June 9: Leaving Glacier headed to Yellowstone
It was raining when we woke up to pack up and head out from the West Glacier KOA. Adam was able to get a morning shower in which got him moving quick, that along with the rain got us moving and we were out by 10am. The drive to Cameron, MT was beautiful. We passed lakes and rivers that made for a peaceful drive. Well accept for the kids constantly asking “where are we going” and “how much longer?” Adam and I can tune them out to a point but it it doesn’t wear on you. This was actually a short drive compared to our previous drives, only about 5 hours closer to 6 at the speed we go at. Still shorter then the 8+ hours we were driving. We arrived at Driftwaters Resort a little after 5:30! This resort is about 35 minutes from the West Yellowstone entrance. When we started planning this trip close to 3 months ago every RV park that was closer to the entrance was already fully booked! Even this one that we stayed at is fully booked through August now. More people are traveling domestically this summer than ever before so I’m happy we start booking things early! Driftwaters Resort definitely had the laid back nature that pretty much all of Alaska has. I didn’t pay for our spot until we were about to leave and only because I reminded the owner to check to see if we had paid😂. We got in a decent time to it was time to make a good homemade dinner! I brought out the #blackstonegrill and whipped up some chicken enchiladas and quesadillas! We sat outside and enjoyed the gorgeous view of the Montana mountains.
June 10: Yellowstone National Park
We actually set the alarm clock so that we could wake up and get into the Park. For those of you possibly traveling to Yellowstone this summer you only need your regular National Parks Pass or a day ticket. There are no special tickets and at this time they are not limiting entry. With that being said you will hit traffic. It took us about 2 hours from the west entrance to Canyon Village which is around 35 miles. We headed into the Village first and grabbed lunch and souvenirs. Next stop was the Upper Falls trail. Well we missed the turn to the first entrance and ended up driving to the viewpoint and parking there. We were now in the middle of the trail I wanted to take🤦🏼♀️. What to do now? Well we rolled with it! The waterfall was amazing! I definitely need to get out my thesaurus out to find more words for beautiful🤣 From the overlook we were pretty far away but could still feel the mist on our face! We decided to start the trail going south to get a better view or the river and falls. It was a relatively easy half mile but when we got to the end we had the choice to turn around and head back to the truck or take the 1.2 mile trail to Clear Lake and then .7 back to the truck. The theme of our trip is “adventure awaits” so that is what we did went on an adventure! An adventure it was, instead of being in the dense woods next to a river we were on hilly plains of Yellowstone, where the bison roam. Adam I were on alert but still enjoying the vast beauty of the park. Sure enough about half way to the lake we came up on a bison hanging out about 20-25 feet from the trail. Being as careful as we could we went off the trail a bit to give the bison a wide berth so that we would not scare it. It was pretty awesome! A little after that the whining began, this time it was both the kids but we pushed forward without briber this time. We made it to Clear Lake, another hidden wonder off the beaten path in Yellowstone! We rested up for a little bit but decided to head back after the smell of sulfur or something else, we aren’t quite sure, became too much for my senses. Thankfully the hike back to the truck was less than a mile and I carried Davis for about half of it. That is what happens when you take a hike during nap time. We got back to the truck and powered up with a quick snack and hopped back in the truck to explore the rest of the park. We stopped and walked the boardwalk at the Mud Volcano and Sulphur Cauldron. Then got back in the truck and headed to Yellowstone Lake. Fun fact this lake has the highest surface elevation of 7733ft in the lower 48. Adam and I only got out at this stop and took pictures quickly because the wind and rain were rolling in. Josey and Davis finally decided to close their eyes and take a nap🙌🏼 so the next miles of the park were peaceful. We passed the Continental Divide marker at 8391ft and 8262 ft. Adam and I hopped out again for a quick pic at the Kepler Cascades and then we headed to the Grand Prismatic Spring. Last minute we decided to swing the Old Faithful Village but decided to not get out because it was a little bit of a hike to see the geyser and the kids were still sleeping. We kept driving to the Midway Geyser Basin and this was the first place we were met with heavy park traffic at a point of interest. I really didn’t want to leave Yellowstone with out getting a glimpse. Adam got in the long line of cars waiting to park and I jumped out a ran to the boardwalk. I explored as quickly as I could with the boardwalk full of people. It was SUPER windy! You could see people’s hats stuck in areas we aren’t supposed to walk because they had been blown off. The Spring was amazing, well what I could see of it when the wind blew the steam away. The colors were so vibrant! Definitely a unique feature to Yellowstone and I’m so happy I got a chance to see it even if it was brief. I headed back out to find Adam, who unfortunately I just missed so I had to walk all the way back to the main road to find him. Thankfully we were able to turn around and not get stuck in the line again. After that our trip to Yellowstone was over! We drove the whole of Grand Loop Rd. We could have easily spent a week at the park exploring but alas we had to head back to the camper for dinner and bed. The last excitement for the evening was be able to feed the campground horses that were right behind our camper. The kids loved it and I have to admit I did too❤️. I am so grateful that we have been able to explore with our camper and we have many more adventures to come!
Real Life Adventures with Kids 