Out West Trip | 4

On Thursday, June 19, we entered Yellowstone National Park.  

This is such a typical picture as we drove through the park... people at every window, searching for wildlife.

 

We were rewarded with many animal-spottings... elk, bison, antelope, mule deer, etc.

This bison was wandering around the park full of people... crazy buffalo.

 

We visited Old Faithful, of course.

 

And got to watch this castle geyser blow too...

 These hot springs are absolutely mesmerizing... hot water just bubbling out of the earth?! 

 ...steam seeping out of the ground?!

 God's creation is incredible!

The next day we decided to go exploring for some hot springs of our own.  We pulled off the side of the road and went crashing through a small pine forest and over a marsh and arrived at some very hot, very sulfery water.  This little adventure was so much fun!

That day at lunchtime, we once again pulled off the side of the road... this time it was beside a small river (or a big creek).  Dad went to make sure there was a nice place to eat, and we toted our picnic lunch down to the water's edge.  We sat on the rocks and ate, then waded in the water a bit before we had to move on.

We stayed at my dad's cousin's house that night in Montana, and the next day, we started traveling east!!!

Saturday, we arrived at Mt. Rushmore after traveling almost all day long.  It had been raining, so those poor faces look all streaked up.

 Then we were off on another adventure... an attempt to find a campground for the night.  We took a very narrow, windy, and long road.  Poor Gus could barely make it around some of the hairpin curves and through these narrow tunnels... then it started to hail hard and rain too!   Needless to say, we were so relieved when we finally arrived safely at a campground that night.

 

We had such a relaxing day Sunday... just sitting around camp... eating, reading, and playing games...

 ...double-dutching, blowing bubbles, and making sidewalk chalk outlines of ourselves... just for fun :)

 

On Monday, we visited Bear Country in South Dakota.  We hadn't spotted any bear at Yellowstone, so we went here and saw many bears!  My highlight was all these baby bears playing in this tree... they were all so cute!

One last bumper sticker...

 

 We drove east most of the day Tuesday and stopped to see friends in Iowa that night!  It was so much fun connecting with Trina again!  On Wednesday Dad got up early to start driving while we kids slept in.  We got to Caleb & Sandra's place in time for lunch and were there for supper too.  We went out for ice cream with Tony & Joyce that night after supper and spent our last night parked close by.  This sweet little girl is my cousin's daughter Jackie.  She is so much fun!

Thursday, June 26, found us headed towards home!  ...that is, after we got breakfast dishes done and the tour of my cousin's workplace done.  We didn't start for home until around noon, and from the moment we were on the home stretch, we just couldn't get there fast enough.  Most of us were so ready to be home!

And here we finally are... 6:00 PM. home at last. safe and sound. no major break downs or accidents.  Praise the Lord!

...gotta love all those bumper stickers :)

What a wonderful trip it was!  ...such an amazing time of connecting with family, making memories, laughing and talking, breathing in beauty everywhere, seeing a unique and different part of the country... wow.  I feel so privileged and grateful to be allowed such a blessing as traveling with my family!

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Never settle for less!