West Yellowstone Part 5

After Grand Prismatic Springs we made our way to Old Faithful.  Once we made it to the visitor center, we signed the girls up for their Jr Ranger Program.  Joanna had no clue what was going on, but Vivian enjoyed it.  The girls filled out their booklet, listened to the national park ranger, then were sworn in as an 'official' Jr National Park Ranger.  It was really cute and the girls were happy to receive their badge.  

During the ranger's talk about the difference between black and grizzly bears with the kids, it was time for Old Faithful to erupt. The girls were completely uninterested in watching Old Faithful.  They only cared about playing with sticks, dirt and rocks.  Those little rascals!  After OF, we stopped by the Madison River then took the girls into town (West Yellowstone) to play on the playground and get ice cream.  All they cared about during our entire time HA!  Typical kids!

Since we only spent one day inside Yellowstone National Park, I'm glad we were able to see what we did see.  Yellowstone is so big there was no way to see everything in the short amount of time we had.  It would have been fun seeing all of the wildlife in Lamar Valley, but we did take the girls to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center which was really neat.  I'll do a separate post for that one as well.  

^^ Huckleberry ice cream, yum!!

West Yellowstone Part 4

Yellowstone National Park.  Just wow.  I can see why it's one of the most visited national parks.  I wasn't going to have such high expectations, but it truly blew me away.  The girls loved it as well.

We entered the park around 8 am with light traffic.  All parking was available and the walk paths didn't feel too crowded.  So word from the wise, enter early.  By lunch time, it was bumper-to-bumper with stand still traffic.  

Entering the park we did see a bison grazing.  So fun to spot!  Our first stop was Fountain Paint Pot.  We really enjoyed this area! The girls loved seeing the mud pots, geysers, hot springs and fumaroles.  One of the geysers sounded like beach waves.  Amazing! Such an awesome first stop.

   

Next stop Grand Prismatic Springs.  At Grand Prismatic, you can continue your walk from the base for a full view.  We didn't continue the walk because of the kiddos, but from pictures on the internet, it would have been incredible to see.  Maybe one day in the future we'll see it.

^^ Walking to Grand Prismatic

^^ How stinking cute is JoJo!!!

After Grand Prismatic, we made our way to Old Faithful which I'll do a separate  post.