Look for the exciting recap of the license plate game soon but check out what we found yesterday.

So we set out on our first Yellowstone hike, armed with our $45 bear spray, ready to face the bears after the numerous warnings from the rangers. We saw some kind of animal scat right away and decided that there needs to be an app that allows you to scan and identify it . We had a humorous discussion for the rest of the hike about what this app should be named. Joe is going to develop the app “as soon as we buy him a Mac.” Here are our ideas, feel free to add your own!

Poop Positive
Crap Clarifier
Whose #2??
DooDoo Decoder
Feces Finder

Another long but very satisfying day of beautiful sights, jaw-dropping landscape and lots more wildlife than yesterday! We drove the upper loop of the park, stopping at Canyon Village to take a hike on the canyon rim where we had amazing views of the upper and lower falls. We also hiked Uncle Toms trail which took us 500 feet into the canyon by way of a 328 step see-through staircase. The kids loved it, I white-knuckled the whole walk, but glad I did it. We have found that the drive out, from 6 to 9ish, is the best time to see the wildlife. We finally got to see a bear, about 100 yards away! We also saw a mama bear and 2 cubs, many bison, mule deer, and a huge grizzly (from a far distance). No moose :(. We are white water rafting today, a first for all of us, very excited!! We will post pics later, need a stronger wifi connection.

Yesterday was a busy day. We left Pocatello and made our way to Yellowstone. Yellowstone is a huge park, the largest. It is also the oldest in America. The first thing we did at the park was go through Fountain Pain Pot. It had some really cool geysers, something I had never seen before. It is really amazing to see the water shoot up from the ground. There were these things called mudpots which were basically mud that bubbles because it is so hot. Those were different from anything I’d ever seen.

After that we went on the Firehole Lake Drive where we got to see more geysers. We drove more making some stops to see more hydrothermal features when we eventually got to Old Faithful. We went in for lunch and we were lucky enough to be done at 4:30, ten minutes before Old Faithful would burst. We got there just in time to see it go. It was huge; the largest we had seen. It was really cool.

On our way back out of Yellowstone, we made a few stops. The first things we saw were bison. The baby bison looked like baby tigers. After driving a little more, we saw what we thought were female elk. We were about 25 yards away from them and they were pretty big. Then we saw a male elk in the water just standing there. Our last stop was a ledge that had a great view of the beautiful sunset.

Today we go to Yellowstone again. We will post pictures once we get some more reliable wifi.

Well, we’ve been at this for 8 days now. We are still getting along though there is the occasionally brief argument, but what do you expect after 3,000+ miles and traveling through 13 states. You can see the states here.

We’ve settled down for the night in Pocatello, Idaho at a brand new Holiday Inn – this place is awesome. It’s a big room with a great pool and hot tub and xbox game room. It’s nice to be at a hotel before dark.

We’ve already done a complete van clean.

We’ll also be doing about 4 or 5 loads of laundry.

Time to order some pizza and pick up a six pack of beer.

Tomorrow it’s off to Yellowstone!!!

The first thing we did today was see an organ concert at the Mormon Tabernacle Church. The man played a few songs and it was really cool. After that we went to see the Great Salt Lake. The only problem is, it wasn’t great. I would say something about it but I was taught that if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. After that, we continued on the road.

Yesterday, we went to Zion National Park. We used the handy shuttle buses to see the many breathtaking views of Zion.

At one stop we decided to hike the Emerald Pools and we saw some of the beautiful waterfalls and small ponds. We hiked some more through the hills and valleys and decided to get back in the car to drive up the mountains. We drove through a 1.1 mile tunnel cut through the mountain and saw some more cool views.

75% of the family agreed it was the most beautiful thing in America but my vote goes to the one and only Grand Canyon.

Last night was interesting. After eating at Arby’s at 4:00, we went to Zion which was really cool. After that we started driving. A lot. By 9:00 we had lost phone service and that didn’t come back until 10:00 which wasn’t very fun since we had nothing else to do. At around 11:00 I started getting hungry. The problem was, there was no where to eat that was open for 100s of miles. I wanted Taco Bell and there were none from our spot to our hotel. Around 12:00 we all had to make a bathroom break. The first gas station we tried was closed. The second gas station wasn’t just a gas station. It was the holy grail of gas stations. We had stuck gold. This was the best gas station ever. At this time, I hadn’t eaten for about 8.5 hours so I was starved. I found a two hot pockets. A Mac and cheese and a pepperoni pizza. I stuck them in the microwave for a minute each. And they were the best things ever. I had rediscovered food. The delicious pockets of food were a gift from God. I could now rest easy. Finally, at 2:00 we reached our hotel and went straight to sleep.

Yeah, I know, sounds awful, doesn’t it ?!? We were just going to drive through Vegas, but when you can get a room at the MGM through Expedia for $100 and the kids are dying for a swim, you might as well go for it. After a quick stop at the Hoover Dam, we headed to Vegas, got some pool time, ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and took a stroll down the strip. Highlights: Joe and Tim rode the New York, New York roller coaster, we saw the Bellagio fountain show, went to the Coca Cola store and the M&M store. Back on the road to Zion…

So far, on our long journey, the boys and girls have been keeping up with the license plate game. But, the girls have taken a lead! Us girls have only 3 states left including New Hampshire, Vermont, and Hawaii! The boys however need 6 more states than us! They need North Dakota, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Hawaii! Wish us luck, we’ll surely win!