Bart catches a smallie on Salt Creek

Our Favorite Destination - Yellowstone

This summer we were road tripping west to Yellowstone.  The greatest of all our National Parks.  This is a nice picture of the icon of the park, Old Faithful Geyser.

Here is a great image of Grand Prismatic Hotspring. I just love the colors here.  Seems unreal.

The thermal features put a lot of sulphur in the air.

Not only does Yellowstone have the thermal features, it also has a breathtaking canyon and monstrous waterfalls. 

Yellowstone also offers some wonderful opportunities for viewing wildlife.

This would also be a trip with smoke from forest fires and lots of rain.  

Here a storm is coming in while we were at Norris Basin.

We got rain everyday in the Badlands

But the stormy weather did help with the sunsets.  The edge of this storm in Yellowstone was so orange, it was surreal.

We also saw lots of wildlife.  Mountain sheep is the Badlands was a real treat

We also had plenty of nice days.  Blue skies during a morning visit to Mount Rushmore.

The Boys kayaking on Jackson Lake in the Tetons.

We visited old favorites and did a bunch of new things.  It was beautiful and relaxing.  A wonderful family trip.

South Dakota

This was the 3rd time we would drive to Yellowstone.  Its about 14 hours driving until you get to the Badlands in western South Dakota.  First stop has always been the Worlds Largest Prairie Dog.  Its fun to see how the boys have sprouted over the years.  

There is also a prairie dog town there where you can feed them peanuts.  They were hungry and cooperative on this visit.

We have come to really enjoy the Badlands.  Very beautiful and the crowds are minimal.

Lots of nice climbing opportunities.  Alex is excited to make it to the top of this eroded hill.

Bart took a more challenging route down and got a scrape.  Luckily, it was all superficial.

We went out for a hike at the "Window" early the next morning.  The formations formed by erosion were wonderful.

We had the place to ourselves.  So beautiful and desolate.

Even with his small injury, Bart kept climbing.  

We saw this dear running through the area.  I like the way that its mouth is open like its yelling or something.

One afternoon we went to Wall Drugstore.  Quite the tourist attraction and lots of fun.  Thats a big jackelope!

My thats a large and friendly rabbit.

I really liked the TEENAGERS sign.  LOL.  Bart couldn't find the humor.

On the ride back to our hotel at the Badlands, we came upon a group of mountain sheep and ewes.  The Badlands in the background of this sheep is fantastic.

We also found huge prairie dog towns.  They are clearly thriving in the park.  You can almost hear this one barking.

As the day ended another storm rolled in.  Here you can see it over the hotel where we stayed.

The storm combined with smoke from nearby forest fires made for a great sunset.

We left the Badlands and got to Mount Rushmore in the morning sun.  There were forest fires nearby.  The town of Keystone, only 4 miles away, was covered in a haze of smoke.  But the wind was in our favor and no smoke inhibited our views.

Classic shot with the monument looking over our shoulders.

Nice shot off the boardwalk under the monument.

Bart and the Presidents

Alex with a piece of what was removed to carve the mountain.  You can see the drill holed that were used for sculpturing the monument.

Always a awesome experience.

Next we went to Jewel Cave.  We had really enjoyed it during our 2006 trip.  Only visited Wind Cave on the last trip..  

Alex was very excited to be spelunking again.  Although there would be no crawling required on the tour we were taking.

The tour is primarily a descent deep into the cave.

Water in the cave forms many beautiful structures. 

This shows how the walls are all covered with 6 or more inches of crystalline calcite

Cave Bacon

Lots of beauty on this near tour.  

Thermopolis

This trip we spent a night in Thermopolis, WY.  We spent most of the day at a near hot springs park.  The water pours out of the ground nearby heated by geothermal features.

It was a relaxing day of water fun.

The big outdoor pool was good fun.

the pools were different temperatures.  Inside, the water was warmer and has jacuzzi areas.

There were also several waterslides.

Diane played quite a bit of basketball.  But she didn't make too many baskets.

My favorite was the lobster pot.  Hottest tub in the park.

It was a great day of rest.  Tomorrow were drive to the Tetons.