Celebration roadtrip to see Old Faithful

When our oldest grandson, Caiden, turned 18 last summer, we told him as a graduation gift we'd take him to Yellowstone in 2020. Yellowstone happens to be Cub Sweetheart's favorite place in the United States, and he's the perfect person to visit it with; his degree in mining engineering makes him a fabulous narrator about rock formations, clouds, geysers, the Continental Divide, etc. etc. etc. 

To make the trip more fun we threw in Caiden's younger brother, Grayson. After loading the car with several bags of snacks and stuffing the trunk full of luggage and backpacks we were off. 

About one nanosecond after we pulled out licorice and chips and crackers made their appearance, and the boys might have eaten constantly for the entire 1500 mile trip. 

I've forgotten how much a teenage boy eats. 

I've forgotten what having the metabolism of a teenager feels like. 

Our entire first day was spent driving across Montana, looking at scenery, and we were shocked to see how much two teenagers enjoyed it. I don't remember our own kids feeling that way, but it was a pleasant surprise. Grayson has an interest in photography, and brought along his Canon camera, so we lent Caiden mine and they spent hours in the car snapping away at this and that. 

It's fun to re-remember what the world looks like through the eyes of someone in their teens, what captures their interest, what intrigues them. 

They were both of such astonishingly good cheer for the entire 1500 miles of our five day trip.

It was such fun to be there with them when they saw their first buffalo (or bison as Grayson would correct me), only a foot or so away (from the safety of our vehicle.) This one was actually on a boardwalk and the park ranger made everyone evacuate to give him space. 

This was one of our first stops on the trip; even playing in fields and walking down railroad tracks seemed to entertain them. 

All of the shots were taken by the boys, except those with them in it :-) We thought they did a great job of documenting the trip. 

Caiden had a question for the park ranger and he was so gracious to fully answer him. 

Of note, every single ranger had bear spray on them at all times. And masks. 

We happened upon a spot where the chipmunks have grown to trust humans enough to let them feed them out of their hand. This one was getting his fill and then some. 

A history setting nose bleed happened (thank you high altitude and dry air) somewhere between the east gate of Yellowstone and the town of Cody, and it took all hands on deck to get it to finally stop. Employing Grayson's older brother and encouraging him to pinch harder than Grayson was willing to do not only gave us all cheap entertainment, it thankfully stopped it. And caused us to stop at the first Walmart we came across and purchase all sorts of stuff which Grayson was strongly encouraged to use multiple times a day for the remainder of the trip. At one point we hit over 11,000 feet in elevation and I just prayed and prayed his nose would maintain its calm. It did, thank you God. 

Boys never get too old to want to play in the middle of the river. 

They've been the best of friends since Caiden was about 3 years old and Grayson arrived on the scene. We love that they still are. 

Top of the World was completely infested with mosquitos and thankfully the little store had spray. We did not care what it cost, and saturated ourselves in it. And bought more snacks. 

Great shot by one of the boys

Gray thought this was a lot of fun, even when his finger got slightly nibbled. 

Herds of buffalo did not disappoint. 

A rock that Caiden HAD to climb - loved this shot. 

Cub Sweetheart cheerfully drove and drove, narrating all the way for us. 

Cub Sweetheart has always wanted to walk this entire boardwalk that goes around Old Faithful and we all somehow misread the map. What was supposed to be 1.8 miles ended up being more like 6, and some of us may have gotten a little grumpy. We all got sunburned. 

Such great traveling companions!

Isn't this a cool shot one of the boys took?

It was such a treat to travel with the two boys, to share so many meals, and hours and hours together. At the end of each day we'd ask them what was the highlight, and it was so fun to hear what stood out to them. The little things. Having their own hotel room to stay in, getting to stay up late and watch movies together, feeding the chipmunks, seeing the grizzly, being allowed to walk around the towns and find us a place to eat dinner that night, seeing Old Faithful go off three times while we were nearby (the long boardwalk walk.....) talking to the ranger. 

How blessed we were to be there with them, seeing Yellowstone and life through their eyes.