Started this journy by wanting to spend time with relatives I had not seen in a while. I first went up to Hardin MT to visit my grandmother. Its approximitly a 12hr drive (with stops for fuel for both me and my car) from home in Walla Walla, WA to her place. I spent about 3 days there visiting. On the way out of town, I stoppled in Laurel and visited my cousins and aunt and uncle.
The next stop on my grand tour was to head to Powell WY, to see grave of other grandparents, and visit old house that I loved going to when I was a kid. Then went down to Worland WY, to see old house and town where I used to live when I was in elementary, middle and part of high school. Town defiantly seemed smaller than from when I was young. Most of the schools had been redesign to a more modern look, but was able to go inside the middle school, and high schools. Loved seeing the old murals on the walls at each school. The highlight of the day was heading down to Thermopolis WY to see the hot springs there and head to STAR PLUNGE. The place where all kids love to go in the summer due to the large water slides and very warm swimming pools. Spent a few hours there swimming and enjoying the sauna.
The next day I headed for one of my most favorite places on earth. Yellowstone National Park. I spent a total of two days here. The first day I went around the North and East sides of the park. For everyone who goes here, the best place to see wildlife (buffalo, elk) is the Lamar Valley and Mammoth. Got stopped for about 30min on the road out of the park due to a traffic jam caused by a herd of bison deciding to walk up the road, instead of going across it. The second day was spent on the West side of the park. Hiked all around the Norris Geyser Basin and the Grand Prismatic pools. Then went to Old Faithful Inn. Watched the worlds most famous Geyser.
While leaving Yellowstone via the south enterance, I stopped at the Grand Teton Lodge. Due to the distance to the next stop, and the uninteresting landscape between the Grand Tetons. I drove at night taking a few hour naps at rest stops along the way to Salt Lake City UT. Once there I stopped and saw the capital building, and Mormon Temple. Visited with my Aunt and Uncle while in town, and stayed the night there to see some cousins. From there I continued south to visit more cousins and head off into the Canyonlands of southern Utah. I headed for Bryce Canyon. It was very impressive and amazing to see all the stratification of the rock layers and arches
After all the time spent sightseeing and visiting relatives it was finally time to head back home, and start planning my next vacation.
