Montana & Yellowstone

The Saturday after school began, we flew up to Montana to spend some time at Tim's annual rental.  TJ, Emily, and the kids met us there for some good, ole' fashioned family shenanigans...

We flew out of Austin, and we got up at 3am to make that flight!  But we MADE IT!

When we arrived at Tim's place in Montana, we were super excited about the fire pit, teepee, and river access!

 The house was at the top of the hill, and the entire property was about two acres...

 The boys did some scandalous fishing on the river bank.  All of the fish were dying due to a deadly parasite, so fishing was banned...oops...

 What a view!

 There was also a hammock which, you better believe, Ryan enjoyed...

 The kids brought down the firewood for the camp fire wherein we roasted marshmallows...

 Cinco wasn't a fan of the actual path, so he tried rapelling down the slope to the river...

 We had brunch (best meal EVER!) reservations at the local spa resort.  It was pretty good!

 And they made Emily and me mimosas to go!

 After Sunday's brunch, we headed out to West Yellowstone to see the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center.  It was pretty cool...

 This was an example of a wolf den...

 We saw herds of bison driving back through the Park...

 No zoom...drive by...

 Despite some grizzly attitudes, we stopped to eat some pizza in Gardiner.  They had gluten-free options, and the food was plentiful.  Winner, winner!

 Herds of elk on the way back to Paradise Valley...

 We had to stop for more water...so the kids poked their heads out of the car.  WE WERE PARKED, DON'T WORRY!

 On Monday, after TJ, Emily, and the kids left, we headed down to Old Faithful for dinner and geyser viewing...

 She was pumped to have a grown-up class...

 The ceiling at Old Faithful...

 B and I climbed as high as we could for a photo opp...

 Tim told everyone that One Stab was a service animal.  One Stab jumped on several people, so I'm not sure he behaved like a traditional service dog.

 While we started our ranger books, we haven't finished them yet.  The Yellowstone books are VERY involved.

 Coyote...

 On Tuesday, we headed to Grand Prismatic...

 No railing, so I was freaking out.  Bekah and I booked it off that boardwalk!

 We had ice cream on the top deck of Old Faithful.  It was a lovely view and a lovely day...

 Yellowstone Lake...

 We drove the entire loop on Tuesday, so we got to see the infamous Hayden Valley...

 Bekah found all of the park's bison...she seemed to have a special eye for them...

 The Upper Falls...

 The Lower Falls...not as spectacular, but cool nonetheless...

 The Roosevelt Arch...

 A photo snapped on Wednesday morning as we were heading back to the airport...

Montana is expansive, and The Park is worth way more time than we had.  However, we had a fantastic visit with family, and we will be back, for sure!