yellowstone, day one

Okay. So back to Yellowstone. Jess - the man without a plan (and I am completely the opposite) - spent hours organizing our trip to Yellowstone. This is partly because lodging was limited and partly because he knows I go a little bonkers without a schedule. Bless him. Last time we went to Yellowstone (Annabelle was just one), we stayed in Mammoth (see Night One on the map below) the whole time, which meant that at the end of every day, we had to drive all the way back there, no matter what. This time, and this might sound crazy, we stayed in four different hotels - a different place each night. Here's a handy dandy map to help you visualize the madness:

For anyone who's thinking of tackling Yellowstone with kids, I recommend this method. Staying inside the park has huge convenience benefits, and it's simply beautiful. Our accomodations weren't fancy by any means, but we spent very little time there (just sleeping really), so it worked out perfectly. I seriously  have a jillion photos of this trip, and I thought I'd try tackling it by day. I'll include fun photos, pretty photos, and accomodations photos. A trip to Yellowstone with little kids isn't by any stretch of the imagination a "break," but it was seriously perfect for us and just the break we needed. It was entirely refreshing. And so without further ado, let the vacation log begin. First a few car pics. Just because.

 

In Idaho Falls, we stopped at some random park to let the kids stretch their legs and have a bite to eat (we had a loaded cooler in the back of the car). I said these words exactly, "stretch our legs," and when Belle got out, that's precisely what she did.

 

We died. So hilarious.

 

And then onward we went. Shortly after we entered the park (through West Yellowstone), the adventure began. As tourists are wont to do, the cars were parked and lined up down the street for quite a while. Being dorky tourists ourselves, we pulled over. For this beautiful fellow.

Quite majestic isn't he? There were some female elk over in some tall grass near him, but they were staying safely hidden.

 

 

From there, we made our way to Mammoth, stopping for a few hot pots here and there and Gibbons Falls.

 

 

We arrived in Mammoth late and grabbed some expensive national park food (the chili was actually really really good), but here's a photo of our hotel during the day.

 

 

Quite lovely right? Those yellow buses are actually in use - they're tour buses - although it does look rather picturesque sitting there. The kids' favorite part of the hotel was, naturally, the "cool bathtub." They were both obsessed.

 

The next day we made our way to Canyon, via Lamar Valley, the "hot spot" for animals and wildlife. There are tons more "pretty photos" in the next days so get ready. Jess was a busy man. Here's a tiny preview, from the next morning.

 

 

I know, right? So give me a few days (or weeks?), and I'll get the next day up. I'm working on a behind the scenes project (no, it does not involve growing a child in my uterus), so this blog may continue to suffer for a while. But I promise I haven't forgotten! So all three of you loyal readers, never fear! I shall return. :)