Day 2 - To Yellowstone

 We picked up my brother Ed from the airport the afternoon of Day 1 and proceeded to head up the country. It wasn't too long till we were tired and stopped for the night. The next day we proceeded up I-15, stopping at a rest stop in Idaho that promised a geologic site. Well, that rest stop should have given their geologic site much bigger notice. It had a mile-long geologic trail through Hell's Half Acre, a neat lava field about 20 miles south of Idaho Falls.

We were the only ones on the lava flow trail, which was paved and easy walking. Although we did see a family do some geocaching at the picnic bench right at the beginning of the trail. We might have to give that a try on a future vacation.

 The kids weren't real enthusiastic hikers, but they did love the rocks. They had to choose their two favorite rocks. That caused a real dilemma.

Then it was more driving, with great scenery, like the west side of the Tetons as we approached West Yellowstone.

 We were only a few miles into the park when we had our first animal sighting--some elk in the river.

 We stopped to see a hot spring, which was fortunately uncrowded despite it being a weekend.

 Then we headed north for a fish crew reunion. One of the National Park jobs I held before I moved to the Great Basin was at Yellowstone, on the fish crew. I hadn't seen some of these folks for many years, and it was so nice to catch up with them. The kids had fun with the other kids there, and one of the highlights was roasting giant marshmallows and making s'mores.

 Desert Girl did her best to contain the mess.

 How much fun can you have with s'mores?

A lot!

We posed for a photo. I love how all the kids are holding hands. And the dogs just couldn't resist being in the photo.

It was a wonderful summer evening, and just the start of our fun adventures in Yellowstone.