What’s another 6 hours of driving? That’s what we thought too when we heard about the beauty of Glacier National Park. It did, in fact, prove to be my FAVORITE national park from this trip!

If this broken world is SO breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL, can you even begin to imagine what Heaven will look like?!?!

“National Parks get us OUT, but the best parts are the stops IN BETWEEN!”
(Well said, Matthew!)

We spent July 4th relaxing in Idaho Falls. Goodwill, picnic, fishing, disc golf, cooking at home and fireworks at Riverfest (Snake River Landing) was exactly what we all needed!

Since YELLOWSTONE was our sole motivation for this entire trip (click HERE for Part 1), I spent a LOT of time researching hikes, hidden gems and, most importantly, most SCENIC views!

But, despite my folder packed with notes, maps and screenshots, I realized there were 5 other people whose vote quickly out-numbered mine.

Even though we didn’t see or do half of what I planned, we covered the highlights and ended the day with priceless memories in an incredible national park!

(Since many of you have asked, I’ll list the things I LEARNED at the bottom.)

One thing I DID LOVE: Sharing a front seat with this little girl the ENTIRE day!

Another thing I LOVED: Making more memories with my man!

TIPS:

• Plan your trip EARLY. (Because we didn’t plan almost a year in advance, all the nearby hotels were booked-up.)
• Skip the summer months. (Miles of traffic. Crowds everywhere.)
• SKIP the ‘Must Do’ list. (Old Faithful and the Lodge were considered ‘highlights.’ However, I didn’t understand the hype and would have MUCH preferred a secluded hike with a pretty view.)
• Do NOT look at Pinterest! (Okay, this goes for almost EVERYTHING related to photography, but ESPECIALLY national parks! What you see online is usually NOT what your real eyes are actually going to see when you pull up. If you’re like me, this can sometimes be a little disappointing.)
• Start your day early. (Being over an hour away and having four kids, no one wanted to wake-up super early. But this would have saved us time with traffic, allowed us to see more animals and helped us to avoid a lot of tourist and congested areas.)
• Purchase, download and set-up: GUIDE ALONG Audio Tour! (It was worth EVERY penny! Even without reception in Yellowstone, it tells STORIES, FACTS and TIPS on where to stop based on exactly where you are.)

Our AirBNB might have been in Idaho, but it was one of the many highlights of our trip! We all enjoyed eating a home-cooked meal (finally), getting clean clothes (finally) and all having our own SPACE (finally)!