Wisconsin or Bust: Monday

The plan for Monday was to leave bright and early and get on the road, and visit Grand Tetons National Park and get a start on Yellowstone. But since it’s us, you know that didn’t happen.

We had decided to stop back for another hug for Grandma on the way out of town, but we first had to pack up the car and pick up the kids. That all took waaaaay longer than it should have.

Turns out, packing the car takes forever when your little helpers are not with you. Usually it takes one or two trips to the car to get everything in there. Everyone carries their own stuff and then John will go back for one last trip while we stuff everything into the car. With just the two of us, it took us five trips to get everything down to the car, then we had to pack it.

Then, the kids were not ready when we arrived to pick them up, and Ruby lost her toy bear that suddenly was her most precious possession in the world. Thankfully, her Aunt Telynn found it in the bathroom, of all places.

By this time we were an hour late and John dropped us off to see Grandma while he went to get ice and gas. The kids all took a turn playing the piano for Grandma and I chatted with my Uncle John for a bit about a business presentation he was working on.

Sam having a turn at Grandma's piano.

We had decided to pop in quickly to say hi to my cousin Emma, who had just had surgery on her shoulder, and since she lives around the corner from my Grandma, it was on the way. We visited with her for a little bit and said hi to my Uncle Richard and then got on our way.

We stopped off in Centerville for the world’s best eclairs at Dick’s Market bakery. Only Dick’s had moved to the other side of town. So we had a little tour of the town and I showed the kids where I went to school there. After we picked up our treats at the bakery, we finally got on the road. Three hours late.

Best eclairs in the world are at Dick's Market's bakery in Centerville, UT.

Our route took us up US-89 through Logan, up around Bear Lake (which was beee-utiful!), through the corner of Idaho, and up the west side of Wyoming. It was a pretty drive, and we realized on the way that we wouldn’t make it to Yellowstone before the Visitor Centers closed.

Bear Lake.

Sign at the South Entrance to the Grand Tetons, with the gorgeous mountains in the background.

Maps of National Parks are very deceptive, because the roads are always twisty and windy, and have pretty slow speed limits. Which is all fine, unless you’re in a hurry. We did make it to the Grand Tetons Visitor Center in time to look at the exhibits and get a stamp, and we very much enjoyed our drive through the park. It is so beautiful.

Ruby at the Grand Tetons Visitor Center with the only moose we saw :(

The sign at the South Entrance.

We hit the South Entrance in Yellowstone just after 7:00, which is when most of the Visitor Centers close, though a couple are open until 8:00, but we didn’t reach one of those until 9:00. It was late. John had made reservations in Bozeman, MT, which on a map looks pretty close, but doesn’t take into account all the mountain roads.

We stopped to see the West Thumb Geyser Basin, and walked around that loop. There was an elk just hanging out munching on things right next to the only way to get back to the car. I discovered that the only way to really capture the bright colors of the springs and pools was to use the vibrant color setting on my camera. The colors in the pictures really do match what we saw in person. On regular settings, everything looked so dull.

One of the beautiful springs in West Thumb Geyser Basin.

On the way through the park, there were elk and bison around, and we were held up a bit for some bison on the road, one of which came very close to the car. It was pretty dark, so my pictures didn’t come out well. The kids were really excited. We were close enough that we could hear them grunting or snorting, or whatever it is that they do.

A beautiful sunset over Lake Yellowstone.

By the time we finally made it into Bozeman, it was after midnight. John was upgraded to a two-bedroom suite, which was nice and very comfortable. Even though the kids had been sleeping in the car since it got dark, we all zonked out right away.