Tourist Traps I Say NOT

On a recent visit to Little Bighorn Battlefield, we concluded our visit to the park by stopping at a "Trading Post" just outside the exit. I can remember when moving to Montana years ago it was always fun to stop by St. Ignatius, MT Trading Post when I happened to be headed to Missoula, MT for more adventures. These memories caused me to say to the kids, "let's stop here" for you to have a look see at what treasures might be inside.

My husband immediately piped in "tourist trap". I did somewhat agree with him as I remember family trips to the Smokey Mountains as a kid and my parents saying the same thing.

I found the scenery inside and out inviting at this "tourist trap" and my daughter did get to purchase a little tote bag with a zipper on it that she is using on a daily basis to hold her hand held game system. So my camera came out and I played tourist at this stop. Hope you like the views we saw that day. And me personally, I would recommend everyone stop in and take a look see if you are ever in the area.

Visiting Yellowstone

Natural wonders and experiencing nature was our goal in choosing Yellowstone National Park as part of our family vacation plans. It had been many years since I had driven through Yellowstone. I remembered yet things seemed new. The only let down the kids could speak of was NOT seeing very much wildlife. They had conjured up visions of bears, bison and wolves. We did see one bison sitting on the ground right by the road, but there was a car parked in front of it. We did see many tame looking elk around Mammoth in the park and my daughter took a good picture of this one shown.




The geysers and the melting pots were almost unbelievable sights to tourists from everywhere walking around the trails. So many different languages were being spoken and this amazed my kids almost as much scenery. On lady was even seen chanting and raising her hands. Everyone let her express herself freely.




We sat and waited for Old Faithful to perform on schedule and did a picnic lunch on the tailgate in the parking lot. Everyone had a pleasant time and we are planning on going again in the fall. Yellowstone is definitely a place to put on your list to see.