Montana-Days 1&2

This past weekend, the six of us took a trip to the land up north. We traveled through Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Of course, we had to schedule this little getaway around Tim. Last Tuesday, Tim got two units of blood and a unit of platelets. We left as early as we could Wednesday morning! As we headed north out of Idaho Falls, we could see the northwest side of the beautiful Teton Mountains. I had to get a picture of the kids with the mountains in the back. Don't ya just love how we traveled with Tim's wheelchair strapped to the back of the truck?

Our first stop was Mesa Falls just north of Ashton, Idaho. We visited both the Lower and Upper Falls. The kids loved them. While at the Upper Falls, we ran into our neighbors and good friends, the Handys! It was fun to see them and hear about their adventures up north:)

(Kids at Upper Mesa Falls.)

That first night, we tent camped at a KOA just outside the town of West Yellowstone. After setting up camp, we rented a 6-man bike and rode around the KOA grounds. We were all exhausted and hungry after just 30 minutes. We roasted hotdogs for dinner and smore's later! It was a cold night, but we all stayed warm. Cory and I even heard some wolves during the night. They were extremely close-very cool!

The next morning, we headed into Yellowstone National Park. We mainly stuck to the lower loop, stopping at a few places of interest before spending most of our time at Old Faithful. And just our luck, we got there and just missed Old Faithful. So we waited around for awhile and let the kids get something from the gift shop. Finally, it was time to see Old Faithful. We had to squeeze the kids in among the mass gathering of people to watch the show.

(Tim, Katie, Mak and Kelli at Old Faithful.)

We didn't have to wait very long. Old Faithful gave a great show and the kids where in awe! I've seen Old Faithful numerous times, and she has never disappointed:)

After Old Faithful, we continued on the lower loop, by Yellowstone Lake, towards the Mud Volcano. As we were driving along, Tim spotted this Bison bedded down between two trees. We turned the truck around and pulled off the road. This, of course, caused everyone else to pull off and take pictures. Tim has great eyes!

After our stop at the Mud Volcano, we went to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and viewed both the Upper and Lower Falls. Again, so beautiful!

(Tim, Katie, Mak and Kelli at the Lower Falls.)

Tim was wasted when we finished up at the Upper Falls, so we headed for a campground inside the park. It was a first-come-first-serve campground, so we thought we had a chance. NOT! Everything was taken, so we headed north out of the park by Mammoth and through Gardner. We could have stayed at one of two campgrounds outside the park, but we were too exhausted to set a tent up. So, we got some dinner and hit the road another two hours to Cory's home town in central Montana.

To Be Continued . . .