Part 1 Grand Tetons, WY

September 12th- September 19th

Part 1

We headed north for the Grand Tetons on Saturday, September 12th. We’ll never forget heading up the highway and then appearing before our eyes was the tops of the Tetons! Our jaws dropped and the truck was filled with some “Whoas”!

We arrived to our campsite at Headwaters Campground at Flagg Ranch. Amazing grounds and location! It is nestled at the north end of the Grand Teton National Park and also just 2 miles south of Yellowstone’s South entrance. The campground was in the middle of beautiful trees with the snake river just a few minutes walking distance. Brandon and the boys are excited to try and get some trout out of the river. Per our usual protocol, we hopped on our bikes and explored the grounds. We were in site #619 which had it’s own grassy area. The boys felt like they had their own yard and immediately began to build their own house out of sticks when we arrived.

Monday the 14th we got up early and headed for Yellowstone! We were in the car by 7:00am and it was 30 degrees out. Our water hose froze overnight so no flowing water! Brandon has made it part of his experience to talk to other RVers along the way. He’s learned a ton. This trip, he got the tip to get a heated hose to avoid water freezing in the lines moving forward. So off we went to Yellowstone. Our plan was to do the recommended “loop” from the South Entrance. Within 10 minutes of being in the park, we saw some large Elk off the side of the road. As we made our way to Hayden Valley, Maverick spotted a Bison 50 yards from the highway so we got out to take a look. We made our way to the “Grand Canyon of Yellowstone” and got out for a hike. It was beautiful! We saw both the upper and lower falls and the canyon was amazing. Also on this hike the boys created a new game, “Bison”. They pretend they are Bison crawling through fields. Gotta love it. We left the Canyon area and went over to see the geysers and “Old Faithful”. Apparently Old Faithful “erupts” every 40 minutes or so. We arrived and within 5 minutes, we saw Old Faithful erupt! The man next to us said “nice timing”. In addition to Old Faithful, the other geyser basins and springs in Yellowstone are amazing. The colors are breathtaking and it was interesting to learn about them as we went along. After 8 long hours, we were ready to head back to camp. About 15 minutes after leaving Old Faithful, there were tons of cars pulled over on the side of the road. Off in the distance, you could see 3 Bison making their way towards the highway. Brandon positioned our truck at the front of a pullout which turned out to be the perfect viewing spot! All of a sudden the largest animal we’ve ever seen trotted across the highway right in front of our truck! This thing was huge! To note, there are several places to pull over throughout Yellowstone and the rivers/lakes are beautiful.

Tuesday, reality set in and it was time for school again. The boys actually had a great week of school and adventure. We’ve found a bit of a rhythm on school days to have a “half day” and then head out to explore the areas we are staying at.