The ride home

The ride was fairly uneventful that evening. We stopped in Livingston for the night. Dad very generously paid for mine and Andy’s room. My mom and step-dad stayed there too and we all went to breakfast together the next morning. It was really nice seeing my parents actually talking a little, namely my dad being willing to talk to my mom for once, and kind of having a trip with both of them. We parted ways at that point and we headed for the North entrance of Yellowstone.

Andy and I really didn’t want to go through Yellowstone as Yellowstone isn’t a place you should simply drive through and there were faster ways home, but we got out voted and we went through and got in free with my dad’s old fogey card. Hehe. We took pictures at the gate and then we stopped for a bit at the mammoth springs, but not long enough to wander around the whole thing.

This is a really great family photo with my dad. I think it's the only one really, in years.

 Mammoth is mostly dry these days, but there are some parts that are still full of water.

We also stopped for a heard of buffalo and I got out for a bit and took some pictures. There were brand new calves in the heard that were just too darn cute and really neat to see. Some of them were still a bit wobbly even. That’s about all we got to see of the park though.

 These two were having a bit of an argument.  It was really fun to watch.

 The babies are just super cute and fuzzy.  I just wanted to grab one and hug it.

 There was a small heard of elk across the river from where the buffalo were.

 

 

We then headed for Rexburg, ID and bear world. I didn’t feel it was worth the entrance price. Most of the animals were asleep and they’ve added electric fences here and there to separate the animals making it more of a zoo than a wildlife sanctuary, which I found disappointing.I thought the white elk was neat though.

This bear was pacing back and forth.  I imagine it was bored.  You can see the electric wires in this picture.

This cub was the only active thing in this whole park.  Right after we passed it several other cubs joined it and were running around.

At some point we passed a field where the farmer had worked the name Bob into his field. Andy is obsessed with the name Bob and I had Stacie stop so I could get a picture of it. We also passed by a wind farm. I don’t know what it is about wind farms, but I find them to be awesome.

 I love wind farms.

 I took all these pictures out of the van window driving down the road.  : )









When we stopped for lunch, Becca and I were playing a bit while we waited for food. I was sitting down kind of in between two tables and she kept stepping on my foot. At one point she had her hands on both tables and she put both of her feet on one of mine, so I decide to lift her up. She thought that was a blast so I did some leg lifts with her on my foot. I was amazed at myself for being able to lift her. She weighs 30 pounds and was on my toes! I got her pretty high too! I got her to switch feet and I lifted her again with my other leg. Got my leg exercises in for the day!

We slept and traded drivers and when we reached Malad, ID Dad decided to stop in at a friend’s for a few minutes. It was nice to get out and stretch but it turned into a bit longer than a few minutes. We finally got Dad to go and then headed for a gas station, we called Dan and Denise and let them know we were going to be pretty late and they offered to keep the dogs one more night. I love the Boes! We bought a couple more lotto tickets and one for them and we finally got on the road again. We actually ended up being in the car the entire day Sunday despite no one wanting it that way. For some reason the closer to home we got, the more stuffed up and miserable Andy and I got. It was awful. We finally got home, got unpacked, got greeted by a very lonely Baggins who was very grateful to have us home, and crashed.

I have to say Becca was an absolute trooper and did really well for being in her car seat for so long and only being two. I really have to commend Stacie on her parenting skills as well. I was very impressed. The few times Becca got upset about anything or got whiney, Stacie never yelled or got mad, just very calmly told Becca that she didn’t understand whines and to say what she wanted. Becca would calm down and actually think about it and then say what she wanted or Stacie would give her some options, “Do you want your milk? Your blankie? A toy?” etc. It was great!