Following our Day 6 Bison adventure, we departed the Lake Yellowstone Hotel and drove further east into the park, stopping along the way to see the Upper and Lower Falls.

While driving the side road from one waterfall to another, we happened across a small group of Bison, but this time from a relatively safe distance as we were sitting inside the Jeep.

We also stopped to see a variety of other sights (like the mud volcano and Dragons Mouth), which meant a lot of getting in and out of the Jeep.  But overall, Day 7 was a driving day. To help break up the drive, we stopped to have a roadside picnic and let the kids run around and climb on boulders.

Driving further into the east half of Yellowstone, we happened upon large herds of buffalo grazing out in the open meadows, but that only seemed to moderately entertain the kids. I guess once you have been up close and personal with a Bison, seeing them in the distance is no big deal.  Besides, we were in search of Moose and Bear at this point.

With patches of snow still on the mountain tops and streams of water pouring into larger rivers, we couldn't help but to talk about finding a spot to dip our feet into the water. So, sure enough, we happened upon a dirt side road that meandered down to Rock Creek.  We were all able to put our feet into the icy cold river and take in the sights and relaxation of the water tumbling over the river rocks.  The kids played and had a competition to see who could toss a rock the furthest distance into the river.

Continuing on our drive toward Montana, we climbed Bear Tooth Highway, which has the most incredible views...possibly the best scenic drive in the world.  Bear Tooth Highway ascends up to 10,947 feet elevation where the temperature drops and there are still very large sections of winter snow remaining (during years of heavy winter storms, the mountain top would be still deep in snow at summer time).  Along the road there are a variety of streams running down into large pools of water, which tend to be crystal clear and spectacular to see in person...sorry that photos don't capture this type of beauty.

As we descended down from the top of Bear Tooth Highway and officially entered Montana (our 7th state on this trip), we encountered rain and hail, which of course is exactly when the girls needed to go potty. Luckily, and randomly, there was a roadside rest stop with bathrooms, so they ran between the rain drops and hail so that they did not get soaking wet.

Leveling out at the bottom of the mountain, we entered the small town of Red Lodge, Montana.  We instantly liked this little town and could feel that this was a true cowboy kind of town (with in town rodeos and pickup trucks with gun racks).  We drove thru town and stopped to walk around and visit a shop.  It was at this time we decided we wanted to stay the night in Red Lodge, but with it being 4th of July weekend and a rodeo happening, we knew it was going to be next to impossible to get a hotel room for the night, let alone for multiple nights.

So, following a suggestion from the local shop owner for a dinner restaurant recommendation, we drove to the north end of town to the local pub (Sam's Place).  As we enjoyed dinner, both Kathy and I called every possible hotel, motel, and bed & breakfast in town...but everything was sold out.  Which is when I told Kathy that there is a place available in town, but we needed some magic to make it happen.

As the kids wandered outside to the enclosed grassy area to run around and play, I followed to watch them. And it was shortly after this time that a guy walked up and asked if his little girl could play with our kids. After the guy walked back to his table and the kids started playing together it dawned on me that this guy was the magic we needed...so I walked over to him and we started talking. It turned out that he was somewhat of a local being from Billings. I explained our situation of calling every hotel in town and everything was already sold out, which is when Kathy walked out with two six packs of the pubs Montana brewed Hefeweizen; she confirmed to our new friend (Nate) all of the hotels that we had called. Which is when Nate called the Rock Creek Resort and they magically had a room available.

We spent the remainder of the evening at the Pub with Nate and his wife enjoying the local brews and watching the kids play in the grass with the confidence of having a local hotel to rest ourselves that night.

On Day 6 of our family road trip adventure, we departed our cabin and Teton National Park and drove into Yellowstone National Park, crossing the Continental Divide at 8,391 feet elevation.

While we were really expecting our legs to be  sore from our previous days bicycle ride, we were actually feeling great and ready to tackle more new territory, in particular Yellowstone and all of the different Geysers, like Old Faithful.

We arrived at Old Faithful around lunch time and mistakenly ate at the cafeteria instead of the fancy Lodge.  However, our lunch table provided us a window view of Old Faithful and as soon as the Geyser starting spewing steam, we new it was time to run outside for an up close experience of water shooting into the air.

There are also many other geysers and sights in the area with elevated walking areas that help to provide an up-close experience.

However, the one experience we were really hoping to have by this point was being able to see some of the large animals that are known to be in this area, such as Elk, Moose, and Bison. So, as we finished our walking loop, we had a perfect timing visit to see the unpredictable Castle Geyser display its water and steam spouting show for more than 30 minutes.  I also thought it would be great to capture a slow-motion video of Castle Geyser in action, which is when KK decided to photobomb my video.

https://instagram.com/p/4piObIx7Cm/

Now in search of ice cream on this hot summer day, we decided to make our way up to The Lodge for a treat. Along the way, we came across a fake Bison and decided that this would have to be our substitute for seeing a real Bison.  So, I led the family along the walking path, observing real Bison poop along the way, and then stepping into the grass in front of the fake Bison so that I would be able to have the kids pose for a picture.  As I stepped up to the Bison, the head turned up at me with pointy horns aimed in my direction. I could then see its eye, at which time Kathy said something about life-like animatronics, and then the tail spun up into the air and everything registered in my head that the Bison we were standing only a few feet away from was really real...EVERYBODY, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!! Of course (and thankfully) this particular Bison had no interest in us at this time, but it sure was a scare. I guess you could liken it to walking up to a lion; would you ever do that?

The point and advice is that if you see a Bison (or other large animal) and it's not stuffed and mounted inside the visitors center, then it is probably real, so take your pictures from a distance.

Here is the Bison, which we almost go too friendly with (I approached up to the edge of the small clearing that he is standing inside of) and for better or worse, we never captured an up-close picture. Also, keep in mind that a Bison can reach its top running speed of 30 miles per hour in just three steps!

We lived to have our ice cream at The Lodge as well as drive to some of the other sights in the park.

And we finished up our Day 6 by staying at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel.

All in all, our big story for the day (including the kids story) was our event with the Bison. However, one of my favorite pictures from the day is this family photo at the Yellowstone River.

Hi, it's me KK Bella. Today was a fun day in Jackson, Wyoming. We rented bikes and rode on a trail for 16 miles. That's the longest distance I have ever ridden on a bike. The trail was twisty and uphill and downhill. Here is a picture of me on my bike; I hope you like it.

We also drove to Jackson Lake in the Teton National Park. We drove and took a short cut, but it was a little bit bumpy because there were rocks. It was moms idea to take a short cut but it was really a long cut because we were off road for a long time. We saw lots of deer on our long cut.

Once we arrived at Jackson Lake, our cabin is on the lake and we went swimming in the water and it was fun. Here is a picture of me with my brother in the lake.

Hi, it's me the Mouse. This is a picture of me with a deer. The deer was eating grass because he was hungry.

Ok, so we had a very full and fun day today. We packed up, headed over for some Cowboy Coffee, toured the visitor center in Jackson Hole, took a dirt road detour and happened upon some horses, and then went on to Moose Junction in the Teton National Park.

We rented bikes and successfully rode a 16 mile loop to Jenny Lake and back. It was great fun; KK was often the leader with lots of energy. Me and the Mouse rode a bike with a "trail behind" so he could help with the peddling and mom also did great.

Jenny Lake is beautiful and we hope to go back some day for the boat ride and waterfall hike. After finishing up our bike ride and maintaining a solid pace for today (including seeing as many sights as possible) we drove deeper into the Teton Park and took one of our first off-road excursions. We had no idea how long this trail would go on for, but it went on for many miles, however we did capture some breath taking views of the Snake River.

We finished our day at a cabin in Teton National Park where I had time to relax and rest my feet in the water as the kids played in the lake.