Day 14 ~ Good-bye Yellowstone

We have officially finished our Yellowstone trip today.  We have literally driven on all the main roads in the park at least once; visited or viewed all the major sites; and saw almost every animal we could have!  Just missing seeing wolves, otters, and bighorn sheep.  Kevin says, "we left no YELLOW stone unturned.  HAHA

Packed up our last Yellowstone hotel, and the last one we would spend multiple nights in.  It had rained overnight where we were and snowed in the mountains!  It was still a little overcast when we woke up with some sprinkles, so we didn't rush out the door.  When we opened the door this morning, we had a visitor.... an enormous moth was hanging on the outside of our door.  Normally I am not a fan of bugs, but this one was so unique and pretty.  We also saw a female elk off our balcony this morning, and she was hanging around us at our van as we packed!  We checked out and ate breakfast on our way into the park--powdered donuts, yogurt, and strawberries.  Went under the Roosevelt Arch for the final time.  

We pulled into the Mammoth Hot Springs area, and this time it was Panda's and my turn to get dropped off at the top of the mountain hike, and Kevin and his sidekick drove down to meet us.  That path down was something else!  So, so pretty.  We were kidding around and told Kevin that we had found a sasquatch, so Panda had to capture photos of the scary thing!

After the Mammoth hike, we headed east again, and made a quick stop at Undine Falls.  It was right off the road and very impressive.  I just love waterfalls... I could sit under them for hours.   As we pulled out of that parking lot, we passed by a yellow bellied marmot!  It was just sitting up at the side of the road.  It just sat there as we passed it, so we had to turn around to grab a photo.  As we went by the second time, he wasn't sitting at the shoulder anymore, but I got a glimpse of his tail and snapped a quick shot.

A little farther down the road we saw people looking at something, so we followed the direction of their cameras and saw a grizzly up on the mountain hill!  He was moving away so I didn't get a clear view, but it was enough to say I saw another grizzly.  After passing the Tower-Roosevelt area, we headed south to get more scenic views and search out more wildlife.  We were not disappointed!

Kevin and I were just talking about how he would like to see a massive black bear, and I would like to see more grizzly bears.  We turned a corner and right there, walking along the shoulder of our side of the road was a black bear!  It wasn't massive, but it was right there next to my door!!

We went on through Dunraven Pass and had the best views of Mt. Washburn.  The pass wound itself up almost to the top of the mountain peak.  It was getting chillier and we started seeing the fresh snow that just dropped overnight.  As we round the peak and were on our was back down, we saw another group of people standing on the side of the road.  They said they found grizzlies!  We pulled over and got out the binoculars.  We saw four bears together way up on a hillside in the snow.  I'm excited I got a few good shots of them.  

Next, we headed back to Canyon Village to hike to the the third stop we didn't get to on Thursday:  Brink of Lower Falls.  This one was more of a longer hike which the kids were not interested in.  But that's ok... their bodies were tired, so Kevin and I made it a date!  There were 5 switch backs and by time we got to the bottom, the temperature had dropped significantly and it was snowing a bit.  The hike down and back was definitely worth it... it was so pretty.  (I feel like I am saying that all the time on this trip---that was so PRETTY.  Everything here is just beautiful.  The end of the trail was right on the brink of the falls and it was deafening.  And we saw a rainbow!!!  We hoofed it back up to the top and then we hopped in the van again to move south again.  

We took the scenic route through Hayden Valley along the Yellowstone River again looking for wildlife.  We saw more elk and bison, and while they are amazing creatures, the kids are just about over them now!  As we passed by Alum Creek, the snow started falling a lot heavier and was blustery now--it was even falling sideways.  I looked at the van temperature recording for outside and it was 36 degrees!!!!!  

We arrived at Yellowstone Lake area and turned east to head to the exit.  We had to go over another mountain at the Sylvan Pass.  Everyone was getting hungry so we tried to find a good pull off spot with picnic tables to view the lake, but we didn't find anything good until we got to the top.  Avalanch Peak, at 10,566 feet of elevation was our spot!  It was still snowing pretty good and was so cold out, we stayed in the car to eat.  

The trip down the pass and exit through the east gate happened before we knew it and we were out of the park for good.  We went on down the road and had some gorgeous sites in Wyoming right out of the park.  

Driving through these areas of huge mountains and beautiful views made me again marvel at God's wondrous creations and His majesty.  We have been so blessed to be able to see His handiwork.  So many spots along the way keep giving acknowledgement to millions of years and mother nature... but we know the Truth and how awesome to get to be a part of it! 

As we drove along  Kevin spotted this incredibly tall pile of antlers so we turned around to get a photo.  I rolled down my window to get a picture, and a man on the property waved us into his driveway.  Turned out he had a shop that was open to the public so he gave us a little tour of what he had and what he has made.  He shared with us the history of his antler pile and let us take photos of his collections.  

We went through the town of Cody (home of Buffalo Bill Cody) and ended up in this little tiny town of Greybull.  I found the coolest hotel that used to be a speakeasy about a hundred years ago:  the Historic Greybull Hotel.  The decor and rooms were authentic to the time period and it was just so fun...until we walked around town and realized that NOTHING was open for dinner... on a Sunday night at 7 pm.  We were so hungry.  Thankfully, we had a hot plate, pan, and some cans of soup and spaghettios.  Then, off for a comfy night sleep in this awesome piece of history!  I will have more cool pictures tomorrow!

***

What an adventure we had at Yellowstone.  Kevin and I were remarking as we left the park how blessed we were on this entire trip.  There were so many blessings that made this trip so special and perfect.  Little things and big things, like seeing the bears we wanted, the weather being perfect (and clearing by the time we were up and moving), the deli meats we were looking for were a great sale price, not losing anything, short lines and small crowds at normally busy spots, finding a parking spot in a filled up lot at just the right time, getting the coolest hotels along the way, not having ANY car trouble at all, clothes I had wanted and found right before we left.... I could go on and on. God has truly blessed our trip and we are so grateful for our friends that have been praying for this road trip of ours!  If that was you--thank you!!

I am sad to leave Yellowstone because it was such a perfect place, but our trip is not over yet, and I am excited to see all the fun we will have with a week left to go!