Epic Road Trip 2017: Cody, WY

After a slightly stressful drive out of Yellowstone with a sick Emmett, he calmed down and fell asleep.  By the time we arrived at our Airbnb in Cody, he seemed much more himself.  Between camping for 2 nights and Emmett getting sick, we were all ready to head straight to the shower.  I sent Spencer to get Emmett cleaned up while I unloaded the bags.  Suddenly, Liam and Amelie come running up to me saying there's a snake!  Being the New England girl that I am, I immediately think "Rattlesnake!" and panic.  I told the kids to get in the car and shut the doors while I got Spencer.  Turns out it was just a (large) bull snake, but I made sure to keep the doors closed and watch out for any more friends.  Emmett came running out in all the excitement and this picture became an instant family classic.  Poor kid it going to have us showing this picture around and laughing for the rest of his life!

 the snake is up to the right of Emmett's head and the picture does not do it justice: it was about 3 feet long!

Fortunately, Emmett got better and no one else got sick (except maybe a few cousins after they left Cody, sorry cousins!) so we were able to enjoy the rest of Cody.  What a memorable experience it was! It was so fun to take the kids back to where Spencer grew up and to get to enjoy many of the things he enjoyed about growing up there.  I had been back to visit Cody with Spencer before, but going with his mom and sister and getting to spend time really experiencing things that made it special to him gave me an entirely different perspective.  I felt less like a tourist and more like I got to see what it was like to grow up there and why Spencer has so many fond memories.    

We started off with mini golfing and ice cream from Dairy Queen (which all the Deery kids swear is the best Dairy Queen in the world!)

My kids always love when we travel with cousins.

The next day we enjoyed the famous Cody 4th of July Parade--on July 3rd. It's so big it has 2 days: and people start setting up chairs (and chaining them down so no one can take them) on July 2nd!

We got to spend the afternoon at the home of some friends, the Nielson's, which was a highlight for me of being in Cody.  What an incredible time! The family was so warm and welcoming, prepared a delicious lunch, and we enjoyed hanging out by their pond while the kids played in the water and paddled on boats.  Spencer even tried out the zip line!

Liam and Kyler on an ATV headed to the pond. It was kid heaven at their house!

That night we went to a Cody Rodeo! It was a cultural experience.

The 4th of July morning we decided to go river rafting! I love river rafting and was excited that our kids were finally old enough to do it.  The Shoshone river was gentle enough to not be scary but still a little thrilling and we did get wet! Nearly all of us loved it--except Emmett who kept wailing that he hated boats and wanted to get back to land and never, never leave again.

before

after (notice how much bigger Amelie's smile is)

4th of July evening was spent with ice cream and fireworks at the Nielson's again.  Fireworks in Wyoming are different from anywhere else I've lived and the kids were mesmerized by the variety and excitement.  And then we got to see the big, city fireworks display.  

 Sunset at the Nielson's

That night we planned to camp but decided we didn't want to set up our tent for one night, so we bunked up with Spencer's mom and Aubrie in the little cabin they booked.  It was very nice of them to share the tiny space with us.  Before we left, we couldn't miss the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum.

 It is a real gem of a museum about this history of the West.

  Then, it was time to say good-bye to Grandma and start our trip back home.  But that didn't mean the fun was over yet...

Epic Roadtrip 2017: Yellowstone Day 2

The second night camping was much more enjoyable even though we didn't get back to the campsite until 10:30! The kids slept in the car until we got hot dogs made and then they immediately fell back asleep after eating, which gave Spencer and I the chance to have a romantic fire side dinner of hot dogs.  It was much less cold that night and everyone slept better.  It was almost hard to pack up the following morning, but I won't lie, I was looking forward to a shower and a bed later that night!

So we drove into the park with a plan to meet Spencer's Mom.  We entered from the Northeast Gate where it is a long drive in and there is almost no cell service except at the lodges, and true to us, we were laaate getting there.  I try so hard to not be late, but it seems we often are anyway. But, never the less, we made it to the rendez-vous point and all was well.  The kids were so happy to be reunited with Grandma.

This day in Yellowstone we planned to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, with the waterfall, the mud pots, and Yellowstone Lake.  Because it was July 4th weekend, the Park was PACKED! It seemed we spent a long time driving slowly around parking lots to find a spot to park: at least the parking lots are beautiful.  So we hiked to upper falls and then drove to view the lower falls.  Poor over tired Emmett fell asleep so Spencer missed out on the lower view of the falls.  The views were incredible!

 view from upper falls

 view from lower falls

After some hiking and admiring waterfalls, we drove to the mud pots.  By this point we had spent a lot of time waiting in the car and I think the kids were getting a little tired of admiring nature, and also probably excited to meet up with their cousins in Cody later that day.  However, I think the mud pots are awesome, so we rallied everyone to make the stop.

 Unfortunately this meant waking Emmett from his nap and he was NOT happy.

 In fact he flailed and cried the whole walk up to Dragon's Cauldron (so cool, especially since the sign says it was nothing until 1946 when an earthquake cause it to roar to life.  Yellowstone is such an amazing place!)

 Little did we know, Emmett was a few minutes away from puking all over the car, but let's not let that sour the beautiful image below.

 This picture captures the beauty of Yellowstone so well: the majestic trees, rolling green mountains, crystal clear waters, strange mud pots, steam rising randomly from geothermal areas throughout.  Love it all.

So a few minutes after leaving the mud pots on our way to Fishing Bridge and Yellowstone lake, Emmett threw up all over the car seat.  That would be #4 on my list of Top Fears on a Road Trip.  We pulled over, stripped him down, tried to wipe off the car seat with paper towels and water, and crossed our fingers that it was a one time thing.  It wasn't.  Poor guy felt ill the whole way out of Yellowstone (and if you've been out the East Gate entrance, you can imagine that it is not a road to drive on when you are feeling queasy.)  Anway, we at least had to stop so I could take this picture of gorgeous Yellowstone lake.  Worrying about Emmett throwing up (and fears of everyone else getting sick!) made me forget my sadness at leaving Yellowstone.  Such a magical place that I can never get enough of: I'm already plotting my return...

Epic Road Trip 2017: Yellowstone, Day 1

Now we come to the part of the trip that I had been dreaming about.  Yellowstone is one of my favorite places in the world and like any parent I couldn't wait to share one of my favorite things with my children.  Yellowstone was created by a GIGANTIC volcano eruption and the earth's crust is so thin that pools of hot, gaseous water and mud bubble up at any given time.  Water ejects out of the ground and shoots 30+ feet in the air--and sometimes it can even be predicted! There are hundreds of earthquakes that happen--sometimes in a day! How can you not find that interesting?  Since the science behind Yellowstone is so singularly fascinating, the kids were as excited to experience it as I was.

 We were lucky enough to begin the day seeing a mama black bear and her cub swimming in a little creek.  It made the long drive in through the Northeast Gate worth it.  Our plan for day 1 was to see Mammoth hot springs, Upper Geyser Basin, Norris Geyser Basin, and end at Old Faithful.

I was disappointed that Mammoth was not as cool as I remember it as a kid since it has dried up.  The road construction near mammoth as well as all the tourist traffic meant that this stop added way too much time.

  We made it to Upper Geyser Basin and some of us enjoyed the hiking but not enough so we skipped a few things that I would have enjoyed if we had more time.  The kids were pretty good troopers, but Spencer definitely wins for hiking with 70 pounds of extra weight (he didn't carry them the whole time, don't worry).

 Classic picture!

 By the time we made it to Old Faithful, it was around 5 pm.  We had a good 2 hour drive back to our campsite and dinner to make.  This meant we would skip the hike around Old Faithful, but of course we had to watch it erupt, even if it meant waiting another 1/2 hour.  Yellowstone Lodge to the rescue!

 We found some ice cream to perk us up and nobody minded the wait after that. In any case, as soon as it started to erupt the kiddos decided it was well worth the hype.  No matter how many times I've seen it erupt, it is still breathtaking.

 Even though it was going to be so late by the time we got back to camp, we just couldn't pass up the Grand Prismatic Spring.

 And we caught this gem of a picture as well--this is the winner of the most awesomely bad picture of the trip.

 As we drove out of the park, my heart sank a little.  The geothermal features of Yellowstone have fascinated me since I was a child and I could have spent another day or two reveling in the curiosity of nature, so even though we would still come back the next day, I bid farewell to my favorite part of Yellowstone.

2017 Epic Road Trip: Camping

So it was cold.  And wet.  And we didn't quite know where we were going.  And it was Grizzly Bear Country.  I had a lot of reasons why I was not looking forward to this idea of camping. 

After stopping at a tiny tourist information stop in the tiny town of Cook City, MT, we found a camp spot at Crazy Creek campground.  The rain stopped.  It was still cold.

Then, something magic began to happen: the kids got into setting up the camp and creating a "secret fort"...

 And we discovered Crazy Creek...

 Which was magnificent thanks to the rain.

Then came the tinfoil dinners and S'mores.

And right about then, I was thinking maybe this camping thing wasn't so bad.  Then it got dark, which meant it got freezing cold.  As in, it either broke a record for how cold it was or nearly did.

                                      
  So everyone slept in 2 pairs of the warmest pajamas, socks, and hats.  We fell asleep to the sounds of Crazy Creek roaring in the background and woke up in the middle of the night to Amelie wailing because she was coming down with a cold and she hated camping.  By morning though, everyone was smiles as we looked forward to a day in Yellowstone.
                                     
We decided we liked the campground enough and didn't want to take it down and set it up again, so I gave up my dream of camping in Yellowstone to stay another night at Crazy Creek.  Although it was a long drive into and back out of the park, which meant the kids stayed up way too late that night and it ate up some of our park time, the camp was so beautiful and so peaceful that I don't regret staying there again. In the end, I still don't love camping--especially when it's cold and wet--but it was a good family experience and I will do it again sometime.

2017 Epic Road Trip: A Lot of Driving (Some of it Interesting)

After a couple of days in Minnesota, we set out again for the next part of our journey to Yellowstone: across North Dakota and a night in Billings, Montana.  We tried to carefully map out our journey to keep the drives about we miscalculated and the drive between Minnesota and Montana was 13 hours! And although I was excited to drive through North Dakota and check another state off my list, it was not a very exciting state.

 Me, driving in North Dakota

Theodore  Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, so there was something to see.

Unfortunately, since we misjudged the time we needed to drive, we ended up getting to Billings very late and we didn't get to see much of it or enjoy the really nice pool at the hotel.  We planned to buy food and do some prep before our camping but we also had high hopes of getting into Yellowstone early enough to snag a camp ground.  All the while, I'm checking the weather and seeing temperatures in the 30's and rain!!! I wasn't sold on the camping idea to begin with, and I definitely wasn't loving winter temperatures, also, it rains every. single. time I camp.

We headed out the next morning much later than we planned and not feeling very optimistic about getting a camp ground in Yellowstone.  I wanted to spend as much time as possible in Yellowstone, so I was feeling a little disappointed.  Yet my disappointment faded as we started down the Bear Tooth Highway, leading toward the Northeast Entrance into Yellowstone.  While it was rainy and cold and cloudy, I could still tell it was breathtaking, and the rain and snow and clouds made it a little more breathtaking.  

 We started going up in the rain...

 We rose higher into the clouds...

 And it started to get foggier... (and I was really glad Spencer was driving)

 And then it was sheer drop offs on one side, up switchbacks and we could only see about 20 feet in front of us...

 Then we were suddenly up in snow!

 And it his 34 degrees! (I was really not feeling like a happy camper at this point)

 We dressed for summer and now that seemed a little inappropriate...

 Finally we hit the summit, with incredible vistas on either side of Bear Tooth...

It was quite the novel experience to be standing in snow on June 29th.

By the time we got to the bottom of the other side, it was raining again, and still cold and pretty late in the afternoon, and even though we tried, the only camp sites available in Yellowstone were 2 hours on the other side of the park.  So now we had to try and find a campground in Montana near Yellowstone and all without the help of Google or really any technology because our phones stopped working.  It was cold, wet, our plans were falling through, and I was not a happy camper.