:-) I guess I get to talk about the animals and any random thing that comes to mind about the trip. Well after we set up the tent and viewed a few things together in mammoth it was time to go back to the campsite and eat supper and go to bed. The first night we ate foil dinners that turned out fantastic, thank you Raul! After cleaning up our area we went straight to bed and boy were we tired...until, a very kind park ranger came along and woke us up at about 11:00 pm to tell us that we had left our camping grill and our water cooler out. There's some rule about putting EVERYTHING up before leaving or going to bed so that the bears won't be attracted to the campsite and so that they wouldn't have things to 'play' with, amazing how we missed reading the sign that was nailed right in the middle of the picnic table. So Raul got out of bed and proceeded to put the two things that we left on the table up while I turned over and went back to sleep.
I have to say that Yellowstone is the weirdest place climate wise, at night it will get down to 30 degrees and in the middle of the day it could be somewhere between 75 and 90 and this is the first of August, weird huh. Of course we weren't thinking it was going to be too bad so we didn't think too much about it when we went to sleep the first night. With the fact that both of us were really tired and it being cold made for one unpleasant night. Apparently when I sleep I like to take all the covers and give most of them to the floor without knowing it. I don't remember how many times Raul woke up in the middle of the night shivering from the cold because I had taken all of his covers away. After the umpteenth time he was getting kinda mad.
The days were a lot of fun. If you ever see a bunch of cars pulled over and people standing in a group you know to start looking for whatever animal they're taking pictures of. It doesn't even matter if its a deer, there maybe tones of deer all over the US but there is no deer like the Yellowstone deer and we have the pictures to prove it...lol. One incident was the funniest, we were coming back from mammoth for some reason when we saw a ton of people with their cameras out all excited about something. After we pulled over Raul and I started looking for what everyone else was staring at when suddenly I saw it. It was a BEAR! I was so excited that I jumped in my seat and immediately started to pushing Raul into the car door saying, "It's a bear, it's a bear!! Get out of the car, get out of the car, get out of the car!!" The poor boy didn't even have time to open the door before I was shoving him into it trying to get out. I have to say he was quite shocked that I wasn't more calm about the situation or that I could push so hard when I was determined to get out of the car and he was in the way of that. Oh and if you were wondering whey I didn't go out the other door that's because we managed to pile a whole heap of stuff in both the seat and the floorboard. It was either get out on the side Raul was on or knock all of that other stuff out of the car on my way to see the bear, I choose Raul's side. :-)

Another great moment was when we found where all the buffalo were staying at, we were so amazed by how the acted. I'll let the two videos speak for them selves....




Now for the scenery. The side of the park that we were staying on had just started growing new trees to replace the one the massive fire destroyed. On the other side of the park was some of the most beautiful scenery I think I have seen. This video just shows a glimpse of the kind of stuff we were seeing.





:-) oh and I can't leave out a video of what Raul and I do in the car when we're bored, if you catch us at the right moment on the roads in Utah you will see both of us doing this....enjoy :-)

Yellowstone was definitely a one of a kind experience. From the rainy,cold nights to the pushing and screaming from Janna in the car, it was a lot of fun.( I will explain that part later.)
We left for Yellowstone at 1:00 o'clock in the morning on Tuesday. It was a 6 hour drive, and we needed to be there before 8:00 am to have a chance of getting a good campsite. Nancy was not very happy with me for leaving that early, but we tried to be safe and rest when we where getting sleepy. Everything went to plan until we actually arrived to the park. We headed towards Norris Campgrounds which was a 40 min. from the west entrance of Yellowstone. We arrived at the campsite at about 8:20 and the campsite of 100 sites was already full. We decided to keep driving around and hope to catch someone leaving. As we go around a corner we see that there is one open campsite for a walk only sites. We put our tags on in, and prepare to unload.
Remember that I had been driving all night, and I only had a chance for a 3 hour nap before we left that night; I was tired. I am ready to unload and fall asleep. As I give Janna the money for the site, I start walking back with the tent in one hand the bed in the other. I behind to see a ranger fixing a problem with the tent sites which include mine. As I approached I saw that my tag had been moved, and I questioned the reason for it. What had happened was there were two sites open, a walking site, and another site reserved for hikers and bikers. I had chosen the biker site but had put the other site's number on it by mistake. The Ranger asked me if I wanted the biker site and I said that I would prefer it. What happened next infuriated me. The Ranger grab my tag, crushed it in his hand and look at me and said, "Too Bad." I was shocked, and decided to hold my tongue and run back to the truck before Janna would pay for a Campsite that was not ours anymore.
The people who got the site was a couple of guys I had flagged down, informing them that there was one campsite open. In a way, I shot myself in the foot for being a nice guy.
Well all things happen for a reason.....
We decided to head to another campground. I wanted to head east and then north, but for some reason I was disoriented and drove straight north. We hit a Campground named Indian Creek. I was lost so we just turned into it hoping to have luck. The moment we drove into the area, we both liked it. We saw a couple leaving and took their site. When we went back to pay for it, we had another unexpected surprise. The site had been paid for an extra day, and we couldn't rent it until the next day, as we head back the couple were leaving. We told them they had paid for an extra night. The couple looked at us and said, "Merry Christmas, it yours."
Norris campsite had very small sites and very crowded areas, Indian creek was more in the wilderness, with less people, and much cheaper than the Norris. I was very pleased someone had used my lack of sleep and patience to lead me where Janna and I needed to go; Janna will also attest to that.
I started to unload the things from the truck and set camp, and while I did that Janna left to the nearest lodging area to fill up the truck with gas, and get to know the area. When she returned we set the sleeping bags on the bed, and went to sleep. Mammoth Hot Springs was only about 7 miles away, and there is where we took our showers and grabbed anything we needed.
It did not matter how tired we were, at 12:00 o'clock we got up, and could not sleep any longer. We started our adventure, stopping at anything and everything that captured our attention. From Cliffs, Waterfalls, geysers, or just a simple rock, we were there.
My favorite thing we found was "The Boiling River." It was located at the bottom of the Canyon from Mammoth Hot Springs going north. That river is so hot it would boil anyone alive, but it joins a cold river. The Boiling River cascades into a much larger river, and this creates one of the best hot tubs I have ever felt. The water is full of minerals, and it cascades into the river like small waterfalls. Careful, if you got to close to the current of the Hot water, you might just feel a burning sensation. Sitting in between waterfalls was the best place to sit. Not to count the beautiful sunset in the Background, with the biggest smile I have ever seen on Janna's Face. I apologize, I did not take any pictures of this place. Maybe next year we can all go enjoy the Springs.
The Rest of the Trip, I will let Janna Finish...