Wedding Trip: Part 1: getting there day 3. Yellowstone

Day three of our trip to Idaho on Monday July 15 th, had us going through Yellowstone. Before anyone asks.... No, this is not the most direct route for us to get from Chicago to Pocatello. But we had the time and despite my living so close to Yellowstone for several years I have never actually been there. So as we drove along route 80 on Sunday morning we decided 'why not!' And changed course to Yellowstone.

Early Monday morning we headed out from our motel in Cody, Wyoming and by 7 am we pulled up to the East entrance to Yellowstone. With only 6 hours to spend we had carefully planned out where we wanted to stop. The Park is huge and we only got to see a small sampling but it was quite awesome. My primary goals was to see the cool (or should I say HOT) geothermal features. We did however end up seeing a bear, rock chuck, deer, fawn, a ton of bison, eagles nesting, and elk with their antlers still in velvet. And of course I had to see old faithful!

Now for the pictures....let me tell you not easy to edit down my pictures to just several favorites!



a selfie taken at a small lake just inside Yellowstone



that little brown blob in the middle is actually a big ole bear. It was about this time I was really kicking myself in the butt for not having my big DSLR camera with me!!! These pics were all taken with my little point and shoot Olympus.



Yellowstone Lake



me and the hubby ;)




A bison enjoying the day at the boiling mud pits!




boiling mud pits with the Yellowstone River in the background




Fields of Bison just hanging out.




Bison calf causing a traffic jam!




Elk near the canyon waterfalls



Purple wild flowers growing over the edge at the top of the lower waterfall




if I had my big camera you would see the eagles nest with chicks on top of that rock outcropping in the middle of the frame, oh well, more self butt kicking




a great view of the lower waterfalls into the canyon.




geothermal vents near old faithful, they were all so beautiful and very varied. some of them were even boiling and spitting like small geysers.










and of course.... Old Faithful herself! Or maybe it himself or itself????



After leaving the park we headed south down through Teton National Park and Jackson Hole Wyoming and over into Idaho. We made it in time for dinner with my mother in law :) the only drawback to the entire day (other than not having more time and my big camera!) was traffic getting out of the park! The road was just full of these giant campers lumbering along the roads like big snails causing huge lines of cars backed up all over the place. I've never seen so many giant campers in one place!

- Posted by Steph from Siouxzeegirl Designs

Location:Pocatello, ID