The Great American Vacation Series (Post #8)

 

So we have finished going through my first folder! I have two more so there are going to be a few more posts of "The Great American Vacation" Series. I hope that you have enjoyed going through these with me. Not like you get much choice! Ha-ha-ha. But seriously, I really do hope that you like this series. The next few pictures aren't in order of how we saw them but they are still enjoyable!

 

This is our first Bison that we saw up close. It was the middle of summer so they were shedding but I don't think that pictures give them justice. They are fantastically huge animals and quite amazing
at that! 

This is another one of those sulfuric spots. I just thought that the scenery was amazing with it.

This is a lake that we passed by on the road. I thought that it looked like a picture that could have been a screen saver. I thought that they blue on blue was really nice and that the lake looked so peaceful.

Again, this is a testimony to the vast differences in Yellowstone. When we were there my dad pondered what the Indians thought when they first saw some of these places. They had no clue about underground sulfuric streams or anything so it probably was a big shock. Also, most of these places are hidden within surrounding hills and such so most of the time you can't even see them until you're at them. I was even surprised most of the time. There are just so many different things to see. 

I don't exactly remember the name of this place but I think it looks a bit like marshmallows. It is formed by sulfuric water cooling off and hardening. Then another layer is formed over it as it cools and hardens. It is pretty neat! Science in action!

 

Here is a close up view of the rocks. Here you can see all the different layers.

 

This is a lion outside of a Post Office. I took a picture of this because when my grandma was little her mom took a picture of her sitting on top of it. That was about 50 years ago and the lion is still there. This post office has some neat items and the P.O. boxes were vintage and everything. I didn't take any pictures of the inside but you should take a trip there too so you can see it!

We were having a little car trouble and stopped to let the engine cool off and Emily saw this sign and wanted to have some fun so here is our "Point" (ha-ha) of interest! 

This is called Sheepeater Cliff (as you can see from the sign). I thought that this was especially interesting as we live near Shoshone. This cliff was named after the Shoshone Indians because of their use of the Bighorn sheep. Plus, Shoshone, ID has a really great ice cream place on the main street that goes to the highway!

Here is a close up view of the cliff. You can see the individual stones that make the cliff up.

I want to say that this is called the twin geysers because there are two of them, but don't quote me on that because I am not for sure. Crazy how it could have two in one spot!

 

 

SNEEK PEAK: This is what I am going to be talking about next week so stay tuned for more!

The Great American Vacation Series (Post #7)

Hello! I want to get finished with this series pretty soon so this post is going to be filled with lots of fun and excitement! And sorry in advance if it takes a while to load because of the massive amounts of pictures. ;)

Today you get to see Old Faithful. Now, the story behind old faithful is that it is called this because it goes off every hour on the hour, or at least it used to. When we had the big earth quake in South America (2010) it shifted the plates so much that now Old Faithful goes off every hour on the hour give or take ten minutes. I find it fascinating that an earth quake like that could cause change so far away from the source of the actual event. I would also like to say that I felt that earthquake in Idaho. Crazy right!

Anyway here are a few pictures:

These first ones are of Old Faithful, pictures simply don't give it justice. It was incredibly tall and amazing so if you get the opportunity you should go see it for yourself.

This picture is part of the crowd that gathered to watch Old Faithful, we were sitting in about the middle and that is only one side, of course it was also the middle of summer so there were a lot of people.

After Old Faithful we continued to drive around Yellow Stone, we saw this pond along the way at a rest stop and I thought that it was so pretty so I took a picture of it.

 

Here is a close up of one of the lilies.

 

We finally did see some bison, although we never did see a bear

This is an extreme zoom for a picture, I was pretty proud of my camera. Just looking at them from the road they were tiny dots out in the grass. Nice!

 

 

This is a picture of my family at the Continental Divide, some nice lady took a picture of all of us.

My sisters and I decided to have some fun with the sign. Ha-ha, get it? Continental DIVIDE!

 

This is called Dragon Mouth Cave, if I remember correctly. I thought it was neat because it really does look like there is a dragon that lives here!

This is a closer view of the Dragon's Mouth.

 

This was called the miniature Bryce Canyon, which we visited last summer. It is located in Utah. I would have to say though that it does look very similar.

This is part of the river that we drove by, I just thought that the Rainbow was nice.

 

So I hope that you enjoyed today's pictures, there are a lot more things to talk about so this series will be running quite frequently in the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoy writing about them. I do have to say that it is nice to look at these pictures right now because the weather here now is so yucky and the pictures remind me of summer.

 

 

 



The Great American Vacation Series (Post #6)

 

I think that lately I have been pretty "on top" of things as it were. I feel like I have gotten a lot done with this series lately. The holidays are quickly coming up so I am sure that life is going to be a little more hectic soon. But! Don't worry because there will be new posts!

 

On with the Yellow Stone Trip! (BTW-this is a picture heavy post so sorry if the pictures take a little to load) :)

 

This is one of the sneak peak pictures that I showed you last week. We are at one of the stops at Yellow Stone and there was so many (seriously a lot) people that we were having a hard time finding a parking space. My grandparents had already been there last summer so my grandpa said that we could get out and look around while he circled the parking lot to find a space.

 

When we got out my grandma noticed that the parking sign was a little loose. So we were goofing around and told her that it might be easier if we took the sign and just parked the car there. Ha-ha! So I had her hold the sign while I took a picture!

So this place that we stopped at had a river going by it and as you can see from the picture there was a run off coming from a lake at the top. You will have to look close at the picture to see the steam coming off but I thought that it was a neat picture.

 

This is a view of the same stream from the top

 



Here is where the lake turns into a stream

The lake at the top is called Excelsior Geyser Crater

Hello everyone! Here I am enjoying my vacation!

This is another little lake that was at the top as well.

I thought that this little lake (or large puddle) was interesting because it had all these rock kind of things in it. (See the next picture for a closer look)

Another angle of the rocky lake

So this is near the largest lake. I found it interesting because as the water cools it starts to be a place where things can live.

Here is a closer look. I think that it kind of looks like veins or like tree bark.

 

Again, it is so amazing that there could be this many colors in one spot.

My little sister, Emily, with a dragonfly on the brim of her hat!

My other sister, Grace, looking down on another lake and feeling the steam.

This lake was so hot that it was boiling.

 

 

The Great American Vacation Series (Post #5)

So you have made it this far. We are still in Yellow Stone and we are seeing some amazing things!

 

This was a formation that we passed. It is formed by chemicals in the water that when released cool and form around the point of origin. They say that some have closed over and are building up pressure to blow like a volcano but instead of hot rock hot water will come out.

 

 

We saw this geyser on the road as we were traveling between stops.

We pulled over and watched it go off a couple of times.

 

Here is what it looks like when it starts!

 going...going....

 

Gone!

 

Anyway, after that we went to a lake but that is for next post so here is a sneak peak!