We woke up before 7 AM, had a quick breakfast, and hopped in the car. It takes an hour and a half to drive to the hot springs, so we didn’t want to arrive at a full parking lot. From Mommy and Daddy (identified as the car fairy for Braden and Zoe) I got a word search book, B got a Maze book, and Zoe got some Shimmer and Shine stuff.
The drive continued, and we stopped to take a picture by the Yellowstone Arch, saw some baby antelope, and looked at passing hot springs. There were some bison along the road.
Finally we arrived to a parking space near the hot springs, and got out. We applied bug spray and started hiking in the direction of the springs. They were nearby, but required a bit of walking to get there.
The hot springs were amazing. There was trickling water, colored springs, and steam everywhere. I took plenty of good pictures. Don’t think the walkway wasn’t crowded. There were tourists everywhere.
Aside from crowds of tourists, we got to see some hats that have blown into the hot water. We usually do this “hat hunt” just for fun. Some park rangers were on the walkway, picking up trash.
After the hot springs we drove to an observation deck to see the hot springs from a distance. The trail was wide, but a tad bit steep. The observation deck was glorious, so we took a family photo there. The hike down was fun for me, but only for a few seconds.
I was just jogging down the slope when all of a sudden…WHAM!!!!! Oh wait, my mistake. WHAMM!!!!!!!! Much better. My knee had gotten badly injured (again). I’ve had 3 other knee-related injuries that I remember, and know I’ve had 2 injuries per knee so far.
The wound hurt like a nightmare. But I still could walk. The only thing that made me feel better was Mommy talking about horrendously extreme injuries from her childhood. Soon we arrived at our car and the dramatically painful wound had been cleaned and bandaged. The only reason it hurt (on a smaller scale of course) was because it was on my knee, so the bandage had to become flexible.
Sooner or later we approached a lunch stop at a nearby campground. We had the usual sandwiches and used the restrooms. We drove to look for ice cream afterwards.
We stopped at Yellowstone General Stores for ice cream. I got a root beer float with vanilla ice cream, Daddy got a huckleberry float, B got a root beer float with peach ice cream, Zoe got a double scoop mint sundae, and Mommy got a scoop of Moose Tracks.
After we enjoyed our treat, we set off for more hot springs. These springs were even more beautiful than the others. There were pools and pools of boiling colored water. We hiked around the walkways, gazing at these wonderful waters.
Soon we arrived at the car. We started driving to the cabin, with numerous sightseeing stops along the way. We got back to the cabin, had Macaroni and cheese for dinner, and settled in for the night.
