Team Monty's Expedition: West Yellowstone, MT

On our way to West Yellowstone, MT, we made two stops.

The first one was the Walmart in Butte. Why? Well, have you noticed those black spots on my photos in the blog lately? Well, they were on the camera lens in a way that could not be cleaned :( Even the photo department tried to get them off the len. No luck. So, I got a new camera :) The best feature it has heading into Yellowstone NP is a 24x optical zoom!!!! I'll be able to take great pictures of bears and other animals...unlike my photos at Great Smoky Mt. NP last fall when the bears just looked like black dots.

The second stop came as a recommendation from another full-time on the road family that is from Montana. We stopped in at Montana Wheat for some sweet treats :) Thanks Dana Ticknor at ticknortribe.blogspot.com!!!

Um, yeah....we have sweet tooths!

Oh, my! Cinnamon rolls as big as Jolie's head!
It was so delicious----and lighter than air. So glad I don't live near this shop! :)

The drive to West Yellowstone was beautiful! We were loving the mountains, the rivers, and the animals! If you haven't been out here...what are you waiting for???

One funny thing we noted while driving through Montana is that all the cities are small! We kept expecting Birmingham, AL sized towns for cities like Butte or Missoula. Nope...they just aren't that big. Which is really nice :) I don't care much for big cities, so Montana's population works for me :) The size of the state and sky are massive, but for some reason it still feels cozy. And...it still feels like the wild west out here. There are some hardy souls that make it through Montana winters! We're coming through in MAY and there is still snow on the ground (in places), below freezing temps, and snow flurries! We kept wondering how homesteaders faced those long winters...and flourished here.

We did not stay at a campground in Yellowstone NP because they were all still closed for winter! They open the week after our arrival. But that turned out just fine, as we stayed at Grizzly RV in West Yellowstone...just one mile from the park's west entrance. It was an amazingly awesome full service campground!!! The staff and facilities are outstanding. (We had the place practically to ourselves, but we did meet another full-time family. They are from Georgia and they're taking a one year journey and trying to see all the lower 48 states!) And the best part about seeing Yellowstone in "winter"... we got off season rates! Whooooop!

Home sweet campsite for the week :)
We LOVE Grizzly RV park in West Yellowstone, MT

Almost all of the snow was gone, except for this one patch.
So what do Florida kids do with a mound of snow in May?
They make a SNOWCRAB :)

Making memories in the game room.
I played so much air hockey, my arm was sore the next day!

West Yellowstone feels like you've stepped back in time. I believe part of the reason is because we were there in the "off-season", so we had the place to ourselves! The RV campground just opened 2 days before we got there and most of the roads in Yellowstone just opened. We spent time exploring this cute western town. There is a walking trail around town with a guide map that tells of the town's history. It's fun to learn how things came to be. We also did a little geocaching :)

Love this old snowplow truck!

The kids' favorite store: the homemade candy shop

Had to check out the town playground to burn off the sugar energy :)

There is a Yellowstone National Park visitor center in town. We stopped in to learn about the park and pick up junior ranger books. (Good thing we got those early...the kids had a LOT of work to do at this park to earn a badge here!)