Sam’s video.

Just a few pictures from one of our evening sojourns to the end of the canyon. Also, here are a few pictures of the flowers in our backyard.

Because we had planned a quick trip, we didn’t have much time to spend in Yellowstone. I think we saw a lot in a short period of time. We managed to see lots of big animals (Buffalo, Elk, Deer, and a Moose), lots of thermal features, and the Tetons.

We got up early and were on the road around 7am. We made our way to Norris Geyser Basin. We came up over a hill and there it was a huge field with steam rising from everywhere. Margaret made the comment that it must be hard to tell if there is a forest fire because of all the steam always rising from everywhere. It turned out that we were pretty much the only people in the basin while we were there. After we had been there a while, a few other families showed up. Here we saw a few geysers spewing from time to time, and lots of hot springs.

After that, we made our way to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Again, we were there before it was crowded at all, so we got to wander around Artists Point without too much distraction. We made our way further into the park stopping and seeing various things along the way. The thing I was most interested in was the Grand Prismatic Spring. It was about as I expected really cool, but you need to be about 100 feet above it to get a really good picture. The springs are varying in color because where they are hottest, no bacteria can live, as the water cools down, bacteria of different colors live in the water.

As we made our way further into the park, it got later and we had to deal with more people. By the time we got to Old Faithful, it was pretty crowded. But all in all not as bad as it could have been. After spending a little time around Old Faithful, we made our way down by Yellowstone Lake and through Grand Teton National Park and spent the night in Jackson, WY. A very full day, but very enjoyable.

After Missoula, we made our way to Yellowstone. The first stop was Mammoth Hot Springs. We stayed in the old hotel there in the park, saw some elk, learned a little bit about the thermal features of Yellowstone. The biggest hit was something called the Boiling River. It is a place where a pretty sizable hot spring flows into a river. With the river water being very cold and the hot spring being very hot, you can sit where they merge and find exactly the right temperature that you desire. It is a hot tub without the chlorine. If you ever make it to Yellowstone, find this. It was the highlight of the day.

After a few days in Spokane, we moved on to visit my cousin in Missoula. My mom was there and it was great seeing her as well. Missoula was nice, but by far the most remembered and talked about place was The Big Dipper. We made a point of going there every day.

After Multnomah Falls, we detoured by the Grand Coulee Dam. It was impressive. We ended up not going in because there was a huge wait on 4th of July weekend.

Day 4 of our trip was the drive from Portland to Spokane down the Columbia River Gorge and by the Grand Coulee Dam. We made a quick stop at Multnomah Falls.

Day 3 of our trip was Portland. We started at OMSI because of course it was raining when we got there. OMSI was great, it is the only museum of that sort that comes close to the Exploratorium. In some ways, it may even be better.

After the OMSI, we went to the International Rose Test Garden. After that we checked into our fancy hotel in downtown. We ended up walking around downtown, getting supper, going to Powell’s Books, riding the trolley for free. All in all, we enjoyed Portland very much. It is on the list of places to return.

The next morning we went to Voodoo Doughnuts. Sam got a doughnut with a mustache on it. We got cereal doughnuts and lots of others. We all had too many that day, but Pokie took the title at 7.

Day 1 of our trip around the Northwest. We stopped in Ashland. Elizabeth and Margaret and Sam are right now at a Shakespeare play in the Elizabethan Theatre. I am back in the hotel sleeping and getting the website up to date. Ashland is a nice little town. Seems full of retirees, people with dreadlocks and no shirts, and people from California.

UPDATE: They got home about 11:30 last night from the play. Apparently, Sam made it until about 10:30, then he was completely out. He didn’t move when the pedi-cab guy carried him to the door.

We tried to hike to the waterfall. The hike was nice, but we ran into snow shortly after we crossed the bridge on the Tahoe Rim Trail and lost the trail, so we didn’t actually make it to the waterfall. It was a good hike though, we got to walk over some snow and the dogs had a good time.