Caution: Hot!

 

Yesterday we got to do some pretty amazing things at both Teton National Park and then later at Yellowstone National Park. In the early morning, the whole family got up and dressed (very warmly because the mornings here are about forty degrees) and headed out to the marina in Teton. Boarding a motorboat, we went on a half hour narrated boat cruise and had breakfast out on Elk Island. After breakfast we took a short hike, climbed back on the boat for an interesting narrative, and prepared to leave for Yellowstone as soon as we got back. As you can imagine, there is a certain level of difficulty involved in the Dionne family leaving a campsite so we all had to pitch in to throw groceries wherever they fit, run the trash and recycle out, pack up the twenty pairs of shoes, and there was always someone yelling something along the lines of, “Dad! I don’t think you can drive with the awning out”. So with some minor delays, we were on our way to Yellowstone. We arrived and had a quick lunch in the parking lot and then we decided to go on a small hike in the West Thumb Geothermal Geyser Park. It was very hot and the pretty blue pools looked so cool and refreshing that I almost wanted to jump right in. Of course, had I done that, I’d have no skin left and I would be dead. Unfortunately we didn’t see any animals near the features but the Ranger talk made up for it. My favorite parts to see were the Cones and the Painters Pots. The Cones looked like moon craters with colored water in them and people used to catch a fish and dip it in the Fishing Cone to cook it! There was even a footprint from the early 1900s to prove it. The painters pots were really pretty colored pools of mineral water and I loved seeing all of them. After returning to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire, we read Swiss Family Robinson and snuggled into bed.