Start: Holiday Inn Express, Billings, MT
End: Holiday Inn Express, Idaho Falls, ID
Total Miles: 346 miles
We had some excitement after my post last night: a tornado! Okay, it wasn't AT our hotel, but it did touch down at the airport in Billings, which was 12 minutes from our hotel! It was definitely scary and Finn was FREAKED out, but it was over almost as quickly as it started and then there was a beautiful double rainbow.
We left around our usual time just before 9:30 and had to figure out which route we were going to take. We decided to take the road less traveled (i.e. not the interstate), which was a GREAT decision. We basically drove up and over a mountain! There was over a 25 degree temperature change from the bottom to the top (it was 45 degrees at the top!!).
We stopped at the Rock Creek Vista Point, which the boys renamed "Chipmunk Mountain" because there were a ton of basically tame chipmunks there. We wouldn't let them touch or feed them, but they still go close!
Here we were at the top! It was windy and chilly!!
And then we had two rather large visitors on our way down. First this guy walking next to the road as we drove by (I felt like I could reach out and touch him...but I didn't!):
And then this guy was just walking slowly down the road. Taking his time. Backing up traffic!!
Later the Norris Basin was PACKED so we moved on to Artists PaintPots, which none of us had been to before. It was the PERFECT stop. A nice walk, long enough to stretch out legs but not so long the kiddos complained. And it was some really cool features!!
And then, we got stuck in traffic on our way out of the park. Like a 45 minute delay and we couldn't figure out what the problem was. Then two tow trucks went by and we slowly started moving. When we got up further, there was maybe 8 park ranger and emergency vehicles, so there must have been an accident. Luckily, I lifted the "no electronics" rule that had been in place while we were in Yellowstone, so the kiddos could play the Nintendo Switch. Life saver!
Tonight we got in pretty late in the Holiday Inn Express in Idaho Falls, maybe around 8pm. I run to grab some food and then to Target to get Mac some underwear...yes, he failed to pack them even though I double checked his suitcase! I bet they are sitting on the floor in the living room at home. LOL No swimming tonight, but everybody was tired.
As of right now the plan for tomorrow is to go to the Grand Tetons and then up through Yellowstone via Old Faithful and some other fun sites. We are hoping for some more wildlife sightings tomorrow. We are going to have it be a flexible day and if we need some relaxing time, we'll do that, too. So far, I have to say, I'm surprised at how flexible everybody has been and the attitudes have been great, for the most part. Hopefully it keeps up, but we are only on day 3 (10 days to go)! LOL
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