Fun being tourists!

One of the things that I love about having company is that we get to act like tourists. There are so many very cool things to do around here and we just never seems to take the time to experience them unless we are trying to show visitors a great time. G's mom, brother and 10 year old niece came to visit from Alabama and Florida. Of course it had to be in the single digits and low teens the entire time they were here.....that did limit us a bit in terms of what we could take them to do. A 10 year old who has spent her entire life in Alabama is NOT a happy camper when she is expected to walk around in the snow when it is 10 degrees out!!! We found that out pretty quickly. But that is all a part of the Montana experience when you choose to come in mid-October.. You just never know what the weather will bring. I think the thing that she liked the most was soaking in Chico Hot Springs. Between soaks at Chico we managed to sneak in breakfast at Pine Creek and the Beanery. A day trip down to Yellowstone National Park, dinner at the Yellowstone Mine in Gardiner and we got a quick lesson on how to explain away what it feels like to hit a raccoon at 70 MPH late at night on HWY 89S. We checked out the Grizzly Encounter on Bozeman Pass the we have driven by hundreds of time and never stopped before. HB REALLY wanted to see some bears and since she would not get out of the car in Yellowstone this was our last resort. We moved on to Bozeman to take in the Museum of the Rockies complete with dinosaurs, native Americans, early western settlers and WWII exhibits. In the evenings HB schooled us all in the art of WWII bowling while we warmed our frozen selves by the fire. It is possible that we enjoyed all that MT has to offer just as much and maybe more than our guests. I guess that is why we live here right??

The clan at Pine Creek Cafe for a breakfast of champions.

The entrance to Yellowstone National Park. 'FOR THE BENEFIT AND ENJOYMENT OF THE PEOPLE' YNP was the first National Park. We live north of the park and much of my family live south of the park. I have spent my entire life driving back and forth through the park sometimes many times each year and this is the first time that I have ever stopped at the entrance and acted like a tourist...standing under the arch for a photo shoot...it is about time!

Walking on the boardwalk of the terraces in Mammoth Hot Springs....something that I usually speed by.

We had one UNHAPPY camper.....taking a stand against the cold; tears and all.

You are NOT supposed to leave the path...but I wanted to see how warm the water is.

Mr. Crow showing off. G loves crows.

TATONKA

BABY BUFF

FALLS................another short short jaunt outside of the car that was NOT enjoyed by all.Yellowstone Lake...The source of most of our summer fun.

Meet Jake and Maggie. 3 year old Grizzlies...they eat 20,000 calories each day!!! Griz have a life expectancy of 25 years in the wild and up to 40 years in captivity. These guys were rescued from living their first year of live in a dog run..............They are VERY happy!!

Jake checking out our scent.

Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that!

Museum Of the Rockies HB meeting Hazel.

G and his Mink.

All in all I think their trip was a blast. HB got a disk of almost 400 pictures to take home and show off to her class. Her trip was supposed to be educational and she had to keep a journal which she had not started yet when she left. lol She said that she doesn't like to write because her handwriting is bad and she thinks that it gets better the less she practices...10 yr old logic. ;)

PS....... I HEART MONTANA!!