Or should I say returned to Idaho? This is the cemetery in Firth. We stopped there because Justin's grandfather and great-grandparents are buried there. Justin couldn't remember exactly where the graves were but it's a small cemetery so we just told the kids to look for Dye.
Found it! Nope, wrong Dye. How about this one? Nope, wrong Dye. Turns out half the cemetery are Dyes.
Justin finally found it. It was dead center (pardon the pun) of the cemetery.
Next stop, Millhollow in Rexburg. We had a Millhollow place in Logan when I was a kid and it was the. best. frozen. yogurt. I had high hopes that this was the same place and had the same amazing yogurt.
I loved the building and the grounds.
The yogurt was good and cheap but it was not the same. It lacked the authentic tang that I remembered.
I'd stop again to try all the flavors.
Then we went to the city park to meet my childhood friend Angela and her kids. We played on the longest swings ever while we waited.
The park has a carousel so all the kids and moms took a ride. This is Henry and Cutler. They became instant friends.
Kallee, Avery, and Sarah. Also now friends.
The kids played under these trees forever while we chatted. Too bad they live so far away because each of my kids has a friend same age and gender. We didn't even plan that!
Then we drove on to Island Park where Corey had rented a cabin for the week. The cabin was big and nice and had skeeball, doubleshot and air hockey in the basement which made it the best ever.
The next morning (Thursday) we headed out to Yellowstone with Justin's parents and Braden and Molly.
Justin and Henry spot some elk.
This is the Firehole River.
You know that sulphur smell from those bubbly pots? Erica loved the smell.
I think this walk was one of my favorite parts.
This is Old Faithful. I think we only had to wait about 8 minutes so we timed our arrival well. And we think this is a Mennonite family in front of us.
After a picnic lunch we had an up-close and personal view of a group of bison. First there was this one that blocked the bath to some pools so we waited for it to cross.
These bison know they rule the area so they don't care one bit if they are in the way.
Once we made it passed that bison, there were 5 more in this little valley. We had to wait for them to cross this boardwalk. We waited on sections that had the railing on both sides so we wouldn't get gored if they decided to come at us. It was scary but exciting.
Big stinky wild cows, really.
This is pretty.
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Gibbon Falls
James picked out this monster truck in the gift shop and insisted it drive on everything as he walked.
And then we drove back through West Yellowstone to go back to the cabin. Here are some random thoughts.
1. We crossed 3 states that day (Idaho, Montana, Wyoming)
2. We saw quite a bit in 8 hours.
3. There is so much more to see.
4. I hadn't been to Yellowstone since 1989. I remembered the smell.
5. There are so many rivers and waterfalls.
6. We saw license plates from so many states. Probably 40 including New York, Texas, New Jersey, Florida, etc.
Friday morning I was so sick so I didn't go with the family boating on the river. This picture Justin took. I was trying to sleep, not barf back at the cabin.
Corey got sick this afternoon. Sorry Corey.
Saturday morning (July 4) we went to Big Springs. It was Sarah's turn to be sick this day (sorry Sarah).
The cabin was closed because of the virus. Boo. But see the water bubbling up out of the ground?
It's literally flowing right out of these rocks and green stuff. So crazy to watch. And the water is so clear. I read that the water flowed into the cracks of the volcanic rock earth miles back and then flows to this spot where the earth changes to sediment and it can come to the surface.
Sarah the trooper. She threw up in the bathroom a few minutes after this.
And then we went back to the cabin for lunch and then Molly felt sick (sorry Molly).
Late that afternoon I dropped Justin and the 3 other kids (Sarah was languishing on the couch watching the Disney channel) at the river so they could float down a few mile stretch.
This section of the river was kind of slow so they ended up getting out and we tried another launch spot higher up so they'd end up at the spot they first began.
This second attempt was better. It was more scenic and the river ran faster. "We saw lots of rabbits, Mom!" They meant rapids.
We got back just in time to help finish up cooking our bbq dinner then ate dessert out on the porch.
Toyotas everywhere. I saw a moose and her baby walk through this area the first morning.
Since we couldn't light fireworks, I got the second best thing for the kids: glowsticks. They ran around upstairs for a little while then we played Go Nuts for Donuts by glowstick light before we send them to bed.
Sunday morning we drove to Mesa Falls. This was pretty cool. There is a very cool walkway that follows along the ridge so you can see the waterfall from different angles. And you get really close to it.
Why are there so many waterfalls in this area?
Even though we had been there for several days, I still didn't have a good idea what Island Park was. It's a reservoir but I had yet to see it. They boated on the river above the reservoir so Justin felt the same way as I did. That evening we drove to the actual reservoir. Because its wooded all the way around, you really can't see it until you are right there.
There are tons of cabins and houses along the shore of the lake and along Bill's Island that takes up a huge chunk of the center of the lake. It is so pretty.
One thing that we all observed is that even though there are tons of forest in Utah, our forests are not flat like the forests of the Island Park area. We are used to our forests on the slopes of our rugged and steep mountains. We don't have flat forests you can walk through like some fairy tale. This was cool to see.
Sunday afternoon was when Nate got sick. Sorry Nate.
This was where our kids slept. They had to take turns sharing with James.
There was a Wii upstairs and our videogame deprived kids used it as much as we'd let them.
Monday morning Justin took Sarah to float the river since she was sick the day they went. I picked them up later at the end point and then we drove home.
We got home about dinner time Monday night. I was so excited to sleep in my own bed and catch up on sleep. Not to be had. James threw up at 1 am and through the rest of the next 12 hours Tuesday. We are still mystified as to what that was all about. Did I pick something up in Yellowstone? Why did Sarah get sick but not Justin? Why Molly but not Braden? Why only half of each couple and half of our kids? We will never know and that is the frustrating part. Despite the barfing, we still managed to have fun and wear ourselves out so that's all that matters.
