Our Yellowstone Vacation

I am so excited to share our trip with all of you! We had such a wonderful time! We traveled through 5 states, and stayed overnight in 3 of them. We spent 2 nights in South Dakota on our way to Idaho. We saw many wonderful things, the Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Mount Rushmore, Rushmore Caves, and we got to experience a small taste of Sturgis. As we left South Dakota, Stugis began. I was amazed at the amount of Harleys we saw. We traveled through a bit of Wyoming and across Montana to reach our main location in Island Park, Idaho, where we had a timeshare resort for 1 week. While we were there, we went to Yellowstone National Park. Words cannot describe how amazing we found it to be. We also did many little local tourist attractions too. We had a great time. Finally, coming home, we again traveled across Montana and into North Dakota. We spent 2 nights in Mandan ND at a great little hotel with a water park. The kids had a blast! Randy and I did too. Then from ND we came HOME! We had so much fun!! Here's a few of my 868 pictures I took on this vacation!

AND WE'RE ON OUR WAY!!!

Let's go!

I'm not sure if Randy is finally just waking up, or if he's terrified by my driving!

The kids found the first leg of our trip passed rather fast.

HMMMM.... I wonder why!

CORN PALACE OF MITCHELL SOUTH DAKOTA

This years theme was "America's Destinations"

Amazing!

Corn Art inside the Corn Palace, Mitchell SD

Brett, Bryanna, and Braelynn pose with Cornelius at the Corn Palace

The kids had fun dodging water spouts at Wall Drug

The kids and I playing around at Wall Drug in South Dakota

Randy and the kids pose in the carriage at Wall Drug in South Dakota

MOUNT RUSHMORE

The state flags all line the walkway to the viewing deck of Mt. Rushmore

A close up of Mt. Rushmore

Our family poses for a picture with this great National Memorial



ON THE ROAD AGAIN...

IDAHO, HERE WE COME!



ISLAND PARK IDAHO

We're here! Finally, after all that driving!

The resort we stayed at for a week.

Very nice!

RODEO IN ISLAND PARK IDAHO

Steer wrestling

Bull Riding

Braelynn got very excited watching the events

Bryanna takes time to pose for a pic

Brett's thinking how much it must hurt to be a cowboy

Bareback bronc rinding

BIG SPRINGS AND JOHNY SAC CABIN
HISTORIC SITE

Trout in Big Springs. This spring produces 120 gallons of water everyday! Fishing is prohibited, therefore the trout are waiting to be fed by tourists, then "pose" for their picture.

The Johny Sac cabin on Big Springs. The first settler in this area, he built everything by hand. Cabin and furniture, beautifully hand crafted in wood by Johny Sac.

Brett, Bryanna, and Braelynn on our hike.

Randy and I on our hike at Big Spring

Me by Big Springs.

YELLOWSTONE!!
WE HAVE ARRIVED!!

YEA!! Yellowstone! The family poses for a quick pic before going in.

The Canyon at the bottom of the Lower Yellowstone Falls

The kids and I pose after our hike back up the side of this mountain!

The Scenery is breath taking

WATERFALLS

Keppler Cascades

Firehole Falls

Rustic Falls

Tower Falls

OLD FAITHFUL

Randy, Brett, Bryanna, and Braelynn pose in front of Old Faithful

Randy and I pose with Old Faithful too.

THERMAL POOLS AND GEYSERS

This is a mud pool.

As the summer grows longer, the mud thickens to a sludge!

Seismograph Pool - This pool is 167 degrees Fahrenheit

Bluebell Pool

This pool was not named, but I thought the different coloring was neat.

Black Pool

Randy and the kids standing in front of Norris Geyser Basin

Steam Geysers

Steam Geysers

Roaring Mountain

Saphire Pool

ANIMALS

We saw lots of Buffalo

We saw 2 huge bull Elk. This was one of the guys laying around eating.

We also saw lots of female Elk. This little girl stood right next to my window.

Leaving Yellowstone was sad! We thought everything was so beautiful and so different from what we are used to seeing.


MESA FALLS OF IDAHO

Lower Mesa Falls

Upper Mesa Falls

We pose for a quick family pic before leaving Mesa Falls.

AND WE'RE OFF AGAIN...
NORTH DAKOTA HERE WE COME.

Bryanna lost her second tooth in Montana, as we were traveling!

Good News! The Tooth Fairy will find you on vacation!


NORTH DAKOTA

Some of the scenery was really pretty!


OUR HOTEL IN NORTH DAKOTA

Brett enjoying the waterslide at our hotel.

Randy takes the girls down the little waterslide.

I pose with all my babies in the pool!

Krolls Diner in ND. This place was super cool, and the food was great!

ONE LAST TIME ON THE ROAD!
DESTINATION... MINNESOTA

Brett kept busy with ipod and movies....

... while the girls found other ways to pass the time!

We're glad to be home, but of course wish we could stay on vacation forever. If you have never been through South Dakota and Yellowstone, I would highly recommend it. Everything is beautiful. There is so much to see and learn. Even our little ones walked away learning new things! Fun for all ages!