Yellowstone National Park: Day 3 & Going Home

Day 3 Started with cereal & cocoa for breakfast and then we packed it up and headed for the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone for our hike. On the way, we came across more buffalo and even drove past one right off the road!

We decided to hike Uncle Tom's Trail, which is a steep, short hike down into the canyon. Going down wasn't too bad or too long, but going up was quite the hike! The view was gorgeous! Halfway back up, Cruise needed to use the bathroom, so he and I and Jett booked it up as fast as we could, fighting gravity and high altitude. Poor Dave pretty much carried Miles all the way back up.

Once we got back up, we drove over to the restaurant nearby and ate lunch. And, of course, had to buy the boys more souvenirs. We got them each an animal hat that attaches to mittens. Cruise got a wolf and Jett and Miles both got bears. They were too cute to pass up and surprisingly inexpensive.

After lunch, we drove east to Yellowstone Lake. On the way, we came across a huge group of bison just hanging out by the hot pots. It was a pretty neat sight!

We got to the lake and spent a half hour getting our tiny little boat registered. They have a lot of rules and red tape at Yellowstone, but it pays off because everything is beautiful and well maintained. We then drove a little ways and stopped by the side of the road and walked down to the lake to play. It was pretty windy and the water was really cold. The wind caused waves to come in, so the boys didn't make it out very far in the boat. But they still had a lot of fun. The sand was pretty neat because it was mostly black with obsidian.

Miles wasn't too thrilled about all the water the boat kept taking on, so he came and hung out with me and we played in the sand together while I snapped photos. Eventually everyone came back to shore and buried Jett.

We decided to call it a day once Dave cut his foot in the lake and the kids were too cold. So we drove back to camp and I think I slept most of the way because I have no recollection of going back. Once we got back to camp, I attempted to make the planned dinner but half of it burned and what was good just didn't taste very...good. So we made sandwiches and munched on snacks. After dinner, Dave wanted to go back to the river to try to find some hot spots, but I think everyone was pooped except the toddler, so he took Miles and they visited the river while the boys and I sat around and played games and cleaned up dinner. Dave was able to find a couple spots with small springs, but it had too much bacteria growing in it to get in the water.

We finished off the night with more s'mores and then we put the kids in the van to watch a movie while Dave and I started packing up a lot of the stuff and getting things ready to leave the next morning. Then we got to have some time to sit and talk, which was a nice change of pace. That night, Cruise slept with me in the van and unfortunately I woke up at midnight because my mattress had sprung a huge leak, so I had to let all the air out of it, double up Cruise's and my mattresses under us so it wasn't so uncomfortable. Unfortunately, we only had thin blankets to cover us with and it was the coldest night we had had while we were there, so I ended up turning on the car eventually and turned on the heat. Needless to say, it was not the best sleep. 

That morning, we had what was left of the eggs, sausage, and cereal, and then packed up camp. We got an early start because Jett decided to wake everyone up at 6:30. We didn't get a picture going into the park, so we got one going out after waiting in a long line of Chinese-speaking tourists. 

Seeing that we left for home on a Sunday, the drive home was much faster due to no construction. But it seemed like we couldn't get home fast enough because Miles whined and cried most of the way home mostly because he didn't want to be in a seatbelt. We got home around dinner time, bathed everyone, ate some dinner, and enjoyed our comfortable bed. 

And that was our Yellowstone trip! As stressful as it can be with the kids, it was definitely worth visiting. I highly recommend it. In fact, it was nice to get off the grid and not worry about phone calls, e-mails, internet, etc. And the only thing I needed to clean were meals. Definitely a nice change of pace to our crazy, messy life!