We spent all day, Wednesday July 13th, at Yellowstone. We did compromise and not leave as early as
Matthew and I recommended but not as late as some of the others were hoping. Last year, Matthew and I entered the park at sunrise,
had amazing views as the sun rose, and stayed ahead of the crowd the entire
day. We knew that going with a group of
10, that this would be a different experience.
In order to get as early a start as possible, I did get up at 4:00am to
start breakfast (I know… those who know me don’t think it is possible since I
would much rather stay up until 4:00 than wake up that early… in fact, I only
slept about 2-3 hours that night). We
made breakfast burritos for breakfast… once the food was ready to serve at about
5:00am we woke the others. We ate,
packed food for lunch and headed to the park around 6:00am.
Matthew and I were the only ones that had ever been to Yellowstone, so we
lead the group to the most popular attractions starting with the lower
loop. I think I had just as much fun seeing
the joy of the group as they experienced the sights, as I had experiencing it
all over again. At all the stops, everyone,
kids included, would get out and take pictures and admire the beauty.
While we didn’t stay ahead of the crowds, it also was not nearly as
crowded as it typically gets. It takes a
lot longer for a group to get out and check everything out than it does for one
or two people to take it all in. I was
very thankful that Matthew and I were able to catch a ride with German and Mariah
though and that German helped Matthew with his wheelchair all day… it sure does
help to not be the one lifting it up and down all day.
Lots of Pictures from the day...
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It was a long day… and unfortunately, too long for some of the kids. Chris and Sarah decided that they were not going to be able to do the upper loop, so we had to decide what the plan was. After a lot of deliberation… we decided to split up. Chris and Sarah headed back with their kids and the rest of us continued on to see the rest. I knew that Matthew would need the days of rest we had planned so if we didn’t do it today, we wouldn’t be able to come back, and he knew that I was really excited to see the upper loop since it was closed last year and so it was the one part I had not seen yet. German and Mariah were game too.
There were a lot less places that you needed to stop and walk around in
the upper loop, but it was absolutely beautiful driving and around and seeing
the views. Some of my favorite parts include
the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone area and Mammoth Hot Springs area. Of course, we also spent most of the drive looking
for animals and were blessed to see some along the route. Some other things
were encountered along the way include a thunder and lightning storm (absolutely
beautiful), a double rainbow, and the sunset.
After leaving the park we raced back to the cabin for dinner and made it
there around 10:30. We were all exhausted
and so glad that the next day was going to be another lake day.
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