We are now a week into our road trip and getting used to the limited space in the van. I expect we over-packed, but we are gradually finding a particular space for every little thing.  The lack of room in the van has encouraged us to spend as much time outside as the weather will allow and after a couple of days of overcast skies and light rain, we have now hit sunshine.

Our first major destination on the road trip was Yellowstone National Park and on the morning of our third day we drove in through the North Entrance. The North Entrance is marked by the imposing Roosevelt Arch, which is inscribed with the words “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”.  And enjoy it we did!

As we entered the park, almost immediately we saw a herd of Pronghorn Antelope; a sign of things to come.

Most of the Campgrounds in the park were still closed, so we stayed at Mammoth, which is the only Campground in the park open all year. It filled up shortly after we arrived, so we were lucky to get a spot! There were no hook ups, but we had a picnic table and a fire pit. Our sight was lovely and we had a good amount of privacy.

Shortly after we arrived, we drove up to the Mammoth Hot Springs Visitors Centre and were welcomed by a large herd of buffalo, mostly mothers and their newly born young.  The Park Rangers call the young buffalo “red dogs” because of their colour and the way the hop around and play like puppies. We couldn’t believe they were so close to the cars and the people. What a welcome!

We then went on a drive to look for more wildlife and we were not disappointed! We saw herds of buffalo, elk and pronghorn as well as black and grizzly bears, beavers, coyotes and a fox. All of these animals are also native to the areas around Banff and Calgary (where we are from), but we had never seen animals in such abundance!

We spent another few days in the park, checking out the various geological features and I have to say Yellowstone is impressive. In additional to Old Faithful, we saw a variety of other hot spots, gysers and pools. The various mineral deposits created some really beautiful colors.

 To experience such a varied landscape within such a compact area was a really special way to start our trip.