Skipping Stones or Smelly Water - What's the Greater Treasure?

(If you haven’t heard the beginning of this adventure tale, go back in my blog posts and listen to my podcast, Healthy Mom Crazy Life, to catch it all from the beginning!)

Take a look at the map and see Gillette, WY, then carry that gaze further west - it won’t be a big surprise to see that our next day was an adventure into Yellowstone National Park. Holding bragging rights as the first National Park in our country, established in 1872, it was no wonder to us just why this 3500 square mile piece of heaven on earth was picked to be a sacred representation of our great country.

The lead up to Yellowstone was full of anticipation as we first traveled through Bighorn National Forest and Shoshone National Forest; how could things get more beautiful than this? Needless to say, Yellowstone didn’t disappoint.

We were quickly delighted by the gentle waterfalls trickling down the mountainsides, the piles of snow remaining that hadn’t yet been hit by the new summer gave the boys and I flashbacks to our Wisconsin weather days.

The visual hunt was on to see who could be the first to spot wildlife in the park. Brett’s eagle eye spotted the first bison as we were pulled over on the ‘beach’ of Yellowstone Lake. Despite the geothermal claims to fame the park hosts, ironically the great expanse of Yellowstone lake remains a chilly 41 degrees F at its warmest - so cold that swimming really isn’t recommended, and you’d be lucky to literally survive 30 minutes in this chilly pool.

No matter where our adventures take us, it is a sure bet that we’ll look for some water and some good skipping stones. Last summer I taught the boys how to skip stones on our waterfall tour that took us up to Lake Superior. Adam quickly picked up the special flick of the wrist and, with sure bragging rights, he soon outskipped both Brett and I. And while Brett struggles between the smooth sidearm action needed for skipping and the more used overhand throwing form, I have no doubt that soon, he too, will perfect the multi-jump stone performance.

Our quest for the perfect skipper also turned into a chance to sincerely admire the striations, layering, and coloring that each unique rock presented. I am also quickly reminded that I need to brush up on my geology skills. . .

After about 30 minutes I convinced the boys we should keep carrying on, there’s plenty more we will see and do. Brett received $2 for the “first bison spot” prize - Adam argues that he really saw it first. I know he didn’t and it’s his attempt at getting his hands on some cash, nice try Adam.

If it were up to me (even though it was, lol!) we would have stopped and hiked a lot and we would have spent a few days in the park, BUT instead we focused on the natural highlights, so, next up was Old Faithful. There’s really no way to explain the beauty and the uniqueness geysers present, so we were lucky to get first hand eyes-on experience. Yellowstone had only recently opened up and the ‘crowds’ were more appropriately described as a smattering of people here and there. Perfect.

We pulled into Old Faithful’s parking lot and easily drove up and parked right along the path to see the ol’ gal. With perfect timing, we arrived to see Old Faithful shooting up some 140 feet high into the air. It was easy to convince the boys to take a walk around the inviting boardwalks that made a random looping and criss-crossing path around the geothermal wonderland.

We spent over two hours covering most of the laid tracks - marveling at the dozens of pools and the assortment of colors, the various sizes, the light sulfuric smells, and the varying depths they all had. Who would have guessed the smelly water could really be so amazing? By the time we wrapped around to Old Faithful again it was time for her to erupt again - still amazing. A quick trip to the gift shop was the cherry on top for the boys, they were wearing their new gear before we got back to the car.

As we started to make our way out of the park, we came across more bison - and this time there were babies, oh my, but if those aren’t the cutest things ever! Our quest for new wildlife was pretty limited, only coming across some cute marmots other than the large dominating bison. No bears. No wolves. I told the boys they’d get a bonus buck if we found either of those.

Like most things that are pretty awesome, they all too soon come to an end . . . as we made our way out of the park we all agreed the fun in that beautiful National Park came to an end all too soon. And while it would have been easy to spend endless days exploring this vast playground in nature and the treasures found within, alas, there were more treasures to be had.

So what was the big treasure for the day? Smelly water or skipping stones? Turns out, both of them - who'd a thunk that?!

Staying a night in West Yellowstone, Montana, (new state!) brought more pool fun, but also excitement for the next few days ahead . . . just what treasures would we actually find?! Stay tuned to find out!