Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons

Well, the bad news is that all of our children were partially eaten.

The good news is that it was done by annoying insects and our kids will live to see one more national park on the way home.

Yellowstone Park is huge and incredibly diverse in its beauty.




It seemed to be smoking, boiling, and bubbling just about everywhere we went. I was surprised to learn that there are actually around 350 geysers in the park, several of which are much larger than Old Faithful.


At the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone we climbed to the bottom of these falls:



A hike that is a mere 300 feet doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

Until you realize that is almost straight up and down.

The way back up was not without tears and protests, but there's nothing like a sudden downpour and deafening clap of thunder when you're on a metal staircase to get you moving.

For the first few nights in Yellowstone, we camped next to a very nice family full of little boys who were more than willing to participate in scooter races and football games.

For the next few nights, we camped here:



Our campsite at the Grand Tetons wasn't too bad either.


We took a boat ride around Jackson Lake,


and Joshua seemed to be thinking that the water looked nice enough for a swim.


We also took a beautiful hike around Jenny Lake and back into a hidden waterfall.


Our kids have hiked about ten miles in total and have seen a lot of wildlife to add to our list, including an elk family,



a moose with its baby,


but to everyone's regret but mine, no bears.