Join us on our adventure out west to visit Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, Family & Friends, and Theodore Roosevelt NP.
Day 1 - Friday, July 9
We left home at 8:30 a.m. We realized we forgot the polls to the tarp and turned around. We were then on the road at 9:00 a.m. We stopped at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park Rest Stop. After we left there, we looked into extending our trip so we could visit that National Park. We booked Sunday, July 18 at the park, and Saturday, July 17 at a hotel in Dickenson, ND.
We decided we could make it to Miles City, MT, but when we were looking for a hotel, everything was booked up. We ended up staying in one of the last rooms in Glendive, MT. We got there at dinnertime. We checked in, ate, then went to our room for bed.
Day 2 - Saturday, July 10
We left Glendive at 5:25 a.m. (we are early risers and still running on Central Time, so it was 6:25 a.m. Central Time) after grabbing some breakfast at the gas station. We met my uncle his house in Emigrant 11:30 a.m. After saying hi we headed to Emigrant Outpost for lunch together. We ordered pizza and the kids burned off some steam outside, then we ate the pizza. T saw some ranchers walk into the restaurant and he was in ah. We then drove back to my uncle's house for a bit. We left around 1:15 p.m. and headed to Yellowstone. We just made it into Yellowstone when we saw some mountain goats on the side of the road.
We stopped at the Mammoth Hot Springs Visitor Center so the kids could get their passports stamped and a sticker. We then made our way to our campsite. We made it to our campsite at 4:45 p.m. We set up camp and the kids played. We had site number L269 in the Canyon Campground. We didn't get to pick our campsite, but I liked this one as we didn't have anyone behind us. I wasn’t planning on us eating dinner at the campsite, so we adjusted a bit - we had chili and hot dogs for dinner.
Day 3 - Sunday, July 11
We got up early and had coffee and cereal for breakfast, then headed out. We were driving straight to Grand Teton National Park. We were on the road by 6:00 a.m. We saw a herd of bison. We stopped at Colter Bay Visitor Center just before 9:00 a.m. and the kids got their stamps. We then hiked the Lakeshore Trail. V fell asleep on the way back to the van. We got gas and headed on our way (the last place we had gotten gas was in Livingston, MT).
We wanted to eat lunch at Leigh Lake, but the parking lot was full. We made our way to Jenny Lake, parked at 12:00 p.m., and ate lunch on the side of the road.
After lunch, we took the Jenny Lake shuttle boat across the lake at 11:13 p.m. We hiked to Hidden Falls by 1:45 p.m. T squealed when we got to the falls. It was so adorable. We then hiked on to Inspiration Point, and got there at 2:00 p.m. There was such an incredible view from up there. After Inspiration Point, we hiked Cascade Canyon a little bit before turning around and heading down to the boat launch. There was a line, so we had to wait for a few boats before it was our turn. We made it on a boat at 3:54 p.m. We got back in the van and we started making our way back to our campsite. After dinner we had some good hammock snuggles.
Day 4 - Monday, July 12
I got up about 6:00 a.m. Marcus and T also got up. We had breakfast at 7:21 a.m., then headed on the road at 8:16 a.m. This morning was a little cool at 53F, but not as much as the first morning. We hiked to the Brink of Lower Falls. Then, from there, we hiked to the Brink of Upper Falls. Before we got there, Marcus went back and got the van and met us in the Brink of Upper Falls parking lot. From there we went to the Mud Volcano, and we arrived about 10:30 a.m.
Then we headed to Old Faithful. It was really crowded. V had to go to the bathroom bad, so Marcus took her to the bathroom, then we met back up at the van. We had about 60 minutes wait for Old Faithful. We tried to get some food there, but it was too busy and we were going to miss Old Faithful, so we decided to go wait. We saw Old Faithful go off at 2:00 p.m. On the way back to van, V fell asleep on me. I sat down by the stores for a while because we were parked in the far end of the parking lot. Marcus called to say he found a picnic table by our van so I headed there with V still sleeping. We had a nice picnic lunch, then I went to go pick up some ice cream to have after lunch. We also got our souvenir there - we collect magnets of where we've been. We left Old Faithful and headed to West Thumb.
We to West Thumb around 5:00 p.m. This area is one of my favorite spots, and I’m so glad we could spend some good time there.
We stopped at Pumice Point at 6:00 p.m. for a swim in Yellowstone Lake! It was cold, but refreshing. We then stopped at Lookout Point - that was Marcus’s idea. It was late, about 7:30 p.m. but it was so beautiful, I’m glad we went.
We got back to our camp late, had a late dinner, then went to bed around 10:00 p.m. Everyone was so tired!
Day 5 - Tuesday, July 13
The kids were really tired, so we had a really late start the next morning. They slept until past 6:45 a.m.! I went to dry V’s car seat cover as it hadn’t dried overnight from an accident. I got back to camp and we had breakfast and got on the road around 10:00 a.m. We first stopped at Virginia Cascade at 10:12 a.m. We were going to stop at Norris, but the parking lot was full. We made it on to Artists Paintpots. The parking lot was really crazy. We got a parking spot, but V fell asleep. I sat in the car with V while Marcus took the other two kids to see the Artists Paintpots at 10:45 a.m. When they got back, V was still asleep, so I ran through it as well. When I got back, V had to go to the bathroom. We had to wait for a long time in line. I'd either hit this stop early, or skip it. It was crazy busy all around.
After that, we were trying to decide where to stop for lunch. The road was really busy. I pulled into Fountain Paint Pots at 12:51 p.m. and V and I were the only two awake. She and I went through the Paint Pots. When we got back, everyone else had woken up.
We then drove to Midway Geyser Basin. The traffic was really backed up to get into the parking lot, it took us a really long time to park. Once in the lot, we saw there were a lot of open slots, but people weren’t pulling all the way into the parking lot. We started hiking there at 2:15 p.m. Seeing Grand Prismatic Spring, and it was so beautiful, but I wish we could have hiked to the Fairy Falls to see it from the top, but the kids were really tired and we were hungry. We tried to decide where to stop for lunch, but everything was so packed. We just ended up driving back to camp and having a early dinner.
This day was a bit stressful with the late start and bad traffic. Next time we go to Yellowstone, we will stay on the west side, and hit that area first thing in the morning.
Day 6 - Wednesday, July 14
The kids really slept in this morning. We had breakfast around 7:46 a.m. After that, we packed up and left camp at 9:39 a.m. We got to Mammoth Hot Springs at 10:30 a.m. and walked around for a while. We left the park at 11:26 a.m. We drove to the north entrance and took pictures. We then called my uncle and met him at Chico Hot Springs for lunch at the poolside grill. While there, we were able to get a magnet for our collection. After lunch, we went to visit at my uncle's house for a while. The kids were really antsy, so we ended up taking a picture with my uncle and we left at 3:30 p.m.
We got to Bozeman Hot Springs Campground, set up camp, then headed right to the pools at 5:48 p.m. We were so dirty, we all took good showers, then jumped in the pools. The pools all felt great, and we all had a blast. After we were done swimming, we rinsed off, and went to Sidewinders to meet up with my friends from college for dinner. It ended up being a late night - we left at 10:00 p.m. and went right to bed when we got back to camp.
Day 7 - Thursday, July 15
I got up early and headed to Safeway for some groceries. We had planned our our meals perfectly and had planned on restocking in Bozeman. I came up with the meals for the rest of our time there. After I got back, we checked out the breakfast the campground provided. After we had breakfast, we headed into town. We stopped at Montana State University (my my alma mater) first to stop at the bookstore. I purchased a new hat, and a hammock for myself from the bookstore. Then we went to my old office and said hi. It was so good to see old co-workers again.
After MSU, we went to the Museum of the Rockies. We had lunch on their lawn first, then went into the museum at 1:12 p.m. The kids had a blast at the museum! They thought it was so cool. We left at 2:43 p.m., and headed back to camp. We got back to camp, and I set up my hammock!
We swam, then came back to our campsite for dinner. After dinner, we headed back to the hot springs for a live music show. When we got there, it was lightning and thundering, so the outdoor pools were closed. We ended up sitting on the outside stage, and listening to the music. We stayed late swimming and listening to music. We got back to our camp and went to bed around 10:00 p.m. We all had a lot of fun. The kids thought it was great that we could go swimming twice in one day!
Day 8 - Friday, July 16
The kids were really tired and slept until after 7:00 a.m. We went to Granny’s Donuts at 8:30 a.m. and all picked out some delicious donuts. After the donuts, we found a park for the kids to play at. Funny enough, the playground was very similar to ours at home. After the park, we went back to the campground for a little bit. There isn’t a lot for us to do at the campground, so we ended up going for a drive to see if the kids would fall asleep. They did fall asleep! We drove down Main Street, then went to the Daily Coffee for my favorite scones, and then on to Merdocks to look for some things.
After their nap, we went back to camp, then when the kids woke up we went swimming again. It was so nice being able to walk to the pool every day and go as much as we wanted. We all loved spending time there. After swimming for a bit, we went back for dinner. After dinner, we just ended up staying at our campsite and cleaning up - we were leaving the next day.
Day 9 - Saturday, July 17
We got up and packed up the rest of the camp. After we were all packed up, we headed to Granny’s Donuts for breakfast at 9:18 a.m. His donuts are so delicious and we used to go when we lived in Bozeman. From there, we stopped for coffee before heading to our friend's house. At her house, T was really nervous about meeting her dog, but then he ended up loving him and asked to bring the dog home! We left at 11:30 a.m. to start making our way back to MN! The kids were asleep right away. That night, we stayed in Dickenson, ND. When we got to Dickenson, we decided to stop and eat dinner at a restaurant. We then drove on to the hotel. We checked into the hotel and all took showers and got to bet - we wanted an early start the next day.
Day 10 - Sunday, July 18
We got up and made our way to the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. That drive took almost two hours. We arrived about 9:15 a.m. We stopped in the small visitor center to get stamps and looked for a magnet. We took some short hikes and checked out the park. The kids loved seeing cactus! We made it to Oxbow Overlook at 10:17 and got out and walked around a little bit. From there, we went to Riverbend Overlook - that was really cool. We left there at 11:00 a.m. and headed to Juniper for lunch. It was already getting so hot out. We ate in a covered picnic area at 11:31 a.m. It was nice to have some shade, but it was still so hot. We left around noon, to head to the South Unit. The drive was a little over an hour, and the kids napped most of the way. We made it to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park rest stop. There we got their passport stamps and our magnet. We left at 1:30 to head to the South Unit. We got to the South Unit at 1:51 p.m. and we first headed to the cabin at the visitor center to check it out. Inside the visitor center was also really neat. By now, it had gotten really hot, so we wanted to only take short hikes. We stopped at Skyline Vista at 2:25 p.m. I have a screenshot of the temperature at 2:30 p.m. and it was 100 degrees.
The campground was really neat. We enjoyed checking out the muddy Missouri River. The water levels were so low we could just walk in it. Everyone got so muddy, especially the kids.
We enjoyed going to the ranger program that night. V was really tired so I ended up taking her back while Marcus stayed with the two big kids. We were so hot that night so we slept with the fly off.
Day 11 - July 19
The camp host had told us that the bison like to walk through the campground in the morning. It was quite a way to wake up and see bison right out your tent. We packed up and drove the rest of the way home.
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