The majority of this trip took place inside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park (YNP), so the title seemed fitting...but there's that Sam Eagle part in me that keeps coming to mind when it comes to a number of the stops (both in and out of YNP) and issues with this trip. In any event, here are the basics...
When- August 7th-16th
Who- Me (Sandy), Hubby (David), Kids (Kendall-11...but turned 12 on the trip, Samantha- 9)
Where- If you got a chance to see my PTR (moved to Chit Chat), you know this is not a traditional Disney trip...well, not to a Disney Park or Disney cruise. However, some of these places are spots that you could go on an ABD trip (looks like they offer at least two itineraries that involve YNP), some are areas/topics covered in Disney films (including Walt era nature films), and a number of the places have influenced things you see in some of the parks and resorts. Plus, my favorite duck once had a visit to "Brownstone" National Park (not my vid).
Since the PTR got moved (I guess since I started it as a question vs. a true PTR) and not sure if the TR will be left here, I'm also going to tag any of you that responded in some way to the PTR, just so you know this is out here. @Songbird76 @Tick Tock @TheMouseFan @fractal @winstongator @ajrwdwgirl @LSV @John park hopper @MomofPrincessGrace
Why- I ended my last trip report noting that we'd be giving Disney stuff a break, but there's also more to this. The National Park Service feels that kids between the ages of 9 and 11 are in that prime age range to start learning about nature and history. In light of this, they came up with the Every Kid in a Park program, which grants 4th graders a free pass to explore the parks, monuments, memorials, etc. along with their families. https://www.everykidinapark.gov/ No, it's not like getting free tickets to a Disney park, but free is free. Plus, with the cost of airfare into these parts, the price difference (compared to driving or flying to WDW) comes close to what I'd spend on Disney park tickets.
Technical Note - We took nearly 3,500 pictures this time around as well as a number of videos (yes, I finally remembered...at least some of the time...that I could take video!). Along with my camera, I finally remembered to bring along my old DSLR for the kids + we had 4 phones and 2 tablets along for the ride, so our pictures and videos were coming from a number of sources. Unfortunately, they all have slightly different embedded date/time stamps which caused them to be a bit (in some cases, A LOT) out of order when uploaded to Flickr. My camera's pics seem to log first, so I may have to backtrack here and there if I come across a noteworthy phone or kid-pic farther down the line.
Oh...and I apologize if I get text heavy at times. If you've seen my past reports, you know I take lots of pictures and share the good and the bad...but I also want to share the story. I know a lot of this stuff is bucket list material for people (still shocked how many people I know here have reacted that way when I told them what we were doing). So, I figure it may even help. And like Disney vacations...there are a lot of ways to do a trip like this and aside from having a game plan and planning well in advance for some of it, you also have to play that game of what's realistic and what are our limitations. So here goes!!!
AUGUST 7th-
We were exhausted before we ever got started. My parents had flown into town on August 1st and were with us until midday on the 6th. It was a fun little staycation to get things started before the vacation...even got to tour Minute Maid Park and learn how to make sushi rolls (I can share those pics if you want...just let me know)...but it also meant trying to go into final vacation prep while hosting guests. On top of that, our first flight time had been changed and we'd be taking off out of Houston at...wait for it...
5am!
This is a blessing and a curse. When I was pricing flights (and considering all of the small cities we could fly into), I initially wanted a United flight plan that would be leaving Houston at 5:30am. It was early, but that flight would have been out of Bush, which isn't too far from home + it would guarantee time at Little Bighorn if everything went as planned. I wound up booking with American because it was a $265 pp savings, but it was at Hobby, which is farther from home. Still, when I first booked, our flight was leaving at 8:15am. A few months later, I get an email that our flight plans were changed...and we'd be leaving at 5am. It impacted our return flight as well, but I'll get into that later.
The GOOD NEWS...the early arrival meant we should be able to get to both Little Bighorn and Devils Tower on day 1.
We left the house around 2:15am, parking reservations at the Parking Spot went flawlessly (even took a pic of my parking spot)...
...and we were waiting in the terminal to check our bags by 3am. And apparently that whole arrive 2 hours early for domestic flights doesn't apply to 5am flights. None of the attendants for any of the airlines showed up until some time between 3:30-3:45. I guess it at least gave me time to borrow a pen from a nice lady...since I realized our tags all had our old address and in changing purses, I had no pens.
Before I knew it, bags were checked, we were through security and waiting at our gate. The Dunkin Donuts across the way just opened up and tummies were getting grumbly...so I got them breakfast. David was boring and got a plain glazed, but the kids got these sharky things...
*Reminds me a lot of what Disney does with mouse ear sprinkles.
I got nothing. A. I wasn't hungry... yet. B. I've been trying to change up a lot of things in my life. While I have a long way to go to get back to a healthy place, I had lost 31 pounds before the trip. I wasn't going to let a cute sharky donut sabotage any of that progress. Besides...I don't like Dunkin. I would have been in trouble if that were a Shipley's.
The flight to Dallas was uneventful and pretty dark. It's a short flight between Houston and Dallas, so I refused to let myself sleep. I actually took a couple of darkness pics from the plane. One of the moon (I remember watching the various constellations as we flew) and one of the hints of sunrise on the horizon.
Oh, and I normally would book a direct flight unless there was a major savings with a convenient connection. The connection was convenient, but it wasn't about savings...it's pretty much impossible for us to fly into any spots in this part of the country without making a connection.
We had a 3 hour layover, so plenty of time to get to our next gate. It meant changing terminals, but that was fine. We hung out for a while playing in this pretty blue glass artsy thing and watched the plane activity outside.
*Yes, the Mickey hoodie we got at WDW last trip was with us and already her fave thing she was wearing for the trip.
I also had a strong feeling that our gate would be changed. The gate we were initially assigned had no American signage and everyone that started showing up looked like they were heading someplace with warmer weather. I also realized that the plane outside was not an American plane.
I checked the board and it had us and another flight listed for the same gate. Turns out the other flight was going to Punta Cana...hence all of the tropical gear I was seeing. So, we stayed put waiting for a change.
I checked the board again a little while later and sure enough, our gate had changed. Thankfully, we were in the same terminal and still listed on time. Oh, and when we got to that gate, we saw people in hiking boots and met a guy who was going there on business but always tosses in a break day for fly fishing. He had a fun time kidding with the girls about them going to Billings, MT and drilling them on everything they were planning to do. Yeah...we were in the right place. LOL
We boarded the plane, I put on the eye mask and earplugs my parents gave me during their visit (they recently got back from Iceland and Ireland and saved all of these flight packs), and I was asleep before takeoff. I woke up 3/4 of the way through the flight and found these two playing their tablets and being civilized little human beings. I know everyone brags on Southwest, but the American attendants on this flight and our earlier flight were soooooo sweet with the kids. In fact, very few complaints about American as a whole.
We were sort of in between windows (for both flights), so I felt like I was intruding on my neighbors in trying to peak through, but I took one picture of the land below us...and I could see the terrain had changed from the 'nothing but flat' we see in our part of TX.
We were scheduled to land in Billings, MT at 11:15 mountain time, but we arrived a little early. It's a small airport, but not as small as Jackson Hole (went through there for 2005 trip) and it wouldn't look as small as what we'd see later on in Cody. Either way, by the time we got down to baggage, all of our bags were out, so it was small enough for things to go quickly. SCORE! Next step...rental car...and there was no wait.
I was nervous...we were there earlier than I'd put on my reservation due to the flight change and I scored a ridiculously amazing deal on a mid-sized SUV that I still think was some kind of system fluke. It was so good that I was thinking they'd tell me that the system made a mistake and that the real price was hundreds more (like what was listed both just minutes before and after this crazy good price came up). Nope...it was all good! He asked me if I was OK with a Jeep Grand Cherokee...ok sure.
I expected a stripped down model. That's what I always get when I rent unless I get a random free upgrade. This time, we got a brand new (although, already had over 6k miles on it), temp tags still on, totally loaded vehicle. I was so shocked, I even took pics of the dash and seat because I couldn't get over the luck.
The kids were loving it too, because they had dual screens in the headrests with all kinds of bells and whistles for movies and other video play (although I refused to buy batteries for the vehicle's headsets...which caused all kinds of fights), we had one of those vehicle length moon/sun roof, and 4WD...in case I wanted to go crazy with the rental. On a side note...where was this 4WD vehicle when we were in CA with the snow a few years ago!??!?! (i.e. 2015/2016 TR)
We were all hungry by this point and I didn't feel like playing around on Yelp, so we went with the first familiar thing that we saw...Applebees.
It was at least a pretty view and they said both of the girls could have their unlimited chicken strips deal for the price of one. The only bad part, my brain wasn't in camera mode and I left it at the table when we were leaving. Thankfully, I remembered before we pulled away. Whew!!!
We hit the road and headed towards Little Bighorn Battlefield. It looked like it would be an easy drive and while it was on the warm side (for MT...not us), weather looked good. The kids also finally fell asleep during this drive (not that it was a long one...only a little over an hour).
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Coming up...Little Bighorn, Devils Tower, and our stop for the night.
When- August 7th-16th
Who- Me (Sandy), Hubby (David), Kids (Kendall-11...but turned 12 on the trip, Samantha- 9)
Where- If you got a chance to see my PTR (moved to Chit Chat), you know this is not a traditional Disney trip...well, not to a Disney Park or Disney cruise. However, some of these places are spots that you could go on an ABD trip (looks like they offer at least two itineraries that involve YNP), some are areas/topics covered in Disney films (including Walt era nature films), and a number of the places have influenced things you see in some of the parks and resorts. Plus, my favorite duck once had a visit to "Brownstone" National Park (not my vid).
Since the PTR got moved (I guess since I started it as a question vs. a true PTR) and not sure if the TR will be left here, I'm also going to tag any of you that responded in some way to the PTR, just so you know this is out here. @Songbird76 @Tick Tock @TheMouseFan @fractal @winstongator @ajrwdwgirl @LSV @John park hopper @MomofPrincessGrace
Why- I ended my last trip report noting that we'd be giving Disney stuff a break, but there's also more to this. The National Park Service feels that kids between the ages of 9 and 11 are in that prime age range to start learning about nature and history. In light of this, they came up with the Every Kid in a Park program, which grants 4th graders a free pass to explore the parks, monuments, memorials, etc. along with their families. https://www.everykidinapark.gov/ No, it's not like getting free tickets to a Disney park, but free is free. Plus, with the cost of airfare into these parts, the price difference (compared to driving or flying to WDW) comes close to what I'd spend on Disney park tickets.
Technical Note - We took nearly 3,500 pictures this time around as well as a number of videos (yes, I finally remembered...at least some of the time...that I could take video!). Along with my camera, I finally remembered to bring along my old DSLR for the kids + we had 4 phones and 2 tablets along for the ride, so our pictures and videos were coming from a number of sources. Unfortunately, they all have slightly different embedded date/time stamps which caused them to be a bit (in some cases, A LOT) out of order when uploaded to Flickr. My camera's pics seem to log first, so I may have to backtrack here and there if I come across a noteworthy phone or kid-pic farther down the line.
Oh...and I apologize if I get text heavy at times. If you've seen my past reports, you know I take lots of pictures and share the good and the bad...but I also want to share the story. I know a lot of this stuff is bucket list material for people (still shocked how many people I know here have reacted that way when I told them what we were doing). So, I figure it may even help. And like Disney vacations...there are a lot of ways to do a trip like this and aside from having a game plan and planning well in advance for some of it, you also have to play that game of what's realistic and what are our limitations. So here goes!!!
AUGUST 7th-
We were exhausted before we ever got started. My parents had flown into town on August 1st and were with us until midday on the 6th. It was a fun little staycation to get things started before the vacation...even got to tour Minute Maid Park and learn how to make sushi rolls (I can share those pics if you want...just let me know)...but it also meant trying to go into final vacation prep while hosting guests. On top of that, our first flight time had been changed and we'd be taking off out of Houston at...wait for it...
5am!
This is a blessing and a curse. When I was pricing flights (and considering all of the small cities we could fly into), I initially wanted a United flight plan that would be leaving Houston at 5:30am. It was early, but that flight would have been out of Bush, which isn't too far from home + it would guarantee time at Little Bighorn if everything went as planned. I wound up booking with American because it was a $265 pp savings, but it was at Hobby, which is farther from home. Still, when I first booked, our flight was leaving at 8:15am. A few months later, I get an email that our flight plans were changed...and we'd be leaving at 5am. It impacted our return flight as well, but I'll get into that later.
The GOOD NEWS...the early arrival meant we should be able to get to both Little Bighorn and Devils Tower on day 1.
We left the house around 2:15am, parking reservations at the Parking Spot went flawlessly (even took a pic of my parking spot)...
...and we were waiting in the terminal to check our bags by 3am. And apparently that whole arrive 2 hours early for domestic flights doesn't apply to 5am flights. None of the attendants for any of the airlines showed up until some time between 3:30-3:45. I guess it at least gave me time to borrow a pen from a nice lady...since I realized our tags all had our old address and in changing purses, I had no pens.
Before I knew it, bags were checked, we were through security and waiting at our gate. The Dunkin Donuts across the way just opened up and tummies were getting grumbly...so I got them breakfast. David was boring and got a plain glazed, but the kids got these sharky things...
*Reminds me a lot of what Disney does with mouse ear sprinkles.
I got nothing. A. I wasn't hungry... yet. B. I've been trying to change up a lot of things in my life. While I have a long way to go to get back to a healthy place, I had lost 31 pounds before the trip. I wasn't going to let a cute sharky donut sabotage any of that progress. Besides...I don't like Dunkin. I would have been in trouble if that were a Shipley's.
The flight to Dallas was uneventful and pretty dark. It's a short flight between Houston and Dallas, so I refused to let myself sleep. I actually took a couple of darkness pics from the plane. One of the moon (I remember watching the various constellations as we flew) and one of the hints of sunrise on the horizon.
Oh, and I normally would book a direct flight unless there was a major savings with a convenient connection. The connection was convenient, but it wasn't about savings...it's pretty much impossible for us to fly into any spots in this part of the country without making a connection.
We had a 3 hour layover, so plenty of time to get to our next gate. It meant changing terminals, but that was fine. We hung out for a while playing in this pretty blue glass artsy thing and watched the plane activity outside.
*Yes, the Mickey hoodie we got at WDW last trip was with us and already her fave thing she was wearing for the trip.
I also had a strong feeling that our gate would be changed. The gate we were initially assigned had no American signage and everyone that started showing up looked like they were heading someplace with warmer weather. I also realized that the plane outside was not an American plane.
I checked the board and it had us and another flight listed for the same gate. Turns out the other flight was going to Punta Cana...hence all of the tropical gear I was seeing. So, we stayed put waiting for a change.
I checked the board again a little while later and sure enough, our gate had changed. Thankfully, we were in the same terminal and still listed on time. Oh, and when we got to that gate, we saw people in hiking boots and met a guy who was going there on business but always tosses in a break day for fly fishing. He had a fun time kidding with the girls about them going to Billings, MT and drilling them on everything they were planning to do. Yeah...we were in the right place. LOL
We boarded the plane, I put on the eye mask and earplugs my parents gave me during their visit (they recently got back from Iceland and Ireland and saved all of these flight packs), and I was asleep before takeoff. I woke up 3/4 of the way through the flight and found these two playing their tablets and being civilized little human beings. I know everyone brags on Southwest, but the American attendants on this flight and our earlier flight were soooooo sweet with the kids. In fact, very few complaints about American as a whole.
We were sort of in between windows (for both flights), so I felt like I was intruding on my neighbors in trying to peak through, but I took one picture of the land below us...and I could see the terrain had changed from the 'nothing but flat' we see in our part of TX.
We were scheduled to land in Billings, MT at 11:15 mountain time, but we arrived a little early. It's a small airport, but not as small as Jackson Hole (went through there for 2005 trip) and it wouldn't look as small as what we'd see later on in Cody. Either way, by the time we got down to baggage, all of our bags were out, so it was small enough for things to go quickly. SCORE! Next step...rental car...and there was no wait.
I was nervous...we were there earlier than I'd put on my reservation due to the flight change and I scored a ridiculously amazing deal on a mid-sized SUV that I still think was some kind of system fluke. It was so good that I was thinking they'd tell me that the system made a mistake and that the real price was hundreds more (like what was listed both just minutes before and after this crazy good price came up). Nope...it was all good! He asked me if I was OK with a Jeep Grand Cherokee...ok sure.
I expected a stripped down model. That's what I always get when I rent unless I get a random free upgrade. This time, we got a brand new (although, already had over 6k miles on it), temp tags still on, totally loaded vehicle. I was so shocked, I even took pics of the dash and seat because I couldn't get over the luck.
The kids were loving it too, because they had dual screens in the headrests with all kinds of bells and whistles for movies and other video play (although I refused to buy batteries for the vehicle's headsets...which caused all kinds of fights), we had one of those vehicle length moon/sun roof, and 4WD...in case I wanted to go crazy with the rental. On a side note...where was this 4WD vehicle when we were in CA with the snow a few years ago!??!?! (i.e. 2015/2016 TR)
We were all hungry by this point and I didn't feel like playing around on Yelp, so we went with the first familiar thing that we saw...Applebees.
It was at least a pretty view and they said both of the girls could have their unlimited chicken strips deal for the price of one. The only bad part, my brain wasn't in camera mode and I left it at the table when we were leaving. Thankfully, I remembered before we pulled away. Whew!!!
We hit the road and headed towards Little Bighorn Battlefield. It looked like it would be an easy drive and while it was on the warm side (for MT...not us), weather looked good. The kids also finally fell asleep during this drive (not that it was a long one...only a little over an hour).
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Coming up...Little Bighorn, Devils Tower, and our stop for the night.
Last edited:
