Road Trip - Yellowstone - a reluctant family

After many years of discussing we have committed to a family road trip to Yellowstone this summer.  We have not taken an epic huge road trip with the kids like this ever.  The oldest child will be leaving the nest in the fall, so I thought we must.  My children seem unhappy with the prospect of spending more than a week in the car with their parents and each other.  I hope that our adventures will prove them wrong.  I really want everyone to have fond memories of this trip, much like our visit to DC several years ago, so I am trying to pack in an activity that each person in the family will love.

First person to please son.  He was the least thrilled about this trip - I also happen to know he does not love nature and is fascinated by history especially any of the great wars and their weaponry.  I was so happy to learn that on our way to Yellowstone we will be passing right by the Minuteman Missile Silo in South Dakota - when I told son about it - his enthusiasm for the trip went up about 200%.  National Parks Minuteman Missile Silo

Next hubby - it was his idea to road trip not fly and he choose Yellowstone (I wanted Glacier), I wanted to see soaring mountains not bubbling mud pots - but to make the best of it, I'm adding a tail end to our trip 2 days in the Tetons.  Hubby was not super enthused about this until - I discovered that we can rent Razrs (aka side-by-side UTVs) and spend a whole day cruising the mountainside in the Tetons.  Since Hubby has been dying to purchase a Razr of his own, I knew this would be an instant hit.  Daughter did not want to spend the day "riding" on a Razr - she wants to race with hubby - so we will be renting 2 Razrs - one for her to drive and me ride, the other for Hubby to drive and son ride.


 JH Adventure Rentals Side-by-Sides

Finally Daughter, I was not really sure what would really excite her, she does love the outdoors, nature, animals and photography so I really think she will enjoy herself more than she thinks she will.  Finally I asked her and she said, "I would love to see wild horses" - WHAT?? I wasn't sure that was possible - but enjoying research like I do, I started to dig.  I discovered that in the Pryor Mountain range there is indeed a herd of wild horses, not only that - daughter has a much loved book that she read in her youth about Cloud the Wild Stallion and it turns out - it's his herd - we might actually get to see Cloud!  Getting to the Pryor mountain range will be a bit of a detour but should not add more than 2 hours to our travel time - so it seems well worth it.

Amazon Link to Books about Cloud Wild Stallion
Pyror Mustangs