Wow, it’s really an unforgettable trip. I would say 13hours drive is definitely worth it. We spent 2 ½ day there, relax trip and just enough time to cover most of it (without hiking on some of the trails).
We started off on Sat 06/13/2009 morning following I84E. Stopped by Multnomah Fall, Mt Hood Paranomic view point and Stonehenge at MaryHill. We then proceed to US97 for a visit to John Day Fossil Monument. We visited the Clarno Unit, Painted Hills and Sheep Rock. Painted Hills unit is the one I love most! It’s quite amazing to look at those mountains so rich in color: black, red, gold, yellow etc.
http://www.nps.gov/joda/
We then stopped a night at Boise. We stayed at Boise Super8. The motel/hotel, I would say I like it J It’s spacious and comfortable. They do provide breakfast, it’s simple and just nice. With the $ I’m paying, I’m very satisfied. Would I stay there again, yes I would! I still have 1 more stay in Springfield Super 8, let’s see how it turned out.
2nd day (Sun 06/14/2009) we continue our drove through I84-I86-I15-US20 for 6 hours and finally reach West Yellowstone entrance. It’s USD25 per vehicles for 7 days. It’s pretty cheap considering it’s a big park, 7 days and so many things to look at. I’m definitely willing to pay for it. Soon after we arrived, we were surprised to see cars pulling over along the road, to curiosity we also do the same and “wow, it’s bison, whole group of them!” I’m very excited as this is my first time seeing huge wild animals in national parks. It’s still some distance away but whatever, I still love it. It’s just like inside the Yellowstone documentary they published in TV. We then proceed to the Canyon Village first but it’s raining pretty heavily, so we decided to skip that and come back next day or so. I expected it already as weather forecast before I departed was saying thunderstorm actually, this raining considered still not too bad already K So, we headed to Tower Fall. Fortunately it’s clear sky there with just small drizzle once in a while. We had a clear view of the Yellowstone canyon from there. We booked Travelodge at Gardiner (Yellowstone north entrance), so we proceeded there. While on our way our of the North entrance, we say mountain goat at the rocky slopes. So, another jammed as all are busy capturing photo of these “popular star”. J And near the visitor center of Mammoth Hot Springs, this time we saw the deers. Really an unforgettable first day J At the north entrance, it’s totally different scenery as the west entrance. Travelodge at Gardiner, the reception is very professional and friendly. And they put a greeting card at my bed, my mom love it and she decided to keep the card herself J. Again, it’s like the Super8, they provided breakfast. But no place to sit, so we decided to take it back to our room to eat, it’s ok to me and understandable.
3rd day (Mon 06/15/2009), first stop is Mammoth Hot Spring. There’s lower terrace and upper terrace, my mom was having a hard time climbing, so we decided to climb up first. To our finding, actually there’s nothing much, and at the top it’s actually reachable by car, so we decided to drive up to the upper terrace drive. It’s pretty magnificent view! Our night stay is at West Yellowstone for the 3rd night and 4th, so we then headed south to Old Faithful and had lunch at Old Faithful lodge. Actaully the cafeteria food are pretty nice, and with a view of the Old Faithful from the window J We then take a walk at the trails. Going through geyser by geyser, we also spent some time waiting for it to “erupt”. Very nice naming they have for each of the geysers. We also waited for the Old Faithful to “erupt” 
caught those on video, really amazing to see it with own eyes. We then visited the remainings like upper geyser basin, midway geyser basin, firehole lake drive, fountain paint pot. There’s all different shapes with crystal clear blue colours except some like the the paint pot which is muddy 
We had an up close with Bison at Upper geyser where there one bison laying lazily near to our wooden trail. Finally has a close shot of me with Bison as the background. Midway geyser even more, whole herd. My husband become the temporarily animal planet video man, catching video of the bisons crossing the river It’s really fun to see it so close, tamed and such a big herd :> That’s all for a day. We checked in to Evergreen Motel along US26. There’s not much room available, but inside the room I love the decoration and bedding a lot. They have these nice wooden crafts/metal lamp post with deer craving. It’s something different Breakfast is just simple muffin with drinks, which is good enough for me. Only thing is, we are in room#1, which is just beside the walkway and main road. I know mostly it is safe, but still at night if hear sound, I’m alert.
4th day (Tues 06/16/2009), we continued to Canyon Village’s upper fall and lower fall. It’s drizzling, but still doesn’t stop us from going to look for more. We stopped at the Lookout point, Grand view, Inspiration point, Artist point and Uncle Tom’s trails. The upper and lower fall is really amazing and the canyon too! We then proceeded to the Lake village. View of the lake is really nice with the snow mountain at the background. West Thumb, we saw otter inside the lake but didn’t manage to capture a shot of it.
5th day (Wed 06/17/2009), 13 hours of drive back with some stops for restroom. We’re finally back and back to work the next day.
windmills
Stonehenge
John Day River
John Day: Painted Hills
John Day: Painted Hills
John Day: Painted Hills
JohnDay: Painted Hills
Multnamoh Fall
US26: Cowboy?!
JohnDay: Clarno Unit
Hotspring
grand canyon
geyser
fox?wolf?coyote?
mountain goat
deers
deer(north entrance)
Bison
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