Photos of horseback riding in Yellowstone.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
South Dakota- Day 12
We just arrived in South Dakota after a long, eventful drive (I will tell about that in a sec) and are getting camp set up and finishing dinner. Oh, I miss Yellowstone! This place is nice but I miss that lake view. This campsite is at a ranch in the Black Hills Forest, only 10 minutes from Mt. Rushmore. The kids are so excited because it has a heated pool and hot tub. OK.. the drive here. About a few hours out of Yellowstone Tim notices a van honking behind him (never a good sign) so we pull over off the freeway and she states that our bikes are dragging off the back of the RV. So, Tim goes back and checks and pulls off Megan's mangeld bike. He throws them in the back of the truck and pull on the freeway and 1 minute later a truck passing us looses 2 hay bales coming right towards us. Tim stays in total control and they hit the ground before us... not without getting hay in our car. It was so scary! Anyway we are here for the next 5 nights so we hope to relax a bit and enjoy the sites and the camp. Off to bed!
Yellowstone National Park- Day 11
Today we went up to the Northwest part of Yellowstone and visited Mammoth Springs. We went to the visitor's center where the kids became Jr. Rangers… it was neat this time, the Ranger asked for everyone's attention and announced it out loud that they are Jr. Rangers. Then we had a quick picnic on the lawn in front of the center. We went on a short hike up to the springs. I felt like I was on the moon… there were lots of big white rocks and little white mountains with water flowing down from some of them. We were not there long because we had to go for our whitewater trip.
We crossed the border into Montana and went to the whitewater rafting company and got registered and changed for our trip. We were going to do 8 miles down the Yellowstone River. We got on the yellow school bus with about 50 other people and drove a few minutes down to the river. Then we were off… of course I had to fall in just getting on the raft… Tim steps on a wet rock and I follow, he is fine and I fall in… how embarrassing! We went on our boat with another family from Canada and they had a 6 year old girl that sat by Leah… they had so much fun playing and screaming. Megan sat in front with Daddy; she even took a swim at one point. It was warm but the wind made it quite chilly mixed with the wet of the rapids. We all got really wet and hit some good rapids. It was a lot of fun and very memorable!
We went back into Yellowstone, stopped at the General Store for ice cream and souvenirs and then it was a long ride back to camp… lots of driving here in Yellowstone but I feel like we got to see a lot of the park. The drive home was made much longer by all of the stops due to bison in the road. Tonight will be about dinner, packing up, and cleaning. It will also include our nightly ritual of taking care of bug bites, blisters, and owies… being in the outdoors is rough. Then it will be tuck in time and the kids will be playing noisily in their beds and we will tell them to be quiet about 10 times. We are slipping into a routine and enjoying our time. We will miss Yellowstone but tomorrow we are onto South Dakota for 5 days. See you there!
Yellowstone National Park- Day 10
Yellowstone is just amazing. There are so many different ecosystems here, at one point you are in the forest, the next in rolling meadows, the next in a big canyon, finally there are stinky bubbling cauldrons… all of them just as awe inspiring as the next. Every turnout and lookout point beckons you to pull over and see the beauty that God created with His imagination. There is nothing like driving down these roads listening to my favorite praise and worship music and worshiping God at each new site… I will NEVER forget this place!
Our first stop this morning was more stinky hot springs… the most famous called Mud Volcano springs. It just appears out of nowhere on the drive but its smell precedes it. The stink of sulfuric acid is so profound. We got out and hiked around the many cauldrons and hot springs and watched the steam fill the air. As we went along the kids were disgusted by the smell and at one point, Leah refused to go on in typical Leah fashion of screaming, crying and drama. We continued on our path and finished with great relief.
On our drive we went through Hayden Valley which is rolling meadows filled with Bison. One even crossed in front of us! They cause quite the traffic jam as everyone stops and takes photos.
Next stop was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We took a hike down the Lower Falls trail which was easy going down but quite steep coming back up with tons of switchbacks. The lower water fall of the Grand Canyon is grand itself… our hike took us right next to the top of the fall. The canyon appeared to us for the first time too. It is unlike the Grand Canyon in its vastness but still a canyon and is very pretty. After that hike we went to the canyons Inspiration Point and took in the view and then had a picnic overlooking the canyon.
Next we headed to Roosevelt lodge for our horseback rides. The most exciting part of our day happened next. As we were driving we saw a Mama bear and her 2 cubs! Everyone was stopped in the road as usual and I thought it was another Bison but I noticed the fur was different. It was a grizzly! She was just right off the road with her 2 adorable babies… we passed within 5 feet of her. It was ideal circumstances, being in the car and seeing them. I feel like I can go home now that we have seen bears!
We arrived at Roosevelt lodge and Noah, Megan and I went on a horseback ride. Daddy and Leah went on a Stagecoach ride. Both were nice as we meandered through meadows, up and down hills. I had to keep saying to myself "I am horseback riding in Yellowstone!" This was Noah's first horseback ride ever so he enjoyed it. After the rides it was to the general store for a quick snack and then a long drive through rain back to camp. It will be early bed tonight… we are tired!
Yellowstone National Park- Day 9
This morning we awoke early and saw some deer outside of our camp. There were at least 4 of them but a big one with antlers was chomping on the grass right out front. It was fun to wake up Leah to tell her that reindeer were outside her window!
After a nice big breakfast we went over to our campgrounds marina and rented a motor boat. We took the boat out for 1 hour onto Yellowstone Lake with Daddy at the wheel. The lake is so beautiful and huge… it is 20 miles by 14 miles. We all enjoyed the beautiful scenery and being out on the lake. After that it was a short hike to a picnic spot on the shore for lunch. Then the kids dropped their fishing lines in the lake from the shore. We did that until we had to leave because of all of the bugs. Then we decided to do a hike from there to a natural bridge so off we went. Megan is very afraid of the forest and bears so she was crying very early on. So, we decided to turn around 30 minutes or so into the hike. Give her any mountain or canyon hike and she is fine but her imagination and fears run wild in the forest. So we just went back to camp to hang out. Shortly after we were back a bison came into our campsite and we watched it most of the afternoon but at one point it was so close we had to be in the RV watching it munch on our grass. Nothing like viewing wildlife right from your campsite!
Yellowstone Day 9- Part 2
Our dinner was delayed a bit due to the bison in our camp but eventually after he had some food and took a rest in our grass he moved on. Finally it was dinner time and then we had a campfire with smores. We had a lot of fun playing games at campfire like telephone and just talking about our trip and experiences. After that it was time for a ranger program at the camp sites amphitheater. It was not until 9:30 at night so going there it was dusk. The talk was about the trout in the river and wildfires and coyotes. It felt different here at this site because it was just so dark, there were deer in the background and a storm was coming in so there was lightning. Then it was a very dark walk home. And of course, right to bed!
I have found a perfect retirement job for Tim and me… campground hosts. Our campsite is right across the way from the campground hosts and it has been so fun watching what they do. They have the most perfect site and a lot people stop and ask them questions. Tim could be the guy doing all of the security and safety stuff and I could answer all of the questions and talk to the kids. I cannot keep my kids away from them… Leah asks all day if she can go and talk with Lee. And they sit there and listen, they are very nice. Imagine spending the entire summer in Yellowstone, probably free of charge. Something to dream about! That is the end of day 9… tomorrow is horseback riding!
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