We wanted to go somewhere for Fall Break, but with so many things closed down, we decided that a trip to Idaho was just the thing. As part of our trip, we planned to spend a day exploring Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. We figured it was a good year to go because there wouldn't be any international tourists thanks to the pandemic.
First step: Drive to Idaho. We typically allow screens for half of the drive.
We met my mom in Idaho Falls and had dinner at Scotty's Drive In. Mom and I went in to get food for everyone, and we ate it in our cars. After that, I went with mom to grab groceries for the weekend.
Mornings at my mom's house are usually pretty laid back and relaxing.
When I was at my mom's sink, I noticed a little something that looked like a bunny out in the back corner of the yard. I grabbed my camera and big lens and went to investigate. Sure enough, it was a bunny.
He just sat there and let me get much closer than I thought he would.
Michael spent some quality time at my grandparents' house, and at one point, he came over with the golf cart, chauffeuring my grandpa. Grandpa let Michael take Gabe and Rachel out for a spin.
Somehow, Michael got Grandpa to help him make this gun.
My grandma told me that she told my grandpa to take a little extra time with Michael because he was really close to Dad, and Michael has really been missing him.
I spent the day sewing.
Emily and Pete arrived that night with their kids, and so naturally, we HAD to play games with everyone that night. Our favorite is Oh He##. Here's the one card round:
There were hugs goodnight
I had also taken Jack's senior pictures that night before the sun went down.
And then the kids went to bed. Kirt and Julie came that night, but they got there pretty late. They also got lost in Ririe (which is pretty funny considering that there's a welcome sign on one of the streets that says, "If you thought you were lost, smile! You're in Ririe, Idaho." It inspired a t-shirt design that my dad printed up that said, "I got lost in downtown Ririe, Idaho." Too bad we didn't have anymore shirts to give Kirt and Julie!) I navigated them to my mom's house just fine, despite everyone's concern about ME being the one to talk them through it all. After everyone got settled, we all went to sleep.
Bright and early the next morning, we packed some food and headed out towards Swan Valley and then Jackson, Wyoming and into Grand Teton National Park. The weather predicted snow and rain all day, and unfortunately, the clouds were covering the Tetons when we drove by. Still, we got to see a lot of beautiful valleys and mountain passes and incredible wildlife.
Once we made it into Yellowstone, we needed a potty break. Michael had been riding with Kirt and Julie in their car, so I grabbed a picture with him before he went back with them.
And one with my mom.
We went to Old Faithful first, and we were lucky to find out that it was going to be erupting within 20 minutes. We found a bench to watch and made sure to keep away from anyone not in our group.
It was so fun being in the park with both sets of parents and just us! We were feeling pretty spoiled. I don't remember anything like this ever happening with me and my grandparents.
Here we are, just waiting for the show.
And then finally!!!
We opted not to walk around Old Faithful due to the crowds and our limited time. For Yellowstone, the crowds were pretty small, but it was still more people than we were really comfortable being around.
One of my favorite things about visiting Yellowstone is seeing all the Bison. They didn't disappoint!
We stopped to check out a waterfall.
Several people pulled off to look at something, so we decided to check it out as well, and we were so glad we did! We saw this handsome fellow.
We went to Norris Geyser Basin and walked around. There was the tiniest bit of snow when we started, but by the time we finished our walk, the sky had cleared and it was just perfect weather!
After I took this picture of Michael and the crow, he wanted to take some pictures, so he took these:
This one is one of my favorites that he took:
We were driving along and once again ran into a bunch of people stopped on the road. We looked into the field and saw this guy!
After we stopped and got out together, we found out that there were actually two wolves in that spot! One was right next to the cars, and we missed it completely! This was a Yellowstone first for all of us.
We went to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone next.
I really love waterfalls, so naturally, I couldn't stop taking pictures of it!
We got someone to take a group picture.
Michael wanted another turn with my camera.
Here's Michael's picture of me taking a picture of him:
Michael took this picture as well.
See. I just couldn't stop taking pictures of it.
On our way to another spot, we got stopped by bison again!
These guys over there had their hood up. That's such a rough place to have car problems--surrounded by bison!
This is my favorite picture that I took on the trip. I captures the essence of what I love about Yellowstone.
Our last stop was these mud pots--I can't remember what this area was called, but it had a lovely little hike. Again, the weather was just perfect!
It's crazy to think about how hot that mud is!
We found this cutie along the way:
I loved this little mini-spring. I could almost picture a little fairy garden next to it. I know you can't tell from the photo, but it was a mini little spot!
Our favorite one on this walk was the Dragon Mouth Springs. It was set back in a cave, and it made some roaring sounds-like a low growl. It was really cool!
The next day, we had church with Mom, Grandma & Grandpa Linville, and Kirt and Julie. Then, Kirt and Julie headed back to Utah. We had dinner, probably played more games. I can't remember when Emily headed home. We didn't photograph it; therefore, I don't remember.
We stopped by to visit Dad.
And then we headed home. We were all pretty tired by that point.
We had a fantastic fall break! It was the perfect time to visit Yellowstone, and it was so fantastic being there with our parents and kids!
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