A New Look at Yellowstone

If you ever go to Yellowstone, I highly recommend breaking the trip down into at least 2 days. When my sis was here last summer, I took her to see Old Faithful and some other popular spots- but most of the trip consisted of driving (Yellowstone is huge). So this time we skipped everything we'd seen before and focused on some new attractions.

The day before we went however, we stopped at Grand Teton National Park. Look how stylish she is next to me. There I am still covered in fleece and there she is looking all cute.

Catching the reflection of the Tetons in the restaurant we lunched at...

We even saw a moose. Note to tourists: If you want to see a moose go to the town of Moose... sounds self explanatory, but really- there are almost always moose there and it's right at the entrance to Teton National Park too.

I call them "moose- i". You know like octopi and cacti, and other plural words that end in "i". I realize the fault in my ways and that even octopi is under scrutiny- but I like it- I think it's catchy- and "moose- i" is just fun to say

And on to Yellowstone...

And my favorite animal: the bison

Tower Falls up near the north end of Yellowstone

Mammoth Hot Springs: In the town of Mammoth, elk are allowed to roam freely. It's kind of crazy walking around and having elk everywhere. The hot springs shown here are just on the edge of town

While we were walking on the boardwalk, we saw this snake off to the side

My camera was having a difficult time focusing and then I realized why- the snake was coming for me! I quickly took the pic and hurried off

After leaving Mammoth we headed back down the other side of Yellowstone (Yellowstone is one big loop). We had to stop for about 15 minutes however due to some traffic (bison walking on the road) so I snapped this quick pic of my cute little sis

And then out the window of all the beautiful trees surrounding us

We soon made our way to Midway Geyser Basin

Just look at how blue this one pool is... kind of makes you feel like you're in the Caribbean

Grand Prismatic Spring: The hot steam here is crazy! There would be moments that we would have to stop walking because we couldn't see directly in front of us... we'd of course hold onto one another and giggle like little school girls

A view from afar

Two days after returning from Yellowstone, we went on our last adventure- white water rafting down the Snake River. The water is super high right now because of the snow melt and all the rain we've been having, which made it so much fun! I highly recommend doing some rafting if given the chance. Here we are on the bus on our way down... no make- up and ready for some waves