And it was all yellow...

In my search for a yellow themed photo to enter into I heart faces latest contest,

I have learned that our family has not 

worn, 

touched,

posed by,

held 

or eaten 

anything yellow 

in the last five years.

Seriously... NO yellow.

However!!!

I was able to find this yellow gem tucked away in the photo archives all the way from 2005.

We were traveling across country on our way from Florida to Washington State,

hitting every national park and monument we could on the way there. 

This photo was taken in Yellowstone National Park and YES!  Grant was wearing yellow!

That was one incredible summer/fall for our family.  

We started our grand adventure in early August.  I was determined to make one last trip to my family's favorite vacation spot in Prospect Harbor, Maine before we left the East Coast.

Dan stayed behind in Tampa to complete the sale of our house and to finish up his work, so I packed up the mini-van with all our worldly possessions (or those that I didn't want the movers to take) and four kids ages 12, 10, 8 and 5.

We spent a wonderful week in Maine, visiting with extended family.  

Two weeks in Virginia visiting/ camping out with friends (we were essentially homeless at that point.)

Another week back in Tampa to pick up my husband before we "officially" hit the road on our way to our new home in Washington.

Stops along the way included:

Chicago

Wall Drug

The Badlands

Mount Rushmore

Crazy Horse

Custer State Park

Devil's Tower

Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range

Cody, Wyoming

and finally... Yellowstone

This was fun, this was amazing...

we have great pictures and even better memories.

But... when you have spent the better part of two months traveling, the kids can get a little tired.

And maybe just a tad less appreciative of nature's wonders.

So pretty much, by the time we got to Yellowstone, I was hearing murmurs like this...

"Yep... hot water."  sigh

"Look... more hot water shooting into the sky."  ho hum

"Mud with bubbles?"  fascinating

"Really, another waterfall... I'll stay in the car."

Okay, okay... that sounds dreadful, and they really weren't all that miserable,

they perked up significantly with every wild animal sighting 

(The grizzly bear was a particular favorite!)

but you have to admit that there comes a point in most long road trips when you'd really like to be done,

to sleep in a bed that belongs to you, and to just veg out for a while and watch TV.

We had definitely hit that  point in the trip.

Now that we look back on it, we all agree that we would love to go back to Yellowstone and have since added a few new locations to our list of top spots to visit.  

In 2008, we traveled across country again from Washington State to Washington, DC via California, Nevada, and Utah.

(No we do not travel in straight lines!)

Now we are looking forward to planning another trip back to Washington State next summer.

So...now that you are armed with the knowledge that we rarely take direct routes,

what favorite spots do you recommend we try to visit on our next Westward adventure?

Thanks to I heart faces for this trip down memory lane.