We drove under the Montana big sky back down to Yellowstone for more wildlife & geological wonders. Aven’s wearing his snake around his neck in the pic below as we heard two rattlesnakes in the grass nearby!

It’s hard to describe Yellowstone due to its amazing size and diversity! We did our best to see as much as we could today, and included our favorite pics here.

Family shot at the Grand Prismatic Spring -we called it rainbow lake- although it looks like fiery lava behind us!

Buffalo, Bison, Tatonka – call it whatever you want, just don’t get too close.

These Geysers were screaming at us the whole time and Aniya couldn’t stand the sulfur smell!

Yellowstone’s Clepsydra Geyser- the most active one we got to see.

An aerial view of Yellowstone’s Painted Pots- we hiked way up above them.

Saw plenty of Elk! Especially on our way out of the north entrance to Yellowstone.

Here’s a shot of Yellowstone falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone – the picture hardly shows the real depth and magnificence! It was HUGE!

Finally got a great shot of a Pronghorn Antelope – we saw many antelope but this gorgeous guy was brave enough to let us get closer.

We also got to meet the world-renowned nature photographer/videographer Tom Murphy in one of the visitor centers. He was doing book-signings so we got to chat, ask questions and share stories for a while- that was neat!

We had a wonderful exhausting day and got to Butte Montana near midnight- stay tuned for a cave adventure tomorrow!!

Total miles driven: 2,720

After stopping to buy some bear spray – safety first – we started our drive north into Jackson Hole to eat lunch and wait out some rain. We drove into Grand Teton National Park, where gorgeous steep mountain peaks hovered over us as we came upon pristine Jenny Lake. We took a small boat ride across the lake and did a great hike up the mountain. The weather was sunny and 75 and the views were beautiful!

Just after summitting and starting to turn back, an ominous black cloud swirled over the peak (insert thunder boom) and huge raindrops started bouncing off the ground- ouch! That’s not rain! It was a flash HAILSTORM!

Sheets of hail battered down so thickly that at some moments we couldn’t see anything but white, and the noise was deafening! Katie and Aniya were lucky enough to be close to a tree for some shelter, but Dustin and Aven weren’t so lucky. Dustin the brave daddy shielded Aven with his body even though he was the only one without a hood! His head and ears took a beating for nearly ten minutes before it slowed. The storm delayed us so that we were in danger of missing the last boat back across the lake! Now we were in danger of being stranded in bear and cougar country after dark- no time to waste! We jumped icy hail piles and slid down mini mudslides as fast as we could down the  mountain. We made the boat, the sky was again clear, and the sun shone off Dustin’s raw, red ears. What an ADVENTURE!!!

The beautiful drive through the park didn’t disappoint regarding wildlife viewing. We watched a black moose and it’s little brown baby walking through a distant large meadow. A black bear strolled by us and got within 3 feet of our truck! Later a herd of elk grazed peacefully beside the road.

The sun lowered as we drove into Yellowstone National Park. The silhouetted clouds of rising steam from geysers and fields of hot springs were strangely beautiful against the sunset. We peeked at Old Faithful for a few minutes before we had to move on- maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see it blow tomorrow! We had to make it to our hotel in Big Sky Montana. More adventures await!

Road Trip Stats:

• Total miles driven: 2,388
• Highest altitude on road: 8,600 (in Yellowstone)
• Possible Sasquatch sightings: 1 (see picture below)

As part of the family reunion we toured the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie, where the famous outlaw Butch Cassidy served time! The kids enjoyed the cells

Then it was time to say goodbye to the extended family and head east through Wyoming. We came upon wild horses near Rock Springs, WY. The state environmental agencies round up groups of horses on a regular basis to adopt out to ‘control the populations’ on the desert hills. We viewed a large group of these beautiful, playful wild creatures with many babies in a corral.

Yes we are die-hard dark chocolate fans- this bar survived 105 degrees, more than 2000 miles, and Aniya. It was mostly unharmed and tasted delicious!

Road Trip Stats:

• Total miles driven: 2124
• Full days spent at altitudes above 7k feet: 3

On our 2nd day, we chopped off the corner of Oregon and ventured down the Columbia Plateau into Idaho. Following the Snake River valley at the edge of the plateau offered unbelievable scenery and a new time-zone!

We scored the unabridged “Undaunted Courage” book on CD- Lewis & Clark’s detailed journey from Gma & Gpa on our way. Do you think we can get through the 20 cd’s before we get home?

We hit the Oregon Trail interpretive center atop a desert hill near Baker City OR. The hot wind didn’t cool down the 100 degree temperature as we checked out a bunch of real covered wagons. Thank goodness we weren’t traveling at the speed of the wagons (2mph pulled by Oxen).

It was the epitome of stretching our legs as we summitted the blistering sands of Bruneau Sand Dunes in Southern Idaho. It felt & looked a bit like the Sahara desert – 105 degrees, windy, and huge piles of sand (the tallest sand dunes in N. America). It was so hot, the kids may have shrunk a little.

Note: The photo above was not photoshopped!

Finally we wrapped up the day in Twin Falls, Idaho where we visited the Shoshone Falls at sunset.

Road Trip Stats:

• Total Miles Driven: 747 (maybe we should have taken a 747).
• Liters of sand emptied from our boots: 2
• Total wind turbine propellers seen transported on the highway: 3

And it officially begins–our first day of our massive road trip adventure. The kids certainly haven’t done this before & we’ve never done it in our own country (we drove about 2k miles in Scotland w/ my mom & dad a decade ago).

I had a morning meeting with a client in downtown Seattle, so Seattle was technically our first stop. It worked out great, as Katie has been dying to take the kids for quite some time to Ye Olde’ Curiousity Shop on the Seattle Waterfront. Seeing two mummies, shrunken heads, a two-headed calf and other awesome novelties was a great start to the trip!

Our first day was a light travel day, considering our end destination was Gma cassie and gpa dick’s house in Pasco where we’d driven to a million times. Since we are in road-trip discovery mode, we decided to extend the drive and visit a place we’d never been before: the Ginkgo Petrified Forest Park where we not only saw petrified logs, but Native American petroglyphs and a saber tooth cat skull (incorrectly labeled as saber tooth “tiger”).

We also drove through the Columbia River Gorge, which was a first for the kids. Gorge-ous! Reminds us of Dave Matthews concerts!

We ended the day at gma Cassie and gpa dick’s for an amazing tostada feast with homemade tortillas! Yum! With armfuls of fresh garden veggies we are ready for days on the road.

What we forgot to bring: pillows, utensils, all our music cd’s, and travel potty (yikes!).

Stats:
miles: 269
Aniya naps: 1
Dustin coffees: 4