Let's Go To Yellowstone Today !

On Wednesday morning
(9/23/2015)
 we decided we wanted to go
"somewhere"

We have been talking about going to
Yellowstone for a while now
so we started checking out hotels and
found a good one in Rexburg.

Within an hour we were packed and
on our way !

We decided to go the back way ....
just for variety .... and soon realized the
Craters of the Moon park was
along the way.

We stopped and drove through the park but

for someone from Bend Oregon

all this Lava was nice but 

"No Big Deal"

We didn't even take any pictures in the park.

We drove on and soon found ourselves
in Rexburg and checked into our
room at the Springhill Suites Hotel.

We had a very nice room with a beautiful
view of the Rexburg Temple

during the daylight hours and ....

at night.

On Thursday morning we left our hotel ....

destination .....

West Yellowstone !!

On our way out of town we could see

the Grand Teton's in the distance

and Aspen trees with some beautifully

colored fall leaves.

Soon we had arrived at the

West Yellowstone entrance gate.

Once in the park we almost immediately saw

this 6 point Elk just relaxing along side the road.

Of course there were lots of cars stopped but

that didn't seem to phase him one bit.

We drove along the Madison River.

After we turned off the main road and

headed toward "Old Faithful"

we notice a lot of cars out by a big meadow

so we decided there must be something out 

there and turned off to check it out.

There WAS something .....

A herd of about 200 Buffalo .....

Mama's, Papa's, & Babies.

They were grazing on their way to this river....

Crossing the road in between cars....

And talking with deep grunts and snorts.

It was a pretty amazing sight but soon we were

on our way again.

We passed the Lower, Midway & Upper 

Geyser Basins ..... Beautiful !

In no time at all we found ourselves

at the Old Faithful Lodge

There were these crazy BIG Crows

just standing around on the parked car, in the 

trees and along the pathways.

We made our plans to watch the Geyser erupt

it was just beyond this sign and ready to blow !

It was quite the spectacle

but sadly, didn't seem to last very long 

 Afterward we wandered over to the
old Yellowstone Inn ....

an amazing piece of architecture ....

with this huge fireplace in the center 

of the Great Room.

After some lunch and souvenir shopping

we continued on to Grant Village

stopping along the way at ....

Kepler Falls.

There were 3 or 4 falls all cascading

one onto the next .... Beautiful !

We also stopped to take this picture on

the Craig Pass ... 8262 Ft.

We arrived at Grant Village

(named after Ulysses S. Grant, president when

Yellowstone became the world's

first national park in 1872)

Which sits on the West Thumb of the

Yellowstone Lake 

Our last stop in Yellowstone was Lewis Falls.

From the viewpoint you couldn't see

all of the falls so ....

we walked down the bridge to get ....

a better view.

We left Yellowstone and

continued on down the road to the

x

Grand Teton National Park.

There were some beautiful sights to see
along the way.


The Tetons over the tops of the trees ....

Reflections in Jackson Lake ....

More Beautiful Aspen Trees ....

The Tetons from a distance ....

and then a little closer view.

 We stopped off at Jenny Lake and ....

Went for a little walk ....

Hiking down this hillside to ....

Jenny Lake at the base of the Teton Mountains.

Little did we know we were being followed ....

by this cute little fox.

He came right down onto the bridge 

just behind us ....

when he got to the end he could see

several people watching him and jumped

off the bridge and back onto the

banks of the lake then disappeared

into the trees ... a fun memory !

We continued to see the beautiful scenery

as we drove past the south entrance to

the park and on to Jackson, Wyoming.

We drove through Jackson Hole

(as it was called years ago)

in amazement.  It is NOT the quaint little

town we visited 46 years ago

when we were students at Rick's College.

It was crazy busy and we were glad to

pass right through it without stopping !

On we went .... over the Teton Pass

and headed back to Rexburg.

This is the view of the Tetons from the

"Other" side .... From Driggs, Idaho.

Soon we were back at our hotel and ....

once again enjoying this beautiful view

from our Room.

While at Old Faithful we purchased a

couple of souvenirs

This is a handmade oil candle.

Carl Sheehan is Yellowstone's resident artist and

crafts his pottery on a potter's wheel then

 hand glazes and fires each piece in his gas kiln.

Usually we can't even look at Snow Globes

because they can't be taken on

airplanes .... however .... this trip

we made the old fashioned way ....

by automobile and are now enjoying this

cute little bear from Yellowstone !

We Came back home, safe and sound,

 on Friday.

It was a short .... quick trip, but we saw some 

beautiful country and enjoyed

our time together, enjoying some of

Heavenly Father's amazingly beautiful creations.