Day 5 -- Yellowstone day 2

This ended up being a great day of surprises!

We decided to drive towards Canyon Village from our campground (Grant Village). The original goal was to see the mud volcanos and we made a lot of pit stops along the way. 

We passed by the LeHardy Rapids and had to turn around to go see them. This was probably my favorite stop of the day because it was so random. The rapids were fairly wide across and we had some fun watching the ducks float downstream, paddle like crazy, and then take off flying right before the rapids. 

Next up were the mud pots. Boy oh boy did they smell! I remembered this from our 2007 trip, but boy does it take your breath away! The sounds bubbling up were so interesting! Imagine a boiling pot of goo. 

Sometimes it's just so stinky you have to do this:

We saw a lot of Buffalo but the boys have the pics on their phones, so these will have to suffice for now. It's definitely interesting to watch them!

After a quick ice cream break at Canyon Village we argued about how long of a hike we should take. (See??? It's NOT all butterflies and rainbows with us!) On the way to Mount Washburn we saw a hike Riley had mentioned earlier and since it was closer we took that one. It ended up being a great hike to Cascade Lake through forest and plains (where we saw more buffalo!!)

The pink flowers were everywhere on this hike!

If it was legal and we could carry it, this log would have made it's way home with us. Nature is amazing!

It was muckier than we planned for but Ry made the trek to the lake!

I told him to pose but he just couldn't help it! 

I swear our children are dogs. They find sticks everywhere. Bennett found an RPG he was so proud of. 🤦

And of course, any hike is well worth it when you can cool off at the end! 

Prayers for a safe day of driving down to Jackso and the Tetons and back!