The end and some ranting.

Well the trip has ended. Laundry has been done. adjusting back to normal life and work. I am happy I got to spend that much time with Isiah and show him so many amazing things.  Seeing that part of the country was amazing and beautiful.  Words can not describe The Tetons...or how it feels to see Old Faithful go off for the first time.Or stand in the Inn and look around you at over 100 year old craftsmanship.  You actually have to go there and smell..feel..touch it to understand how amazing the whole area is.  You are standing on living breathing ground.  We were lucky enough to stay in many different places along the way from tents out in the wilderness to cabins atop mountains. We made memories that will hopefully stay with Isiah forever and I believe have started him down a path of conservation and understanding and respect for nature.

   For me these trips and things we do together have been to show Isiah there is so much out there in the world to see. DO not stay in one spot and never take time to experience what is there.  Yeah sure you can watch it on a computer or tv screen and never leave your home town but that does not let you experience it for real. You have to get out there...like I said touch and feel and smell and be in the middle of those places.  Feel it for real.  Not virtually.  I want him to know as he goes into high school that every door is open to him going forward.  Anything he wants to see or do or become he can. Getting out and doing things and experiencing them is a better lesson then any textbook.  We have this great resource of National Parks that we can use and experience. 

  This brings me back to conservation and understanding and RESPECTING nature. 

I saw a lot of people not respecting anything on this trip.  Be it plants...thermal features or even wildlife.  I saw cigarette butts on the trails. People walking where they want not following warnings or signs.

I know there are some people who made read this and be in the camp that climate change is bogus and our planet is fine.

It is not.

We are hurting our planet every day.

We have one planet.  One Yellowstone. One Grand Tetons. Once we trample and abuse it its gone.  Once we disrespect it ..it is gone and no future generations can show their kids like I had the opportunity to show mine.  That is not right.

Now I am by no means an expert on anything in nature or conservation...not by a long shot.  I have friends who are who can probably chime in.  What I do know is there are little things we can ALL do to help.  I saw so many people not following very simple rules in the parks that it drove me nuts.  When a guide or boat driver or a sign says stay on trail...you should stay on said trail.  I saw so many people trampling plants etc walking off trails when they were not supposed to.  A lot of them were kids...and the parents said NOTHING.  Teach your children to respect.  Don't litter...don't be a general jackass.  You may be one person but you are not the only one to visit.  There are thousands of people who visit.  Be the one to make a change and do something positive. hearing from rangers and seeing the destruction WE as humans cause is awful. 

Like I said I am no expert.  I know first hand things I saw with my own eyes we do not respect are planet.  I want Isiah to be able to take his children to Yellowstone and see the things we saw without it changing due to humans being dumb.  I know there are many hard working people out there trying to help but we can all do our own little parts at home or when out visiting these great places. 

 Also Stay away from wildlife for the simple reason they could KILL YOU.  Stay in your car!  Dont walk up to them to get a better photo.  It is a wild animal...it will kill you. 


Remember we should all leave it like we found it so future generations can experience how amazing our planet is.  Get out and see all the great things there are out there. Don't sit on your ass! 

Last day at Yellowstone.

Our last day of the trip started early with a buffet breakfast at the old faithful snow lodge. Than I went for a walk around he geyser basin. Dad wasn't feeling well so he stayed in the room and rested. I had to have walked 4-miles. Than I came back to the room front to find dad and he was already out on the trail. We were going to see a geyser go off. We meet on the trail and heard towards daisy geyser. We waited a half a hour to see it go off once we got there. After watching it go off we ate a quick lunch and watched old faithful go off again. Than we got in the car and headed to black sand basin. After taking some pictures there we headed to grand prismatic pool, which was he biggest hot spring in the park. We than headed back to the old faithful inn and ate at their restaurant. They had an amazing prime rib buffet. They had prime rib, potatoes, salad, and a bunch of other things to see. After eating we went to old faithful and and watched it go off at night with barley anyone around. After that we went back to the room and went to bed for the drive and flight home the next day.-Isiah 

Crevice mountain lodge - old faithful inn

We left the crevice lodge and headed back into the park. We drove through mammoth springs and headed towards old faithful. We were taking a longer way than usual. We stopped quickly at tower falls and made a few more stops to take some quick photo. We continued and stopped at the sulphur caldron on the side of the road. We than continued and ate lunch at canyon village. After eating a good lunch we stopped at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We saw both the upper falls and the lower falls. After making that cool stop we drove to lake village. We saw the old hotel and took some pictures of the lake. We saw two male elk on the side of the road and took some pictures of them. We continued driving down the scenic road. We than arrived at old faithful inn. The place was great, it had a lot of wooden architecture and it looked very old. Our room was decent size and the bathrooms were nice. We saw old faithful go off quickly and went to meet up with a ranger for one of their programs. We learned a lot about all the different types of thermal features and learned about their history. After he program we saw grand geyser go off. We headed back to the inn and had dinner at the old faithful snow lodge. Than we retired to our room and slept for the next big day. -Isiah 

Yellowstone adventures-Lamar Valley.

We got up at 7:30 and ate breakfast at 8. We than left the cabin and headed for mammoth hot springs. When we arrived we hooked up with a ranger that was giving a talk/tour. We learned a lot about the area and got to see a lot of geothermal attractions. After we finished diving through the upper terraces of the park we started driving towards Cooke city. We saw a lot of buffalo in the Lamar valley. We drove through a lot of mountains and made occasional stops here and there. We arrived in Cooke city after passing through he north east gate. We stopped at the general store which was a hundred year old building. We fin lay found a game of checkers after looking in every place we have stayed at. We headed back so we could make it in time for dinner. After driving back through the Lamar valley we say a small black bear on the side of the road. As we sat there taking pictures many more people arrived and started parking on the sides of the road. After watching it for awhile we kept going towards Gardener. We arrived at the lodge and ate dinner. We than played some checkers and dad finally beat me. We watched a awesome sunset and went to bed after a long day of driving. -Isiah 

Tetons to crevice mountain lodge.

We left early the next morning and headed to our next place right outside of Gardner.  We took a couple of stops along the way and decided to stop and take a hike through west thumb geyser basin. The unique thing about this area was some of the geysers and thermal areas went right into the lake. We continued up the road and made a few more side stops. We stopped in the Norris Geyser basin again and walked through most of it. This basin was much bigger than the one we were at before. After hiking awhile we continued to head towards Gardener. We wanted to stop in some more places but did not have the time since dinner was at 6:30. When we got to Gardener we stopped and got a few things like snacks and ice for the cooler. We then started our ascent up the mountain. The road up was unpaved and bumby in some spots. It took at least 30 minutes to get up to the Crvice Mountain Lodge. The place was awesome. You felt like you lived there while you stayed. Cheryl, the owner, made you feel like family. Dinner was great and the other people who were staying in another cabin there were very nice. We had a campfire and talked a lot about things we did while we have been out here. After it got darker out we waited until the fire went out and went to bed. -Isiah 

Teton adventures

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After a wonderful night in our tent cabin we went out to have breakfast. After having a breakfast buffet we prepare for our hike to inspiration point. After finally getting a parking spot we took a shuttle boat across jenny lake and started our hike to inspiration point. There were many people there. Sometimes you had to move to the side for people to get through. After stopping in some places to take pictures we finally reached the top. The view was amazing. You could see Jenny Lake and a bunch hills in the background, honestly they were probably small mountains. Along with the view we saw a lot of very fat squirrels. After hanging out up there for awhile we headed back down. We took the shuttle back and headed  back towards our tent cabin. We stopped by some abandoned log cabins and saw some buffalo along the way. We made a few more stops and headed back to colter bay to eat dinner, as we ate lunch much earlier after our hike. After we ate dinner we went to a rocky beach and hanged out there for awhile while the sun was setting. We headed back to our tent cabin and started a fire and went to bed after another exhausting day.-Isiah 

West Yellowstone to the Tetons.

We left Yellowstone under canvas for good and headed for the Grand Tetons. While on the way we stopped occasionally for historical markers and such. We took a scenic byway we stopped at Mesa falls in Idaho. The falls were beautiful and I would not recommend rafts for the waterfall is a 100 foot drop. After we stopped there we made a few more stops and on one stop we saw our first glimpse of the Tetons. After a little more of driving through he mountains the land opened up to a giant plain. Many of the farmers there grew wheat and the fields were lined with golden crops. We turned off the road and went down a bumpy dirt road. We saw cave falls and headed back. We drove through many small towns and arrives at Jackson. We stopped there to eat and saw a lot of security guards walking around. We think they were there for some rich guy or Joe Biden who was seen rafting on one of the rivers near by and was vacationing in Jackson Hole. We continued down the road and into the park. We than saw the Tetons up close. Their presence was always there. It was like the mountain was always looking down upon you with its snow capped eyes. We drove through the park until we got to our tent cabin in coulter bay. We walked around a little bit and ate and the Jackson lodge. We went back to our tent cabin, lit a fire to stay warm, and fell asleep for our big adventure tomorrow.-Isiah 

Rafting and Yellowstone Exploration

This will be a quick entry. We left Yellowstone under canvas and headed to monana whitewater after a quick breakfast. When we arrive we waited a little while and than started putting on the gear. After we were ready we got on a bus and headed for the starting point. When we arrived we got a brief instruction from one of the guides. Rafting was very fun and we went over some pretty big rapids. I got to sit on the front of the raft and got splashed in the face a lot on the trip. After we were done at montana whitewater we headed into Yellowstone. We saw some geysers and hot springs and hiked some trails. We returned to Yellowstone under canvas and went to bed for the night, only after beating dad in checkers 4 times. -Isiah 

Bozeman to West Yellowstone

We started the day quickly and headed to west Yellowstone. The mountains continued to be impressive as they had the day before. We made a few stops here and there to take pictures. When we arrived in big sky we stopped at the big sky resort and looked around and took more pictures. After our stop we continued to west Yellowstone. When we arrived we decided to go into the park before we checked in. The lines of cars were long but we got in pretty quickly. After walking along some trails we decided to head back and check in. The place was amazing! There many different kinds of tents and we got two. We got a tipi and a regular tent with a bed. We took a walk down the Madison river which was right next to the camp. After awhile we headed back to west Yellowstone and took a walk through the town visiting historical places. After that we went to an IMAX theather where we saw a show on Yellowstone. After the show we ate and headed back and got ready for bed. -Isiah 

Green Bay Wisconsin - Bozeman Montana

Getting out of bed at 6 in the morning is a small price to pay for such an awsome vacation. We arrived at the airport and Green Bay and got through security. There was a surprising amount of people on the plane, considering I have never been on a full flight before. The flight to Minniapolis was smooth and we landed without problems. While exiting the plane my dad and I went up to the observation deck where he and his brother use too hang out on. The flight bozeman was longer and the view coming in was unlike any I have ever seen. We got the rental car without incident, just a long wait. We drove to Claire and Nicks house in Bozeman and decided to go to gallatin national forest. The drive there reminded me of the woodland covered mountains of Colorado. We stopped at a reservoir
that was translucent. You could see the epic landscape of the mountains reflected in the clear lake. The water was a bit low, but was still big. We than drove up the mountain and hiked up to palisade waterfall. The water was cold as it came from higher up in the mountain. As we were acing like complete tourists we noticed a small plume of smoke coming out of the woods on the opposite side of the valley. We assumed it was the begging of a forest fire. We drove back, sat around being lazy, went out to eat, and are back here now getting ready to go to bed. -Isiah 

Adventure 2014!

Well here we go on another trip. This year we head to Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons. Currently we are on a layover in the Minneapolis airport on our way to Bozeman. More updates soon!