Yellowstone

We have been planning a trip to Yellowstone for several months and it finally came. I had never been to Yellowstone and it was a lot of fun going there and being able to see everything. We went with Derek's parents and also Leanne and Trent. We had a fun five days, but we were glad to be home when it was over. Just a warning: I will be posting several pictures from our trip, but that way you can see a little taste of all our adventures. Here we go: enjoy! Our first night we stopped in Idaho Falls and spent the night there. Since it was Derek's birthday we went out to dinner at the Olive Garden and then spent an hour or so walking around the Idaho Falls river which runs right along the temple grounds.

The next day we got up and headed to our next big adventure: River Rafting. I had never been river rafting and man was I scared. I didn't know what to expect or how difficult it would be. Of course (and I understand that they have to do this) before we actually got on the river the guide had to go over all the worst possibilities of what might happen to us (worst being death). And that didn't make me feel any better. There was a part of the river called the "Mad Mile" which was pretty intense and we had to work together paddling just right so we didn't flip or crash into huge boulders and such. I was nervous, but then I started to relax a bit more as we got going and by the end I wanted to do the run again. It was an amazing experience, the scenery along the way was beautiful, and we all had so much fun. 

After our rafting trip we were all so exhausted that we went to our hotel in Bozeman Montana and just relaxed the rest of the night. We ate dinner and watched a movie then headed to bed. Our Hotel was a little bit ghetto, it seemed like everything was just a little off-ish. But we had fun there anyway. 

Here Derek is standing in front of our hotel room. It was definitely a hotel that thrived in the 70's. See those open sliding doors? Those were the doors to our hotel room. And unless you have your curtains closed just right your bedroom is open for the whole world to see. :) Our next day was our first day to enter Yellowstone. As soon as we entered the park and before we even got to our first hike there were Elk everywhere just hanging out not minding all the people around them.

This is us hiking to our first stop, mammoth hot springs. 

In between hikes and stops we had fun in the car talking, snacking, and having fun. 

A few more of our stops along the way:

Mine and Derek's favorite hike/scenic stop was called the Little Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was gorgeous! You hike down to the top of the waterfall (and I mean you are RIGHT there at the top of the waterfall) and it runs into this gorgeous river running down this massive canyon. These pictures don't do it justice but you can get an idea. 

We even got to see a mama bear and her cubs. You can't see it great in this picture but they are by the log just beyond the river. It was so fun to see that. 

We went home that night to the cabin resort that we rented and man did we have fun at that cabin. It was great. We were living like kings. We had a BBQ, we went hot tubbing, we watched movies, played games, etc. Here are a few pics of the cabin we stayed in.

The next day was our second day in Yellowstone and we got caught for about an hour in traffic going through the park because a huge herd of buffalo decided to cross the street. You can't see all the buffalo in this picture, but there were probably 150 buffalo crossing the road and taking their time doing it. 

...and of course we went to Old Faithful. That was a lot of fun to see. We also went to the lodge right there by Old Faithful and spent some time in there. 

Again, we went back to the cabin and did some more hot tubbing and games and such. Sunday was our last day and it was just spent driving home. We stopped in at a sacrament meeting in Idaho Falls and then took a walk around the temple before we finished our trip home. 

That last day was a lot of traveling to do and we were all starting to get a little antsy to get home. We had a lot of fun and will always have great memories of this trip.