Yellowstone!

          Our house in Montana was only a forty minute drive from the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park.  Having been there before, I knew I wanted to return.  Thankfully, the rest of my family felt the same way.  On Monday, we loaded up the vans and began our drive through the upper Yellowstone basin.
          After a quick stop at the visitors' center (for fishing licenses) and Mammoth Springs, we meandered down to a valley just south of Norris where we could eat a picnic lunch and do some fly fishing.  On our drive, we passed a Bull Elk, several deer, and a buffalo just walking along the side of the road.  We stopped for lunch next to a beautiful valley.  The Gibbons River flowed gently through the valley.  We ate lunch, and half of our group went out for some fly fishing.  The girls, Gram, Aunt Lara, baby Beckett, and Aunt Courtney and I took a walk down to the river and enjoyed the afternoon.  We watched the fishermen catch a few Brook Trout, we looked at animal tracks, we counted wildflowers, and we dipped our toes in the Gibbons.  Pa fished for awhile, then he returned to take Audrey fly fishing.  Audrey caught her first trout!  It was a little Brook Trout, and she was so excited!  She got to help bring it in, touch it, and then release it again.  She's quite the little fly fisherman.
          After fishing and picnicking, we drove over to the Upper and Lower Falls (on the Yellowstone River).  This is probably one of my favorite spots in the Park.  The crowds were a bit much this time, but the waterfalls are just so impressive.  The views are almost too beautiful to be real, and I felt like I was standing in the middle of a movie set.  After leaving the Falls, we began our drive back through Yellowstone to our house.  We passed more buffalo and a herd of Elk on our way out of the Park.  The Elk had their babies with them, and Audrey loved seeing them move together as a herd.  We returned to our house for a meal and a well-earned night's rest.