Day 6

Last days are hard. It's always sad that your trip is coming to an end, but, on top of that, it's more difficult to enjoy that last full day when you have packing on the horizon. Alas, that last day still comes. 

We decided last night that we better take Mione with us today since she was hyper as all get out yesterday after chilling solo most of the day. The problem here is that, while we walk her, the walks are not very long because 1) it's all uphill, 2) it's terribly hot and humid, and 3) bears. And there is not a yard for us to let her out in, so she isn't getting a whole lot of exercise. This meant, though, that we had to choose a non-NP activity. 

We knew we had to go back to the rope swing in Townsend because Ethan has literally asked 17,000 times to go back since the day we went. First, though, we went to a park in Pigeon Forge that had a path around it so we could walk her a bit on flat ground. The park was very modern with nice playground equipment, some pavilions, a bathroom, and pristine ball fields. It was definitely hot, though, so none of us lasted too long. 

From there, we found the Pigeon Forge recycling center (our second recycling center of the trip, thank you very much) to drop off more paper and cans. Then we took the long, winding road to Townsend more more time. First, we stopped at the visitor's center because Ethan wanted a pin. He has a collection of national and state park pins from most of the places we have visited. He also bought a mug for his collection, and Eleanor got a small bear she named Smoky. 

Finally, it was time for the rope swing. When we got to it, there was another family there. They had set up shop on the bank I was hoping we could bring our stuff to, but they weren't using the swing, so Ethan had fun jumping in. Someone had tied bike handlebars to the rope since the other day, too, and he liked that. Eleanor went, and the kids even convinced me to do it once. It wasn't as deep as I would have liked, and when I jumped in my head didn't even go under. Not too scary. 

It was nice and sunny on some big rocks, so to dry off, we set up our towels on them and did some rock hard sunbathing. 

The plan after swimming was to drive the Foothills Parkway back toward home. It would take us a bit longer, but it is lauded as one of the prettiest drives with a lot of pull outs. The road was quite nice and, to Will's satisfaction, wider and less busy, so it seemed to have been a good choice. And the views were gorgeous! Out the right side of the car were beautiful vistas of the Smokies. The skies were blue with white clouds, contrasting nicely with the green mountains. We stopped a couple of times for Ethan to set up his tripod or selfie stick for family pictures. We even had a Mione photoshoot.

The parkway ended at 321, the road we take to most everything, and we set off to find lunch. I had packed a lunch in the morning and promptly left the cooler in the cabin. I forgot to tell Will to put it in the car. This meant, though, that we stumbled upon a little food truck area where we got the most delicious lunch. It was called the Chicken Coop, I think, and it was yummy. Eleanor got tenders and fries. Ethan got buffalo wings. And Will and I got this cucumber salad with red onion, feta, dried cranberries, and a Vidalia onion vinaigrette. It was delightful, and I will definitely be recreating it with cukes at home. I knew we would also share a bit of the kid's chicken, too, which was yummy! And the beer battered fries were perfection. The bbq sauces (many options) were super tasty, too. A great lunch and love that when we did eat out, we ate at local places, not chains. 

I asked Will to stop in at a couple of little general store places because I was looking for chocolate cake for our anniversary. Celebrating 17 years today. Chocolate cake has become sort of a tradition. The first place didn't have cake but did have homemade fudge and chocolates, so I picked up Will some dark chocolate sea salt carmel bites, dark chocolate almond bark, and some caramel pecan fudge. It will have to do. 

Once we got into Shagbark, our gated community, Will dropped me and the kids off at the pool for another try. This time, it was even more crowded, but since we knew we were walking back up again, we jumped in the water to cool off. The kids didn't make it long with so many people, so we got our clothes on, packed things up into our packs and set up for our final hike...up the road to our cabin. It is just about a mile and a half. I honestly wanted to do it because we didn't do a lot of walking today, but--man, was it hot. I was dripping sweat. 

Back at home I've just been packing up now. We did do a little photoshoot on the deck after we all showered, too. Oh, and there was an incredible rainbow below us in the mountains after a short rain storm. It was so cool - a rainbow we looked down at! 

Leftovers for dinner, and now just trying to make sure we pack everything up. Will wants to get on the road around 6, which seems awfully ambitious, but we will see. I know he is excited to get back into the plains. 

All in all it was a good trip. I do wish our place had been a bit easier to get to and that we were closer to the entrance to the national park. I also wish we could have done more in the park. We really only did 3 decent hikes. There was a lot we were not able to see, mostly because we couldn't leave the dog for the entire day. So that was frustrating. On the other hand, I am usually so exhausted at the end of each day of our trips. I was still tired and slept very well here, but we were able to relax every afternoon. We went in the hot tub, played games and pool, watched movies, and more. On most of our trips, we pretty much go to bed after dinner and then we are up early and out the door. This trip, we didn't leave before 9 often at all. So there were some good trade offs. 

Looking forward to being back home in our own space. But happy to have gotten away and had a safe, fun trip. 

Smokies Days 4-5

 I meant to outsource the blog to Eleanor last night and completely forgot. So I will write about both days now. Yesterday can be summed up pretty quickly with 3 words: lots of driving!

To elaborate a bit, we started the day off heading to the Gatlinburg trail, which is just inside the park right by downtown Gatlinburg. It literally goes right from tourist trap to the park. We avoided downtown Gatlinburg on the way in by taking the bypass. We wanted to hit the Gatlinburg trail because we brought the dog with us, and that is one of two trails she is allowed on. The other is too far. 

I have to say Mione LOVED hiking this trail with us. All her walks up here are just on asphalt, up up up and mountain, and then down. We let her out on the deck (we put up a baricade at the stairs that would likely be useless if any wildlife came near), but otherwise she's on a leash outside always and hasn't really been able to run around much. Anyway, she was loving the trail, seeing people, and other dogs. It's an easy, flat trail and basically goes along a river or creek to the Sugarlands visitor's center and then back out again. I believe it's about 4 miles total. We took our time and let Mione splash around in the water often, grabbing drinks too. She was VERY good, never once barking and holding court every time anyone wanted to pet her or compliment her. It was a really pretty hike, and I'm glad Mione got to experience some of the Smokies with us. 

From there, we had no choice but to head into downtown Gatlinburg because we had not packed a lunch and needed some fuel. Downtown Gatlinburg is, frankly, a bit ridiculous. It's so built up and crowded. Pigeon Forge is similar, but I guess the advantage of Gatlinburg is that it's more walkable. 

We got out as quickly as possible, in search of a recycling center we found online. We almost missed it but asked in a community center and was able to find it. Will had filled the car with all our recycling in hopes to find a place to take it. After we dropped it off, we found a small roadside bbq place with picnic tables outside to eat. Will got bbq chicken, Ethan got pork, I got brisket, and Eleanor got sides of mac 'n cheese and corn in the cob from our meals. Everyone was happy. 

After lunch, we decided to take this longer road along a river (Little Fork, maybe), hoping to find a fun place to get out and swim. In the beginning, we saw a couple of turn offs, but they had cars on them and we kept thinking we would find another. But then we didn't. There were a lot of great spots to go down into the water, but they were all next to someone's cabin/home and seemingly private property. We kept gong and going and going, and then eventually met up with the other highway to take home. By then, we had probably driven an hour. 

A bit deflated, we set our sights on home, thought it seemed a bit early to be in for the day. Will spotted a DQ and pulled in since the kids had gift cards with them. A blizzard is a good cure for a long car ride. While we were in the restaurant, Will found a big lake he wanted to try to go to. It is called Danbridge Lake, and it's ginormous. It has an insane shape with many big and small areas jutting out. Will said he saw it on a map before we left and wondered about it, so we set off.

We tried to stop on at what was deemed a "community park" on the southern end of the lake so as not to drive too much further (about 25 more minutes), but it ended up being a bust where the place you could go in the water was full of trash. (In other news...I really hate people sometimes.) Will wanted to go even further north to this municipal park, so we got back in the car and drove another half hour at least. 

We found the spot, and it was a bit nicer. All around the road that goes along the lake are huge properties with beautiful homes. It is a nice area. The bank of the lake, we discovered, was all orange clay. The water was quite warm, but with the clay as the bottom, walking on it brought it up, so the water wasn't clear. I think we were all a bit anxious about swimming, wondering if there were snakes and other things you wouldn't find back home. I Googled it, though, and found that we didn't have to worry about anything poisonous there. We all swam a bit, including the dog. (Eleanor had to swim in her clothes because she had forgotten to pack her suit like we told her to.) We had Mione on her long tie up leash, and she was going as far out as possible before coming back. Of course, when she came back on the bank, she was sure to step right into the orange clay and then right over our towns. Sigh.

We stayed maybe 30 minutes and then set out for the cabin, which was now at least an hour away. We had driven at least 2 for 30 minutes of swimming and now had an hour drive home. Double sigh. 

Back home meant laundry (see "orange clay") and yummy pasta dinner. Seriously, having my mom here is spoiling me. By 9 am yesterday morning, she had marinara sauce made  and burger patties ready for today. Ethan and I challenged Grandma and Grandpa to yet another game of pool and lost yet again. We watched Loki (season finale) and then went to bed.

Today (Thursday), we got up around 7:30, had a yummy breakfast of cheesy eggs and sausage (via Grandma), and hit the road around 9:30. We left the dog as we were headed for another trail she couldn't go on. We knew she'd be plenty tired today anyway and likely happy to be alone. 

Our destination was Jake's Creek Trail, which the guidebook said had a waterfall less than two miles in that had a good swimming hole. We were able to find the road for our shortcut today, thankfully, and so we entered the park at the less crowded Wears Valley entrance. Once in the park, it was about 20 minutes of driving to the Elkhorn campground area. We found easy parking and walked up the road a bit to the trailhead. The trail itself started on what seemed to be an old road. It was partially paved. And all along the sides were remnants of old log cabins, usually just a chimney. 

Shortly into the trail, it started ascending, and was probably a 30 degree grade. We hiked for a long time without seeing anyone, but then ran into a nice family, who told us the falls were about a half a mile up. We kept hearing rushing water but not seeing where the falls were. At a certain point, there was  clear little side trail down to the water sound, though, so we took that and ended up at the falls and swimming hole. 

It was a really neat area with about a five foot waterfall cascading into a small deeper pool of water. On the side we came down on, there was a big rock jutting out, and a couple big rocks across the way, too, creating a cave or sorts underneath them. I was fairly sure this had to be what the guidebook talked about, but I would be lying if I didn't say I was terrified to go into the water where it was deeper. You simply couldn't see what was below and that unknown is scary. 

I had chosen this hike via the guidebook, though, precisely because of this swimming hole, so I decided to be brave. I stripped down into the suit I had on under my clothes and got in the water next to "the hole." After some meditation and prayer, I plunged in. It was cold! And still terrifying! I sort of treaded water on the surface and then came back to where I could stand again. Will was not really keen on coming in, nor was Eleanor, but Ethan said he would if I did it again, so of course I had to. We were in the water maybe a total of 10 seconds. But, we conquered our fears and made a fun memory. 

We continued up the trail about another half mile or so, just to see a bit more, before descending, which was downhill and faster. At the end of the trail, where was this neat little village of old cabins from the early 20th century. They belonged to wealthy city folk who wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle. Some were surrounded with caution tape and deemed "unstable structures" but many you could go inside. I'm a total sucker for touring old places, so I loved it. None were furnished, but it was neat to see the wood floors, built in cabinets, 1920s bathrooms/kitchens and such. A volunteer told me they were mostly built between 1910-20, and they are being restored because of their historical status. I liked to imagine these wealthy city dwellers sipping martinis on the porch. :)

After a van picnic lunch, we went back the way we came but stopped just before leaving the park and discovered a great river spot all along a picnic area. Ethan and I were still a bit chilled from our swimming hole swim, and I know my suit still wasn't dry. I didn't really intend to go in much past my knees. But, as I waded in, I came across a big rock, and when I stepped down, I was up to my waist.  Oops. It felt good, though, and eventually all of us were in. On the other side, it was over waist high, and had a decent current. He grabbled his goggles and attempted to swim upstream but basically just stayed in one place. He saw some big fish underwater. I found a great rock to sit on and kind of sunned in the middle of the lake, facing some rocky rapids with the mountains beyond. It was one of my summer moments in which I take a mental snapshot, willing myself to remember this feeling when it's below zero and miserable in Chicago. In a word, it was glorious! 

All good things must come to an end, though, and we left to rescue Mione from her lonely day in the cabin. We stopped at a Kroger on the way home, where I mistakenly went in with Will, who took forever. I hadn't changed out of my suit and was still wet, so the air conditioning combined with being in a wet suit was a terrible combo. Needless to say, I went right to the hot tub when we got home. 

Now I am showered and about to grill some burgers, hoping a bear doesn't come down for dinner. We just purchased Disney + Premier Access so we can watch Black Widow tonight, so that's the plan. Last day tomorrow. We hope to hike Abrham's Falls, which is open on Fridays, and go back to the rope swing place in Townsend because Ethan has been asking to go back every day since that first one. 

Smokies Day 3 (Bears!)

Even though we were back to the cabin or good today at 3 pm, it was quite a productive day. Grandma spoils us here with good breakfasts, and this morning it was French toast, bacon, and strawberries -  great fuel to have before a long hike. 

My parents decided to take a rest day and stay at the cabin, so we left the dog with her human grandparents and headed out to the park. We were hoping to find this road that would take us to the park with a short cut, but we could not find the road, despite seeing a sign that it was a mile and a half away at some point. Nothing is marked very well around here, we've noticed. Because we missed that turn, we went in through the Townsend entrance again and set off for Meig's Creek trail. The drive was so pretty with the river rushing alongside the road. We made it to a parking area for the The Sinks, a rushing water area where I think people fish and maybe even swim at their own risk. 

From here, we hopped on the Meig's Creek trail. It is a 3.6 one way trail. We had reservations to zipline at 1:30, so we were limited on how much time we could spend in the park, meaning we couldn't do the 7.2 mile total hike but would go in for a ways and then turn around. On Will's more detailed map, we saw there were falls less than halfway, so we aimed for that. The hike started off pretty steep, climbing higher and higher on switchbacks. Then it leveled off at the top, only to go back down again. Eventually, we came to a creek crossing. These are fun, if not a bit treacherous, because you have to find the rocks that aren't going to move, making you step in the water. There is no real danger because the water is not deep, but no one wants to hike with a soggy shoe. We ended up crossing the creek 3 or 4 times. We were about an hour in and knew we should turn around soon, but decided to give it 5 more minutes. Our gamble paid off because we found the falls. They weren't huge, but very pretty and a great spot for a family selfie. 

On the hike to the falls, we only passed one family. I love when we have the trail to ourselves, but I was surprised that it wasn't more popular. Then again, we are pretty good at finding less traversed hikes that are awesome. But apparently more people do know about it because we passed a lot more on the way back. I guess that's good. All in all, a great hike. No major wildlife sightings, but we did see several two inch centipedes. Eleanor = not a fan. 

We got back on the road and set off to find a creek spot for some wading/swimming. We ended up finding a cool spot with easy access to the river and a safe current. The kids changed into suits in the van, while Will and I simply opted to put our water shoes. 

The water felt amazing on legs that have been doing a lot of uphill walking. Water shoes certainly help, but many rocks are mossy and very slippery. I managed to stay upright. The kids made some rock formations and explored. But then about 10 minutes in, several families who were clearly traveling together, descended on the area. They were nice, but boisterous, and the peaceful time was over. But, the one guy seemed familiar with the area and showed the kids how they could jump off this big rock into a deep section of the river. Ethan wanted to, and it looked deep, but we didn't really want him to jump unless we were sure. So these young kids from Louisiana tested it out for us. Once we felt okay about it, we let Ethan try it. :) 

Ethan jumped at least 5 times, and Eleanor did it several times, too. Soon, though, we had to leave to make sure we weren't late for ziplining. It was also getting quite crowded with Louisiana folk. When we left, there were 7 cars from LA. We think they may have all been from the same baseball team, likely in town for a tournament. 

On our way out of the park, we looked for the road that we had wanted to take into the park today but missed. We found it by accident (see early about poor signage), and it turned out to be a great little shortcut. And when we made it to the main drag where we missed it earlier, we were sure to write down details that would help us know how to find it again. The sign did seem hidden. 

Because of the short cut, we got to ziplining a bit earlier than expected, which was great because the other two people in our party were also early. Once the guides were ready, the kids and I set off. We tried to convince Will to come, but he said he was a-okay on the ground. Our funny tourguides took us up the mountain in the back of a pickup truck (part of the fun!), and from the top, we hooked on to our first line. Basically, one guide goes first, then the guests, who are each "caught," on the next platform before the other guide comes to meet us. 

The first line didn't seem much different in height from the zipline tour we did at home last month, so I wondered if I had been swindled. But that next several were very high up and long. The views were super cool, though each one went by quickly. The kids did great and enjoyed it. And we were gone less than an hour, giving Will a time to just relax and look through some guidebooks. 

We came back up to the cabin, then, so we should relax and walk the dog. After their walk, Ethan and my dad got in the hot tub. Ethan had only been in a few minutes when he came to the window, pantomiming that they'd seen a bear and to come out. We did so, only to discover the bear, which Ethan thinks is a cub was gone. It had crossed right through the woods about 20 feet from us and crossed into the neighbor's driveway. The rest of us were sad to have missed it. Will suggested we take Mione out again, this time with bear spray. 

About 500 yards away from our driveway, we passed another driveway and saw a mama and two bears just passing through. I quickly got Mione out of sight while Ethan frantically grabbed his phone to grab some pics and video. I was able to snap a quick picture and video, too. After they passed over the driveway, though, we couldn't seem to locate them in the woods. We are thinking they went up a little higher. 

I texted my mom, who then came down the driveway to come check it out, but we didn't get too far together before turning around because she was only wearing sandals that were not conducive to steep incline walking. Now poor she and Eleanor have yet to see a bear. I still can't believe we did and my lack of fear upon seeing them, too. My biggest concern was that if Mione saw them and got spooked and barked, causing mom to get protective of her cubs. Fortunately, Mione didn't seem to smell them because when she was out of sight, she didn't seem to notice anything. Will has noticed how deeply she sniffs here, seemingly finding all kinds of new smells to log. But if she smelled the bear, she did not let on thank goodness. 

On the docket for tonight will be tacos (it's Tuesday!), some games, and, hopefully, an early bed time. I am still not sure if  Will and I are going to try to bike Cade's Cove tomorrow since we know even if we get there super early, we may not get a bike, but I would like to try. We shall see!

Smokies Day 2

Today was our first day going into the NP, and it didn't quite work out as planned. We set off about 9:30, deciding to leave the dog, who we knew would be more than happy to sleep a lot of today after such an active day yesterday. We drove to the Townsend entrance, about 45 minutes from our cabin. Once in, we drove to the Cade Code loop, hoping to go to Abrams Falls. Unfortunately, shortly into our drive, I saw a sign saying it was closed for repairs. We decided we would go to another trailhead. Along Cade's Cove, there are several places to stop off and either see old homestead buildings or churches from the road, or some are a short hike. We stopped at a few, which were pretty neat to see. They are from homesteaders from the early 19th century, and must have been so difficult to build. We also stopped at a church with a cemetery attached. Seeing some of the dates for the lives of these early homesteaders was neat. 

Cade's Cove road is a one way loop and very picturesque. We ended up stopping at a short trail that we knew would be an out and back called Elijah's place, which took you to Elijah's house, barn, and other buildings. On our way, we came across another trail called Wet Bottom that I had seen in the book. Shortly into the hike, the kids ran into two big deers with antlers. We took some pics and video, but then all of sudden Will was saying, "Back! Back! Back!" We thought maybe the deer were coming at him aggressively. Turns out he had watched a bear cross the trail right where the deer were! Admittedly, I was a little disappointed I didn't see it, though given my adrenaline level just from running away, maybe it's for the best I didn't. I really do want to see a bear, just not close up. 

Back on the road, our plan was to continue along Cade's Cove and then cut across on one of two roads that serve as short cuts or cut-throughs. We saw there was a road we could take back into the town of Townsend. Unfortunately, we failed to notice that the road was unpaved. It was 12 miles of rocky switchbacks. There was a jeep in front of us going 9 miles an hour. I was feeling pretty tired due to Dramamine and was not thrilled with an extra long ride. After several slow miles, the jeep pulled off a bit and allowed us to pass, and Will was able to go a bit faster. We finally made it out. The kids wanted to go back to the rope swing, but we opted to go back to the cabin since the dog had been on her own for over 5 hours. 

On the way up to the cabin, though, Will dropped me and kids off at the pool. We were going to either go to the pool or wade in the creek for a bit and then walk (!) back up the mountain home. We explored the creek (mom soaked sore legs and Ethan found a crawfish) for a bit and then started the trek up the mountain. I started my gps app to track us, and we went 1.4 miles, climbing over 800 feet! It was steep. My parents actually drove up to us when we were over halfway, but we opted not to get a ride the rest of the way so we could see how far we were going to go. Our legs will be sore tomorrow, but at least we got in our good climb for the day. 

Back at home, we relaxed and read up on some things for tomorrow. I made reservations for a zipline, and Will looked up some information on biking Cade's Cove on Wednesday morning. Eleanor, my mom, and I had some hot tub time, and then we showered and had a yummy dinner of sausage, potato, onions, and peppers. After dinner, Will and I took the dog on a long walk. 

When we got back, the kids were playing pool upstairs with my parents. It was clear my parents, who haven't played pool in a while, were having a great time. After they beat Ethan and Eleanor, Ethan and I teamed up against them and just barely lost. After pool, we played several rounds of Scatergories, listening to Ethan's playlist on Spotify. 

And now it's time for bed. This trip is definitely more low key than most of our NP trips, and I am kind of loving it. Usually, we are gone from sun up to sun down, and we have very little downtime. I am grateful for a bit more time in the cabin, making memories and laughing together. 

Smokies Full Day #1

 Hello fellow readers, this is Eleanor, I'm pretty sure all of  you know that I am the daughter of my mom, Michelle. She usually writes most of the blog content for our national park trips. Before I start talking about our day I need to warn the readers that I am sarcastic and this is written from a different perspective that is not my dear mothers. 

Now, my brother and I where sleeping in this one room with a pool table in it. Besides the point but my brother thinks I'm horrible at pool, but I'm not getting a job playing pool, so to move on, it was 6:42 am and my grandparents had gone down to get coffee. So this house was small, with the primary level and an upstairs, so if one light is turned on it lights up everything and you can see it pretty clearly. My dog, Hermione seeing the light went down the staircase making much noise with her claws on wood. it was still a little dark so she saw my grandparents and she barked at them. She's a very protective dog. Then with an exquisite wake up call it was time to start our day. 

After lots of getting ready, a failed game of pool where the white ball fell noisily down the stairs, and some pancakes with raspberry syrup, we got in our car. We where staying  at a place basically on the side of the mountain. you could literally look out any window and see mountains. It takes 10-15 minutes to get up the steep hills and down the hills. There are also really crazy turns. We had driven for a while and I had no idea where we where going. The thing with our family is we research a ton of places to go but never go to them. we find the best hikes on accident. Or we get lost. A lot. 

We Finally arrived at a visitor center and we had lost our grandparents who had been dutifully following us since the house. My mom and dad went into the center and my brother and I stayed in the stifling hot car. My grandparents showed up soon. My brother annoyed me by playing on a loud app on his phone while I thought about how leaving my brother and I in this scorching car is basically illegal. After a long time and a bathroom break, we got to this river that was for handicapped people and their immediate family only. Good time for my grandpa to be here. You couldn't really get in the water their so we decided that we might find a place to go in and park. But, we didn't. We decided to part paths, so the grands went to explore towns while we after a while got lunch at a place to sooth some aching headaches.

 After a bit we found a place where you could use a raft and float down the river. We decided to do it, but dad stayed back with the dog. First we got water shoes then took a short one minute bus ride to the launch area we got in and it was slooooooooooooooooow. But, after a bit there where some fierce rapids. A middle aged man comically fell off twice, he was okay though. Then it would slow down again and do a couple more. My brother was lagging behind a lot so my mom was able to stop in some wild current and wait for him. I located a mossy rock and steered toward it, then stopped my feet on it. I then slipped on it and went to the other side so I was holding on pretty tight for a while. Finally the slowpoke himself  lumbered on over and we could let go of our wonderful stones. Then at the end we got out of the water, where we were greeted by an exuberant Hermione. Since we could actually tube until 5:00 we decided to do it again. Once we got on the bus the person driving it said it was all red on the radar. He also said that it would rain through most of our trip. I  sarcastically   said "Well, that's great." It only actually drizzled a little and took 30 minutes, the other one took an hour. I only stubbed my toe on a rock once and scraped my knee on a rock once at least.

Once we where all back in the car with a tired Hermione we set off. My brother wanted to go to this part of the river with a rope swing that you could jump off of. So we went there. Some people where there, but my brother and I where able to try the rope swing. Hermione got to splash in the water too. We where tired so we went back to our cabin and Ethan and I  hopped in the hot tub after bringing in a couple things. I then went too write some of this, ate dinner and wrote more while my grandparents asked if I was writing a novel. I'm not a great at typing. Thanks for reading.

-Eleanor

*A few mom addendums:

We have not seen any major wildlife, but Will did go to take the dog out in the dark last night and ran into a snake in the driveway, forcing him to abort the walk and skitter back to the cabin. 

Also, Will and the kids walked the dog after we got here yesterday, our neighbors said they had just seen a bear on our property. We must have missed it! 

When we separated from my parents they drove 35 minutes in the wrong direction then got back into Townsend again before going the right way through the park to Gatlinburg. According to my dad, he said, it's just a "tourist trap" and "Wisconsin Dells on steroids." We knew this because we stayed outside of Gatlinburg on our first trip here in 2014. 

We grilled chicken for dinner, and our chef, er, I mean my mom made risotto and zucchini. It was delicious. We plan to finish the movie Cruella, which we started too late last night and were falling asleep to. 

Smokies - Travel days

 Hello faithful reader (Susie). After a several year absence, I thought it high time to resurrect the travel blog. When a global pandemic shut down the world in early 2020, all travel was halted. Our trip to Yosemite for summer of 2020 was cancelled, and we ended up getting a dog instead! And now that 1.5 year old puppy is on her first NP trip. 

We are traveling with my mom and dad. We were supposed to come with my sister's family as well, but sports camps are keeping them at home this summer. And after realizing how difficult it is to get to our cabin (up a mountain), when they were going to be staying somewhat far away, this may be for the best. I don't think it would have been easy to meet up here. 

We left yesterday morning and had an easy drive to Louisville, KY. We made one longer stop on the Indiana side of the Ohio River, just before the border of KY. This state park left much to be desired. The kids wanted to go down by the river, but the paths were full of glass and garbage, so the dog and I stayed up top. It was humid and buggy. My parents left early in the morning and had already been to the Louisville Slugger museum and gotten a flight of bourbon. They were resting in their downtown hotel, so we opted to simply get to our hotel, outside of downtown. 

Our hotel was not great. Tiny, dingy, and in need of major tlc. This was Mione's first hotel stay, and while she did fairly well, she did not love having people walking past our door often, as she is protective of our areas. When it was time for bed, she only barked once (a neighbor dog was very vocal!), but I was anxious all night, and that anxiety, paired with some shoulder aching, meant I maybe strung together 3 hours of sleep. 

We set off in a rain storm around 9 for just a short 4.5 hour drive to our place. My parents left after us, so we took our time, stopping off in Berea, KY, an artsy town and home to Berea College. We went to a visitors center full of fun crafts, and also turned it into a college visit by driving through town and seeing the campus. Pretty, but small, and I'm not sure we will encourage either child to go to school there. :)

We also stopped off at a state forest, the name of which escapes me. It was a much longer detour to see this lake than we anticipated, but we did do a short trail down to some water. Eleanor deemed it her favorite hike so far. Considering it was our first hike, I wouldn't take that for much. Because we took so long, my parents, who left over an hour after us, caught up, so we met them at a Wendy's for lunch, then caravanned the rest of the way.

We stopped at what seems to have been the last large chain grocery (a Kroger) on our way, which was a great choice since our other option would have been an Amish market. The trek up to our place, which we knew was up a mountain, is a bit nutty. We are up here, and it took 15 minutes to get from the gate house (we're in a gated community) to our cabin. The views, though, are pretty sweet! 

After unpacking and getting set up, we had a gourmet dinner of frozen pizza and salad before hitting the hot tub. My dad and I also tried the peach bourbon they bought yesterday. Will and the kids walked the dog down the road and ran into a family who had just seen a bear on our property. I'm sufficiently freaked out about that but am hopeful they are used to people and don't want any trouble. 

The only issue with this place is that because it is not easy to get in and out of, we will only plan to leave once and come home once per day. That means that leaving the dog won't really be an option. This wouldn't be annoying if she was actually allowed on trails. She is only allowed on two, though, and we're not even sure how close those trails are. But she is allowed in picnic areas, in the car, and along the road. We may just have to divide and conquer and split up for some hiking. We knew this would be a different trip than our usual ones (because of the dog), so we will make it work. Honestly, I'm just happy to be some place other than home and trying not to get too caught up on what we will miss but think about what we will see. 

I will stop here because my brain is hardly functioning. I may be outsourcing these entries to Eleanor, to get ready to read some much better writing. 

Day 13 - Last day

We all got a pretty decent night's sleep last night, and the rooster crowed only a couple times this morning and then seemed to stop. That, or we are used to it. We all slept past 7. And Eleanor didn't get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Bonus. Will was saying he has slept better in these terrible beds than at some of our more comfortable places. 

We left a bit later this morning and got to the park around 10 or so. We drove to Signal Lake Lodge, which is along Jackson Lake. The kids got a patch, a pin, and Eleanor got her first Swiss Army knife. Ethan reminded us that he was her age in Mt. Rainier when he got his. We talked to one of the workers, who told us the Signal Mountain hike was worthwhile and would yield great views. We ate lunch first because we knew it was gonna take us a while at 6 miles round trip. The first part had a bit of incline, but then it was a pretty easy trail. A lot of it was walking through a large meadow with tall grasses and wildflowers on either side. It was actually hard to tell that you were walking to a summit. We stayed together a bit more this time, and Eleanor lagged behind as usual. If only her leg speed matched the speed her mouth moves! But we all made it to the top. It looked out onto Grand Teton and her partners. We got a family picture and Ethan was finally able to do his Instagram live video. I also realized I had dropped my sunglasses during a bug spray application and forgotten to pick them back up. Thankfully, they were $10 ones from Walgreens. We looked on the way down but someone likely picked them up. We would have if we found them on a trail. 

Ethan and I went down first, and quickly, because, guess what? He had to use the facilities. So did Eleanor, but for the second time this trip, she happily chose to poop in the woods. She has 0 shame. Ethan and got I down to Signal Lodge, used the bathroom, and then sat at a shaded picnic table, waiting for Will and Eleanor, who followed maybe 20 minutes later. 

From Signal Lodge, rather than go further north to Jackson Lake Lodge, we decided to go back to Jenny Lake. I was interested in seeing the Cascade Canyon. I knew you could take a shuttle across Jenny Lake to the trailhead. I didn't want to do the whole hike but go a little way into the canyon. When we got to the dock, though, the kids weren't interested in a shuttle. They really wanted to canoe. We asked if we could go see the canyon from the water, and they said we could try but that it would be harder coming back than out with the way with wind goes. We all got one canoe because the kids were able to share the middle seat. It was a bit hectic at times with everyone telling everyone else which way and how to paddle. And we seemed to be going against the wind going out, too, and not making great progress. Eventually, we made it to the other side of the lake and tied up on a log. There was a bath there, which I assume is the path around Jenny Lake that goes to the canyon trail. I walked down it a bit, but because I was alone, I was afraid to go too far. I couldn't quite see into the canyon, but there were giant boulders everywhere.

Back at the boat, Will had stripped down to his bright red boxers and jumped in the water. Eleanor stripped down to her undies, too, and went in a ways, but it was very rocky and difficult to swim in without water shoes. I opted to just dip my feet in, because my clothes weren't going to be easy to dry if I got in. We had a funny moment when Eleanor was getting her shorts back on. We had her take off her underwear and go commando. Just as she bent over, bare ass to the lake, a woman on the kayak came riding by from behind a rock. She immediately looked away and said sorry, and we all had a good laugh. When we all got back in the boat, we had 30 minutes to get it back to the dock or we would be charged $100. We thought the wind was against us on the way out, but it appeared to be against us on the way back. We had to give it our Deadpool "maximum effort" and hightail it back. We made it right on time. 

Will wanted to do more swimming, with his suit on this time. It was already 7, and I really thought we should get back since we have to still get dinner and want to get on the road tomorrow. But since it was our last chance and the kids will be in the car a ton tomorrow, they got in their suits. I stayed dressed and watched from shore. Kinda wish I had gone in and just skipped the shower tonight. Oh well. 

Now we are heading back to base camp. We will probably just grab some soup from Albertson's for dinner. It will be almost 9 when we get back and no one is going to want to cook/do dishes at the camp sink down the way. I do wish we had one more day here. We didn't even go on the east drive at all, though looking at the mountains on our side, I think this is the prettier side. I love the rocky, snowy peaks. They are just beautiful. 

We got some news today about our kitchen remodel. Not surprisingly, our contractor discovered some very bad, unsafe, and illegal electrical work. He was having trouble with the electrical and ended up needing to take down more of the kitchen wall to see what was underneath. He found open boxes covered in plywood or something. Whatever it was, it was wrong, and a big fire hazard. It will all be replaced and up to code now, but it's another set back. Our appliances were going to be delivered Tuesday, now it will be Friday. We are at least glad that now everything will be done safely. 

Our plan now is to drive 80, stop somewhere for the night, and then cut north on some interstate (35 in Iowa I think) to 90 and head to the lake for one night. We plan to be home Wednesday. Not sure if we will be staying at our house that night, but we have a lot of offers of where we can stay, so we will see what's happening at the house. Our contractor Lance will be working this weekend and hoped to have everything re-dry walled by Tuesday. All a part of this renovation business. The excitement of the kitchen stuff helps make leaving this trip bearable. That, and the fact that we are all exhausted. As usual, we need a vacation from our vacation. Good thing we're teachers! Ha! 

Day 12 - Tetons

Well, it's easy to get an early start when you start waking up at 5 am with a crowing of a rooster. An actual rooster. We had seen some wandering in the cabin front yards and didn't think much of it. The kids thought it was great to see chickens just running free. This morning, at 5 am, though, not so cool. We were all up by 7:30. The night got pretty chilly, as predicted. At 4 am, Eleanor got Will up to use the bathroom. I think she wore her robe outside. At 5, with the rooster, Ethan asked to come down and sleep in our bed because he kept hitting his head on the ceiling from the top bunk. So I spent the last 2 hours of the early morn in the top bunk. I actually felt quite cozy in there, though, and fell asleep a couple times between rooster crows. But Will said Ethan stole his blanket and he was left freezing. All in all, not the greatest night, but we did get a solid 6 or 7 hours, even Will, which we didn't expect. I just keep telling myself...we're saving $400, we're saving $400. Not gonna lie, though, that I'm awfully jealous of the luxury cabins. They look like tiny houses with a loft, and a living room, kitchen, and bathroom downstairs. They are at least $250 a night, though, and not available. I want someone to invite me in, though, because I just wonder what they look like inside. 

Anyway, even though we hadn't showered last night, none of us showered in the morning because it was too cold. We left for the park around 8:30. It was probably about a 30 minute drive or so. Our first stop was at the Moose visitor center, where we got a map and watched a movie about the Tetons. I texted my best friend Sarah, who grew up coming here nearly every year, and asked what we should see in our two days here. She suggested a few hikes, one of which was Taggert Lake. It was just a bit further down the road, so we parked at the trailhead and got ready. The hike to the lake was 1.4. It was relatively easy, and very pretty. We went over several streams and mini waterfalls. There were some uphill struggle but not much. It was a fairly busy trail with a lot of people. At one point, we were in an area with flat land on either side. I was walking up ahead a bit with Ethan. I looked to my right and saw a dark mass in the trees. My first thought was bear, but I quickly saw it was a female moose. Our first moose! Ethan and I backed up slowly because they say at least 25 yards from animals (farther for bears), and we were probably between 10 and 15 away. A man was coming toward us, so I told him. He watched for a bit and then decided to pass. More people came and we all kind of slowly walked past. The moose was happily eating some of a bush. We didn't see any young with her so felt safer passing. I, of course, snapped a couple of pics, too. We were so excited to see a moose! And I actually spotted it myself. 

We continued on, warning those passing us that they may run into a moose. When we got to the lake, it was super worthwhile, as usual. Mount Moran loomed above the lake, reflecting perfectly on the water. There was a big rock we could climb on, and we had our picture taken. Sadly, it's all pretty shadowy. We really haven't gotten a great family pic yet. We may have to photoshop ourselves into one of our landscape photos. We could go out the way we came, or do a longer hike (2.4) back. Will wanted to go the other way, so we did. Eleanor trudged along as usual, and it took over an hour, but it was certainly pretty. We came out on the other side of the lake, into a valley with stunning views of Mount Moran and, I think, the Grand Teton with the other two peaks that are with it to form The Cathedral. No wildlife spotting on this end of the hike.

Afterwards, we got in the car, intending to drive to Jenny Lake to eat. It's one of the larger lakes an has a lodge and shuttle boats. We ended up at a lake, but I realized that it wasn't Jenny, it was String Lake, just beyond Jenny, and actually the place Sarah had suggested we go for swimming. We had planned to go there after Jenny Lake. Will couldn't find parking so dropped us off. There were a lot of people going in and out with canoes, kayaks, and stand up paddle boards. Eleanor waded in a bit and collected another 100 rocks. When Will got to us, we walked back to the car, which was at Jenny Lake lodge and got changed into our suits. We stopped at an overlook to see the real Jenny Lake first, which is pretty big. Then we went back to String Lake.

We walked along the path and found a nice spot to set up and go in the water. Ethan, who was cranky, stayed out and read at first, so Will, Eleanor, and I went in. It was chilly, but certainly not the coldest mountain lake we've been in by far. I guess the reason it's a popular swimming spot is because it's not as cold because it's very shallow. Will was the first to go under and swim out. In the very middle, it was not far above his waist. I followed soon after. Going under was startling, but was also refreshing. And then coming out and looking at the massive mountains on 2 sides, glaciers looking down on us, it was another one of those places I took a lot of mental pictures. From shore, I took real pictures, too. I got out after a while and warmed up in the hot sun. It was probably the prettiest place I've ever sunbathed. Eventually, Ethan went in the water, too, though not for long.

After we warmed up, we walked back to the car and then drove to the Jenny Lake Visitor's Center to get a different view of the lake. Eleanor and I walked down to feel the water, and she found 100 more rocks for her growing collection. At one point on our hike today, her pants fell down because they were weighed down with rocks. I'm not sure how we will drive them all home, but she sure does love them. 

We are in the town of Jackson now, and will stop at the grocery store (our daily task it seems) to grab a few things for fire tacos/quesadillas. We collected a lot of dry wood in the Tetons today, determined to not pay for firewood again. The bundles at the KOA are $8 and pretty much last one fire. They also charge for bad coffee in the morning. I am sleeping in a terribly uncomfortable bed in a cabin with a broken screen and walking 200 yards to go to a shared bathroom. I'm not paying them any more money than we have to! 

We barely scratched the surface of the Tetons today, and I'm a little sad we only have one full day here left. We can't see it all. We talked to a ranger today, who suggested a cool canyon hike we may do tomorrow. We will also probably drive up to Jackson Lake, which makes Jenny lake look like a puddle. 

At the same time, we have been living out of a suitcase for almost a month, and being in close quarters with each other is taking its toll. Ethan and Eleanor are bickering more the last few days. I think Will and I have decided to drive home via 80, instead of going back up north and going into North Dakota. We have seen some amazing things, but it's time to come home. By next week, our appliances should be in and house livable. It will be a big mess at home, but the dust will have settled, and we can sleep in our own beds. 

Day 11 - Drive to Tetons and KOA cabin

Our drive to Jackson was pretty quick and easy. We opted to go the faster way. We really debated driving through the park, but, ultimately, Will decided we would go through Idaho. And now we can say we've been in Idaho, not that we even stepped out of the car. The drive was pretty. Lots of open land, ranches, and the Tetons on our left. The Tetons appear to be taller mountains than those in Yellowstone, and many have snow on top. Crossing over from Idaho to Wyoming, you drive through a mountain pass. It was gorgeous, but a lot scarier driving for Will than Yellowstone. We started going uphill. I think the signs said it was a 10% grade. Well, what comes up, must come down. The second part of the mountain pass was a steep decline. You could smell people's breaks working hard. Ours were replaced last year, so hopefully we are good. I have a feeling Teton driving is going to be more difficult on the car than Yellowstone. 

Once we were out of the mountain pass, we were in Jackson fairly quickly. We found the world's nicest Albertson's and grabbed lunch. Ethan got a box full of chicken wings, bone in and boneless. The kid was hungry! Eleanor got soup, I got a salad, and Will got a sandwich. We ate outside. We had planned to go to our KOA but it was still another 20 minutes south, and Grand Teton is at least 20 minutes north of Jackson. So we decided to go to this Jackson Mountain Lodge. Will had read that after 4, they had free gondola rides. There are trails to go up, easy, medium, and hard. We figured we would go up one trail and then take the gondola down. 

When we got there, we learned that the free gondola didn't start until 5. It wasn't quite 3 yet. The Jackson Mountain Lodge is basically a huge luxury ski resort. There were different lodging buildings, shops, and activities galore. Right way, the kids saw a bungee activity that was basically a trampoline and you were attached to bungee cords on either side so you can safely flip and go really high and stuff. There was also a rock climbing area with four sides of varying difficulty. The kids opted for the rock climbing, mostly because we told them to do that one. The other one had a line of kids and we figured the turn would be short. There was no one on the rock walls. And it turns out we were right. One of the teenage workers said they could pretty much just go as long as they wanted as long as there weren't others waiting. So each of them tried all four sides and stayed a good 25 minutes on the wall. One of the workers heard me say something about being from IL and asked where. He said he moved from Winnetka when he was in fifth grade. He went to Sacred Heart. Small world. I asked what brought his family to Jackson and he said, "Honestly, probably a mid-life crisis." He said his dad said they would go for a year and see how it went (the grandparents had a place there already), and now they bought a house and have been there 5 years.  Funny. 

(And now, here is mystery reader once again:

I don't know how Mom and Dad get so anxious about falling off mountains, and the Badlands and stuff. Well let me tell you, I was more anxious on this rock wall than both of them put TOGETHER. But yet they were taking pictures and encouraging me to go higher. I'm sure I looked completely safe from down there. But I honestly didn't feel comfortable with the high schoolers handling the other side of the rope. If they had a heart attack, or swat at a fly, or something, then Zing! I have two broken legs. I was a lot more comfortable with the one that wasn't run by a person. That way, the high schoolers could text their girlfriends while I reached the top. But my fingers ache from doing both. We stay in this next cabin for three nights. By day, we hike, but by night, we sleep. You probably wonder how we get around to all these places. Well, we do it in the K95 Toyota mobile. The main territory is the kid area. Entertainment including, Hamilton, Drawing, Beastie Boys, Rubik's Cube, Greg Russell, and other stuff. Sorry, we just got to our cabin. I would love to talk, but this is me, signing out.)

After rock climbing, we decided to do a hike. To go up to where the big gondola was going way up the mountain would have taken 3 hours or more. There was a shorter hike we could do that led to an open ski lift used for mountain bikers. We were allowed to use it going down though, and apparently going  down the lifts is always free. So we did this shorter hike that went a little ways up the mountain and then across. It was called 7 Bridges because you went over several small wooden platforms to avoid stepping into little waterfalls. The trail was thick with wildflowers and brush on either side. At one point, we went through a pretty section with ferns everywhere. We got to the ski lift, and dad closed his eyes and did it. It wasn't so bad because we weren't nearly as high as others we've been on, but he still didn't like it. He kept asking me to remind him that it was free to make him feel better. :) 

It was just a little after 4, so we killed some time exploring the resort and then we got in line for the free gondola. We weren't the only ones who like free. There was a decent line formed. Will was reading that they started doing this because there is a restaurant up at the top but business wasn't great. If you have to pay over $100 to get to a restaurant, I can believe it. We considered eating up there, but the menu for the outdoor cafe literally had 7 items on it: 3 flatbreads and 4 appetizers like edamame and French fries. We said, no thanks. Got a few pics from the top and went back down. 

Then we hit the Albertson's again for some hotdogs/sausages to grill up for dinner. I am finishing the blog from the picnic outside our cabin. I am watching the kids roast marshmallows after our dinner of chicken sausage and green beans. We have a fire pit with a grate, which I covered in foil to grill the sausage. Then I sautéed green beans in our stainless steel pan we brought. We also had good bread with butter. A great campfire dinner if I do say so myself. 

Our cabin is tiny. It's also crazy hot right now, but as it gets dark now there is a good breeze going, so I'm confident it will cool off. The cabin has a full bed and a bunk bed, about 4 feet apart. There is a bench between them. At the foot of the full bed, there's a large mini-fridge (bigger than a hotel fridge, thankfully) and a table. That's it. The bathroom is about 5 cabins down. The bathrooms are nice, though, at least. 5 rooms with a toilet, sink, and shower all in one. The mattresses look horrendous, like a foam bad inside of rubber, so I'm pretty sure neither Will nor I will sleep. This is when I'm glad that I got some red wine at the Albertson's. Right now, it's keeping me from a panic attack. Honestly, though, I think we will like it here. I can see the Snake River from where I type, and we have access just below our cabin. The kids were building a rock bridge while I got dinner started. We have a cute front porch with a wooden swing. 

When we got here, I noticed that our screen door was not attached on the top and sides. Worried that we would have mosquitoes bothering us all night, we told the people in the office. They came and taped it up for now. But we actually haven't noticed any mosquitos yet, surprisingly. Hopefully we will be okay. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty jealous of the people in the "luxury cabin" next door to us with AC, a tv, a loft, and a kitchenette. But for $100, it may not be worth it for the time we will spend here. Plus, this is good practice for camping for Will. He wanted to walk all our food to a grill on the other side of the camp instead of using the fire. For the kids and I, cooking over the fire is the fun part. What's not so fun is walking down the lane to do dishes in the camp sink, but it's not so bad. 

We do not have wifi in our cabin, only in the office. So I'm going to head there to post this with any luck. 

Day 10 - Last Day and Fun Meet Up

Another late start for us. I think the biggest advantage of having 5 full days here is that we didn't need to rush as much. I mean, we probably would have had fewer traffic jams had we gotten out earlier, but I also feel like we were more well rested and sane. We left at 10. I was on a mission to find the hike that led to an aerial view of the Grand Prismatic Spring. Apparently, people used to climb a hill to see it, making it an unofficial trail, but the park built an actual trail last year with a ledge at the top in order to keep people safe and protect the park. I'd read that it was off of the Fairy Falls trail an that you park at this Midway Geyser Basin, which is where the Grand Prismatic Spring is located. It was insanely crowded, so we parked on the road and walked toward the lot. But we couldn't find any trailhead and all we saw were the boardwalks for the springs. We could see the people up on a hill but couldn't tell how they got here. It was frustrating. So we trekked back to our car and went up the road. Sure enough, there was a full parking lot for the Fairy Falls trail. Oops. That is not what I had read, and the current map doesn't even have a dot for Fairy Falls. Annoying. 

The hike wasn't far and on a wide, sandy gravel path. About a half mile in, you turned and went up a steep hill. At the top, you were looking down on the Grand Prismatic Spring. You could see all the colors so well. It was awesome! We were able to get someone to take a pic of the four of us with the awesomeness in the background. We decided not to continue on to Fairy Falls because it was almost lunchtime, and Ethan really had to go to the bathroom. Seriously - every hike. He refuses to go in the pit toilets, so we moved on to the Old Faithful area. Ethan wanted to exchange the Yellowstone pin he got anyway because he wanted one with a bison since we'd seen so many. We hit the bathrooms, exchanged the pin, and I got a hat. Then we went to find a place to eat lunch. We'd had part of our lunch before our first little hike in case we had gone ahead, but we still had sandwiches to eat. We wanted to get to the West Thumb area, along Yellowstone Lake. 

A good friend from college, Marty, was in Yellowstone today with his wife Debbie and daughter Lauren. He'd commented on one of my Facebook post that they were coming Tuesday. Yesterday, he texted, asking for any suggestions. I gave him a few and also the link to this blog to get some ideas. I said it would be fun to meet up but with our departure times so random and the cell service in here, it would likely be hard to coordinate. And this place is HUGE. Well, after our  Grand Prismatic hike, I had a little service and texted that they should definitely do it. He texted back that they did it that morning and that they were in the West Thumb area. I texted back that we were headed there. We passed by the West Thumb Geyser Basin and went about a mile up the road and pulled off the road and just went down in this little area by the lake. Marty texted that they would wait for us. I asked if they were at the basin and said that we had passed it already. He said they would come to us. So they did, and we got to visit for 20 minutes or so. It was lovely to see them. We were continuing north, but they planned to go back out the way they came in, so we had to part ways. But how fun that we were able to meet up in this big park? I haven't seen them in several years. Wish we could have visited longer, but we both had drives ahead of us and they planned to do the Mystic Falls hike we did a few days ago. 

I'm wondering if they were able to do it, though, because we had rain come in shortly after we left them. But before that, we came across 3 elk, right off the road. Got some great pictures. Then we stopped off at this spot in Yellowstone Lake that had a sandbar going from one side of the inlet to another. It was cloudy at this point, and only high sixties with a breeze, so I had no desire to go in the water. But Eleanor did. Ethan skipped rocks while she got in her suit. She didn't last long, though. I think she would have stayed in, but we had storm clouds rolling in fast, and it started raining lightly, so we got back in the car. We drove up through Hayden Valley, which is home to many bison. At one point, we saw at least 50 off the road. 

There was one last thing I wanted to see that we hadn't stopped at a couple of days ago: Artist Paint Pots. Debbie said they stopped and it was really cool. She mentioned something about soup and stew. Well, it was raining as we approached, but I decided I would go see it regardless if anyone wanted to come. It's our last day here after all. The kids said they would come, so we grabbed umbrellas and set off. It was .6 miles down a trail. Once you got to it, there were boardwalks along the bottom and then you could go left or right to go up to another higher level. From the top, looking down was very neat. There were a lot of light green moss covered rocks, and all kind of small springs of different colors, hence the name of Artist Paint Pots. Then, we came to the soup and stew part. There was one spring of liquidy mud boiling; this was the soup. Next to it, a much thicker white mud stew was boiling. It was so cool! A circle would form and out would pop a string of mud. Sometimes it was small, other times a big blob of mud would come out. It kind of looked like frogs jumping sometimes. At one point, a blob of mud jumped so far it hit a guy next to us. Luckily, he had a raincoat on. The kids said it was the coolest thing they had seen in Yellowstone and didn't want to leave. Will had stayed in the car, saying he might catch up to us, but he hadn't come. We were sad for him to miss it. We stayed a bit longer than said goodbye and went back down the stairs. It had stopped raining, and there was faint rainbow, reminding me of our last night in Banff last year. We also got rain followed by a pretty rainbow in the mountains. My camera was acting up, so I'm not sure I got a good picture. At this point, the kids were convinced Will had to see it, so Ethan was going to run back to the car to get him. He didn't get far before Will was coming back. He had finally set off when the rain ended. So we went back up to show him. I'm not sure he was as impressed by it as me and the kids, but I think he's glad he saw it too. I'm so glad we decided to stop, especially since the kids loved it so much. It was a great way to end our trip here. 

Will was commenting on the sheer amount of driving we have done on this trip because the park is so vast, but it just hasn't seemed nearly as bad to me as some of our other trips. Maybe because the drives are easier and not as claustrophobic. Besides when we were in traffic, we were rarely in the car for more than 30 minutes at a time. And there's so much to see out the window! Maybe it's because he did all the driving in the park. I've offered, but he is more comfortable driving I think. 

We could go through Yellowstone and out the south entrance tomorrow and then drive through the Tetons to our place in Jackson, but Will decided we will do it on the main highway. For some reason, the 14 mile stretch from the west entrance to the loop always takes at least 30 minutes, and the part we'd have to drive through the park goes through the Old Faithful area, which can also be congested. Just now, we turned onto the road out of the park and we are going 5 miles an hour with a huge line of cars ahead. It is likely the fact that everyone is leaving the park right now. That, and there may be wildlife delays. (Update: It was an elk delay. We blew past. We already saw elk and they were a lot closer. Ha ha!)

It really was a wonderful visit to Yellowstone. Our place was nice and close, we saw more than we thought we would, the extreme wildlife viewing was something new, and we had some awesome hikes. Now, on to the next adventure in the Tetons!

Day 9 - Anniversary Hike and Float

First of all, a very happy birthday to my dear friend, and most loyal blog reader, Susie! I hope it was a fun day filled with all your favorites. Love you!

We had a relatively short day in the park today. We definitely got our latest start, too. Will and I slept until about 8. And we let Eleanor sleep until 9:30. There was a little drizzle, so we weren't in a hurry. Will made pancakes again. We left the cabin a little before 11. Our traffic today was at the entrance to the park. We waited probably 30 minutes to get up to the gate. I have no idea why it was so busy today. We hadn't ever had a long line of cars to get in. We thought maybe it was a backup from inside the park, but once we were through the gate, it was smooth sailing. Oh well. It also could have been that a lot of others waited until after the morning shower to come in. We'll never know. 

Our destination today was Purple Mountain. Will had read about the Mount Washburn hike, but when we drove past it late yesterday, the road was closed. I looked it up last night and found out that the service road and trail was closed on July 12th for improvements or something. Ethan was bummed. But it did say on the website to try Bunsen (did it yesterday), Avalanche (did part of that on our way in to the park last Friday - very steep and we didn't have time/weren't prepared to do whole thing), or Purple Mountain. So we set our sights on Purple Mountain. This was is a 6 mile round trip hike, though, as it is 3 miles to the top, so a full mile longer up than Bunsen. Ethan was determined, though, so we said, let's do it!

With our traffic jam getting into the park, and a 20 minute drive to the trailhead, it was already noon, so we ate part of our lunch stuff before starting the hike. Then we got ready with bug spray, etc. We made sure to pack not only Ethan's small water bottle this time, but also one of our big bottles, too. Yesterday, we were out of water at the top. We started off but I realized early on that we forgot to put on sunblock. It had been cloudy and I meant to just pack it to put on later but forgot. So Ethan and I went back to the van and got sun blocked. We told Will and Eleanor to go on and that we would catch up. When we were back on the trail, it took us a full 15 minutes to catch up to them, meaning Eleanor was really motoring. She was also motor-mouthing, Will said, and was providing their bear repellant by keeping her mouth moving at all times. They do say to talk on your hikes to warn any wildlife you're coming. She's likely more effective than bear spray. 

When we caught up to them, we passed them and told them we would see them later. They weren't sure if they would try to get to the summit. This trail was a lot more closed in than yesterday's trail. There were tall pine trees on both sides of it for most of the hike. After about a mile and a half, these very long switchbacks started. You would likely go 300 meters before you would turn and do it again. It wasn't very steep, maybe 10 percent grade, but it was just long, and the switchback above was so much higher. They were really far apart. For the last mile or so, the trail wasn't very wide, and off the one side, you would have a decent slide down sandy rock. I wasn't anxious, but wondered if Will would make it that far. 

Ethan and I had set a goal of getting up in an hour twenty minutes. I had my GPS app tracking us, so every five minutes it would tell us how far we'd gone at what pace. Ethan lagged behind a bit, but we did little bursts of "maximum effort," and we made it to the top in an hour eighteen minutes. We were a bit disappointed that this peak didn't have a little house with a sign and hikers log like Bunsen Peak. But, we had the top to ourselves. I seem to get good cell service at the top, and I texted Diane to ask her to Google the elevation for us. She came through, of course: 8392 feet. And we climbed about 1500 feet from the bottom. The GPS app said we'd gone 3.2 miles. We took some video, pictures, and enjoyed some well-deserved water and a snack. Ethan was really determined to do an Instagram Live video, but my cell service had disappeared, so we weren't able to. 

Our walk down was uneventful, and quiet, as we were pretty tanked. It took us an hour and four minutes. So you really don't gain that much time going down. Maybe if it had been a lot steeper we would have. When we got back, Will and Eleanor were finishing up some lunch. They had only been back 15 minutes, apparently. Eleanor informed me that she had really wanted to go all the way but that dad had to stop at 2.6 miles. They were less than half a mile from the top, but his anxiety with the narrow trail got the best of him. Had he not had Eleanor to worry about, he could have done it, he said, but he was holding onto her hand. I was really impressed that Eleanor made it that far and had wanted to keep going, too. She might be a hiker yet! Ethan and I had a little more lunch and then we drove off to find a place to jump in the water. 

We decided to go back to the Firehole River, knowing that it was warm and the kids had really loved going in the other day. We found a spot to park just off the road that had a little area to access it. The kids thought it didn't look "rapidy" enough, but it looked a bit deeper than the last time we went in so we gave it a try. Well, it may not have looked very "rapidy," but the current was strong. I got in and went to the middle and could hardly walk against it. I tried swimming but it was like one of those indoor personal pools where you can just keep swimming but never go anywhere. About 100 yards ahead of where we were, it definitely got rougher and it looked like it may have even had a small little waterfall, so we gave the kids a spot they couldn't go past. Eleanor really wanted to find a log to float on, and there were some on the other side of the river. So I started that way, but it got deeper and soon I was in to my neck and was having a hard time going against the current. To make matters worse, Eleanor came to join me, so I had to grab onto her and try to get us both to where I could stand better and move against the current. I panicked a little and called for Will to help, but I was able to get over to the side quickly and get out of trouble. No waterfall rides for us. Don't worry, grandparents: we weren't even close. 

We stayed in the water for maybe 25 minutes. The kids would walk back a ways, and then they would float to Will and I and we would catch them. I told them all to take a few mental pictures. In the fall, when I'm super overwhelmed with 3 classes to prep for, in addition to my normal life, I will return to my float on the Firehole River for sure. 

The water was very warm but outside the water it was only in the low 70s with a breeze, so it was freezing when you came up out of the water. You had to stay in the water to keep warm. Finally, we were all chilly enough to want to get out and get dressed. I used the skills taught me by my California cousins to change out in the open, under a towel. I'm also teaching Eleanor these skills. The boys choose the minivan. :) 

At this point, it was a quarter to 5. Will suggested we head for home, surprisingly. It would be our earliest departure. But we definitely made the right decision. We have been home for a 30 minutes, and the wind just picked up significantly. Will looked at the radar, and a storm is coming. We can't even keep the grill lit right now, so we may be doing our frozen burgers in a skillet. We stopped at the store on the way out to try to find some chocolate cake. Today is our 14th Anniversary, and chocolate cake is a tradition of ours, starting way back in China on our 1st anniversary in Beijing. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a good chocolate option, so he got a lemon meringue pie instead. That will do, and I think the kids will like it. We have a few champagne flutes here, so we will do an anniversary toast during our fancy burger and fry dinner. :) All of our anniversaries spent traveling are good, so I'm not complaining. I did a six mile hike, and floated in a mountain river today. It's a win!

With that, I will sign off and post this so I can just relax the rest of the evening. 

Day 8 - Bison Backups, Peaks, and More

We are barely in the park, but I'm starting the blog entry because I have nothing else to do. We've been sitting/barely moving for about 10 minutes. We assumed there was some kind of animal backup, since this has happened a few other times, though not this extreme. Thankfully, some lady just drove by going the other way and yelled out, "Bison!" We are wondering if there are some blocking the road as well as right off the side. There are signs everywhere indicating that vehicles are not to stop along the side of the road to view wildlife and to use pullouts, but no one seems to pay any attention to that. We're now going but 3 miles an hour. At this point, there is no way that the backup isn't all the way back at the entrance, so hopefully some rangers have gotten involved. We just increased to 15 and climbing. Stay tuned! Slower again. But we were just saying it could be worse: we could be on 290. At least we have mountains and trees galore out all the windows. Both kids are drawing. Ethan is making a great scene of Old Faithful. He has a crowd of tiny people and is interspersing random people in between like Santa, a man in a banana costume, Trump, Snape, a unicycler, and more. It's pretty funny. We have been in this jam for over a half hour and haven't seen what is causing it. I'm laughing thinking about how my dad's anger would have been bubbling at this point with outbursts every once and a while. There may have been some slapping of the steering wheel with a "God Dammit," followed by a scolding "Jeff!" from my mom. Lisa would be threatening vomit from the backseat, Malia would be telling us all what it probably is up ahead, and I would be sitting quietly in the middle seat, praying the rosary to the tune of Michael Bolton songs. :)

40 minutes later...we are moving! It was a big caravan of bison with about 5 babies. It was adorable, but I can't believe it caused that much of a backup. The must have been crossing the road at some point. You can't rush bison. 

To get out of the car after the unexpected traffic, we stopped at Gibbon Falls. It's not a trail, but sits right off the road, and there is a path built up along the road to see it. It's very pretty. Not very tall, but quite wide, and the mountains behind it makes for a great view. We were able to grab our first picture of the four of us here. We need to be better about asking people for a picture. I'm regretting that we didn't get a family photo in front of Grand Prasmatic Spring. 

After Gibbon Falls, we made a pit stop and then continued north. Unfortunately, we hit another traffic jam of sorts, this time due to construction. The road was torn up and unpaved, so it was slow going. And it was only one way. Luckily, we must have gotten in line behind the "pace car" and didn't have to stop on the one end. It was probably only 3 miles long, but it took us a good 20 minutes. 

We found a spot to have a picnic lunch. I believe it was called Obsidian Cliff. There was a cliff of black rock with a lot of boulders at the bottom. We shared a picnic table with a couple from California with a small daughter. They had just gotten in last night and are staying in Gardiner, which is at the north entrance. We said good luck heading south in the construction. 

The kids really wanted to find another creek to swim in, but we wanted to find a hike first to work our bodies a bit before a water break. The thing about the map they give you at Yellowstone is that it doesn't have trailheads on it. There are places marked where you pull off the road for different sights, but you kind of just happen upon hikes by driving past a trailhead sign. (Will says the website isn't very helpful in terms of trails, either, and he wants Diane's company to take over the website and fix it. Get on that, Diane.) We saw a sign up the road for Bunsen Peak, so we pulled off and parked. The sign said it was 2.1 miles, meaning it would be 4.2 miles round trip. That is less than what we did yesterday, so we set off. The only one not too sure was Eleanor. She can go long distances, but she does it slowly, and talking - a lot. Every twenty steps she takes a water break, or a Red Vine break, or a picking sage break, or a "can I take a picture of this flower" break. It can take forever. Shortly after starting the hike, Ethan and I made a pact to make it to the summit, provided it the trail didn't turn too dangerous. 

The beginning section of the hike was a lot of meadow just filled with sage bushes. They were everywhere. It was also filled with mosquitos and horse flies. We bathed in deet to discourage the mosquitos, and it helps a bit with the flies. Some of them just circle your head for a while. I find running fast and screaming a little helps. For a while, Ethan and I would walk ahead and then stop to wait for Will and Eleanor. Early on, there were couple of spots with a narrower trail with maybe a 45 degree angle drop off the side. Not as bad as yesterday, though, and Will was able to do it. When we had gone almost a mile, I told Will we were going to go ahead. He kept going for a bit more with Eleanor before turning back. Ethan and I trudged along. It was a decent incline then with a lot of switchbacks as we climbed. One section was all pine trees close to the trail on both sides. It smelled like Christmas! Toward the end, the entire trail is made from large, broken rocks. Ethan said, "They should call these the Rocky Mountains." I responded, "Well, they do call these the Rockies." He didn't know it was the same range as in Rocky Mountain National Park. I explained that the mountains in Glacier and Banff were also part of the Rockies. The more you know. Anyway, we huffed and puffed, and finally made it to the top. There were few people there already, resting at this little log house. You couldn't go in the house, but it had a sign with the Peak's name and elevation. When Ethan saw "Elev," he said, "Wait, there's an elevator?!" We wish! At the top, we took some pictures, video, and just took in the view. It was pretty awesome. We could see several other peaks as well as the Mammoth Spring area down the road. It's rare on these trips that we are able to get to the very top of a mountain, so it was awesome to summit. I knew I could count on my hiking buddy. 

I actually like going up more than I like going down. I like feeling the burn, as they say, and the challenge of doing something hard. And, really, going down is harder on my body. It hurts my knees and that's when I feel rubbing of my toes inside my hiking boots. But since there wasn't an elevator, we had no choice but to go down. I started at timer, and it took us 45 minutes to go down. The whole trip took us an hour and fifty minutes, which means the way up didn't take us that much longer than the way down, especially since part of the way up was waiting for Eleanor to catch up. And we were at the top for at least 10 minutes, too. 

Of course, this 2 hour hike took up a big chunk of the day since it was close to 4 when we were done. Ethan really needed a bathroom, so we went north to the Mammoth Springs area that has all kids of shops and things. After bathroom duty (and doody) was taken care of, we walked over to the Mammoth Spring formations. I had read that the spring formations here were unlike anything else in Yellowstone. And the book was right. We saw this crazy, white thing that looked looked like icy stairs. At the top, there was water coming out and another spot at the bottom, too. It was cool enough to take video of. Again, it looked like another planet. It's wild to see these features juxtaposed with the green pine trees beyond. 

At this point, we needed to decide if we were going to go back the way we came (with the construction) or head east and do the entire top loop, knowing we probably wouldn't stop too much, but also knowing we may not have another chance to see some of the things along this route. We decided for the latter. Mammoth Springs is where you go to from the North Entrance. Since we knew the drive would take us some time, we grabbed dinner at a "grill" in the Mammoth Springs area. It was not great food, and NP food never seems to be in our experience. But waiting until after at least 8 for dinner didn't seem like a great option. 

I am actually typing from this part of the blog now from the northern part of the loop. I am typing blindly while looking at the ridiculous views. I am SO glad we took this route. It is GORGEOUS. There are really expansive views of the mountain peaks. It's different from other parts of the park. First, we went downhill quite a bit and made good time across to Tower Falls, which is at the northeast corner of the loop. At one point, a coyote went across the road just in front of us. Then, right before Tower Falls, a fox ran across the road. As we walked to down the short path to the falls, we could see people taking pictures, and they were pointing them right off the path. We looked to our left, and there was Mr. Fox, chilling in the tall grass, just a few feet away. Snapped a quick pic and skedaddled. He went across the path, full of people, again and went down the hill. That was our first fox encounter. Oh, and I forgot that we also saw mountain goats today on the way to Mammoth Springs. We basically spot all our wildlife by seeing other people taking pictures of wildlife. Sadly, we missed a moose today, I think. People were on the opposite side of the road from us taking pics. We slowed down and someone said moose. We had people behind us, though, and there wasn't a pullout to park safely at, so we had to keep moving. Will saw something but thought it was a deer. Now he's mad we may have had a chance for our first moose. We still have a couple days. For those of you keeping track, we've now seen plenty of bison, mountain goats, elk, a coyote, and a fox. I also saw a prairie dog at Tower Falls, but no one else did. Later, we saw a buck out in a field. It was hard to tell, even with the zoom lens, but it had antlers, but didn't have the darker face of an elk.

We are now almost to our last stretch of road, heading to the east entrance. It will be close to 9 when we get home, and both kids could use a shower. We had a later start today and were delayed by the traffic, so I guess that makes sense. It's just so hard to skip seeing things. And...we just ran into what appears to be another wildlife traffic jam. We have officially come full circle. Ha! It appears to be the same caravan of bison. Thankfully, it was a lot shorter slowdown. 

And now, mystery writer would like to write about the hike too. But mystery writer may not be as mysterious now since only two of us went up all the way. Here s/he is:

Howdy from the middle of Yellowstone National Park. Currently you probably know who I am considering the fact that Will is driving, Michelle just finished typing, and Eleanor is totally freaked out by her previous attack. She was listening to Disney princess music, and then she started screaming. She screamed three times, shocking everyone in the car. Will stopped the car, and everyone starting wondering what was happening, and then she shouted, "THERE'S A BEE IN THE CAR!!" I stared at her and she started pointing to the floor, where I saw a bug that was lying on it's back. It flipped over, revealing an orange and black striped back, and crawled out of sight. Oh, and I forgot about the sound. News flash: Eleanor kept screaming and screeching, the whole time. Long story short, we got the bug out of the car. Now, what was I supposed to talk about? Oh yes, Bunsen Peak. Me (totally not Ethan) and Michelle hiked up to a peak today. You can see pictures on her Instagram feed. So all four us hiked about 0.8 miles, and Will and Eleanor decided to bail out, and Michelle and Ethan went on (like usual). It was very rocky, and very tiring. Not to mention exhilarating. We went up over 8,000 feet, but the view was totally worth it. We finished our dinky bottle of water up at the top, meanwhile Will and Eleanor were in water galore down at the van. And now, mystery writer would like to write about the hike too. But mystery writer may not be as mysterious now since only two of us went up all the way. Here s/he is: The hike down was much faster, and we go down quick.

Day 7 - Geysers, Springs, Mud Pots, and more

We didn't get out quite early enough this morning to do a ranger walk at Old Faithful, but we did manage to get out of the house by 8:30. And that was after pancakes and sausage for breakfast. It was our first hot breakfast for a while, other than the one we had for dinner. We drove in the west entrance and at the fork went south toward Old Faithful (so we were on the bottom left of the 8 shaped loops). 

Firehole falls was our first accidental stop because I thought it was the Firehole loop I had read about. It was just a short, one way road that took you past a small waterfall along the Firehole River. Worth getting out of the car for a picture, at least.

Now, what sets Yellowstone apart from all other parks we've seen is all the geothermal activity. Ethan and I saw a movie today that said there are more hydro/geothermal spots in Yellowstone than all other places combined: over 10,000. I believe it because you can see little steam vents from the road all over. There are several spots you can get out and walk on boardwalks around some of these hot springs, mud pots, and steam vents. The first one we got out at was the Lower Geyser Basin. This place was home to the Fountain Paint Pots, named such because the bubbling mud looks like it's latex paint. It is otherworldly and looks like something out of some kind of sci fi movie. Other spots, you have big holes in the ground the bluest water, but it's bubbling and steaming. Some are just hot, others are hot and extremely acidic. Needless to say, you do not leave the boardwalk anywhere near these things. Little rivers form outside the springs, and they are orange and yellow and all different colors. As with all things on these trips, the pictures will not do them justice.

The next set of hot springs, et cetera, was at the Biscuit Basin, and Will had read about a hike to Mystic Falls from this spot, so we stopped. First, we were up on more boardwalks, looking at different shapes and sizes of geo/hydrothermic areas. There was one geyser that went off fairly often, just not very high. There were other bubbling ponds with deep blue color and what sort of looks like white coral under the water. Past the boardwalk, the trail toward Mystic Falls started. It was about a mile hike, two out and back. It was a fairly easy trail and the payoff was great: the falls were beautiful. We were able to walk up higher and see them from a different vantage point. There was a sign that said to keep going up for the Biscuit Basin Lookout, which we took to mean the place we had parked our car. Back at the bottom, there had been two ways to get to the falls, one longer than the other. We assumed this was just the longer one and we could get back that way. The trail quickly became a switchback trail, high up, and Will started to freak out a bit. It had been his idea to go that way and not back the way we came, but he didn't realize how the trail was going to change. I wasn't all that nervous, but Will had to lean over and touch the side of the mountain. At one point he was sitting down sort of and saying he might turn back. I knew he was afraid of heights, but I was surprised by his reaction. Poor guy! He decided to keep going, and after a few switchbacks, the trail leveled off and there was not as much of a drop-off. Just when he was feeling safe, though, Will realized he lost his knife he had in his pocket. He told us to stay there and that he would be right back. So the kids and I took a 15 minute rest while he retraced his steps. He had to go back over the scary part. I tried calling him after a while to see if he just was going back the way we came and if we should go on. He answered on the third try (not sure how we had service on a mountain), and said he was one his way back, without the knife. I joked to the kids that it was probably in the car. 

We continued on the hike and it kept getting higher and higher. We were essentially on top of this small mountain. Finally, we reached Biscuit Lookout, which was just that, a lookout down to where our car was. Oops. Fortunately, we were able to find the spot to go down that was the other trail. Not so fortunately, it was similar to the part of the trail dad hated, with a narrow trail off of a somewhat steep cliff. It really wasn't that bad and a fall would not have led to death. You would have been bruised and battered, not much else. We finally made it down with surprisingly happy kids still and hightailed it to the car. Will immediately looked for his knife and found it in between the seat middle console. Ha! Will had logged our hike on his gps app Strava. Our 2 mile hike more than doubled, and we ended up going 4.8. The kids were champs. 

Hungry champs. We all were. It was well after 1 o'clock. We hit the road and drove to Old Faithful, which has it's own big area with a lodge, grocery, visitor's center, etc. The parking lot is huge to accommodate everyone. Eleanor and I waited in a line for the bathrooms - surprise - and then we ate lunch from rocking chairs on the steps of the store. Just as we started lunch, we saw Old Faithful go off over the roofs of buildings ahead of us. I wish we would have known and we would have walked to it first, before lunch. Because it went off, we had to wait until hour and half or so. I decided ice cream was necessary to kill some time. Ethan got mountain berry (delicious), and Eleanor got strawberry (also yummy). Then we went to the visitor's center. Will saw there was a junior ranger program going on, so we walked over to learn a bit. Ethan and I left early to watch a Yellowstone movie they were playing a half hour before Old Faithful. I was interested in the movie, but, admittedly, I also just wanted to sit down for a bit. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. 

We met up outside of Old Faithful. All around it, there are benches set up, but they were in the sun so we waited on some shaded logs a bit off. Faithful was predicted to blow at 3:22, give or take 10 minutes. We got a good spot a few minutes before it was set to blow. Sadly, Old Faithful was not so faithful this time. We waited at least 15 minutes after its predicted time. Will kept a running commentary of jokes while we waited. Every once and a while, it would spit out a bit of water and everyone's cameras would go up and there would be a collective whoop. Then it wouldn't continue and cameras would go down once more. Finally, Old Faithful gathered enough anger to spout off. A ranger said it blows from 100 to 180 feet. I have no idea how far the geyser went up today, but it was impressive and fun to watch. Another bucket list item. Though I'll tell you there are far cooler things here than Old Faithful. 

Cooler, or much hotter, like the Grand Prismatic Spring. Do me a favor and stop reading and Google Grand Prismatic right now. Click on images. That is what we saw on our way out today. It is gorgeous! You're not that much higher than it when you walk around it, though, so I may see if there's a spot to go where you can see it from a more arial view. But even our view was so dang cool. I saw pictures of it months ago, and this was pretty much the Yellowstone feature I was looking most forward to seeing. Yay!

To end our day, we wanted to find a place to dip our feet in some water. The day started cool but got warm and our tootsies could use a good soak. Will found a pullout along the Firehole River. The water wasn't all that cold at all (likely due to very hot water from the hot springs flowing in up River), and Eleanor changed into her suit right away. Normally, Will would be next, but he stayed in his clothes. I decided, what the heck, and changed into my suit quickly. We had water shoes, luckily, because the bottom was all rock. The water felt great. Not warm, but not bitter cold. It wasn't very deep and had a decent current. I went on my back and let the current take me downriver a few yards until it was more shallow and my backside was hitting rocks. Very fun! I did this a few times and then got out to dry off a bit. The kids stayed in another 20 minutes, having a blast.

Now we are in the last few miles of our drive out of the park. We will stop at the grocery (again) for a few things we forgot. Tonight's menu is tacos. We were determined to get back to the cabin a bit earlier tonight so that we can have dinner done and kids reading by 8:30. If we want to get out of the house earlier, we need to get to bed earlier. It's hard sometimes not to keep seeing one more thing, but I'm glad we have another few days here. We have lots of time to explore. Not sure which way we will go tomorrow, but I know Will wants to find a lake to swim in possibly.