Monday, July 16, 2012
Day 11
Is this vacation ever going to end???
Driving a little more today but thought we would run through Estes, visit the Stanley Hotel and take a scenic drive back to Hwy 70.
And we are so glad we stopped at the Stanley...now our trip is complete!!!
Driving a little more today but thought we would run through Estes, visit the Stanley Hotel and take a scenic drive back to Hwy 70.
And we are so glad we stopped at the Stanley...now our trip is complete!!!
Day 10
We considered staying another day but we decided to head
back. We are now in the car on our way
to Denver. Today, as I was getting ready
to go and packing our things, my post vacation blues start setting in as the
thoughts of home and all the responsibilities that go along with day to day
life started to seep in. Every time I go
on vacation I wonder what it would be like to live wherever we are. I consider
the possibility of not returning…just abandoning my former life and starting
over in a new place with new people. But
“wherever you go, there you are”…eventually there would be new worries,
responsibilities, and stress only without family, friends and significant relationships
I have forged . So…we’re coming
back. J Not that there was really any question!
At the same time, I am excited about coming home…I miss everyone so much! I can’t wait to see Samson, sleep in my own bed and pull clothes out of a closet instead of a suitcase. Where there is a Starbucks right down the street, a place for groceries, and we can stop eating out for every meal.
At the same time, I am excited about coming home…I miss everyone so much! I can’t wait to see Samson, sleep in my own bed and pull clothes out of a closet instead of a suitcase. Where there is a Starbucks right down the street, a place for groceries, and we can stop eating out for every meal.
I guess we still have a couple more days before we will
actually be home so I can continue to ignore the fact that my house is a mess
and a million repairs need to be done and bills need to be paid. J
Onto this day…we left around noon (much later than we wanted, of course) and stopped at a local
gift shop so the kids could purchase souvenirs, grabbed McDonalds (yuk!) and
took a two lane highway through Thermopolis where the largest hot spring in the
world is located. We passed through Wind
River Canyon
Beautiful!
The rest of the drive was uneventful. Just the usual...kids watching movies. When it ends, they begin arguing or Nathan suddenly becomes "bored" or "starving to death". They eventually find something to do and there's peace.
Arrived in Firestone, Colorado for the night. Can't wait to leave tomorrow!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Day 9
Day 9??? Is that
right? The days have started to run together.
Another day at Yellowstone and probably my favorite day in Wyoming. I forgot to take a picture of the kids at the beginning so I did it on this day. When I had the kids stand in front of the Yellowstone sign, Nathan, who is very sensitive to bright light, said, "Mom, I'm going to have to be binocular boy today." Haha!!
I think this is the only individual picture I got of Ryan that day. The rest of them looked like this because he wasn't very cooperative:
We toured the southern loop, which, btw, takes about 27 miles to get to from the entrance. And when you get behind cars/trucks/RVs that go 35 miles per hour, it takes FOREVER to get to where you are going. And I guess letting Grace drive wasn't a great idea!
One of our first stops was the West Thumb Geyser Basis where there were like boiling mud puddles and hot springs…boiling hot springs! I elected to stay with Ryan because he wasn’t feeling well. Mike, Grace and Nathan hiked the trail. Ryan felt bad that I was missing it but I never mind these moments. I might have missed the sightseeing but spending time talking to any one of my children without distraction is worth so much more. Plus there was one boiling mud puddle right near the parking lot so I did get to see it. And so do you!
After the Geyser Basin we visited Old Faithful.
This is clearly the most popular, visited spot in Yellowstone allowing us to drive up and down the aisles looking for license plates. It’s amazing…we have seen Hawaii three times and Alaska countless times but Vermont is the one we can’t find.
I let Nathan...err...I mean Binocular Boy take some pics. The first one was of himself.
But Nathan actually took some pretty good photos. If only Ryan and Grace would've cooperated:
And when Nathan wasn't shooting pictures, he was...
Another day at Yellowstone and probably my favorite day in Wyoming. I forgot to take a picture of the kids at the beginning so I did it on this day. When I had the kids stand in front of the Yellowstone sign, Nathan, who is very sensitive to bright light, said, "Mom, I'm going to have to be binocular boy today." Haha!!
I think this is the only individual picture I got of Ryan that day. The rest of them looked like this because he wasn't very cooperative:
We toured the southern loop, which, btw, takes about 27 miles to get to from the entrance. And when you get behind cars/trucks/RVs that go 35 miles per hour, it takes FOREVER to get to where you are going. And I guess letting Grace drive wasn't a great idea!
One of our first stops was the West Thumb Geyser Basis where there were like boiling mud puddles and hot springs…boiling hot springs! I elected to stay with Ryan because he wasn’t feeling well. Mike, Grace and Nathan hiked the trail. Ryan felt bad that I was missing it but I never mind these moments. I might have missed the sightseeing but spending time talking to any one of my children without distraction is worth so much more. Plus there was one boiling mud puddle right near the parking lot so I did get to see it. And so do you!
After the Geyser Basin we visited Old Faithful.
This is clearly the most popular, visited spot in Yellowstone allowing us to drive up and down the aisles looking for license plates. It’s amazing…we have seen Hawaii three times and Alaska countless times but Vermont is the one we can’t find.
As we waited for Old Faithful to erupt...I call this Fun With Geysers:
Mike was wondering what he was doing:
But Nathan actually took some pretty good photos. If only Ryan and Grace would've cooperated:
But he did get this one. Okay...I edited it a little because we weren't exactly centered.
And when Nathan wasn't shooting pictures, he was...
Finally, Old Faithful delivered on schedule....And thar she blows:
We decided not to walk all around this Geyser Basin because
we could see so many of them from where we were sitting and it was getting late
(5:20 p.m.) and we were only ½ way around the loop (and then still had that 27
mile stretch from the loop to the entrance.
Mike does not do well with skipping things he wants to see…I think his
OCD kicks in J…so
it take a lot of coaxing to get him to move on. He finally overcame his disappointment when
we stopped at the Grand Prismatic Spring.
After seeing this, it’s completely understandable.
It was about this point where it started raining and dropped
to about 55 degrees. We figured we would
just return to the hotel but decided not to let the rain stop us from seeing a
few more things. And we are sooooooooooo
glad we didn’t because although we were cold and having that wonderful rained-on look
we saw the most amazing
waterfall and canyon we have ever seen.
These pictures just can’t capture the enormity and depth of the canyon
or the awesome, powerful force of the water or just how insignificant one feels
standing next to such an amazing place.
Truly, truly inspiring.
Sigh…
The only other thing I would’ve liked to see is a Grizzly
and preferably one that is standing on it’s hind legs, right next to the road,
posing for a picture. J But this is the
closest I will probably ever be to seeing that:
Friday, July 13, 2012
Day 8
I was so exhausted yesterday (still am!) so we came back to the hotel room and crashed.
Yellowstone was absolutely amazing! We only saw one loop of it yesterday and prior to entering the park traveled through Bear Tooth Pass, a scenic drive to the top of a mountain where we saw the biggest Dandelions I have ever seen:
were able to feed chipmunks by hand
and have a snowball fight.
Grace and I also had a bit of altitude sickness. If we were sitting it was fine but walking or running...not so much.
Before entering Yellowstone we stopped in the small town of Cooke. We ate at a saloon and visited a trading post where Nathan bought a gun with a holster. From that point on he pretended to be a sheriff or a buffalo or bear hunter. Funny kid!
Once we got to Yellowstone we were on the constant look out for wildlife. Bison were everywhere, including right next to our car. This is better than another tourist who said he got stuck for 45 minutes when a herd of buffalo decided to cross and stop in the middle of the road blocking all the traffic. We also saw a black bear which was pretty close to us. Apparently, we (the crowd of observers) were a bit too close because a park ranger came by demanding we return to our vehicle. All the other bears we saw looked more like black balls of fur about a mile away.
We hiked a short distance to see a lake. This was fun with the exception of these huge bugs flying all around and the massive drop off which was right next to the trail. Freaked me out watching Nathan next to that!
We noticed smoke in the distance which was a bit concerning. There is a forest fire there caused by lightning from the night before. The park rangers were considering closing one of the entrances until they could get better control of it.
We saw Mammoth Hot Springs but by the time we got there, it was getting late and the kids were spent. It took forever to exit the park because of the line of cars with the first person, who refused to move to the side, driving about 25 miles per hour. It was 27 miles to the exit so it was a bit frustrating.
One thing that pepped us up was finding Connecticut, Delaware, and Maine. We still need Rhode Island and Vermont. :) And we saw another Hawaii!
We are heading back there today but this part of the trip (Yellowstone) seems to interest Mike and I much more than the kids. We may have to limit what we do today so we can get back early. There is a rodeo we want to see and the kids want to swim. Next year I think Disney is in order!
Yellowstone was absolutely amazing! We only saw one loop of it yesterday and prior to entering the park traveled through Bear Tooth Pass, a scenic drive to the top of a mountain where we saw the biggest Dandelions I have ever seen:
were able to feed chipmunks by hand
and have a snowball fight.
And we saw the most amazing mountain top views:
Before entering Yellowstone we stopped in the small town of Cooke. We ate at a saloon and visited a trading post where Nathan bought a gun with a holster. From that point on he pretended to be a sheriff or a buffalo or bear hunter. Funny kid!
This is what Ryan wanted to order but instead just took a picture of the menu:
Once we got to Yellowstone we were on the constant look out for wildlife. Bison were everywhere, including right next to our car. This is better than another tourist who said he got stuck for 45 minutes when a herd of buffalo decided to cross and stop in the middle of the road blocking all the traffic. We also saw a black bear which was pretty close to us. Apparently, we (the crowd of observers) were a bit too close because a park ranger came by demanding we return to our vehicle. All the other bears we saw looked more like black balls of fur about a mile away.
We noticed smoke in the distance which was a bit concerning. There is a forest fire there caused by lightning from the night before. The park rangers were considering closing one of the entrances until they could get better control of it.
We saw Mammoth Hot Springs but by the time we got there, it was getting late and the kids were spent. It took forever to exit the park because of the line of cars with the first person, who refused to move to the side, driving about 25 miles per hour. It was 27 miles to the exit so it was a bit frustrating.
One thing that pepped us up was finding Connecticut, Delaware, and Maine. We still need Rhode Island and Vermont. :) And we saw another Hawaii!
We are heading back there today but this part of the trip (Yellowstone) seems to interest Mike and I much more than the kids. We may have to limit what we do today so we can get back early. There is a rodeo we want to see and the kids want to swim. Next year I think Disney is in order!
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