Yellowstone National Park

We took off the morning July 24th for Jackson Hole to race and go to Yellowstone National Park. I was hoping to leave by 7 in the morning, but it took longer getting kids ready and the car completely packed, so we ended up leaving by 9. Oh well, I only had a tiny schedule to keep. Royce had just gotten off work, so he slept in the car while I drove. I guess it was contagious, because everyone else was slept too.The bad part about all the sleeping was I did not have anyone to navigate for me, and I have not driven to Jackson or Evanston, which was on the way to Jackson. As I approached our first intersection Mandy woke up and started asking me a bunch of questions and I was trying to figure out what happened after I exited. From the directions I thought I was supposed to exit again within 1/2 a mile. Wrong! Of course it took driving 10 miles back tracking and going back to figure this out. It was about this time Shandy woke up and tried to help navigate. She tried, but I had to pull over more than once to read the directions t make sure I was on the right route or taking the correct exit. With all of the misturns we got into Jackson a little after 3 pm.

By this time Karl was waiting up at the race course. Unfortunately he ended up waiting another hour while we got checked in, unpacked an changed for the ride. The kids (Mandy, Joey and Johnny) rode a couple of laps of their course while Shandy waited and Karl and I took off to ride our course. This course it technical and fun. There are 2 different points where you ride across planks that are zig zagged together. The first time I was intimidated and walked across. The second time was a surprise and I popped up on the plank went oh s*-%, s#*%, s!$% and fell to the side. Karl laughed--it was very funny. He then had me go back and coached me over the planks. Once I learned how to go over it was not so bad. The course was not completely marked, and at one point Karl was not sure we took the right path so he back tracked and I followed another rider. We eventually ended up at the bottom of this big hill climb. We had the choice of a single track or the climb. We took the single track. Oooops we took the wrong turn. Oh well, it was okay. Karl beat me back and we got the kids and left. Mandy was funny as we left. She found out she had to do three laps and she said "mom, there is no way I can do 3 laps it will kill me." If you have heard Mandy talk you would know exactly how funny this was.

Back at the motel Mandy changed into her swim suit and swam. Lucky for us there were 2 other families from the team with girls her age and they swam together for the rest of the night.

Next morning it was off to Yellowstone National Park. We took the West Entrance and headed to Mammoth Springs. The first sight we saw was a waterfall on the side of the road.After the falls we continued on and soon came upon two very large Elk.

After seeing the Elk we drove on Mammoth Springs. At Mammoth Springs we walked the built trail and looked how the springs had changed the environment. It is amazing how there is living and dead vegetation throughout the hot springs. One shot of the springs looks like a ghost face. Can you tell from the family picture we are a little bit tired--at least Mandy is.After leaving Mammoth Springs we drove past a rock formation out of no where. We saw a pine tree growing right out of a rock.We continued on our way heading to see Old Faithful. We saw another water fall.After the falls we stopped at Norris Geyser. I was able to get a picture of Steamboat Geyser going off. I also like the picture of Cistine Springs. I took a lot of pretty pictures of the area, but don't want to make this too long.

By the time we finished looking at the geysers at Norris we were tired and decided to head back to the motel. I thought Mandy was tired, but as soon as we got to the motel she was swimming with friends again until 10. It took until 11 to get her to sleep. She was so wound up she wanted to talk and talk. This is the draw back of sharing a room with your kids. But it is also funny.

The next day was race day. I raced and Royce volunteered. It was a fun race. After the race we went on a gondala ride and Mandy got to bungee jump. Her face shows fun, fear and at one point a look of wanting to toss her cookies.

After playing it was time to go home. The ride was good. Mandy slept the entire time except the last hour, Shandy slept and Royce navigated. When we arrived to Park City we drove right in to a big rain, thunder and lightening storm. It was very dark and ominous. We also a fire being put out on the road after Heber and up in Bridal Veil Falls. After the long, fun vacation it was great to be home to rest.