Elisa's Daily ScoopThree States in One Day!Howdy & Greetings from West Yellowstone!! Another amazing day on our Cousin’s Yellowstone Road Trip!  Today, we woke up all together in our vacation rental! The kids were totally stoked to be staying together for the second leg of our trip, here in Montana. The whole gang arrived early evening yesterday after a lovely, scenic 3-hour caravan drive from Jackson Hole, through Idaho and then into Montana's West Yellowstone. Overall, yesterday was an stupendous day!!! We couldn’t have asked for better weather for driving and sightseeing. The Elk Refuge was first on our short of list of places to visit. Driving around the back end of the Refuge, piled into my rented Ford Explorer, we spied numerous young big horn sheep resting up along the hills. They blended in with the backdrop and looked like rocks from a distance!! I had such a hard time seeing the initial few spotted by Tanya - even with binoculars because they were camouflaged against the backdrop!   There were lots of these little guys along the road as well, which all of us had a blast photographing! At one point, we spied a few dead ones, as well as some carcasses, which appeared to be the best part of the kids’ ride as they snapped away and couldn’t stop talking about the “bones.”  But, the fun had only begun!! As we made our way back over to Grand Teton National Park, we encountered a herd of Buffalo!! We literally sat on the side of the road for at least 45 minutes as these magnificent giants beasts made there away across the road. Everyone in the car got into the action - Tanya and I were standing on the running boards, the kids were hanging out the windows and sitting on the open windows - it was truly the highlight of our entire day!! I managed to take a quick video of the road crossing, which I hope you enjoy!!  Our next stop was to The Mormon Row Historic District within the park - Tanya is going to be covering this portion of the day so check across the page to hear all about it and don’t forget to watch our Upcoming video on YouTube, which was shot here. (We tried to upload but the internet is terrible!) Thanks to Gianna for the great filming, production and editing job on our video!!! With a quick visit to the Visitor’s center, stamping our National Park Passports, we headed back to the Rustic Inn to get Tanya’s car and load up my luggage, so we could get on the road towards West Yellowstone. But, not before a quick stop at the grocery store for some essentials for the rest of our trip. Who would have guessed what we would have seen as we were on the check out line!!! All of a sudden, Dave yelled out “Look, there’s a moose!” That’s right folks - a young female moose sauntered across the parking lot - just moseying along, taking her time! At that point, Tanya and the gang left me on the check out line (grrr) to run outside and snap away! The clerk told me that she was only born last year. CHECK OUT THE PICTURE ON TANYA’S SIDE!!! Once on the road, it was smooth sailing out of Wyoming, and we entered Idaho within about an hour. Lots of wide open space, farms and hills. I tried to get a few pictures while driving as we didn’t stop for photo ops. We made our way through Caribou-Targhee National Forest, which was quite spectacular. Rows and rows of trees. Many of the sections marked with the dates of their plantings. Caribou-Targhee National Forest is located in the states of Idaho and Wyoming, with a small section in Utah in the United States. The forest is broken into several separate sections and extends over 2.63 million acres. I did manage to get one shot from a quick “pit stop” that was absolutely mandatory on Tanya’s part, about 22 miles from West Yellowstone. (I’ll leave the rest to your imagination folks as to the reason for stopping.)  Well my peeps, the internet connection here is horrid, so I’m going to sign off for now. The internet here is absolutely horrid! We have so many pictures and videos to share with you but, we’ll have to share when the wifi is cooperating. Talk to ya later, -E xoxo | Tanya's Daily ScoopYellowstone Bound!!Hello there! Coming at ya straight from West Yellowstone in the state of Montana!! We arrived here yesterday evening, after a day full of feasting our eyes on more great sights in and around Grand Tetons National Park!     We saw some more amazing scenery from the Elk Refuge (along with some kinda GROSS icky sights) see Elisa’s side for a recount of that experience. Next up was going to see Jackson's most famously photographed T. A. Moulton Barn. Side note: After all the years of traveling to Jackson, this was the first time I was seeing this historic sight!   Pulling up to the small nearby parking area, we all got out and took a short little stroll down the Mormon Row Historic District. We saw what was left standing of the circa 1900 Homestead buildings. Up until the 1990's all of the 27 homesteads along Mormon Row were left to decay. Around that time is when the cultural value became apparent, and the remaining 6 homesteads have since then been maintained so that visitors can get a glimpse into the fascinating past of Jackson Hole.        The Mormon Row Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the iconic barn was built by Thomas Alma Moulton and his sons between about 1912 and 1945 (Read more HERE). Nearby we found an adorable little yellow-bellied marmot that seemed almost as curious about us as we were about him! He had gone in and out of his hole several times to take a peak as to what we were up to, and the kids were standing nearby waiting for him, trying to photograph him and making a new little friend!   After stretching our legs, breathing in the amazing fresh mountain air, and learning about the beginnings of Jackson, Wyoming, we had all piled back into the Explorer and went to the Craig Thomas Discovery Visitor Center. Spending time educating ourselves about the park and having some fun with the exhibits while we were at it!!
It was then time to begin heading out, we still had some grocery shopping to do and low and behold that while we were at the market what did Dave spot in the parking lot??? A MOOSE! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to see a moose? It’s definitely been a while! The last time I saw one was back in 2008 while doing a National Park Road Trip through this same area. So needless to say how excited I was to see this young female walking through the parking lot!  But at the same time…really? In a parking lot? With all the amazingly beautiful back drops that I would’ve expected to see this elusive animal - we see her in a parking lot!!! Anyhow our road trip continued as we drove caravan style 3hrs from Jackson, Wyoming to West Yellowstone, Montana.  With only 1 pitstop…and that was for meeeee. I had to peeeee really badly and couldn’t wait, with 45 minutes left until we’d arrive at our destination it sounded like an eternity and I opted to relive myself behind a tree! Whew!! The remainder of the drive was a heck of a lot more comfortable! And as for today… It’ll be our first day heading into Yellowstone National Park - and we’ll head to the North. Did you know: Yellowstone's first superintendents struggled with poaching, vandalism, squatting and other problems. Prior to the establishment of the National Park Service, the U.S. Army protected Yellowstone between 1886 and 1918. Fort Yellowstone was established at Mammoth Hot Springs for that purpose. Credit NPS We're going to visit Fort Yellowstone, go explore Mammoth Hot Springs (Mammoth Hot Springs is Yellowstone’s only major thermal area located well outside the Yellowstone caldera), and we’ll also go see the historic Roosevelt Arch which located at the North Entrance of Yellowstone National Park - its cornerstone was laid down by President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. Well folks, I can’t wait to get out there…so I’m gonna bid you farewell until we meet again tomorrow!! -T  |
