscheduled stops, like Bison crossing the road and just standing in it. That happened to us twice. The one time we put the windows down and listened to them snorting while they ate and we heard a baby one meewing to its mama, it seemed as though it lost her, but found her after a few hollers.
The fields are full of Bison and Elk. The kids loved spotting wildlife. They did not like getting in and out of the car as it got progessively colder and colder as we went until well, you guessed it-it snowed. So, we were close by Old faithful and decided to skip the middle geyser basin and head to the hotel. We got the hotel checked in and went to our room and had pb and nutella sandwhiches for dinner did some hotel exploring and then of to bed for an early day.
we got up had our breakfast and then went and got Chloe a Jr Ranger paper to begin her quest for the Jr Ranger Patch. Then we walked outside and did the obligatory Old Faithful watch. Chloe was mildly impressed. we walked to the Castle Geyser which is now my favorite and saw it erupting. It one goes every 14 hours and when it goes it goes for 50 minutes-we did not watch the whole thing. Kids and I proceeded back to the hotel as it was freezing and starting to snow and I did not pack for snow so layered or not it was cold. Tom went to watch Daisy erupt. Chloe worked on her paper for Jr Ranger status while we waited for Tom. Ask him when you get the chance to tell you his story about the bison. You know they can gore people right?
I learned some facts about our hotel while waiting for Tom like the Fire Place has four fireplaces and four small fireplaces on the corners. The One large one in the front is the only one that really works now since the earthquake in the 1950s rattled the building. Also because of that earthquake they had to make some saftey changes to Old Faithful Inn, which is the largest wood structure in the US. like running steel beams down the middle of the 76 foot tall beams of wood in the lobby. 76 feet tall to make the lobby have a forest feel since that is how tall they grow in the forest.
we had lunch in the Inn and then head to the car for the drive to all the geysers. We did as much as we could, but it kept snowing and the kids where freezing. I took 4 of my knitting blanket squares and I sewed 2 together for each of the kids, That way they would have hats. Still so cold and snowy most things were barely visible. So, we called it an early day and went back to the hotel. Which Old faithful has no children's activites and the ice cream parlor and deli closed early unannouced. So they kids did a play in the room for me and Tom. It was funny cause they even did commercials. Plus, the bison decided to camp outside our window and eat. That entertained the kids for awhile.
The next morning we got up early and checked out. We drove around to the falls and Yellowstones Grand canyon. While there we saw a Bald Eagle soaring in the canyon. Magnificent! The views were all breathtaking. we had to take it very slow because the roads were covered in snow and icy and there was actually a car that had gone of the road into the ditch and Tom got nasty looks at the ranger and large body language to slow down. Anyway, lots of parts of the park where closed and so we had to go back out the North Exit since the east road was closed for snow. we did not see everything we wanted, but that is ok because we intend on going back
On the way out of town, chloe and joel handed in their papers for their Jr ranger badges. Joel's was a sticker because his was free and Chloe's was a patch since her's cost $3.00. She got quizzed by the ranger at the desk and then they made an annoucement for everyone to hear that they were Junior Ranger's. She is totally excited.
P.S. Thinking I might want to be a vegetarian now. The Bison are amazing.