Yellowstone National Park!

We just spent an exciting three days in and around Yellowstone National Park! Definitely check out the images by linking onto the online album link on the bottom right hand side! We saw some fantastic views my favorite was the Lower Yellowstone Falls with the rainbow, many elks, buffalo, and of course Old Faithful and the geysers and hot springs around the park! I am getting ahead of myself. Let me give you a recap of the three days in the park, including the best day of the trip so far!

So after our near death experience through the mountains to get to Cody Wyoming we enjoyed the Cody Cowboy Village and got up mid-morning to head into the National Park. We really entered the park through beautiful views and "stormed" the park. The wind on Wednesday was blowing hard and evidently blew down a powerline, starting a wildfire in the park. Fortunately we were not affected by the fire, but yesterday (Friday) we saw the smoke on the horizon and took some pictures. It was pretty cool. Anyway, on Wednesday, we found our camp site, an hour and a half drive from the East Entrance. We set up camp and headed to see Old Faithful! Another half an hour later we arrived. Dan had seen the geyser erupt previously and knew what to expect, but I had never seen anything like it in my life! It was amazing and the pictures do not do it justice! After the eruption we headed down the paths to view the hot springs around Old Faithful. The hot springs are amazing, such lovely colors and a delightful scent! If you have never experienced a hot spring before, it kinda smells like rotten eggs and sulfur. It was quite the combination. As the day drew to a close we headed back to the campsite to enjoy dinner cooked over the fire, and a relaxing evening at camp. It was great to chill out.

Day two of Yellowstone actually had us leaving the park and heading north into Montana for a Paddle and Saddle excursion. We wanted to do a white water rafting trip during this adventure and found a company that did a rafting trip and a horseback riding trip. So we drove another two hours into the northern area of the park and another half hour to the Slip and Slide Ranch, the place we were told to report to for lunch and the first part of the day. When we arrived, a little girl dressed in a pink cowboy boots and hat asked us if we where here for the afternoon ride. We replied yes and she said follow me. We thought we were heading to check in at an office but instead were greeted by a women in a backyard grilling up fresh hamburgers. On the table was a full spread of home made food. We were extremely taken back by the hospitality. When lunch was over we headed back to the parking lot and meet the women's husband, Brian who get us onto the horses. Dan and I did not know what to expect on this ride, but on the two and a half hour journey we rode the horses up to the top of the mountain and back down. The views were incredible and although our butts were a little sore we had a blast! The second half of the day we joined up with a guide named Derek from the Montana Whitewater company and along with a family of six we rode through nine miles of rapids. It was one of the best things I have done in my life! The family was from Michigan and we quickly became friendly, so it was nice and we all got to change positions in the boat. The best place was in the front, hitting the rapids head on! I cant wait to check out some places in MD to raft again soon. I may have a new hobby! We do have a few pictures we bought from the place but I forgot to download. You can see it next time! As the day closed we drove another two and a half hours back to our campsite and made dinner in the darkness of the night! It was a memorable day and one of the best of the trip!

Day three in Yellowstone we decided to drive to the other areas, see some of the views, and hike a bit. Well we definitely saw the park! We drove the entire area of the park with the top down, stopping along the way when we say something interesting. Dan and I both agreed we cannot comprehend the vastness of the park and the variety of nature. We saw the geysers, waterfalls, prairie land, canyons, and wild animals! The only disappointment was the Mammoth Hot Springs were all dried up. Dan saw it when he came as a kid and thought it was amazing. We took some pictures and we imaged what it would look like! There is one great picture of me at Mammoth. Can you tell it had been a LONG day? haha

So it is Saturday..well almost Sunday, we arrived in the GORGEOUS Salt Lake City, Utah this afternoon. We really took advantage of the hotel by doing laundry, working out, and refilling our coolers with ice! We drove into Salt Lake City and saw the Morman Temple. We forgot the camera though so no pictures of it! The sunset was beautiful over the Rocky Mountains ( I think that is the mountain range) and we enjoyed a tasty dinner at Red Iguana, a mexican place.

Tomorrow we are off on a NINE hour drive to the Grand Canyon to camp for another three days. We will catch ya all up in Cortez, Colorado on Wednesday night. That will be a sad post because it marks the beginning of the trek back east :(

It was very exciting to check the blog today and see the comments from everyone! We are so happy you all are reading this and enjoying it as much as we love writing it!

Love to all,
Laura and Dan :)