Old Faithful (Daddy’s new nickname!)

We left Cody to go to Bozeman today but we decided to go through Yellowstone rather than the boring way.  First we went to a big waterfall it was very epic. It’s called The Lower Falls and the place we watched it from is called Artists point. We couldn’t go to the other side of the waterfall as they are digging up the road. Eliza thought this was very funny as they dig up the road in Peppa Pig and she keeps doing the voice where it says ‘we’re digging up the road’ ‘it will take as long as it takes’. She does this in a funny voice like Mr Bull.

On our way around we saw lots of animals. Lots more Bison, a fox but mummy couldn’t get a picture before it ran away, a bird of Prey (we need to look it up in a book) and big horn sheep.

We saw lots of geysers and stopped at old faithful in case it was about to go off. We got there just in time and saw it explode. A geyser works from under the ground water is on hot rocks. The rocks get hot from the volcanos lava. When it gets too hot lots of water and steam shoots out of the little hole like a big fountain.  On our way back to the car Mummy said to let go of her hand as I was messing about and she had Eliza on her back. I said to Daddy ‘can I hold your hand Old Faithful’ and everyone laughed very hard. So Mummy said that can be Daddy’s new nickname.

We stopped at the continental divide. The continent is split in half like a cake and if you pour water on one side it runs to the Pacific Ocean and the other to the Gulf of Mexico. In Yellowstone there is a bit of the divide that goes in a bit of a circle and the water flows around and then goes out in the opposite side.

We’ve moved into another state now called Montana and it’s really nice with lots of mountains. Mummy is going to tell you about it.

Oh I forgot. I’ve been having big waffles for breakfast with lots of syrup on them and they are very yummy.

Montana facts from Mummy

• Montana is at the top of America and shares a border with Canada.
• The highest point is Granite peak 3905m.
• The animal of Montana is the Grizzly Bear.
• It’s slogan is ‘Big Sky Country’.
• Montana has the largest migratory Elk herd in America.
• Montana has the largest grizzly bear population in the lower 48 states.
• The Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman gained fame through the work of its chief paleontologist, Jack Horner. Horner was the prototype for the character Dr. Alan Grant in the best selling novel/movie, “Jurassic Park.”
• Just south of Billings, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his troops made their last stand. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument features the Plains Indians and United States military involved in the historic battle.
• Montana’s name comes from the Spanish word mountain.
• The most visited place in Montana is Glacier National Park, known as the crown jewel of the continent. It lies along Montana’s northern border and adjoins Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, forming the world’s first International Peace Park.

Old Faithful has a webcam where you can watch it live. Here’s the link! https://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldfaithfulstreaming.html

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Yellowstone is epic… apparently!

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Hi, it’s Mummy here as I’m the only one still awake. It’s been a long day and Martha is exhausted! I’ll try and add a little update from Martha in the morning. She’s been asking if she can do a video blog so perhaps we’ll try that and add it in.

Firstly for those who have been struggling with our riddle from yesterday.

If a cowboy rides into town on Friday and three days later leaves on Friday, how does he do it?
The horse’s name is Friday!

Sorry if that’s been driving you mad for the last 24 hours!

Well today we decided to venture into Yellowstone from Cody. It’s about an hours drive to the East entrance of the park from here. I really had forgotten how beautiful this place is, the sun was shining, there’s still snow on the mountains and there are animals everywhere. We decided to stop at the Buffalo Bill dam on the way in and I’m glad we did! (Apart from the part when we thought Martha might fall down the compost toilet!) It’s really well set up with a visitors centre and the staff were super friendly. The volumes of water the dam holds are hard to comprehend but Eliza loved watching it all shoot through the other side. After our stop we reached the East entrance to the park, literally the other side of the kiosk and we saw 3 large bison. Yellowstone really is brimming with life! A little further on we had a play in the snow and despite getting upset that her hands were cold when she touched the snow Eliza was committed to carry on picking it up. One of Martha’s snowballs got Daddy in the head but unfortunately we didn’t get that one on camera. Just after this we saw a marmot run across  the snow and onto the rocks and managed to get some great pictures. We followed the road until we hit the circular road that runs around the park, stopped for a quick ice cream and carried onto the mud pots.

Although I have been really looking forward to this holiday I was also worried that it might be a bit much for the girls or they might get a bit bored in the car. Well today certainly proved me wrong, they have not stopped talking all day and although we have only seen a fraction of the park they have been interested, animated and excited throughout.

When we got home Martha saw a bunny rabbit in the park and managed to do a trick on the rings I had taught her yesterday. Both made her ecstatic and she told me she was going to write about them in her blog.

There are so many photos from today, some taken by myself and some by Martha. Ive tried to narrow them down but there are still a lot! Enjoy!

One more sleep!

For quite some time we have had to tell the girls how many sleeps it is until our holiday.  This morning when Martha asked I got the response

‘That’s gone quickly, how can it only be 1 more sleep? We must have missed some days out’.

Well I am glad to say we are almost ready! The thing with going on holiday is that there is so much to do before you go that you feel like you need a holiday to recover.  Trying to pack (without it being unpacked by a 2 year old), making sure the things you want to take are washed, ensuring you have filled the hand baggage with enough to keep two small children occupied for a long haul flight, charging the iPads and loading them with content so that if all else fails in your well thought out bag of goodies you know you’ll be able to keep them quiet with that, trying to leave the house tidy so it doesn’t feel like you’ve been burgled when you get back, finishing everything at work so you don’t leave your colleagues with everything you haven’t got around to, finishing an assignment that you have to hand in today (didn’t mention I’m a student nurse training in Mental Health) and today is my Birthday so I’m going to make time to sit down, put my feet up and enjoy a glass of wine.  Ok maybe just the wine whilst still trying to get everything done before midnight when I turn into a pumpkin.

We’ve been checking the weather around Yellowstone and it’s quite variable at the moment which I think will be perfect.  The thing with Yellowstone is that you really can get 4 seasons in a day.  It would be fab to see some snow, Eliza hasn’t really experienced snow before and is very excited by the prospect.  I will be happy as the snow will make it easier to spot the wildlife and I can test out my new camera.  In contrast to that it would also be nice to have a little bit of heat and sunshine just in case we get another typical British summer when we get back home.

I’m completely new to blogging but the initial idea was that Martha would do most of the writing when we get away.  She loves taking photos so we will use a lot of her pictures in the blog.  There’s many interesting things to learn about Yellowstone as it’s so unique, so I’m going to try and put my teaching qualifications to use and explain some of the geology and nature facts it in a way children will hopefully understand.

Thanks for reading the ramblings of an inexperienced blogger 🙂

Snow in the Rockies!