Summer Vacation - Destination #3 - Yellowstone National Park

We arrived in Yellowstone around dinner time via the West entrance. There were some severe storms earlier in the summer that temporarily closed the entire park. They were very similar to the storm BC got last fall where snowpack and rain combined for flash flooding that took out roads in a way that could take years to fully recover from. By the time we arrived, the north entrances were still closed. It didn't impact our trip too much though it would have if we had come when we originally planned as we had wanted to go back via Glacier National Park which was to the north. We'll have to do that trip some other time. 

The hotel we chose had quite a story before we even arrived. We had booked late so we paid a lot more than we ordinarily would but because it was only a couple nights and we felt it made more sense to stay in the park, we bit the bullet and paid more. When we postponed our trip and rebooked, the new nights were a lot cheaper. After about a week of hard work Barb managed to convince Hotels.com to refund us $624.57. We ran into a bit of trouble when we arrived because Hotels.com hadn't paid the hotel yet but that later got sorted out. We're glad we picked this hotel. It's conveniently located and only a few years old. 

We were out the door by 6:30a. We're glad we left early because it meant the first few sites were pretty empty and we only had a day to take in as many sites as we could. We started on the South Loop and went to the Upper Falls. We missed the 'Grand Canyon of Yellowstone' but the falls were pretty spectacular. The amount of water going over meant it was very loud. There were steps that took you down to a location just over the falls. It was at this point we realized what an elevation of 8,000 feet meant. It was noticeably difficult to get enough air so we decided we would take it easier on any hikes for the day.

Our next destination was Hayden Valley where we were told it was a good location to see the bison. We were not disappointed. We started off with a single lone bison and thought that might be all we would find. We then accidentally saw a second when we were looking out the window on one side of the road. The car we were looking at to try to see what they were looking at pointed to the other side of the road. Just a short way up the hill was a bison waking up from his overnight sleep location. He had a quick dust bath before starting to walk up the hill where we soon found dozens more.

We tried not to be the stupid tourists that get gored by a bison however it was admittedly difficult. We finished watching the first set of bison and then headed to Mud Volcano where we got out of the car and took a walk on the boardwalk to see some of the mud springs. It was at this point that several dozen bison started to move towards our vehicle. One looked like he was interested in challenging it for Yellowstone dominance. I felt it was safe enough for me to walk to the car and drive it to the other side of the parking lot. Callie insisted that only one of Kerry and I be near the bison at once.

Our next destination was Yellowhead Lake which is quite large. We only saw a tiny portion of it. We did see a marina so you can probably charter a boat and see areas of the park you can't see by car. Even though we only did our trip in a day we felt you would need at least three to do it justice and you could probably spend a week if not more especially if you decided to do any day hikes. While we were walking the boardwalk I saw Kerry start to approach someone. She always find a way to find someone she knows almost everywhere we go. This time was different however because she found someone who had Surrey on their shirt. Her hunch was right and it was Surrey, BC.

You can't go to Yellowstone without seeing Old Faithful. It's the one attraction everyone knows about even if they don't know where it is. We weren't exactly sure when it would blow even though it was faithful, mainly because there were many conflicting signs in the park about when the next eruption would be. In the end, the one near the geyser itself was the most accurate. It predicted 11:33 and it happened about 11:30. It was fun to be able to watch it but even as we were waiting, another one behind it went off for much longer and was much higher. It was also fun being one of about 1,000 people sitting and waiting. 

After Old Faithful it was lunch time so we went to one of the restaurants to get food. The park seems to not be at full capacity and although there is plenty of food, it wasn't exactly good food. Most places were just trying to make as much food as quickly as they can with as few staff as possible. The line up after the eruption was fairly long but once we ordered our food it was ready in about 30 seconds, implying they did not exactly cook it to order. Lunch was still fun though as a local raven joined us. I know there is no feeding wildlife, but these guys were there for a reason. 

We had almost seen all of the must see destinations that we knew about but there was one more remaining. Grand Prismatic Spring is one of the first pictures that comes up when you look up Yellowstone and we got to what we thought was the parking lot. It seemed like quite a walk to get there and we got a bit confused when we realized there was no way for us to get to the boardwalk from where we were. Turns out we were in the best location after all. It wasn't the right parking lot but where we were allowed us to hike up a hill and see the spring from above. It was absolutely one of the prettiest nature sites I've seen. 

We were about to finish up the South Loop when we had a decision to make. Either head back to our hotel,  continue on to the North Loop or go check out West Yellowstone which is just outside the park and had all the touristy places to shop. Callie hadn't eaten lunch so we decided to head to the town to see what we could find. It was a good thing we went because Carter was able to check something off his list. He wanted to see Yogi Bear. I guess Jellystone and Yellowstone really are two different locations because Yogi was nowhere to be found inside the park but we did find Yogi's Waffle House that was good enough for Carter. 

We decided we had enough time after West Yellowstone to try to do the North Loop. We didn't have time to stop at many locations but we could at least drive it. One of the places we did stop was the Mammoth Terraces. This is a spring on the side of a hill that sends water downhill and as a result there are a number of terraced pools. This is the type of formation that creates Travertine. There was a boardwalk taking you up the hill and through the pools. We almost missed the best part as we considered turning around but saw a number of people up higher. We made sure to tell people it was worth it to continue up the stairs.

After the springs we headed to Mammoth Springs. It appears to be a small town within the park but I think it's where the workers must live. It didn't seem like your typical town. Unfortunately it appeared to be mostly closed. Since it's on the north end and those entrances are closed, I think they chose to keep this portion at a low staffing level. At one point Kerry thought she saw a statue of an Elk but as we got closer, it moved its head. We soon found a couple dozen of his friends. We had briefly glanced at some Elk early in the day but was good to really see some up close. Still watching for moose and wolves. 

The last item we had marked on our map was the Petrified Tree. It was starting to get close to dinner time and it had been a very long day but it was off the highway and you could drive to it so we decided to check it out. As we approached the parking lot we could see the tree on the hill. It's a very interesting rock but we quickly decided it was not worth getting out of the car for. We can look up online what its story is. We took a quick picture from the road and headed back to our hotel.

We arrived back at our hotel around 7:00p and left early the next morning. We had originally planned to break up our trip home however Kerry and I had to get back to work so we had to drive all the way from Yellowstone to Oliver in a day which took about 14 hours. On our way home we got trapped by billboards advertising a 50,000 Silver dollar collection. It was not what we expected. People could buy a dollar and add it to their wall of dollars. I was expecting something interesting with an actual collection of silver dollars and although there were a few real ones purchase it was really just a big gift shop. 

We had a great time with our two night stay at Yellowstone but hopefully we can come back some time in the future and stay longer.

Summer Vacation - Destination #2 - Coeur d'Alene

After dropping Oliver off in Oliver our next destination was Coeur d'Alene. It's about a 5 hour drive and takes us past the Grand Coulee Dam which is a very impressive structure. There has been a drought in most of the Western United States but you wouldn't know it from this particular reservoir. I'm not sure how big it is but there are a series of gates along the top and the water was almost to the top of them. They aren't super water tight so it meant the water was leaking around the edges. Kerry and I both like the streets you drive through as you go past the dam. They are likely from the original construction and they make for a very quaint tree lined street.

Our route took us through Western Washington towards Spokane. I always think of the Seattle area when I picture Washington state however the eastern portion is more like the prairies of Saskatchewan with miles of wheat and grassland. It is very flat.

We had to leave later in the afternoon as Callie was taking her drivers test. We made it to our hotel in the early evening and checked in. Our hotel was not what we were hoping for. It is quite an old building and the room was apparently a pet room and quite dirty. We will have to do a bit more research on our hotel choices in the future.

The next day we headed to Silverwood which is a them park outside of Coeur d'Alene. It's in the middle of nowhere and is much nicer than you would expect considering most of the nearby cities are quite small. There is nothing like it in Western Canada in my opinion. We park across the highway and take a tunnel underneath. The park appears to have very good lawyers as I'm amazed at how many things seem to be a copy of Disneyland including some of the rides. They have 'Flying Elephants' that look suspiciously like Dumbo as well as a Avalanche Mountain and Thunder Canyon. (Matterhorn and Big Thunder Mountain.)

Luckily the tickets are not as expensive as Disneyland as it appeared that Callie and I were not too excited about going on many rides. We spent much of our time in Chrissy's Quiet Garden and in other shaded areas of the park. Considering this area is closed in the winter due to snow I was quite impressed with some of the plants they were growing. I would have expected them to be better suited to a warmer growing zone. I got a few ideas of how I could rearrange some of my existing beds.

To be honest I only went on one ride but it was a good one for the day. The temperature got up to 36 degrees in the shade so if I was going to go on any rides it needed to be a water ride. One thing I noticed about the rides at Silverwood is the lines are longer then you expect. I think they save money by not having very high capacity. For this ride, the tubes were very spread out. I think they could only have 40 people in total on the entire river. Carter and I got lucky because they were trying to maximize the capacity. They grouped several pairs together and brought us closer to the front of the line. It took me over an hour to dry off when we were done.

Kerry and Carter definitely got their money's worth and went on the majority of the big kid rides. They have multiple coasters and a few rides that I would absolutely never go on. The worst in my opinion would be the pendulum style ride that takes you completely upside down. No thank you. I still had fun wandering around the park and trying out carnival snacks. They weren't as good as I had hoped. The funnel cake seemed a bit heavy. Overall though it was a fun day. We did avoid the water park. It was so hot that was most people headed and it was a bit too busy for our liking. If you do go I recommend it though. It's very nice.

 

Summer Vacation - Destination #1 - Oliver

With Kerry going to Africa this summer, we didn't initially have a big family trip planned however in March we decided we should do something as there aren't many summers left to spend with the kids. We decided on a road trip to Oliver, Coeur d'Alene and Yellowstone. Oliver is where Kerry's parents live so it's a family destination, a convenient stopping point as well as some place to drop off our dog Oliver.  We left early on Saturday and arrived around noon. We didn't have anything planned for the first day but did plan on a hike the following day.

The hike was to nʕaylintn (McIntyre Bluff) and was one we had done a few years ago. We attempted to go to the entrance near a local farm but they have closed it since we were here last. We found the alternate entrance on All Trails but had some trouble finding it. Luckily we saw a car that appeared to be looking for it as well and we followed them until they pulled over. The hike was great and it was cool enough early in the morning. We had a bit of trouble figuring out where we were but we did find Rattlesnake Lake and at least a few good lookout spots before heading back to Barb and Reg's for breakfast.

Out second full day in Oliver included a trip to Hester creek for our traditional picnic. They have an open area with tables where you are allowed to bring your own food. We purchase some wine and juice for the kids and add some of our own food as well. We are allowed to take the dogs and they were surprisingly well behaved. I was a little worried Oliver would not like all the people walking past but he was more interested in our food. We then headed back to Barb and Reg's for a visit with some of their friends and a delicious meal of prime rib. Off to Coeur d'Alene tomorrow.

Callie's Birthday

August 7th was Callie's 17th birthday. She went out for lunch with some friends and wanted to go to White Rock in the evening for dinner. We walked the pier and went to Ocean Beach for dinner. It's too bad White Rock has so little parking down by the ocean because it really is a great place to go in the summer. Every 4th shop sells ice cream and there are some great restaurants. The one we went to had great food and a lot more room inside than I was expecting. After dinner we had to go to Snowy Village for a shaved ice desert. I say had to, because although a fun place to go once in a while I prefer ice cream. I will admit to getting one in Whiter Rock before we left. 

Some of Callie's friends weren't available on her actual birthday so she arranged a party a few days later. They had cupcakes and snacks and watched Momma Mia. They party seemed to go well as it lasted well in to the evening. For the first time I realized Callie and her friends will soon be adults and I will have adults coming over to my house for visits. I will have to make the adjustment from goofy Dad to slightly less goofy host soon. Only one more year until she turns 18 and is ready for university and then another year until full drinking age!

 

Kerry's Vacation

Since this was Kerry's vacation and the kids and I weren't there this is more of a quick update of what happened while she was away as well as a description of her trip from her point of view. Kerry's best friend Melissa won a trip for two to the Seychelles. She had to pay for her flights but she got to stay in some hotels that were over $3k a night and go somewhere she would likely never have chosen to go. The flight was quite brutal with an 11 hour followed by an 8 hour with an 8 hour layover. Door to do ended up about 36 hours. The trip was amazing with the exception of catching Covid on the way home.

The kids and I had to fend for ourselves for 10 days. We tried to do somethings we might not do with Kerry here including the Richmond Night Market and Fusion fest. The night market was mostly food and less market and Fusion festival was a lot less food than we were expecting. I made an attempt to teach some life lessons to the kids during the week. Carter was pretty good at taking part including doing laundry without asking. Callie on the other hand was less engaged. She still had to figure out most of her own meals though and hopefully has a much bigger appreciation for Kerry. :) 

Funko Pop

Funko Pop are collectable figurines of virtually every pop culture figure in existence. It's unlikely they will ever have much real value since they are so common but the kids still like buying their favourite characters. Callie has been collecting a fairly random set including everything from Marvel to Stranger Things while Carter has dedicated his collection to the Simpsons. When we went to Disneyland in March one of our plans included stopping at the Funko Pop store in Everette. Unfortunately we were driving back on either a Monday or Tuesday and the store happens to be closed on those days. Callie was quite upset but we promised we would come back.

Since Everette isn't very far over the border ,one of the options for returning was actually just driving down for a dedicated trip. We had some spare time over summer holidays so we came down first thing in the morning and were back by noon. We were a little nervous when we arrived because there was some sort of basketball tournament in front of the building and at first it looked to be closed. Luckily we were just early. The store itself is quite amazing. They didn't have as many options to purchase as we hoped but there were lot's of dedicated displays that were incredibly well done. If you are a fan I recommend you go.