Day 24: Yellowstone and Done!

Today was our last day in Yellowstone. We finally took a picture in front of the entrance sign.  

We saw some amazing geysers and pools. Some were smelly. At least we think it was the pools...

Emily played photographer today and I snapped a quick one of her and papa sharing a moment. Such sweet times ❤️

We found Gibbons Falls in the park and snapped a few more pictures. The scenery is just gorgeous here. The pictures don't really do it justice. 

We rolled back into West Yellowstone in the early afternoon for some downtime. We found grapes, wine, and cheese. Three necessary ingredients for a good time and a light lunch. We picnicked at our cabin site. 

And dinner, well we went back to what we loved yesterday. Mexican school bus! 

Some other people had Blizzards and someone else had a cinnamon roll. As you can see, we accommodate everyone's food requests. 

And it started to rain so we are in the car. New location tomorrow!

Day 23: Yellowstoning Again

We were off and running this morning! No, actually we slept in and rolled into Ernie's Bakery around 9:15. Yup, "sleeping in" on vacation means getting up at 8am. These kids will be so happy to get home and sleep in for real next week. 

Emily loves her bearclaw! She enjoys making faces like this during photo ops. 

We hit the mother lode today. 

 

Wow, did we see a lot of awesome stuff today. The colors are amazing!

You kinda get used to the smell of sulfur. Kinda...

And of course, we saw the crown jewel of geysers, Old Faithful!

We've had some rather weird eating habits on this trip and we once again ate ice cream for lunch. However, when we needed a snack, the Old Faithful General Store somehow, miraculously had the guacamole chips that Jessica loves and can't find in ANY grocery store! This is the face of a happy girl!

One of the cool historical facts that I learned today - the ash from the last volcanic eruption of Yellowstone spread over nearly half of the US. Check out this map! 

I find this stuff so fascinating. We enjoyed our time there then drove down to Yellowstone lake and enjoyed the tranquil views and wildlife!

We saw a grizzly bear from AFAR (hence no photo) and a buffalo was a little too close for some people in the car, and a little dear and elk roaming across the road. 

We found a teeter totter in a tree. Someone took a very unflattering picture of me being a goofball, but I'm posting it anyways and ignoring my self consciousness. 

And for dinner, Yelp directed us once again! I know some have horrible experiences with Yelp, but they've really never steered me wrong with food! We found an awesome taco truck where 1/3 of the bus is the kitchen and the rest is set up with counters and benches to eat. Totally cool and the good food made it even better. 

Can you believe these twins found food that they actually liked!?! Shrimp and Spanish rice. They'll get over their aversion to good food. They will, right? 

Wave goodnight everyone!

 

Day 22: Yellowstone National Park

Hola Amigas and Amigos!! Tis I! The coolest Berry is the world!! You guessed it, it's a-me Emily! Get it? From Mario? 

Alrighty. Well today was pretty fun, tiring, and well, pretty fun actually! Today we went to Yellowstone. I remember Yellowstone just a little because I was like 8 when we went last. We are going to the rest of Yellowstone tomorrow but here is what we did today. 

We went to Mammoth Hot Springs. This picture is from an old army fort, Fort Yellowstone. The army actually came to Yellowstone in the late 1800's and early 1900's to protect the animals from excessive poaching. They stayed for 32 years and protected the land until the National Park Service was created by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916. There were lots of elk - makes are bull elk, and females are called cows (mom, dad). So go quiz your friends, kids! Elk are very big and we were supposed to stay 25 yards (two school busses) away from them yet SOME PEOPLE didn't follow those rules. Pff, rebels. 

Next, we went to the hot springs. They smelled...okay. It's probably going to be worse for the next two days we will be in Yellowstone. The sulfur smell is a natural byproduct of the gases being released. It was very pretty. All the ombré of orange and white. 10/10 would recommend. Pictures of the actual hot springs. 

We then went to some look out points for the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. There was a lot of driving and getting out and driving and getting out, but at the end of the day it was a really good experience. 

We will keep you posted as we always do. Well, I guess I'll let you go. Have a goodnight and remember, I'm the coolest Berry. Adios mí amigas and amigos. Have a good day!

Ps) they're the twins and I'm the funny one 

Day 21: The Magnificent Mount Rushmore

Hello everybody - jessie here. I'm here to tell you about our fantastic adventure at Mount Rushmore. 

We started our day, but waking up early and getting on the road. It took us about 3 hours to get to the National Park, and we saw a lot of really cool things. Before we got to the park, we drove through some cute little towns. 

Once we got into town, we took some pictures in front of the sign. 

The park is laid out so that you park, and then walk toward the monument, while passing shops and food venders. We decided to head straight toward the monument first and shop later. 

This is the entrance. 

After taking tons of photos, we went down the stairs into the visitor center/exhibit hall. There was a small room that told you all about the creator and the process of carving the gigantic monument. 

It was all very cool to learn about. 

The main creator and designer of the monument is Gutzin Borglum. We learned a lot about him and also found a sculpture of him while looking around. 

Then we went to the gift shop and bought tons of souvenirs, including a hat for Moi!

We also had a short lunch break (which mainly consisted of ice cream) and then walked back toward the parking lot. 

Fun fact of the day! 

On the way to the parking lot (and toward the monument), you walk under these pillars that have each state and their flag.

 We found California and took a quick picture. 

We all hopped in the car and drove into a town that sculptures of all the presidents scattered across many blocks. We didn't get out, but we did snap a few photos. 

I believe this one is Abe Lincoln. 

We then continued our drive onto Billings, Montana. The drive was about 5 hours long, but wasn't too bad. 

We decided to grab some dinner once we settled into our hotel. Us 5 Berry's found a nearby Olive Garden while the grandparents relaxed in their room for the night. 

For dinner I had some wonderful pasta and the most amazing breadsticks. 

Yum! (Pure Italian right here)

After dinner, we headed to Walmart and grabbed some snacks (including wine and Cheetos) for Yellowstone. 

Tomorrow our journey continues! Thank you everyone for sticking with us! Only one more week :)

Love, jessie

Day 20: A little late

Well hey guys! So sorry we missed the blog last night. To cut us some slack we were very tired. 

We drove from Madison, Wisconsin to Oakoma, South Dakota. It was a very long drive, about 8 hours. We never stopped for lunch so we were all very hungry. We found a lovely pizza place down here which we all enjoyed. 

Grandma had "some" to drink. 

Evidently, they have pizza (hot and fresh). 

We saw a really cool flower "pot tree!" Grandma says that you should not use that term in California. Summer project perhaps?

On our drive home we found some bison and couldn't resist climbing on them. 

Even mom...

We went back to the hotel, swam for a little, and then played a little soccer on the grass. We are definitely trying to stay in shape, mom and Emily even hit the gym every few days. Good times :)

So sorry we were late on the blog! Hope you enjoyed it nevertheless. 

Written by: kBbbbb