3 Campgrounds, 11 Days, Lot's of Fun

Last summer when we bought our trailer the first thing we started planning was a trip to Yellowstone. Well, it has come and gone and was ton's of fun!! This was our longest family vacation yet but was very relaxing (mostly) and very enjoyable. Once we got planning we decided to start off with three days in Bear Lake. This was the relaxing part. We pretty much hung out, swam and the kids took a hike in an ice cave.



Our second stop was Jackson Hole for 3 days. We hit Bar J Wranglers, Bar T 5, The Alpine Slide, a Wild West Shootout in the town square, a boat ride across Jenny Lake with a hike and plenty of shopping (Ainsley's money was burning a hole in her pocket by this point). Jackson was beautiful and a fun place to visit!



Our 3rd and last stop was Yellowstone Natl. Park for 5 days. This leg of the trip was really fun but not quite as relaxing as the first part. I had never been here so I had a very full itinerary of things to see. We had a couple of really long days which included a lot of 1 to 2 mile hikes. Those all seemed relatively easy but when you put 3 or 4 of them together in one day, it can be interesting. Olivia never seemed to run out of strength. A few times she bent over on the trails and said she needed more energy and a few seconds later she found it and was off and running again.



Our itinerary included Canyon Village visitor center, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (very beautiful), Uncle Tom's Trail, Norris Geyser Trail, Fishing Bridge, Fountain Paint Pots, Old Faithful, Boiling River (one of my favorite parts) and Mammoth Hot Springs.




We kept a strong lookout for wild animals and we saw our fair share of bison as well as some deer, elk, moose, a fox and plenty of squirrels but no bears to speak of, I was a little disappointed but that's ok. One of the highlights was attending sacrament meeting with the Old Faithful Branch in the amphitheater of our campground. There were about 25 people there and it was testimony meeting. This is a highlight of the trip. There was a strong spirit and it was a great experience for our family.



Isaac, Ainsley and Olivia all earned their Junior Ranger patches while in Yellowstone. They were very excited to get the patches and hopefully they learned more about the beautiful world we have to live in. Olivia especially liked that she had "homework" to do. This was an awesome trip and so nice to step out in nature and appreciate the beauty that our Heavenly Father has created! We have great memories from this adventure and I am ready to plan something new for next year!!