Foto Story Friday #117-- Family Gathering/ Trip to Yellowstone 2nd half of day 3

On our way to the van for lunch, we came across this funny sign and so of course, I had to take a picture!

While eating lunch, I tried out my sister and brother-in-law's LensBaby.  The focus is all manual on a LensBaby.  So these next few are my attempts at using it.

Just a tree stump.

The beautiful blue sky.

A pinecone.

My sister, Colleen, waiting for us slow pokes!

We were still at the Norris Geyser Basin on the other trail.  This one was also taken with the LensBaby.  The steam added an extra element to the effect.

This geyser is the worlds largest.  It is completely unpredictable though.  It shoots up often, but doesn't REALLY go off on a regular basis.  There is a park ranger who tell ya all about it.

Another view of it. It is actually 2 geysers.

The above geyser's water flows down the hill and it rushes after it's small blasts, I couldn't really imagine what it would be like when it actually goes off.  I think the ranger said the last time it went off was in 2007.

Same area through the LensBaby.

Just walking along and I liked the way this formation looked.

We headed over to see the falls.  It was a bit of a drive and we were supposed to be back to camp for dinner but it was our last day to see the park, so we went anyway.  We hiked down to the lower falls.  It is quite the hike down and not much for rails or protection should you slip.  The trail zig zags down the mountain.  I couldn't believe I saw people carrying kids on their shoulders and even a guy pushing a stroller.  I was glad my little kids were back at camp, it was making me nervous!

This is the upper falls, but we didn't have the time to hike over to it.  Look at how much water comes rushing over the edge.  

In case you are wondering why Yellowstone is called Yellowstone.......

The lower falls spills over the edge 

and into the valley below.

The mighty Yellowstone River cuts its way through the valley.

In case you were wondering IF I really was there! :)  My sister took this photo for me and her husband and daughter joined me in the photo op!

As we were headed back towards camp, I saw this scene and we HAD to stop.  In Yellowstone, if one car stops, everyone behind is sure you see wildlife.... we did trick a couple of cars ..... joke was on them as all we were seeing was this beautiful sky! 

The closer we got to camp, the worse the weather got.  By the time we arrived in was pouring!  Colleen's tent looked bad..... there was quite a bit of water inside.  Both of our tents were good, little to no water.  Ryanne's tent also suffered, broken poles and floating sleeping bags.  Colleen and her family drove to a motel for the night.  Ryanne and her family stayed in Mom and Dad's RV and we roughed in in the tents!  The kids tent got some water in it but they were dry enough.  The next morning it was time to pack it up and head for home.

Breakfast first..... Mom brings the cereal over.

Dad prepares the RV for the trip.

It was strange seeing him walking around up there.

The sky was beautiful all the way home!

Hosted by Lisa and Cecily

Foto Story Friday #116-- Family Gathering/ Trip to Yellowstone first half of day 3

So day 3 dawned bright and clear and promised to be warm.  We split up this day.  Some stayed in camp and others went back into the park.  Ryanne and her kiddos stayed behind to find a stream to play in.  My kids really wanted to stay and play in the water as well, so Troy said it would be fine if I wanted to return to the park.  My parents had also had enough walking in the heat and kicked it in camp.  Troy's parents came up to camp and hung out with the kids and enjoyed the day.

Here's Ryanne preparing to capture the day while her husband, Aaron, our sister and her family and I head back to capture the wonders of Yellowstone.  The first place we went was Norris Geyser Basin.

There is SO much to see and it is so hard not to overwhelm you with all the photos I took. The park is like an ever changing, always creating other world.

Nearly everywhere you look there is something spectacular to draw your eye and camera to.

So many textures and colors.

The contrast of the brightly colored waters and the grey surroundings, begs to be captured.

The sky was also wonderful with it's bright blues and big white fluffy clouds.  After I took this one, I checked it and realized that I had a pretty good reflection in the water.

I really liked the cool bubbling waters in the foreground and the majestic mountains in the back.  I'm pretty sure I was laying on the walkway for this shot.

The bright blue of this water was SO amazing!  I really wish I knew what causes it.

I just loved these twin geysers.  They were continually shooting up the tiny streams of water.

Don't you just want to reach out and feel these textures?

Looks like a hot tub..... little too warm for a dip though!

Think we should head back for lunch?  That is just what we did.  Colleen chose to walk back with her husband and the rest of us headed back to the van.  We had a little snack of cookie dough while we waited for them to catch up.  That's where I'll leave you for this week. Be sure to come back next week for the rest of my views of Yellowstone.








Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Foto Story Friday #115--- Family Gathering/Trip to Yellowstone, 2nd half of day 2

Day 2 continued..... Our next stop was Lower Geyser Basin.

As you head over to the basin you must cross over this river. It has two big runoff areas and they are amazing beautiful.  The sun was high and harsh, things were getting blown out until My sister and I conferred on how to fix the problem and I learned a little more, changed some settings and played until I was pleased with the outcome.

Across the bridge you get a little closer to the run-off and you can really see the bright colors.

Loved this green.

Ryanne did some teaching and Savanna got the chance to play with her camera and the Lensbaby.

These guys stopped for a photo op.  It's Uncle Cary, and cousins: Maja, Scott and Javin.

I just Loved the bright orange with the blue of the water.

Little Photographers, we start them off young round here!  Javin was kind enough to share his camera with his cousins.

Such a cool rippled effect nature has created.  I so wanted to run my fingers along the ridges, but I resisted and left things as should be.

The wind has made victims of several hats. This one looked like a recent acquisition.

This cool formation is located in the middle of this huge pond like area (I was way too busy taking pictures to remember what it is called) that is so deep and very wide.  The last time the geysers got working and shot out of it must have been spectacular.  Wish my brother-in-law were here to give me the details, he read the signs and watch me lay down on the walkways and contort myself in order to get the "perfect" photo.  The steam was so thick that getting a good shot of the many bubbling spouts was difficult.
This area was not a favorite of Scott's he told me it was WAY too hot and kinda stinky too, poor kid.  All the younger kids were tired and some of the adults also had had it, so those who were done went back to camp and the others kept on seeing the sights.

Back at camp Grandpa got some Orissa time.  She likes her Grandpas and they are pretty fond of her as well.

A bunch of us went in search of huckleberries..... and we found some too! :)

These three were thick as thieves and enjoying every moment of their time together.  Javin is sporting Em's hat that I made her.

Huckleberry yumminess!

ummmmmmmmm dinner!  It was fabulous!  We had two kinds of chicken:  Panda Express orange sauce chicken and Sweet Baby Ray's bbq chicken.  They were both super nummy!

THe twins really enjoyed spending time with Grumpa and Grammie.

There's nothing like a campfire!
Stay tuned for next weeks installment-- day 3.1!








Hosted by Cecily and Lolli