Blake has his 5 day break this week and since we are not getting a weekend together in August around our anniversary, I took off Thursday and Friday to give us a long weekend. We planned to hike one or 2 days and take the boat to the Eastern Shore on one of the days. We checked the weather out on Wednesday 6/9 and the weather where we wanted to go was going to be horrible. I sent Blake a text a couple of hours later and said “Let’s go to Yellowstone”. Blake agreed and I began to hunt for tickets. Blake worked Wednesday and doesn’t get off until the morning and have to keep that in mind for flight times. I sent his mom (Teri) a text to see if she could watch the dog while we were gone and thought that maybe she would like to join us also and she decided she wanted to go on one of our unplanned, crazy, last minute adventures. I booked the plane tickets before I knew his mom was coming and she ended up having to go on a different flight but we took off and landed within 10 minutes of each other and it worked out perfectly. I tried to get fights into Bozeman, MT and Cody, WY but no rental cars were available at the airports. Mostly due to the used car shortage. When I called these locations, most of their rental cars have been sold off. We ended up flying into Billings, MT.
Blake’s mom got to my house around 4:30 AM and we left to drive to Richmond, VA to pick up Blake from work. The next thing we know, we are on a plane that was booked about 18 hours ago. We flew American Airlines and Teri flew United Airlines.
We had 1 layover and both flights were around 2.5 hours. Taylor was not the best and we felt bad but she didn’t do horrible. She just wanted down and wanted to walk around.
We arrived in Billings, MT shortly before 1 PM about 10 minutes before Blake’s mom and we looked around the airport. The airport had a bunch of artifacts and signs to read. I got a bunch of travel guides. Once we met up with Teri, we found our rental car and hit the road.
Blake and I love taking the scenic route when on vacation, especially in places we have never been before. Instead of taking the 2 main highways into Yellowstone, we take Highway 212 that runs more through the mountains and we can take in more views.
We make our first stop at the entrance to Custer National Forest.
Driving along we come across the Rock Creek Vista Point overlook. We stop and walk to the overlook platform. We pass tons and tons of chipmunks along the path and at the viewpoint.
The views from the overlook was incredible and incredibly windy.
We get back in the car and head towards Shoshone National Forest. Not long after entering, we come across snow everywhere. To include 12 foot snowbanks. Coming from Virginia, we were in t-shirts/shorts. What better way to see how cold the weather is, than to have a snowball fight.
12 Foot Tall Snowbanks 
We ran into a 1 lane road on the Beartooth Highway due to construction and come to a stop in front of Beartooth Lake. We jump out of the car to take pictures since we had some time to kill while we were sitting in traffic.
After about a 4.5 hour drive, we made it to YELLOWSTONE!!! We arrived at the Northeast Entrance of the park. The Northeast Entrance is 1 of 5 entrances to the park.
The first animal we come across is a Bison. The Bison was pretty far from the road and with the naked eye we thought it was a bear. We pulled over to get a closer look and it ended up being a Bison. When I say we pulled over to get a closer look, we were screaming like kids being told by their parents that they can get any toy they want in a toy store. We were so excited!!! We took lots of pictures of the Bison as this is the first animal we saw in the park. The bison was pretty far away which is why the picture is pixilated.
This is certainly not the only Bison we got to see. We saw 100s of Bison during our trip.
Baby Bison!
We came up on a field filled with Bison and 3 Antelope. The Antelope kept running back and forth across the road and had traffic stopped.
We pulled into the area to see the Petrified Tree and we got to see 2 more sights. 1. It was snowing, 2. We saw our first bear. This bear is a black bear and thankfully pretty far from the road. Spotting wildlife in Yellowstone is fairly easy. Just look for the cars that are pulled over in random spots. This is how we noticed the bear.
Snow 
We head back out to the main road and the rain and snow stopped and I made a comment that it would be awesome if we could see a rainbow and I looked out the window and there was a rainbow.
The calm after the storm made for beautiful views.
Blake has been obsessing over seeing Elk ever since we got back from Colorado last year and he didn’t get to see any. I was looking out the window and told Blake to find a place to turn around because I think I spotted Elk. He reluctantly turned the car around and boy was he happy he did. It was an entire mountainside of Elk.
We see a pull off for Undine Falls. Undine Falls is a 3 tier waterfall approximately 60 feet tall and located just off the roadway and flows into Lava Creek.
Right around sunset, we finally made it to Mammoth Hot Springs. Thankfully the sunset out west is very late and we had plenty of light to see a lot of the Hot Springs. The temperature was also on the cooler side at the time and steam was actively flowing from the Hot Springs. Boardwalks surround the Hot Springs and visitors are to stay on these boardwalks. A lot of the boardwalks are ADA accessible. There are however a lot of stairs as well.
After viewing a lot of Mammoth Hot Springs we head to West Yellowstone and call it a night. We stayed a the Super 8 West Yellowstone for the night which is only located a few miles from the West Yellowstone entrance. It was a nice and clean hotel and I would stay here again.
In the morning, we go out to the car to head out and it is 27 degrees and the car is covered in frost. While the car was warming up, we take a couple of pictures at the campground next door.
After leaving the hotel, we stopped at the Book Peddler for hot chocolate and a breakfast sandwich. The stop took a little longer than we wanted but it was okay. We made it back to the West Yellowstone entrance. The entrance was busy but it didn’t take that long to get through. We passed a lot of bison and ducks on the way to Midway Geyser Basin.
We made it to the Midway Geyser Basin. The basin has warning signs up everywhere and throughout Yellowstone, warning visitors to stay on the boardwalk.
The temperature was in the 40s and it made for harder views of the geysers and slippery boardwalks. The walkway was one direction and this helped the foot traffic flow very well. The first Geyser we came to is the Excelsior Geyser Crater. We had to wait to get good pictures of the geyser. An employee was also standing on the other side of the walkway fishing out a hat. The wind was strong as well. When objects go into the geysers it can change their temperatures and that can change the colors.
We made it to the famous Grand Prismatic Spring. It was really hard to see the colors from the walkway. It was very beautiful and the colors you could see from ground level were incredible.
Opal Pool 
Turquoise Pool
Our next stop is at Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin. We arrived at the end of the Old Faithful eruption and checked out the Upper Geyser Basin while we waited for the next eruption. Old Faithful erupts approximately every 90 minutes with a 10 minute window and the longer it takes to erupt the higher the eruption is.
We made our way around the Upper Geyser Basin checking out all of the geysers and pools. We took a lot of pictures and videos. Some of the small geysers would bubble or have small eruptions as we were walking by.
Boardwalks are everywhere and you must stay on the boardwalks. The geysers are around 190-200 degrees and can kill you. We were being a group and a girl in her 20s sat down in front of us on the boardwalk and said “I just have to know. I just have to touch it”. Everyone else around told her to get up and not touch the water but she did not listen and touched it anyways and quickly learned the reason for the endless warning signs.
All of the geysers are named and have signs next to them.
Heart Pool 
Beauty Pool 
We came to a bridge across a stream from a geyser and on one side of the bridge stood a bison. Everyone was safely walking by the Bison. The couple in front of us pulled out bison jerky and waved it (jokingly) and next thing you know the Bison charges at them. We were on the bridge at the time and had to run to get out of harms way. Unfortunately we got separated from Teri and she had to wait about 10 minutes to get back to us. That was quite the experience. Thankfully we can look back on it and laugh but at the time it was terrifying
We got back in time to see the next eruption of Old Faithful. When we got there the entire viewing area was full of people. We did manage to find a free bench. We picked the right spot because we had a Yellowstone tour guide sitting right behind us and she gave us updates while we were waiting. We loved learning about the history of the geyser as well as learning about its eruption pattern. Taylor was also putting on quite the show while we were waiting. She was waiving at everyone and blowing kisses. We can safely say she stole the show. Old Faithful took longer than normal to erupt and we got to see quite the show. The eruption went on for almost 2 minutes and was higher than normal.
After leaving Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin we head towards the South entrance of the park. We see signs for the Continental Divide.
We pass by Lewis Falls on the way out of the park. Lewis Falls can be seen from the road and also has a parking area. Lewis falls is one of the most photographed waterfalls in the park. We didn’t stop at the falls but did get a picture as we were passing by.
The John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway connects Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. We leave Yellowstone and take the parkway into Grand Teton. We unfortunately didn’t have time to do any hiking in Grand Teton but we did get some really good views and pictures.
After driving the loop around Grand Teton we head back to the South entrance of Yellowstone.
We make our way back through the South entrance of Yellowstone and stop at the West Thumb Geyser Basin.
The West Thumb Geyser Basin has boardwalks for visitors to stay on and it takes you by all of the geysers. All of the geysers are named and have name placards.
As we continued our drive towards Yellowstone’s east entrance we see a lot of cars stopped on the side of the road. We drive to a side road and get out to see what everyone is looking at and it is a Mama and cub Grizzly Bear. The bears were down an long embankment from us and we had a very safe distance.
We make our way to the East entrance of Yellowstone to head to our hotel for the night. We pass a couple of roadside waterfalls and incredible mountain views.
We also stop to see the Firefighters Memorial.
We get to our hotel about 30 minutes before the restaurant closed for the night. We were very glad it was still open because there was nothing else around the hotel.
We stayed at the Yellowstone Valley Inn in Wapiti, WY. The Yellowstone Valley Inn also has a campground and cabin. Due to COVID most of the employees quit and at the time they only had 7 employees and were thinking about just keeping the campground open and closing the hotel and cabins. This would be very unfortunate because it was by far the best hotels I have ever stayed in. The hotel/motel sat next to the river and you had beautiful views from the balcony. The rooms were also extremely clean. The food at the restaurant is fantastic as well as the service. I am glad I was able to find this hotel the day of.
***I wanted to find a place to stay in Wapiti because it means Elk and it is a teaser for Blake since he is obsessed with seeing Elk***
Restaurant 
Motel 
Views 
The hotel had a grab and go breakfast which was perfect for us. We were able to eat on the go. We got to see more of the views coming from the East entrance of Yellowstone.
We were trying to get to the Mud Volcano area but got stopped on a bridge by a large Bison that was out just doing its Bison thing.
Once the Bison went on its way we made it to Mud Volcano and took in the geyser views. We met a park ranger that gave Taylor a Junior Ranger sticker and we asked him how many earthquakes Yellowstone has on average each year. The ranger informed us that there are around 2000 earthquakes per year. This means that we likely had some while we were there but thankfully didn’t feel them.
We left the Mud Volcano area and made our way to Canyon Village. Canyon Village is the site of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Our first stop in Canyon Village was Uncle Tom’s Point a viewing platform off of South Rim Drive. This viewing platform gives views of the lower falls. The area is also where visitors would access the Uncle Tom’s trail to that takes you down hundreds of steps for a better view of the falls. Unfortunately this trail was closed when we visited.
From the viewing platform, visitors can also take in views of Crystal Falls.
We continued down a trail from the viewing platform to Sunset Point for another view of the falls.
We got back in the car and continued down South Rim Drive to Artist Point. Artist point provides views of the 308 foot drop of the lower falls as well as the Yellowstone river as it travels through the canyon. Artist Point has a large parking area and only a 0.1 mile walk to the viewing area.
After leaving Artist Point we head to North Rim Drive and stop at the Brink of the upper falls. This overlook is at the top of the upper falls and provides a perspective of how fast the water is flowing.
Blake and I decided to hike down the Lower Falls trail which is a 0.7 mile out and back with 265 feet of elevation gain. The views from the overlook offered incredible views of the lower falls and you could feel the intensity of the falls.
After leaving the Brink of the Lower Falls, we made our way down North Rim Drive to Lookout Point. Lookout Point offers views of the Lower Falls. The viewing platform for lookout point is approximately 0.15 miles from the parking area. Also from the parking area you can take the Red Rock Trail to Red Rock Point. This trail give the closest views of the lower falls. The trail is 0.7 miles out and back with 259 feet of elevation gain. The hike is a series of switchbacks down to the falls. It is steep coming back up but the switchbacks do help.
Once leaving Lookout Point, we stopped at Grand View for another look of the falls and then continued to Inspiration Point. Inspiration Point offers a West, Mid and Lower Overlook. We did all 3 and each offered their own unique and spectacular views.
We found the sign talking about the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
We left the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and drove about an hour to the Fairy Falls Trailhead. Driving through the “drive through safari”. We did stop at one of the visitors centers and gift shop. We had lunch while we were stopped. In the gift shop I picked up a puzzle for the kids, hoodie for me, we got our lapel pins, my parents got a hat and shirt. I also picked up a bottle of wine to bring back with us. I wanted to get a red but opted for the with because the wine had to go in cargo on the plane and if the bottle broke it is far easier to get white wine out of clothes vs red wine. (the wine made it home in 1 piece). The wine also had symbolic meaning because it was called wolfpack white. We call the kids the wolfpack. The area is also known for Huckleberries. We have never tried huckleberries before and decided to get a chocolate bar that was made from huckleberries and I got the kids lollipops that were also made from huckleberries. The chocolate wasn’t bad, just not something I would eat on a regular basis.
From the Fairy Falls trailhead you could hike to the Grand Prismatic Overlook. The hike to the overlook and back is 1.1 miles with an elevation gain of 138 feet. The trail was very crowded but completely worth it. We made it to the overlook and had the most incredible views of Grand Prismatic!
On the way to the car we saw a girl extremely close to a Bison taking pictures. This is illegal and not to mention extremely dangerous.
A nickname we have for Taylor is Biscuit, it was only appropriate for us to stop at Biscuit Basin for her to have her picture.
We explored the geysers around Biscuit Basin and even got to see one erupt.
We drove towards the North entrance and make a stop at Mammoth Hot Springs to see the top. This is the area we did not make it to on our first night.
After leaving Mammoth Hot Springs we stop at the Post Office to mail the kids post cards. They love getting post cards from our trip (even though it is after we have returned).
We spotted a male Elk on the drive out of the park. Blake was very excited!
Driving a little further, we see a lot of people pulled over on the side of the road and this is the indication of an animal. It was a bighorn sheep. Pretty excited to see the sheep since it was the first time we spotted one during our trip.
Along the drive we passed a sign and didn’t see what it was so we circled back around and it was the 45th Parallel of Latitude Halfway Between Equator and North Pole.
We made it to the North Entrance and Roosevelt Arch . We also saw a few female Elk wandering the fields.
Needing to eat, we stopped at The Corral for dinner. The Corral offers Elk and Bison Burgers. Blake tried the Elk burger and really liked it. I just had grilled cheese and tomato soup and Teri had a chicken salad. This was a perfect meal for the end of our trip.
We drove 2.5 hours to our hotel near the airport (My Place Hotel). We arrived at the hotel around 1 am. We had to get up at 4:30 am to get to the airport on time. The hotel was nice and clean and we were able to get a crib for Taylor to sleep in.
Our flight from Billings, MT departed at 6 am and we arrived in Dallas, TX at 9:46 am. Taylor did okay on the flight and slept most of the time.
The flight ended up being about 2.5 hours. Once in Dallas, we grabbed McDonalds for breakfast and waited for our next flight.
The flight from Dallas, TX to Richmond was close to 3 hours. It was 3 hours of misery. The plane didn’t have a properly functioning AC and the was HOT, very HOT. Everyone on the plane was extremely uncomfortable and this plane was full. I think it had 1 or 2 empty seats. Taylor was cranky because of the heat. We ended up having to undress her down to her diaper to keep her calm. She eventually fell asleep.
Once Taylor woke up, we didn’t have much time left until we landed in Richmond. She sat with Daddy and looked out the window for a few and then took my phone and started making faces at herself.
We arrived back in Richmond around 3 pm and only had to wait a few minutes until Teri arrived from her flight.
We had such an amazing time on our adventure to Yellowstone. It was awesome having Teri join us on our crazy unplanned adventure. She really enjoyed it and actually said she would join us again. It is just something about the unknown that gives me an adrenaline boost and excitement. Yellowstone was a major success and we created memories that will last a lifetime.
If you have any interest in going to Yellowstone, my personal recommendation is go around the time we went. Less crowded, all roads are open and hotels available just outside of the park.
Nic of Time - Travel 