Yellowstone

Today was an amazing day! 3 girls from the museum and I went to Yellowstone today and had a blast! We left around 8 and went to a ranch/ski slope for breakfast which was one of the best breakfasts that i've ever had. The pancakes were about an inch thick (which I don't know HOW they accomplished that at these altitudes) and were absolutely delicious. I'm fairly sure i'll be returning again sometime this summer.

Once inside Yellowstone, we went to the Upper and Lower Falls, the hot springs at Norris, Mammoth Springs, Tower Falls, and out the northeast entrance to the park towards Cooke City, MT. We saw elk, mule deer, antelope, buffalo, A BLACK BEAR, and A MOOSE!!! Can you tell which 2 I was most excited to see? If I don't see another animal all summer I will have seen the ones I wanted to see the most.

When we first went into the park, we passed by Yellowstone Lake which was still frozen over. We ran into some snow at the higher parts of the park and sunshine in other parts. The entire lake had ice on it which was pretty incredible to see as the first thing inside the park. Looking back on the picture now, it seems like so long ago that we saw the lake and so much snow. There were still several feet on the ground at some elevations.

The falls were pretty incredible. I could hear the noise from them from a long way off. The Lower Falls are very impressive with a huge drop in the Yellowstone River before flowing away through the canyon. The Upper Falls were nice too, but not as impressive as the Lower Falls.

The hot springs were a nice diversion from the cold until I realized that it was blowing sulfur smelling air into my face. Great. Mom's nose would have been inside her t-shirt. The smell was pretty strong at the hot springs. THEN it started snowing. Not just gently falling beautiful, graceful snowflakes, but a type of snow that the locals (that's me now!) call "grapple" which is pretty much like getting pelted in the face with dip'n'dots. I tasted one, unfortunately before I remembered that we were surrounded by hot springs that smelled like sulfur and might TASTE like sulfur too, but I was very grateful that the dip'n'dots tasted like normal snow. It was a really interesting form of snow that i'd never seen or heard of before.

The rest of the park was beautiful as always, and we got to see buffalo with calves and an elk with a calf. Spring is definitely in the air out here and things are FINALLY starting to turn a little bit green. The green here is not anything compared to the green at home, but at least it doesn't look like dirt anymore.

We left the northeast entrance to the park and came back along the Dead Indian Pass and the Chief Joseph Highway through the Sunlight Basin. I think this might be my favorite part of Wyoming. The sun was starting to set behind the mountains while we were there, and I got some really great pictures. (The rest of mine are on facebook if you want to see the entire trip...otherwise, email me and i'll send them to you!) I am increasingly amazed and surprised at what my camera is capable of doing. I LOVE it! This is a view coming back along the Chief Joseph Hwy.

I am constantly amazed at the country we live in and really apprecite all that God has given us. One of my favorite things to see is the sunlight shining through the clouds with rays beaming down, because it makes me feel like God is looking down on us and showering us with his glory. Poignant moments are my favorite, and I got a huge chill (not just from the wind!) as we were winding back and forth looking at these mountains. God must really love us if He created this just for us to LOOK at! Can you imagine what He is capable of?

I have been learning lately just how much He must love us. He has created this beautiful country that I live in, He has put people in my life that I feel comfortable with and can go exploring and adventuring with, He has been slowly revealing his plan for my life to me, and makes me feel like He is covering me with His love like He blankets these mountains with His light and glory. God truly is good. All the time.