Back in Vancouver for a week

We stayed with Auntie Constance.  She made spaghetti, which I hadn't tried before.

I think I might like this stuff.

I really like spaghetti.

Wait a minute, this eating thing is serious business.

Oh not that serious.

After dinner we went down to the Iluminaries festival.

Lots of pretty lanterns.

We stopped on the Burrard bridge on the way home to watch the fireworks.

Fireworks are pretty cool.

There were so many boats in the bay.

The last few days in Pendleton

If they ever let me out of here I'm going to do something fun like swimming.

See?  I told you I would.

The water was cold though so Dad and I hung out on the side of the pool while Mom swam.

Then I took them to the Children's Museum.  I'm pretty good at standing and working on this puzzle.

Then I jumped on this mule.  Time to get out of Dodge, er Pendleton.

Walking with mammals

We haven't had very good internet access the past few weeks so we're behind in getting these up. Two weeks ago we went out to the John Day Fossil Beds.

On the way we stopped in the town of John Day which had a lot of Chinese immigrants early on.

Giddy up

 

Ohh fossils!

 

This is a fake fossil so it was ok to touch.

 

Sheep Mountain displaying most of the fossil bearing layers in the area.

 

Riding the Daddy horse up a hill.

 

Pretty stratigraphy.

 

I had to use the spurs a few times but he made the climb.

 

At the top of the hill with some friends.

 

Globe mallow

 

Looking down into the Island in Time badlands.

 

More pretty stratigraphy.

 

Even more...

 

Some type of lily.

 

More Island in Time badlands.  The hike down was pretty cool because the view of the badlands was constantly changing.

 

Dad and I heading down.

 

Oh look, Mom was there too.

 

Come on Mom.  Hurry up.  I want to see some fossils.

 

Last peek at the pretty red hills before we get too low.

 

Walking up into the Island in Time badlands.

And we made it to the end of the trail.  We saw some tiny chunks of fossils eroding out.

More Yellowstone

Mom says that based on chloride isotopes Beryl Spring has the most direct connection to the deep hot aquifer that supplies hot water to most of the thermal features in Yellowstone.

Mom's artsy shot of Canary spring.

This is as close as we could get to where Mom and Dad had their fake wedding.  Canary Spring moved so their platform had to be taken out.

Being silly with some Yellowstone aunties (Becky and Jessie).

We spent the afternoon watching storms roll over Gardner.

And that was Yellowstone.

Jack goes to Yellowstone.

Mom and Dad used to make fun of people that did this but at least they pulled all of the way off the road.

We stayed with Mom and Dads friend Carrie. This is the view from her back yard.

We saw a herd of buffalo...

including this great big bull.

It must have been a long winter because they still have some of their winter coats. The calf was licking his toes. I can do that too.

This mom was making sure her calf got across the road okay.

I made sure Dad got down the trail okay.

Ojo Caliente pool. A bison or elk seems to have fallen in. Notice the bones in the water and on the edge?

The Firehole River and some thermal features.

My first geyser. It had just finished erupting when we got there.

Dad and me and Bath Spring.

A big bison bull and Bath Spring.

Some of our friends went snorkeling in the river but it was really cold. Jessie waved at us.

Snorkeling looked like fun but I wanted to see some more geysers and stuff.

Silex Spring. Way too hot for swimming!

Fountain Paint Pot. Bubbly clay, but not a geyser.

This is a geyser.

I told Dad that this one is named Clepsydra Geyser.

It sprayed for a long time.

Elephant Heads and a pretty blue flower.

Can you see why they're called Elephant Heads?

This is Larkspur. Heidi, one of our friends who was snorkling, told us that it's poisonous.

We capped off the day with beer overlooking the park.