So it all started many months before in the planning of the Yellowstone vacation. We had no idea how to start planning for such awesomeness. So what did I do, lots of internet searching for good sites that would be able to make recommendations on what to see and how much time each area took. Not only did I find what I was looking for but got a little more with the distances between attractions and how much time to allow for them. One could say I got a little extra planning in that way but it felt good to have some sort of a resemblance of a plan. That site I mainly used was http://www.youryellowstonevacation.com
I made a big long doc of screenshots really of what I thought was really important in the planning process. I had the pages split out by section of the park and a list of how long it would take to travel between areas so I had a general idea of how many things we could get done in a day.
First things first, on day one of five days in the park, was travelling to the closest visitor information station and bookstore in the Madison region. This stretch of road that was from West Yellowstone to Madison took us about a half hour to 40 minutes each day, one way. Of course on the way there we saw our first bison and we were watching on the other side of the river just chilling and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Funny thing is that he decided to cross the river and come over by us. We weren’t sure it was such a good idea to stick around but he gradually just moseyed his way across the road in front of us and went on his way. The funny thing about that we had no idea how many bison would be in our future. We even had Sammie start a journal of what animals that she was seeing in the park. There were times when we could barely count how many there were in the distance. Wow, the bison are definitely a plenty.
Our stop at the visitor center was a great potty break and way to get even more information. We learned that the road construction on the way from Norris region to Mammoth Hot Springs was going to put a slight damper in our travels. The visitor center staff is very friendly and gave us great tips. We even got Sammie to get her Junior Ranger booklet for a small fee. She even attended her one ranger lead program – Tree Doctor. We all learned much about the trees of Yellowstone and how the fires that burnt through the park actually caused the pinecones of certain trees to heat up enough to let out the seeds that make up a ton of the new tree growth in the park. Very interesting stuff she had to share with us.
So we decided that the weather would be good for us to hit the Canyon region for the day. From Madison region to Norris was about 20-30 minutes and Norris to Canyon was another 15-20 minutes of driving time. So by the time we got there we decided to eat lunch at the Visitor Education Center. So our first major stop in the park was at the Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We got to see so much from this. We even got hailed on while hiking. Which was amazing that the kids did great on the first hike even despite this. The waterfall view watching it cascade down was amazing.
We got to see the Upper Falls from the brink of the Lower Falls but didn't actually make it up there on our trip. It was a just a beauty from a distance for us. Then Sammie and Kelly got to see an Osprey with her nest too while coming back from a viewpoint along the drive.
Then we decided to go drive up the way to Mount Washburn and even going up Chittenden Road. This is the highest road in the park which is a two-way dirt road about a mile and a half long. We stopped at the top and that is where we had our snowball fight. The kids loved it having snow in June!
One tip for a future trip, if you haven't used the bathroom in awhile and you see one without a line, STOP. You don't want to be stuck in a bear jam or bison jam and need to use the rest room. While traveling with a toddler potty training it was even more important to find a bathroom without a long line in the knick of time. Just a little advice :)
So anyways, the first full day in the park was spectacular and we can't wait to see the stuff we missed in 14 years when we plan to go back.
