Yellowstone Park--July 2011

This post is overwhelming to me simply because of the enormous number of pictures involved!  In July we had a wonderful trip to Yellowstone National Park with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Rocky.  We enjoyed so much beautiful scenery and saw quite a bit of wildlife, and since Sarah has become our family photographer we have more pictures than I know how to deal with!  Here are the highlights of our trip.

On the first night that we got there we decided to drive into the park a bit and see what we could find.  We really didn't expect to see much because it was later in the day, but we actually saw several animals and some amazing scenery.

The next morning we got up early and headed straight to Old Faithful.  We got there just in time to see the geyser erupt, and then we walked around to some of the other geysers in the area.

This is a squirrel that lives near Old Faithful.  It is a golden-mantled ground squirrel, and our girls were fascinated by it.  They named it "Goldie" and we have way to many pictures of her!

That day we also saw hot pots, beautiful waterfalls, and huge herds of buffalo.  It's difficult to describe the beauty unless you've actually been there.  The buffalo were walking all around our car, and if we had opened the window we could have touched them.

On Friday we went to the Bear and Wolf museum and preserve in West Yellowstone.  They have amazing exhibits and movies about the wolves and bears of the park, and they also have live grizzly bears and wolves.  It was an amazing place with a lot to see. 

On our last day in Yellowstone we drove into the Lamar valley.  We had heard that this was a good place to see lots of animals, and it really was. It was also absolutely gorgeous.  I would recommend it to anyone visiting the park.  We saw elk, buffalo, antelope, black bears, and even a baby grizzly bear!

Our last stop was Mammoth hot springs.  Again, the scenery was amazing and unlike any other part of the park. 

What a wonderful family vacation we had!  Thanks so much to Grandpa Rocky and Grandma Karen for planning this amazing trip that we will always remember!