Day 20 was Yellowstone Day. I know, you can’t do Yellowstone in a day, but we gave it a try. Starting in Jackson early we drove North past Jackson Lake and to the South Entrance of Yellowstone. Highly recommend the annual NP pass, saved us a bundle as each park is $25 and the pass is only $75. There are two basic driving loops at Yellowstone and we did the southern loop. Our first stop was Old Faithful Geyser. Lucked out as we walked past the lodge and onto the viewing platform, the geyser erupted within 30 seconds. Pretty neat sight. We spent about an hour touring the geysers and listening to the rangers explain the phenomenon. As we headed around the western portion of the loop, we stopped and viewed a few more geysers (made sure we had had our fill of geysers) and then moved on to other areas. Next stop was Gibbon Falls, an 80 foot waterfall. Catherine and Anna walked with me down to the viewing platform, Gardner decided he wanted to stay in the RV, working on a project with his mother on all of the places we had visited so far. We were fortunate enough to see several herds of buffalo, a bull moose by a creek, a grey fox, and some pronghorn deer. No luck on any bear, but that was ok by us. Our next stop was the education Center at the Canyons. Watched a movie on the ecological diversity of the park and toured the museum that explained (really well I might add) the reason for all the geysers and the very long volcanic history. Just past the education center we arrived at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Timidly we walked to the viewing platform for a few quick photos of the 300 foot waterfall of the Yellowstone River. Our last stop of the day was at Yellowstone Lake as a little rain began to fall. We drove out the east entrance to the park on our way to Cody, Wy. I was really surprised by the height of the mountains on the way out. (11,000 feet and a good bit of snow still on the ground) We followed a river all the way out and it, along with the high mountain lakes, was truly breathtaking. It seemed to go on and on and on. We arrived in Cody at Buffalo Bill’s Little Irma Hotel. A real throw back, quirky place. Not sure the kids appreciated the history as J.Gardner’s quote was “I feel like I am at a bad nursing home.” We made it work with a roll away. This was the longest day yet, and with only one little meltdown, we did pretty well.

Day 19….After staying up late watchin movies..we slept a little late. The kids decided they needed a day away from me and Julie so…we left them at the condo and drove into Jackson. Julie and I had a great time touring all of the shops and galleries and a nice quiet lunch. Arriving back around 3pm, I took the kids for a swim while Julie rested and started organizing for the road on Day 20. No pictures today.