Dad's Birthday

On Christmas night, Mom made trifle for Dad's Birthday. Then she sat him down and dropped a forty pound present in his lap. He opened to find a pair of tire chains, which are required on Montana roads in the winter. This was because she had purchased a day trip into Yellowstone. We were going to Yellowstone in the winter!

Happy Birthday to Randy!

The trifle was so yummy!

On Dad's 50th, we got in the van and drove all the way to West Yellowstone. The roads were pretty good, and Mark did some of the driving, so it wasn't too bad. We even saw a coyote off the side of the freeway just before leaving Utah. Since it was a pretty long drive, we got to West Yellowstone a little after dark. We went directly to dinner and then checked into our hotel. Mom had arranged for three queen beds, but we had forgotten our swimsuits for the pool.

We met up with Grandma, Grandpa, and Brittany for this trip!

We woke up early on the 27th to grab breakfast before catching the truck. It was a massive 15 seat van raised up on huge wheels. There wasn't much snow, but this truck could've driven over anything. Within minutes we were in the gate and enjoying the beautiful scenery in Yellowstone National Park. 

Off we go to Yellowstone!

It was a beautiful day to be in the park!

Our day was scheduled to go as far as Madison Junction and then turn south toward Old Faithful. The first animals we saw were dozens of swans in the river as we entered the park. There were ducks, too, but the massive swans were so pretty. A little further, we came across the buffalo herd. They were swimming across the shallow river with their yearling calves. One nice bull even walked up alongside the vehicle. We were so close to him, and unlike their shaggy summer coat, his winter coat was sleek and beautiful. He was such a gorgeous animal.

A little while later we stopped at a small waterfall right on the main road. This was a small cascade on the Firehole River. We are going to try and find this small, sweet spot in the summer as you only had to walk about 10 yards off the road. 

We stopped for buffalo several more time, and we saw three more coyotes, for some reason. They also had beautiful tan coats for the winter. 

We found the buffalo.

Dad has wanted to go to Yellowstone in winter for a long time.

Mom surprised him with this trip.

Someone offered to take our pic. Dax was staying warm in the snow coach.

Such pretty buffalo.

The waterfall was steaming because it was warm water in the cold winter!

We loved having Britt with us!

It was so beautiful!

We were excited to see a few swans.

Mark identified this pintail.

Then we found a whole bunch of swans.

Watching the buffalo cross the river was fun!

We watched this coyote for awhile.

He hung out right by the snow coach.

Another pic by the waterfall.

The hot pools with the snow background were pretty, too.

Mom liked taking pics of the winter landscape.

So many cool winter pics.

This is the buffalo that walked right by us!

It was nice having someone with us to take our family pic all the time.

Lunch was at Old Faithful. We had access to a yurt that was included with our tour. Mom made sandwiches for lunch, and then we wandered over to the geyser. The sky was perfectly blue, which made for a nice backdrop, but we all agreed that Old Faithful is a bit better in the summer, because you can actually see the water. This viewing was mostly lost in the steam. Still, it was such a unique experience.

We watched Old Faithful with grandpa.

Old Faithful was a bunch of steam!

Aren't we the cutest?

Mom made lunch for everyone in the yurt!

It was a fun lunch.

Mom and Grandma in their matching red coats.

On the way back our guide walked us through several of the geyser basins. He was really good at talking about the thermal features, and since we don't come to these areas very often, it was a nice change for us. We walked through Biscuit and Blacksand Basins, and learned about the four thermal features in Yellowstone.

We got back around four o'clock and opened a few more presents. Mom brought the cake from the trifle and we celebrated all over again. It really was an amazing and unique birthday!

We went to Kepler Falls.

These two were tired from walking in the snow.

We found a little geyser erupting.

Such a fun, beautiful day!

We loved walking through the geyser basin.

Another buffalo walking by the vehicle.

It was a fun day with everyone!

Spotted some swans again and the sun had come out!

We saw this moose in Island Park on the way home.

Randy had the best birthday!