I am so behind on my blog.
Back in August we went to Yellowstone National Park and rented a house on the Lake outside West Yellowstone with the Carruth family. We had an amazing time and we all wished we had been able to stay another week or two! Mike, Patrick and their dad got to put their fly fishing lessons to good use and were able to get about 4 times, they loved exploring all the different rivers.
The kids knew everything about the park, as Uncle Monkey had bought a Yellowstone DVD for them prior to the trip…it’s amazing the things they learn and remember. They had every day completely plotted out and could tell us all the names of the Geysers, when they would go off and how high they would shoot up. One morning Mike and I headed out about 6:00 am to see if we could see any wildlife eating in the fields. We saw a huge elk that scared the hell out of us. Then we we were able to take in hundreds of bison crossing one part of the park into the valley. We got there early enough that we were able to get a spot in one of the pull offs. 
We stayed for about 2.5 hours, just watching them come across, stopping traffic and grabbing everyone’s attention. It was a really amazing experience. You could just see the families of bison that were coming over and watch how there was always one in the group that was protective of the rest. We took about 200 pictures of them and some were very close, we actually had a tripod sitting out and as we made our way to the back of the 4 Runner as some of them were a little to close (I guess we were a little too close), one of the baby bison came up and licked Mike’s tripod.
Other wildlife we saw: Bison, Eagles, Elk, Mule deer, we did see a black bear across the way. Mike and I were able to take in a couple hikes, the first was Elephant Back Mountain. It was so green and peaceful and view at the top overlooked Yellowstone Lake, it was so amazing.
The second hike was one we had done back in 2003 on our fist trip to Yellowstone, Mt. Washburn. In 2003 there was a snow storm heading our way, it was mid June and no one else was on the hike, it took a long time to get to the top and the picture we have of me from the top in 2003…shows my frustration and fear. It was so important for me to make sure we hiked this trail again, so in my new picture…I am very HAPPY!!! (Having not seen any grizzly bears along the way made had something to do with it). 
We went back to Wolf Pack and enjoyed a beer at the bar for old times sake, thanks again Steve…love this place. The “sisters” drove to Bozeman one morning to pick up a custom cake we had ordered from a bakery for Pop’s birthday surprise. Pops turns 60 this year and the boys have been planning a cruise to Alaska for the 3 of them for a while now.
He was pretty surprised and they have already started planning their trip for next July. After being in Montana for 7 days I am pretty sure we will eventually own land and live there, it’s an amazing place…it’s overwhelming. It was an amazing trip and we all looking forward to our next National Park adventure together.