National Park Trip 2016 {Gibbon Falls, Norris Geyser Basin, & Mammoth Hot Springs}

We collectively decided to head to North Yellowstone on our first full day in the park.  I'm sure there's people who plan their time in the park in great detail.  I'm here to tell you that you can be a bad planner and still see lots of things and have lots of fun.  Yellowstone is so massive that there's no possible way to see it all anyway.  There's just not a bad way to do it.  It's ginormous and incredible and everywhere you look, there are wonderful things to be seen.  

Our first stop was Gibbons Falls.  We spent a few minutes at the overlook.  It's not a major Yellowstone attraction, but it's amazing!  And again, the boys really appreciating it was one of my favorite things.  

This particular day, it's always easy to spot me (in the bright pink) and Nathan (in the bright orange).

(See... I spy someone in pink!)

Our second stop was at the Norris Geyser Basin.  We did a little slow hike and were in awe of the different pools of bubbling water and small geysers erupting randomly.  My parents were able to do this one with us which was fun.  We later found out this is where someone died this summer when he wandered off of the boardwalk to admire the pools more closely and fell into one of the boiling pools of water... yikes!  The signs are very clear, that the ground is unstable and the pools are very hot.

One funny thing is that Chris ran into someone that he went to high school with at the visitors center here.  What are the odds of that?  We were in the middle of NOWHERE! 

Next, we made our way north to Mammoth Hot Springs.  It has a neat little village with a couple of lodges and restaurants.  

This map was so amazing... it was in a big beautiful historic conference room.  A man was playing the grand piano and Nathan and I loved it so much... 

... that we had to take a selfie with it.

Moose running through town... very Yellowstone.

The area was bizarre.  So beautiful with random areas like this one in the middle.  It felt very Star Trek-y... that's probably not a real adjective.

I love this kid.

These two as well!

On the drive home, we stopped to see some wildlife.  The beautiful valleys in Yellowstone might have been my favorite.  And I definitely recommend staying in the park until sunset.  Such amazing light.

Wow!