the mommy avenger

The last few weeks have flown by. We’ve been busy filling our calendar with excursions before school started back up. We decided to hit some National Parks, as we’ve never really had a chance to explore the west the way we did the East Coast.

In our travels, we took a road trip through Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. That’s a lot of ground to cover! Some of the gorgeous sites we got to enjoy along the way were Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park. It is amazing to me how diverse these national treasures are in a relatively small section of the United States.

Yellowstone National Park (Montana/Wyoming)

I was totally enthralled by this park. We arrived early in the morning in hopes of seeing lots of wildlife. We saw some buffalo, but unfortunately, missed out on the majority of animals. However, we did get to explore miles upon miles of gorgeous landscape unlike any I had ever seen before, without any crowds. Yellowstone is incredibly serene and peaceful. It was pleasantly cool in late August. We loved seeing the boiling mudpits, the Grand Prismatic Spring (which looks a little different up close than the pictures you see that have an aerial view. Still beautiful, just not the rainbow colors you would hope to see up close.), and of course, Old Faithful. I love the Sapphire Pool with the crystal clear water leading so deep into the earth. Gorgeous!

Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)

Grand Teton National Park was absolutely stunning. I didn’t get many photographs because it was raining and I was a little too caught up in the moment being there. We drove throughout the park and each turn was more beautiful than the next. I absolutely adored the water and view at Jenny Lake. While here, we did spot a Grizzly Bear (the first I’ve ever seen!) and a moose, but they were too quick for my camera.

Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)

We took a visit to Bryce Canyon last year without our kids, but decided we loved it so much, we had to take them back to see it. I think Bryce Canyon is just so incredibly unique, it stands out as a favorite. I loved hiking from Sunrise to Sunset (two different points in the park). When you start out looking out from the top, it looks completely different than it does as you descend into the canyon. Each twist down into the canyon gave a different vantage point and not one view was the same. It never ceased to amaze me how spectacular the rock formations were. This year when we visited, it was quite overcast, which I thought made for interesting contrasts between sky and rock. The hikes here are fun to go down, but I found most people were winded coming back up, as they were pretty steep. Definitely worth doing, though!

We so enjoyed our time exploring the outdoors and recommend you do the same. If you think you will visit more than one national park in a year’s time, I would definitely recommend getting an annual pass. There are several parks within driving distances of each other and it is easy to plan a trip to hit several at once. We enjoyed spending time with our family and getting some fresh air and exercise on these fun destination trips. To learn more about the different national parks, visit them online.