Castle in the Clouds

Our trip was coming to an end.  We had managed to visit the major attractions within the park, we had seen a wide variety of animals, and we had even made it through the Beartooth Pass.  It had been a full week at Yellowstone and the surrounding area, one that we spent mostly in the car.  Early Sunday morning we'd be packing up and getting on the road once more.  For this reason, we decided to spend most of Friday and Saturday at the cabin doing a whole lot of nothing. The boys and Ken tried their luck at fishing once again.  We even visited the outrageously priced gift shop and travel store near the camp.  We also investigated horseback riding.  We were fortunate to find a place within a five minute drive of our cabin that had an opening on Saturday.  We quickly made our reservations. The boys were so excited!  Okay, I was, too!

Oh, this day.  This is the one that I may never live down. We were supposed to get an early start because Old Faithful, our ultimate destination on this particular day, was on the other side of the park, kitty-corner really, from where we would enter Yellowstone.  This meant many, many hours in the car. Ken was up bright and early, ready to go.  My energy levels were not quite so high, but I, too, managed to get out of bed and into the shower.  When I was done in the bathroom, I went to get the boys up.  This is where the schedule went offline.  KC didn't feel good and didn't want to go.  Thinking about all the driving we had been doing, the motion sickness he had suffered the day before, I wondered if a few more hours sleep wouldn't be enough to reset his system.   I'll admit I didn't want to miss Old Faithful.  It's one of the big geographical attractions of the park, after all, and how lame would we be if we had visited Yellowstone with...

We decided we needed a mid-week break from the car.  Instead of getting up bright and early and heading over to Yellowstone for some more sightseeing, we slept in and enjoyed a few hours at the cabin.  Feeling somewhat refreshed, we decided to head up through the Beartooth Pass and into Red Lodge, Montana.   This was the twistiest, turniest road I think I've ever been on!  I can fully appreciate why my oldest ended up battling some serious motion sickness that night and even the next day.  Heck, when I went to bed that night, I felt like I was still on that darn road! As you may have guessed by looking at the picture above, the road was clear, but there was still a lot of snow on the mountaintops.  Snow and ice. The boys giving the snowbank some size perspective.   A frozen lake that was just starting to unthaw. We actually saw people with skis pulled over to try their luck on this slope. Unlike Yellowstone, the wildlife...

Planning our trip in early June was somewhat nerve-wracking.  We watched the weather for weeks, hoping that winter would relinquish it's hold.  When the Beartooth Pass was closed due to snow the week prior to our trip, I must admit we were a little nervous.  Snow!  In June! Luckily, the weather changed, the roads cleared up, and we had what our hostess called unseasonably warm temperatures while we were visiting.  Not that we would have been unprepared.  We packed a wide variety of clothing - a little bit of everything for any type of weather.  I even packed a rain coat, which I used to keep my camera equipment dry when the weather turned soggy. Not a Fashion Statement This picture was taken on our second day in the park.  The guys had just started fishing in Trout Lake, which is located somewhat near the Northeast Entrance, when the clouds darkened and it started sprinkling.  Fearing a downpour, I quickly donned this functiona...

There are certain things I want to do with my boys before they're grown and gone.  Visiting Yellowstone National Park as a family was one of those things.  I don't know why exactly, but I think a few contributing factors helped to push this destination to the top of my list. While I knew it wouldn't be cheap, I thought with a little planning we would be able to afford it.   My boys loved Maine.  So why wouldn't they love visiting one of the most famous US national parks where fishing and wildlife are main attractions?  Wildlife and nature photography opportunities galore!   So, when Ken asked me what I thought we should do for this year's family vacation, I voted for Yellowstone.  I don't regret it.  In fact, I think it was money well spent because, friends, this was a stunningly beautiful trip.  It was also two weeks of family time with my favorite people.   I think the idea of spending this many days alone with just ea...