Day 3 at Yellowstone National Park and Day 4!

 

So here are pictures from our final days at Yellowstone and our little journey through the Grand Tetons! 

We woke up to a beautiful morning and decided we wanted to go check out the waterfall at the Grand Canyon again, when it wasn't raining and dreary. Then we drove up this HUGE mountain on a one-way dirt road....and it the temperature dropped like 20 degrees (no joke) and it started sleeting on us!!! I lost my mind! Haha, I was freaking out knowing for sure we were going to be stranded on top of the  mountain. But Jacob got us safely to the top and the sleet stopped and it didn't stick so we were safe. Haha. 

Then we decided to head to the Boiling River to sit in it for awhile, it was amazing. Just like a hot-tub. I didn't want to ever leave, but I was getting too pruny  to stay in any longer. It was really fun, and we got to chat with some nice people. I love it! Driving back through Mammoth Springs there were a ton of Elk just chillin and eating in the middle of town, so funny to me. 

Then we drove to go see the Grand Prismatic Spring.....because I saw pictures of it at the visitor's center and it looked unbelievably beautiful, like a rainbow pond. I loved it already and hadn't even seen it in real life. When we got close, they had all the roads blocked off to actually get to the Spring, so we weren't able to see it. I was super bummed and pouty because it was one of the main things I wanted to see.....but I guess that gives me an excuse to go back! 

After that Jacob cheered me up by taking me swimming at Firehole River. And even though the water was freezing, Jacob finally coaxed me in. Even though I stayed attached to his back for the first 5 minutes (trying to steal all his body heat), haha but I finally went underwater and swam around. There were huge rocks in there so we had to avoid those (I'm not a big fan of running into huge rocks while swimming). But once you were able to get to the top of the current (It was actually very strong and Jacob had to pull me to the top) it was so fun just letting it pull you back down the river. I loved it. Then we tried to get a cute underwater kissing picture, which was impossible haha, maybe someday!....(and we weren't able to cliff jump because if caught you could get a $300 ticket, which we didn't want any part of!)

Then we watched the beautiful sunset and took lots of pictures of it! The next day we woke up and packed up and left....and finally got our picture with the Yellowstone sign (too excited to stop there on Day 1). We went the long way so we could drive through the Teton Mountains. It was so gorgeous, I wish we could have spent a whole day there exploring, so we will definitely have to go back and do so! The red rock mountains are one of the many beautiful sites we saw while driving through Wyoming. I wish we had an unlimited amount of time while driving back because there were so many cute little shops that I wanted to stop at and explore! Someday we will! 

Yellowstone was amazing and one of the best vacations I've ever had, I seriously can't wait to go back and I can't wait to have more adventures like this one with Jacob. (and I don't know how that JN got carved in that tree, hehe...)

Yellowstone National Park Day 2.

 

Day 2 was the best day at Yellowstone, the weather was so perfect and everything went smoothly. We woke up and headed to Mammoth Springs, and while on our way there we stopped and climbed these huge rocks that were on the side of the road....we were pretty high even though you can't really tell in our pictures!

We finally got to Mammoth Springs...and we went horse back riding while there!! My first time! It was so fun, I can't wait to do it again! My first horse, named Dodge, was extremely feisty and it being my first time, I was a tad bit scared, so I got to switch to a calmer/nicer horse, who's name is Boots! I loved Boots, he was such a sweetie. Jacob's horse, named Rooster, was a turd! He was so mean and would go around biting other horses, he even bit poor Boots right on the butt! So mean! But Jacob handled him pretty well, even though he couldn't get him to stop eating while we were riding, haha (we were specifically told not to let them eat!). It was a blast and I'm so glad Jacob took me!

Oh and how about that dandelion? It's the biggest one I've ever seen!!!

After that we went into town and ate some cheeseburgers and Snickers then we went to see the Mammoth Hot Springs, so beautiful (pictured above) the Liberty Cap (pictured above), and tons of Elk crossing the street!! Then we headed to the Boiling River because our horse guide told us we had to check it out. And it is located right on the state line of Montana and Wyoming, so we were able to check another state off our list!

We didn't have our swimsuits with us so we weren't able to get in the Boiling River (even though the next day we drove back so we could get in!), that day however we just stuck our hands in...and it is HOT! It's so crazy, it's like a hot tub, but even hotter than that in some places!! If you are ever in Yellowstone you have to go check it out and sit in it, it's amazing.

Here is what hikespeak says about the

Boiling River: "An underground discharge of water from a mysterious source beneath nearby hydrothermal terraces flows out of the ground at over 100 degrees. The channel joins the otherwise cold waters of the Gardner River, creating a blended pool that is too good to pass up." 

After that we stopped by the River and took some pretty pictures (I'll share them later) drove around and saw another beautiful waterfall. Then we stopped on the side of the road and climbed up a mountain to watch the sunset and take some more beautiful pictures (I'll share later!). The sunset was amazing and it was so serene to be up on the mountain top, just me and Jacob. I loved it.

When were heading back to the campsite we saw all these cars pulled over in the middle of the road, so we stopped to see why and down the side of the hill was a black bear! Our first (and only) bear sighting!! It was so cool to actually see one out in the wild! We were so excited. 

Then we got back to the campsite and star gazed, talked, ate soup, and drank wine. Such a perfect end to a perfect day.