Prior to this trip, Billy did some amazing work to secure reservations for us at 4 different locations in the park. Finding suitable accommodations for 13 people at reasonable rates is not an easy task! Especially when much of the park is booked nearly a year in advance! Billy called each day and kept a spreadsheet of whom he spoke to at Yellowstone reservations, what their interests were, and what new information he gleaned from each of them. It was an exercise in diligence and it paid off with great accommodations each night, at unique places. He even had the foresight to cancel the campsite we had for one of the nights after noting that overnight lows were remaining in the high 20's or low 30's as early June turned into late June. Well done, brother!
We woke up Monday morning at the Grant Village Lodge relatively near both the South Entrance and Old Faithful. We even got to sleep in a bit which was lucky because Danny shared my bed and he might be the wiggliest sleeper on the planet.
Our first stop was Old Faithful, the most famous, and apparently reliable, geyser at Yellowstone.
Mary has grown since we last came to Old Faithful 2 years ago!
Mary is a bit more entertaining now than when she was 9 months old, making her big cousin Molly crack up in hysterics.
We decided to take the road less traveled and hike along the backside of Old Faithful to see the many other, lesser-known, less-reliable geysers with names like Beehive, Goggles, Infant,
Spasmodic, and Aurum.
Then we were treated to a rainbow!
Time for lunch! Delicious grilled chicken sandwiches and leftover pizza from Salt Lake City
The kids went on a hunt for bear clues.
Then time to climb trees!
Finally off to an afternoon drive down Firehole Canyon, with a beautiful river, waterfalls, and an impressive canyon.
Then Molly took my camera for me to take pictures around the Lower Geyser Basin while I stayed behind in the car with a sleeping Mary.
Molly is quite the budding photographer!
Em, Liam, Marta and Sam take a break
Driving back to the Old Faithful Inn for a lovely dinner to celebrate Dad's birthday without bears, we see this bison... and the man standing waaaaaaay too close to a wild bison. People can be not-so-smart.
Following an impressive dual-meltdown by my two angels, Mary fell asleep less than 10 minutes before dinner, so into the sling she went, sleeping soundly through much of dinner.
But she was ready for play after dinner!
On the way back to the cars, we came across these clouds:
Sure enough, it started hailing! It calmed to a downpour followed by a chilly rain. We waved as we passed the campsite where we were originally supposed to stay that night. Thank you, Billy, for making THAT change!
