Yellowstone Big Loop

We spent 2 packed days in Yellowstone.  The first day we got up at the crack of dawn and drove the Big Loop.  Our first stop was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  We stopped at 4 lookout points with a short hike in between two of them. 

This is Artist's Viewpoint, the most famous view of the falls.

We drove through Hayden Valley next.  It's famous for its wildlife.  We saw a ton of bison.  

Next stop was the Mud Pots.  The kiddos had a hard time with the strong sulfur.  It was actually rather humorous.  There was a random bison or two hanging out at the pots.  Apparently,  they're not as bothered with the smell.

You can see the Black Dragon's Caldron roiling from the hot gases.  It's not quite boiling temperature, but it will most definitely burn you.

We ate lunch along Yellowstone Lake, and then we drove to see Old Faithful.  It was going off right as we got there.  We took the mile loop around Upper Geyser Basin.  There were so many interesting geysers.

The largest crowd we saw the whole day was the one waiting for Old Faithful.  It's the most people I've seen in a long time.  It's a great place to watch people.  The second time Old Faithful went off it was a much larger eruption, so it was fun to see it.

Our last stop of the day was another hike at Fairy Falls.  We walked up to the overlook of the Grand Prismatic Spring.  It has another section of steep incline.  Little Guy liked to walk up backwards to give his calves a break.

You get a little peak through the trees as you walk up the path, and then you get to the overlook and the view is divine!

The kids were such troopers.  They walked over 7 miles in one day with very minimal whining.  Our morning walks really paid off. 

It's Rodeo Time!

Since we were in West Yellowstone, and it was the week of 4th of July.  It just felt like a very American West sort of thing to do to experience a rodeo.  This was our very first time, and it was a lot of fun.  It was a downpour on our ride in, so we were nervous it would get canceled, but the skies cleared just in time for the show to begin. 

Of course, there was a row of cousins.  We were all rodeo newbies. 

Riding the bulls was crazy.  Watching them race around the barrels was pretty cool as well.  The kiddos liked when they had to rope the calves. 

Little Man and Little Lady went inside with Mel and Ethan to chase a calf that had a flag attached to its tail.  Ethan actually almost got it before getting pushed to the side.  They each got a silver dollar for trying. 

It was a really fun night!  The storms came back in after the rodeo finished, so it was perfect timing.

Craters of the Moon

 We saw some really incredible geological things on this trip.  The first National Park we went to was Craters of the Moon in Idaho.  The kids absolutely loved it.  In fact, Little Man said this is his favorite National Park, because the overall landscape was so interesting (he loved the black and the crazy trees).

We made a couple stops along the driving loop.  The first one was the Devil's Orchard Trail.  It was named that sort of tongue in cheek as saying if Hell looked like anything, surely it would look like this trail.

Of course, my kiddos love reading every sign and learning all about each feature within the park.  We're nerdy like that. 

The white patches are actually flowers growing in the ash.  It's such an interesting landscape.

The Inferno Cone was definitely the highlight.  It's a steep uphill climb up a black ash mountain.  It slopes 4 times, so you think you're at the top and it tricks you when you see the next slope.  It is completely worth the work climbing it though, because the views are spectacular. 

My kiddos ran the whole way down.  It was fun to watch them against the sparkly ash rock. 

We also stopped at the Spatter Cones.  

I also really loved the Lava Cascades.  You can almost picture all of the lava as it hardened into place.  

On our way out, we stopped to eat at Pickle's Place in Arco, Idaho, so I feel like we got the quintessential small-town Idaho experience.   PS- their fried pickle spears really are delicious (according to my husband since I don't eat pickles).

Idaho Temple Tour

Technically, the first temple we visited was over the border in Wyoming, but we'll overlook that little detail.  

You can see how the design was based off the historical tabernacle in town.

We made a wide U along the South of Idaho to catch the different temples.  It started with the Pocatello temple.  It is almost ready to be dedicated.

Next came Twin Falls.  It's a bit off the beaten path and you could tell it was very sunny that day.

The Meridian and Boise temples are close together.  I was blown away with how huge the Meridian temple is.  I wasn't expecting it to be quite so large. 

You can tell the Boise Temple was built in the 70s.  It has the same vibe as the Dallas, Chicago, and Vegas temples.

The last 2 temples we saw in Idaho were Rexburg (next to BYU Idaho) and Idaho Falls.

An interesting fact about the Idaho Falls Temple - it's the first temple in Idaho, because the town donated the land to the Church.  The town really wanted a temple there.  This temple also has a visitor's center, so of course, the kiddos wanted to go inside and enjoy it. 

The Rigby Idaho temple was just announced, so we'll have to go back when it's actually built.  We also went up to Montana to get the Billings Temple.  This is temple #75 for us.  That sounds like a lot until you realize there are 258!  We have our work cut out for us.