Yellowstone National Park

The next stop was Yellowstone National Park in Montana. We stayed there two nights and it was probably my favorite place we visited.

Clara and I are standing in front of one of the Sulfur Steam holes in Yellowstone. These things were everywhere and smelled like boiled eggs! They would even have geysers coming out of them sometimes. It was very cool. More steam holes This was the first buffalo we saw. Robby and I practically drove off road to see him and we were so excited that he let us stand so close! After a little more time in the park, we realized that we were being silly! The buffalo are like cows! They are EVERYWHERE and they cross the roads and walk up to the cars and stop traffic....our thoughts about the animal changed through out the two days we were there! we actually were kind of like "oh, look another one.......wow, there really are a lot of buffalo here.... oh how cool they cross the road...... good grief, could this animal move any slower, I mean they are everywhere......If I see another buffalo....." See they were like cows!But, they really are pretty cool looking! This is the line of people waiting for Old Faithful to blow! This is some of the hot boiling water that creates these neat colors....

I'm not really positive what there are or how they were made, but the water was boiling hot and smelled like sulfur. Apparently, Yellowstone is on a volcano or something like that.

The park is so huge, we drove all of the way from the west side to the east side and it was amazing how we saw so many different animals and landscapes. I think it would be fun to spend a week or so in the park. Here are some of the things we saw as we drove.....

We saw some huge Elk. I took this picture from the car window as we drove by him. Isn't he beautiful...

We found a whole family of Elk. They let some people walk right up to them. Everyone was whispering and being so quiet, even the children. It was like everyone was in awe.

Riding in the back seat!!!!

The drive from Vancouver to Yellowstone was a long one, so we had to stop and stay in Spokane, Washington on the way. Rob got tired of driving so we let Clara take over for a bit!! Clara was a GREAT back seat buddy! Robby and I tried to see if she would let me sit in the front with him and that lasted for all of 30 minutes in which she screamed the entire time! We actually pulled the car over to the side of the rode and moved everything into the front seat so I could sit next to her!! People probably thought we were off our rockers! I spent the rest of the 4 thousand something miles in the back with her. It was great fun, and really good bonding time for her and I! I missed being up front with Robby, but we all had fun. Clara has a great little personality and is actually a really happy baby! When we weren't talking or playing she would just stare at me like she is in the picture above! This was my view the entire time! The giraffe is this plastic thingy we put over the window to block UV rays...it's made by fisher price!

Vancouver, British Columbia

After Victoria, we drove to Vancouver and spent two nights there. This was the best Clara had ever sat up on her own! I was so proud!

Clara sitting on our King sized bed in the Deluxe suite we stayed in! The hotel in Vancouver was awesome! We stayed right next to Stanly Park and the Ocean in a really nice hotel (for really cheap!!)... thanks Priceline.com!!!! the view off of our balcony was pretty cool, to the right we had this view and to the left side we had the picture below! Robby standing outside our hotel on the Sea WallIt was pretty cold in Vancouver, so I got a fun hoodie!This is the running trail that went by the hotel. It went all the way around the sea, which is why they call it the sea wall! Runner's world calls it a "rave run"! I ran it twice! It was such a dream run.... my second favorite run ever! (My first favorite was when I ran the crater rim of the largest volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii!) Pictures from the sea wall... Clara makes such funny faces sometimes! She was such a fun back seat buddy! The speed limit signs in Canada look crazy because they use Kilometers per hour! We were all actually really happy to be back in the US.

Victoria, British Cloumbia

We spent the next two nights in Victoria, British Columbia in Canada. We didn't realize that we would have to take a ferry to Victoria! This is the first time either of us had ever driven onto a ferry! It was fun! This is Victoria from the ferry. This is the Capitol of British Columbia. This was a beautiful garden we stumbled upon!There were BLACK squirrels!Clara relaxingBack at the hotel! This is the first time Clara had ever noticed the grass. Robby took off her socks and she was so funny moving her feet around in the grass. Below is a really great video of it!

Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington... This is the first ever Starbucks. The Space needle The Space needle This is a Frank Gary building in Seattle, Washington. This is the third place we visited. It was a beautiful day and we walked around the market. We even got to see the fishermen throwing the fish! Below is a video of them!

Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington

The third night of our trip we stayed in Seattle, Washington. The public Library in Seattle is architecturally famous, it is the building on the right.... Here is the public library building during the day, our hotel room overlooked it! The view from our balcony was beautiful of the city lights. The second night we stayed in Protland. It was a fun place to visit, but for some reason we didn't take any pictures!

Crater Lake, Oregon

Clara Robby and I in front of Crater Lake in Oregon. The lake was beautiful and the bluest lake I have ever seen! It is a lake inside of a volcano. This is the first place we stayed on our trip home! Clara was so excited to be in a different place that it was really hard to get her to go to sleep! I am really glad that we decided to bring the co-sleeper and set it up every where we went. I think it really helped her to sleep at night.

This is a video of the view from the road around Crater Lake.