Yellowstone--First and Last of the National Parks

We started this year of National Parks knowing that we really wanted to go to Yellowstone.  Due to a number of circumstances, we ended up going in October.  I know, you're thinking that's the worst time to go to Yellowstone.  Actually, it was really a great time to go.  We got a hotel for pretty cheap in West Yellowstone.  And the temperatures were cool in the mornings and evenings (think jackets and scarves), but warm during the day (peel off those layers).

Our first day we went to the upper half of the park.  We saw hot springs and mud pots.  We went to Mammoth Hot Springs and saw a lot of wild life.

At Mammoth Hot Springs.  Hannah had a baby from her child development class.
She named it LaFonda.  

The colors are just amazing. 

First bear sighting.  We had two.  This one was a small bear in a meadow just off the road.
You're not supposed to, but people were parked all along the side of the road, out of their cars, and
taking pictures of the bear.  (Yes, me too.)

Oh look, a buffalo right outside my window.  

Our second day we went to the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center.  It was a great way to see the bears up close and learn about them.  

I can't decide if Sophie's afraid of the bear or Maggie.  

One of the bears in bear enclosure.  It's a grizzly.
 You can tell because of the hump above his shoulder.  

Caleb took this great shot of a wolf.

Caleb and Katrina pretending to be wolves on top of the wolf den.  

 Probably the best part of the day was when the three younger kids got to feed the bears.  They move all the bears out of the bear enclosure, give the kids a bucket with fruit in it, and let them hide it for the bears.  It was exciting to hide the food and then watch the bears come out and try to find the food you hid.

Caleb's in the red pants hiding food for the bears under a log.  

The rest of the day was totally lazy.  The little kids played in the hotel's hot tub and the big girls watched a Harry Potter marathon.  We ate dinner at a cute diner style restaurant that night and worked on our junior ranger badges.  

Our last day in Yellowstone was short.  We wanted to drive home by way of Grand Teton National Park, but because of road closures in Yellowstone, we had an additional 2 hours of driving time.  We got up early and drove into the park.  It was foggy and frosty, which made everything look magical.  The one thing we wanted to see was Old Faithful.  

Yep.  It's faithful alright.  We were impressed that it really went off when the ranger said it would.  

Happy Junior Ranger.

After the eruption.  

Grand Teton was beautiful. We spent about an hour there walking around and skipping rocks in the lake.  

The Grand Tetons

Have lake, will skip rocks.

This trip wins for the most comfortable.  Staying in a hotel will always beat camping.  

It also wins for most animals spotted.  As we drove into the park, the ranger gave us a sheet with pictures of animals that are found in Yellowstone.  I was impressed at the number of animals we were able to cross off our list.  

And it wins as the park we'd like to go back to.  We drove all over the place and saw a lot of things, but we still felt like we'd just barely scratched the surface.
Just in case you didn't know, and were confused by my title, Yellowstone was the first national park.  It was established in 1872.  And, it was the last national park trip we took on our national parks pass.