A couple weeks after our St. George trip we headed to West Yellowstone. My family wanted to do a quick little weekend trip and we suggested Yellowstone since Dallin had never been! I know, right?! We left Wednesday late afternoon and caravaned there. My whole family went except one brother and his girlfriend. Zoey was pretty good on this trip but got a little frustrated with a couple of her toys. We had to resort to the iPad to keep her happy the rest of the way.
We started to pull into the Yellowstone area around 9 p.m. It was dark and I kept my eyes peeled for wildlife on the roadway. There were a few deer or elk who were right next to the road or popped by right before we passed which about gave me a heart attack. I was so glad when we pulled into our hotel - the Three Bears Lodge. We unpacked and went to bed - on the hardest beds ever. I woke up sore and tossed all night, my hips were KILLING.
We had breakfast at the lodge the next morning and headed into West Yellowstone. It was cold and rainy that day which made the park quite empty. We were excited when we rounded a corner and saw a bunch of bison up close and personal. We took a bunch of pictures and went on our way. We let Dallin dictate where he wanted to stop and what looked interesting. We stopped at a bunch of hot pots on our way to Old Faithful. At one stop, we got Zoey out and braved the rain (and 38 degree weather). Zoey wanted to walk but we didn't want her to fall off into a hot pot so it was a battle, then she wanted her own umbrella and it was just frustrating. The funniest part was when a bunch of Asians gathered around her and started taking her picture. Paparazzi everywhere for this girl!
The next couple stops my mom stayed in the car to avoid tantrums. We made it to Old Faithful and had about 45 minutes to wait. We walked around the gift shops and got a few souvenirs. When it was close to time we headed out to wait for the geyser. It taunted us for a while then blew! Dallin was a little underwhelmed, he thought there was going to be a big explosion or something. We went to the grill for lunch afterward.
Then we went driving up to Norris while Zoey napped. I was super sore from all the walking by this point so all the other places we stopped I just stayed in the car. We headed back to the hotel and went and got some delicious pizza for dinner. We went over to the conservatory and got to see bears and bald eagles and wolves. It wasn't crowded at all because of the weather (even though it was clear now) that one of the workers kind of became our personal guide. Zoey loved seeing the animals. They had 5 bears out at first then put them in and brought out Sam from Alaska who is 9 ft. tall and 900 lbs!! He was huge!! Then we went and took pictures by the Yellowstone sign since it wasn't crowded. I went back to the hotel to put Zoey down while the rest went to explore the village and get ice cream.
The next morning (after the hard bed again) we got breakfast and headed back into the park. We went up to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and then over to Lake Yellowstone where we had cell service and I got a call about Zoey's tummy problem (more on this later, again). We headed out of the park by the Tetons on into Jackson. We got to our hotel at the Painted Buffalo and settled in. We went to dinner across the street then my dad, brothers and sister took Zoey swimming. That night Dallin had a ton of scary back pain and hardly slept. He made it through but it really took him down, my mom was also up that night throwing up. So sad!
The next morning we had the yucky continental breakfast which turned into a cool missionary experience. This couple next to all of us was from Australia on a 3-week USA tour across the country. That day they were leaving Jackson for SLC! The guy we were talking to was actually originally from Greece and was asking us what the different was between Mormons and everyone else. Well, let us tell you! We encouraged him to ask the missionaries at Temple Square the next morning for a Book of Mormon and he actually seemed interested and I think he was going to do it! It was fun to break out the old missionary spirit and share our testimonies and what we believe.
Dallin and my mom were still not feeling great but ventured into town with us. We did a little shopping, took some pictures by the antler arch and then they headed back to the hotel to rest while we went and got some pizza for lunch. Zoey ran into a cowboy and horse and reminded us the rest of the time how much she doesn't like them and is scared of them, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. We promised her Dairy Queen after her nap and she did not forget!
After her nap we headed to DQ on the way to the Bar-J Wranglers. Dallin decided to stay back and rest his back. On the way there we saw a group of people pulled over and there were two moose! I had said the whole time how sad Dallin's mom would be if we saw a moose because she has traveled all over looking for real moose because she loves them so much. I couldn't believe we saw them on our last night! We took pictures and all Zoey talked about is how sad Wela was going to be.
At the Bar-J a monsoon started right before dinner. It was crazy. As we were eating Zoey fell off the bench backward and hit her head. I cried. It kind of put a damper on the rest of my night. It was a fine show, really cheesy. It lasted a lot longer than I thought too. We were all tired by the end. We got back to the hotel and went to bed.
We grabbed McDonald's on our way out of town the next morning and headed out through Star Valley (and saw the new temple site) and down through Bear Lake. We stopped for lunch there and of course, a raspberry shake! We made it home and went to Dallin's parents' for dinner then my brother and his girlfriend came over for a visit.
So we are done traveling this summer and are just going to hunker down and get ready for baby boy! It was nice to get away for a little bit though and have a break.
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