DAY FIVE: Big Sky, MT/Drive through Idaho and back to Jackson Hole, WY

Mountain Man Rendezvous, West Yellowstone, MT

Mountain Man Rendezvous, West Yellowstone, MT

Mountain Man Rendezvous, West Yellowstone, MT

Idaho Farmland

Back to Jackson Hole for our last 2 nights

We stayed at the River Rock Lodge in Big Sky, MT

We woke up this morning to discover our car had a flat tire, so that delayed us a bit and we didn't get to see much around Big Sky before heading back south to Jackson where we are spending our last two nights. After passing through West Yellowstone, MT, we came across a the "Mountain Man Rendezvous" right on our way out of town which turned out to be a fantastic find with real cowboys, arts and crafts, tamahawk throwing, candy shooting out of guns for the kids, animal skins, bones, fur, coonskin hats, etc. The kids had a ball!

Our drive through the Targhee National Forest in Idaho was gorgeous, even though it rained on & off throughout the day. The landscape changed to farmland with rolling hills and velvetty green carpets. We made two more stops for some roadside fishing on the Gallatin near the Yellowstone National Forest and again near Hebgen Lake, had mexican for dinner in Driggs and drove into Jackson Hole right at sunset.

DAY FOUR: Bozeman/Dave's fishing trip

We had a relaxing morning at Chico Hot Springs in Pray, MT with a morning hike and a little fishing for the kids before headeding back towards Livingston, and west to Bozeman where we were to meet up with some friends of a friend who were taking Dave out fishing. He had an amazing day fishing first the Gallatin River, where the movie "A River Runs Through It" was filmed. Since the fish weren't biting there, they then took him to Spanish Creek which is actually on Ted Turner's property (on public roads), 20,000 acres which he said was just breathtaking. He found success on Spanish Creek, and caught 4 brook trout. YEAH! All this fishing with no catching was getting a bit discouraging! Along with enjoying the process and success and company, Dave learned a lot about fly fishing - there is a lot of strategy, technique and skill involved in this sport that he is new to. He loved the whole day, and they fished until after dark!

After walking around Main Street in Bozeman, the kids and I went to the Museum of the Rockies which has an amazing dinosaur exhibit and some interactive learning experiences for the kids, as well as a "Living History Farm" showing what life was like in years past. Funny how showing the kids things like washboards, water that you have to punmp, woodburning stoves and non-electronic toys are so hard for them to imagine! Then we went to the Sweet Pea festival, an arts & crafts festival in downtown Bozeman. After meeting back up with Dave, we headed to Big Sky, about 45 minutes south of Bozeman for our last stay in Montana.

DAY THREE: Yellowstone Part 2 / Dave's Bday

Fishing the Madison River, a 2nd fishing stop that morning.

We saw another bison today, as well as elk, another bear and an antelope too!

The kids fed the ground squirrels who were so cute and friendly!

The boiling river - this water was HOT!

The "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone

Elk

Trail ride near Livingston

Mr. Miley reading us his cowboy poetry

My Mountain Man!

Mr. Miley made our cowboy supper over the fire

They even had a birthday cake for Dave

Happy 40th Birthday, Dave!

Dave's birthday started in West Yellowstone, Montana and then back into Wyoming where we first stopped for Dave to do some fishing on the Madison River (still no catch!) while the kids fell in love with and fed the ground squirrels who were very tame and friendly, squeeking all around our car looking for food. Then we toured part of the upper loop, visiting some falls and the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone.

We also went to the "Boiling River" which was recommended to us by our friend (Kim Ragenovich who is from Bozeman and traveled with us on the Mississippi and Mozambique mission trips) as a hot spot that's not listed on the park map. It is where the Gardiner River meets one of the hot springs (Mammoth?) and you can literally stand with one foot in hot water and one foot in the cold river! It was a mile hike with the kids and we only got to spend about 10 minutes there as we had a reservation for the trail ride we had to meet. We can now see why they say it takes a week to see Yellowstone, since we barely skimmed the surface in 2 days.

We exited the park's north gate near Gardiner, MT and headed north towards Livingston where we took our trail ride through Montana's beautiful meadows and mountains. As we arrived, the sky opened up and it started pouring down rain, but it only lasted a few minutes and we were cleared for take-off. As they prepared our horses, the kids played with the barn kittens and the dog (Lacey) who attached himself to Nate who is not really a dog-lover but won him over. It was Nate's first time on a horse, and Sabrina's first time without being lead by another horse as Nate was this time, by Kaitlyn (from Kalamazoo, oddly) who is out working on the ranch for the summer for her Uncle, Mr. Miley. Montana has such beautiful scenery, we just looked around as we traveled from scenic spot to spot.

When we returned back to the barn, Mr. Miley had ourcowboy supper ready consisting of strip steak, beans, potatoes, apple cobbler (all cooked over the fire) and lemonade. While we ate, he read us his own original cowboy poetry and then brought out the birthday cake they had prepared for Dave. For Dave's 40th, I wanted to do something really special, and somehow having dinner at a restaurant just didn't seem like enough. Dave said it was his best birthday and birthday meal ever, so I think he was happy with the choice.

From Livingston we drove south to Pray where we checked into the Chico Hot Springs Resort which was also recommended to us by our friend Kim. Apparently it's a "hot spot" (no pun intended) for locals and celebrities for their hot springs pool which looks like a normal swimming pool but is water pumped in from the hot springs and ranges in temps from 98-103 degrees. Though it was late, we took the kids to the pool since it is their most favorite thing in the world these days. All in all, a wonderful day and a happy bday for our Daddy Dave. Thanks for all the bday calls and e-mails, sorry we missed some of you as our phone service has been very spotty in the mountains. Until next time...

DAY TWO: GTNP & Yellowstone

That's our car in the pic

Still faithful!

See the black bear by the water?

Jenny Lake boat ride, Grand Teton National Park

Hidden Falls Hike

Early morning fishing

Our day started early with Dave going fishing before 6:00 a.m. Unfortunately, his first time out was not successful but he enjoyed his sunrise and morning out on the river anyway. As he was leaving to meet us for breakfast, he said the fisherman were piling in, so he wonders if he was out too early. After breakfast, we let the kids swim one more time before heading north through Grand Teton National Park which is almost connected to Yellowstone, and the only way to get to the south entrance from where we were.

We stopped pulled off for pictures at a few spots, and then went to Jenny Lake and took a boat ride over to Hidden Falls, which was a nice hike. It was one of several 1/2 mile hikes we took today, but the kids were troupers! We ate a snack up on one of the big rocks and watched the rock climbers, then headed back so that we could get on our way to Yellowstone. Before leaving Grand Teton National Park, we pulled over for a little more fishing, this time with the kids. No fish again!

We did the west side of the lower loop of Yellowstone, with the main goal being to see Old Faithful. We missed it by a few minutes, so we had dinner at the lodge there and waited the almost 2 hours until the next appearance was predicted. She did not disappoint, and the kids couldn't believe how high she spat!

Before we stopped at Old Faithful, we saw a bunch of cars pulled over and stopped to see what everyone was looking at. It was a black bear in the woods (estimated 150-200 lbs), but the view was so obstructed that the pics aren't worth showing. A few miles past Old Faithful, we pulled over to get a better look at a big canyon and river, and immediately spotted a black bear and watched it run along the water, chase a deer away, and take a little swim. It was quite far and will look tiny in the pictures, but we'll show you anyway. The kids were so excited since we had been looking for wildlife all day, and because Dave had set the expectation with them that they would see big game in the park. Nate brought along a knife and has talked incessantly about fighting off the bears with it. Let's just say he's ALL talk (you'll see later)!

By the time we left Old Faithful, it was after 7:00 so we did a whirlwind of scenic stops, trying to fit in as much as we could before dark. Stopped at Black Sand & Biscuit Basins, and the lower and upper Geyser basins containing several different geysers, each a little different in their make-up. We were all fascinated by the steam, the smells and the gurgling of the geysers and the unique ways they affected the earth around them.

When we were about 15 miles away from the west park exit, we spotted this gorgeous river being fished by several guys and decided to pull over so Dave could get a few minutes of fishing in before dark. Right as we pulled off the road, we realized we parked next to two big bison! When we entered Yellowstone, they gave us a flyer warning us about how dangerous the bison are, and that they can run 30 miles per hour and can be very aggressive. Anyway, we stayed in our car and watched them enjoying a nice salad on the side of the road, not seeming to care that we were there.

We decided to park on the other side of the road closer to the river and further away from the Bison, and Dave got his fishing gear out. The bison then made their way across the street and went right down to the water for a drink, walking right past a father and son who were fishing. Dave told the kids to get in the car , where my son cried and worried about our safety as Dad continued to fish and Mom continued to take pictures. When Dave heard the bison growl, he decided it was time we both get in the car! The bison then wandered back up to the road, literally about 5 feet from our car, and then sauntered back to the other side of the street in front of a line of cars. It was the highlight of our day! But now our brave, bear-fighting, knife-bearing Nate started quizzing us immediately about the bison's strength and capabilities, and is now quite concerned about bison being strong enough to break into our hotel room!

Tonight we're in the town West Yellowstone, our first step into the state of Montana. We got in late, and the birthday boy (it's now August 6 here in Montana) is fast asleep along with the kids. Tomorrow we'll head back into Yellowstone to do a portion of the upper loop before exiting the north entrance near Gardiner, and heading to Livingston where we'll take a horseback ride to Dave's bday dinner which will be a cowboy cook-out. It should be a fun day!

COWBOY KIDS