We woke up to the sounds of the horses coming back into the Heart 6 Corral and quite possibly the most unhappy family in America who stayed in the cabin next door 🤪 We’ve crossed paths with them several times at the ranch and every single time, they are complaining about one thing or another. No offense but if I were that unhappy on vacation, I’d just stay home and be unhappy for free 😬.

Mike went to get coffee and juice at the Buffalo Valley Grill from us – and met a nice guy from Portland who helped him carry the drinks back because the coffee was scalding hot. He and his family were on vacation here. The poor guy seemed almost ashamed to say he was from Portland but quickly added that they were moving soon. We told him how wonderful NC was and suggested they look there 😁 Then we snagged a quick picture and hit the road

We went back through Grand Teton and I’m so glad we did because we could see the Mountains a bit clearer. The smoke was a little better.

We decided to drive south a bit and check out Jackson, Wyoming. The views on the way there were pretty, but the town of Jackson was crazy!

It was so touristy and crowded. So glad we did NOT stay here. But there were a couple of cool signs that we liked.

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And just like that we are back in Idaho. We went this way to see the eastern side of Idaho.

Based on these snow markers on side of road, this part of Idaho gets a LOT of snow!

This part of Idaho is major farm land! Potatoes as far as the eye can see.

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We stopped for gas and a snack – thinking of you Amy Ehrhardt 😉

Mike started talking to guy at the next pump. He was headed to fish and asked where we were headed. When we said West Yellowstone, he suggested we detour to Ashton, Idaho and stop at Frostops for the best cheeseburgers and milkshakes ever. So off we went!

Ashton, Idaho is a cute little town where farming is big business.

And then we found Frostops. Frostops has been open since 1965. And I get the feeling the menu hasn’t changed much but after eating here, there’s no need to change one bit!

And look what greeted us as we entered.

We all ordered shakes and cheeseburgers. They were delicious and gigantic! Mike said these were the some of the best tater tots he’s ever had (and he is my tater tot aficionado)

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While in Frostops, I read the local paper that mentioned the city of Island Park nearby which posted the longest Main Street in America… so you know we had to check it out.

Technically it was the longest Main Street because that’s all there was. There were little no other paved roads in the town. But it was wasn’t the typical Main Street with lots of shops and building. The boys laughed at me for being disappointed 🤣

Not too much longer, and we were back in Montana in West Yellowstone

We are staying the Yellowstone Park Hotel for the next two days (because the Holiday Inn Express was full). But I am so glad because this hotel is great. There is a $15 amenity fee each day but for that they have free Ice Cream sundaes everyday from 4-6pm, s’mores at night from 5-11pm, free bikes to use around town, walking sticks, binoculars to borrow and several other things. It’s really cool, plus the pool and whirlpool are new and may be the cleanest pool I’ve ever seen at a hotel.

We were able to check in a bit early, so Mike and I spent some time planning our day.

Although some of us just wanted to rest.

The West side of Yellowstone is just beautiful.

Within 5 miles of entering the Park, we saw a herd of elk cows (female Elk) grazing on the side of the road.

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Since we didn’t come into the park until almost 3pm, we decided to go toward Old Faithful and see the eruotuon that was predicted for around 5pm. We were thinking that the crowd would be a little less this time of day versus early.

All along the way, there are lots of geyser basins. It is a little unsettling to see smoke just rising from the ground.

We stopped at the Old Faithful Center, parked and wandered around the area while we waited for the next predicted eruption. There are lots of smaller geysers around Old Faithful with a great boardwalk around them all.

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It was unreal to see them bubble up and know that it was pressure and gas coming up from the earth!

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We made it back and waited for Old Faithful. We entertained ourselves while we waited.

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I have never seen a group of Americans this quiet.

It bubbled and spit slowly getting a little bigger as the pressure built up… And then BOOM!

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Bucket list item: ✔️

Old Faithful was just crazy to see, and then to realize that for 135 years, it has been erupting every 90 minutes or so. That’s just unreal!

We finished exploring around Old Faithful and decided to work our way back, stopping at several stops along the road. We started at Biscuit Basin. We walked on every inch of boardwalk surrounding the geysers. The colors are dictated by the thermophiles (heat loving organisms) that live in the water. Colorless or yellow are hottest, orange brown and green are slightly cooler. And by slightly cooler, they may not melt your skin immediately 😬

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Just imagine walking along and seeing this:

We left the Biscuit Basin and were headed toward Midway Geyser Basin and the Grand Prismatic Spring when traffic slowed down. As we approached, we saw what the problem was. A big ol’ bull bison needed to eat some grass right beside the road and people were stopping to see it.

Bison are big when you see them in a field but up close! Holy Moly!

After this excitement, we continued on toward the Midway Geyser Basin and the Grand Prismatic. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone. It’s the hot spring you’ve most likely seen in photos with the rainbowed edges. These picture don’t do it justice…

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It was also cool to see the hot water then flowing back into the cool river water.

By now, it was about 7pm. We had promised boys they could swim in Fire Hole River. (We learned from some folks at Heart 6 Ranch that this was a great and safe place to swim). There were at least 30 people already swimming. The current moved just fast enough that you could swim against it without being moved… kind of like the oceans current. The boys loved it!

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And that’s when it went from a great day, to a day they boys will tell their grandkids about.

Mike and I were sitting on the riverbank, and we noticed traffic to our right started to back up… which we’ve learned means animal nearby. We didn’t think much of it until we saw this…

We were afraid to tell the boys to run out of water because all we’ve heard from park rangers is be calm, don’t approach, and don’t spook the bison. (Apparently no one told the bison the “don’t approach” rule) So we yelled for the boys to stay in the middle of the river and be calm.

The bison showed absolutely no aggression… in fact, he just seemed curious as to why we were at his watering hole.

And after he had all he wanted to drink, with a couple of pauses to just look around, he wandered back down the road… right down the yellow line

Absolutely the most incredible thing we’ve ever seen.

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After we calmed down from this adventure, the boys swam a bit more and we saw a gorgeous sunset as we left the park.

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We were still so full from that giant lunch at Frostops that we decided to skip dinner. Instead, we drove back to the hotel and grabbed our s’more kit and headed out to the fire pit.

Then we unloaded our backpacks, and headed down to check out the Game Room. It in a basement at hotel (clearly with sound proofing) with big screen TV, foosball, air hockey, curling table and arcade game… and an xBox!!!

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This has to be one of the most incredible days ever!