yellowstone

I declare Yellowstone National Park to be the best entertainment $25.00 can buy. Of course any vacation that includes a night at the C'mon Inn and another at the Starlite Skate is a guarenteed success. It was especially fun to see Callie and her sweetheart Luis. They drove down from Rexburg to join us at the skating rink. We stayed a night with Grandma and Grandpa Lundberg in Idaho Falls and went to church with them. One of the highlights of the trip for me was being able to hear Mom give a wonderful Relief Society lesson on tithing. It was so good I had her repeat it for the kids after church. We also had the pleasure of spending a little time with Bill and Juanita before their move back to Hawaii. After big plates of Grandma's yummy spaghetti and we then drove to West Yellowstone with the Winwards.


Monday we got off to an early start (Aunt Debbie was too excited to sleep) and we headed for Mystic Falls. We were very disappointed to discover the trail closed due to bear activity. Instead we hiked the loop to Old Faithful geyser, arriving just in time to see it blow. It is really awesome--no kidding. We ducked inside the old lodge to eat our lunch as it poured rain and finished just in time to see it blow again. This time, there was a double helping of licorice for the person who predicted the blast to the minute. After a morning of hiking we were tuckered out and spent the rest of the evening snuggled up watching movies and eating Aunt Debbie's delicious oreo bon bons. We took a moment to walk around the little town of West Yellowstone and found it delightfully unadulterated by strip malls or walmarts.

Tuesday we went North. The guidebook I had purchased promised a beautiful, scenic hike, but within a mile we were wet, muddy and freezing cold. Several children were in tears and there didn't seem to be anything enjoyable about it. I felt terrible, since I was the one leading the expedition. We were just about to give up when the wind died down a little and we started to smell that stinky rotten egg smell that signaled things were going to get interesting. Suddenly, great puffs of steam exploded right by our feet as we gingerly walked through what looked like the surface of the moon. At the end of the geyser field we came upon a beautiful sapphire colored lake bubbling with warm water and covered with lily pads. It was gorgeous. About a mile past the lake, the path led us to an incredible view of Yellowstone Canyon. It was more colorful that the Grand Canyon and every bit as breathtaking. We hiked all along the canyon with each view more beautiful than the last. Finally we ended up at the head of a mighty waterfall at least 100 feet taller than Palouse Falls. All of a sudden what had started out as a horrible hike turned out to be the most amazing journey. You can bet there were gospel parallels made that night! On the way home we stopped to check out the world's biggest geyser as well as the mudpots and then headed home to sing happy birthday to Aunt Debbie.

Wednesday the Dad's made us a big ol pancake breakfast. I went for a great run in a beautiful place, and after a rousing soccer game in the park, we said goodbye to our cousins and headed home.