Our family Christmas vacation for 2008 involved a few more family members than usual. There was 23 family and friends on this exciting trip. Thank you to Cousin Stan for organizing this "White Christmas". We flew to Bozeman, Montana (after a quick layover in Minneapolis) on Sunday, December 28, 2008. From Bozeman, we took a motorcoach to West Yellowstone - located 2 hours away. The temperature continued to drop as we approached West Yellowstone and the snow amounts continued to increase. It was a beautiful drive. West Yellowstone is a very small town at one of the entrance gates to Yellowstone National Park. West Yellowstone is located in Montana, but we were only a few miles from Wyoming and Idaho. We would spend the next three days enjoying everything Yellowstone has to offer in the winter. The scenery and animals were spectacular! Billy and I decided that this vacation would fall in our top 3 favorites of all time. We will definitely do this trip again.
The only way to enter Yellowstone in the winter is with a guide. You could travel by snow coach or by snowmobile (which everyone calls sleds). Temperatures were cold, but we dressed appropriately and had no problems. The snowmobiles had heated seats and handlebars. We spent a day at Old Faithful, a day touring the Grand Canyons of Yellowstone, and a day exploring snowmobile trails into Idaho on our own. We had a blast! We were all sad to return from our snow fun to North Carolina on January 1, 2009.
Funny Moments of the Trip:
1) We were driven to the airport on a Silver Fox Limo Bus. Too bad there was only enough room for 23 people - and NO luggage! We had luggage piled everywhere. It's a good thing no one was claustrophobic or needed to exit the bus quickly!
2) Betsy entered the men's restroom at the Charlotte airport before we even left for Montana. She blushed and exited quickly.
3) Our Snow coach tour to Old Faithful was very slow. It's amazing that we actually made it to the lodge. During lunch, the coach broke down and we all had to hitch rides back to the hotel on other coaches. Some of us had quite a bumpy ride.
4) Stan, Dallas, and Amy had a little adventure on one of the trails near town. They managed to get all 3 snowmobiles stuck, plow over a tree, and get separated in the woods while it was dark. Luckily, they were rescued and they did not encounter any bears or wolves.
5) Chris and Sherri received a police escort to the restaurant after being pulled over for driving their snowmobile on a prohibited street.
6) Rachel got stuck in a snowdrift several times on her way to see Old Faithful. Her sister Carolyn just stepped right over her and kept on walking. She wasn't missing the "show".
7) J.J. fell out of a booth during lunch with a huge thump while trying to take a picture.
8) While snowmobiling, we encountered a large buffalo in the road. As we drove past, Jimmy jumped off his snowmobile to retrieve a pair of sunglasses. This left the rest of us very close to a grumpy looking buffalo.
9) Stan led us to the top of Two Tops on a snowmobile adventure. The sun was shining when we left, but by the time we reached the top we were surrounded by blowing snow. Only Amy was brave enough to take a picture. The rest of us headed down the mountain as quickly as possible.
Happy New Year to you all! If you ever get the chance, the Guignard family recommends a winter visit to Yellowstone National Park!
