18th - 22nd July: Yellowstone National Park

Bad connections and no connections - sorry for late updates!! Will add photos when we get a better connection.
18th July:
We entered Yellowstone from the North entrance, quite early to try and secure a spot big enough for our monster RV at one of the Parks' campsites. When we got to the entrance, several were already full according to the update board! Yikes! Pleased to say that we made it before checking out time and grabbed a spot at Norris. To think that we'll be repeating this early campsite hunt every time we want to change sites - hmmm... Did all the trails at Norris Geysers (we saw a LOT of geysers and hot springs) and enrolled the girls on the Junior Ranger programme (thanks to Dominic and Helen in Broadbottom - this turned out to be a real winner for the girls). If you ask the girls about the best thing during our time in Norris they will without a doubt say the trailer next door to us - they had 4 girls!! We finally met some play friends for the girls. Didn't see much of them after that... They were from Houston, Texas and we enjoyed chatting to their parents too.

19th July:
Old Faithful. Yes, it was touristy (I took a photo of the 500 odd other people watching along with us). We saw Old Faithful errupt twice (girls had a project to do for their Junior Ranger badge), shame about the crowds... Also stopped off at "Grand Prismatic Spring" - very colourful hot spring and a bunch of others I've forgotten the names of. We are now officially geyser/hot springed out!!! The day was saved by sausages cooked in the fire pit and toasted marshmallows. Forgot to mention the animals we have been spotting so far: Coyote, chipmunks and squirrels galore, yellow-bellied marmot.

20th July:
Changing campsite routine not too bad as we managed to book ahead for Bridge Bay; arrrived 10.30 ish to grab a good spot and then went off the do the all important washing. Raining on and off - very much on. Hiked the "Elephant Back" trail - rewarded with a lovely view of the lake and mountains from the top - then we started hearing the thunder and seeing the lightning. Managed to return safely without getting too wet. Animals: Mule deer and Bison. Joanna is now an authority on Yellowstone wildlife. We bought a book which she has devoured and memorised and will now recite facts about any animals we see. Our own Junior David Attenborough along with us.
21st July:
Decide to only spend 1 night at Bridge Bay so its up (not too) early to repeat the "find a campsite routine (we got a spot in Tower Junction camp site). On the way, it was very misty - we see a bear casually walk across the road on his/her way to the river. Also got a quick look at the "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and its waterfalls. Animals: Osprey and its nest, longhorn deer, loads more bison.
After staking our claim at the campsite, we went on another hike past secret/hidden lake (yes we found it!).
22nd July:
Determined to see elks/moose so we drove out of the Eastern Valley to the plains are saw huge herds of bison and more proghorn deer, but still no moose or the elusive elk. Hiked along the canyon rim and saw lots of bright blue mountain bluebirds and another osprey nest and a pair of osprey feeding their chicks. Stopped by Mamouth Springs on our way out of the park to collect the girls' "Junior Ranger" badges and wat should we find but a huge herd of elk just sat in the town on the grass in front of the health clinic! Stayed at our first KOA campsite (Butlins with tents and RV's!).

So that was our Yellowstone. Likes = the hikes, wildlife, Texan Mum and Dad and geothermal sites. Dislikes = the crowds of people at every tourist spot, the "find a campsite" routine and the wrteched MOSQUITOS!!!