Yellowstone in May

Well today we went to Yellowstone for the first time since moving to Idaho. We had been to one waterfall last fall but that was just inside the park and we didn't see any of the other sites so today was the day. It wasn't the greatest weather wise, but it turned out alright. There was also still a considerable amount of snow in the park. Some of the roads are still closed, but I got a good preview of some things that we can do this summer when our parents come to see us :-) We started out about 8am and got to the park around 10. We stopped and looked at a ton of gysers. They have nice little paths around the gysers so you can see the different kinds. I thought it was amazing! I didn't realize there were so many of them. Then of course we stopped to see Old Faithful. There are a lot of trails around there to walk around and see the sights. We got to see Old Faithful go off. Pretty neat! The Old Faithful Inn is very cool to walk around in as well. The whole lobby is made of beautiful wood. After Old Faithful we drove to see some waterfalls. On the way we also saw tons of buffalo. They like to take over the road in many spots so it was fun to see them up so close. We even got to see a baby buffalo. We were done with the waterfalls around 5 so we drove into West Yellowstone to have some dinner before heading back to Idaho Falls. We had a great day and it was nice to get outside for the second weekend in a row!
We only have two more weekends after this one before we are in our new house! It is crazy how fast time is going by. We have already been married for 2 months :-)

Baby buffalo

hot spring

Buffalo taking over the road.

small gyser

Jason in front of Castle Gyser

Me in front of Old Faithful

My attempt to capture Old Faithful going off but
I stopped because I wanted to see it without the camera in front of my face.

Still lots and lots of snow around.

Upper Falls on Yellowston River

Lower Falls on Yellowstone River

The Yellowstone River



Buffalo in the road take 2



Another small gyser

                                     

Sunset on the drive back to Idaho Falls.

Spring

Easter went well. The ham turned out good and we had some potatoes, black eyed peas, fruit and dessert to go with it. I did alright playing the flute at my friends service. It made me want to play more, who knows maybe one day I will try out for the symphony here. (maybe after some months of good practice.)  Jason left last Monday for a conference in Albuquerque, NM. He got back late Thursday night. He said he had a good time and got to hear some good talks. I also went to a public hearing on Thursday about the budget cuts in our district. It's not looking good for a lot of people. It is sad it comes to cutting so many things. As of right now I think I am still ok with my job. Special Education is federally funded so it hasn't been affected too much. 

We are still finalizing some things with our house and getting all the paperwork filled out. We still plan to close on May 24th so we will keep you all informed. 

Yesterday it started to feel like spring a little bit. It was about 52 and once you got walking around it felt nice with the sun. We went out to see Shoshone Falls which is near Twin Falls, ID about 3 hours away. They call the Shoshone Falls the "Niagara of the West."  It was neat to see. With all the run off from the melting snow there was a lot of water flowing over. We spent a couple hours walking around there; there was a trail the followed the Snake River up aways. After Shoshone Falls we drove another 40 minutes to get to Balanced Rock. It is just on the side of rt 30. It is a big rock that looks like it is balancing. We hiked up to it and took some pictures. Then we drove by Thousand Springs, which is an area where the water is coming out of the Aquifers through the canyon walls. It was all pretty neat to see and it was a great day for driving. On the way back to Idaho Falls we stopped in Pocatello to have some dinner at a small Greek restaurant. 

Today we have just been relaxing and doing the usual...grocery shopping, gym and watching some tv. We were going to go outside, but it started to rain/snow. I'm hoping that is is almost done with that; however people keep saying it isn't nice until July. We will see. Until next time :-)

Snake River on the drive to Shoshone Falls

The Falls

There were many rainbows throughout the day.

Someone took this for us.

Good view from the walk up Snake River

Some small falls from runoff

Balanced Rock...kinda looks like Africa

We climbed up to the rock and this is the view

Balanced Rock up close

Self timer picture with Balanced rock haha

Aquifers coming out of the canyon walls.

Some of the Aquifers in Thousand Springs

Lots of windmills throughout Idaho. Some on the drive home.

Sunset on the drive back to Idaho Falls