Day 10-12

It was time to leave Yellowstone and visit the Grand Tetons. We only had the day to drive through the Tetons and the kids wanted to earn their Junior Ranger badges. We stopped at the first ranger station to find out what they needed to do. The weather was not looking the best and we could see a storm coming in. After eating our lunch, we were on our way to explore.

We did take the scenic drive and stopped to talk to a ranger (part of the requirement for the badge). It is amazingly beautiful. The mountains go straight up from the lake. Absolutely beautiful. After leaving the overlook at Jackson lake, we saw a black bear in the trees by the road! At Jenny Lake, we stopped and took a short walk by the lake. I wish we had more time. I would have loved to take a boat across to the other side of the lake to hike or even rent canoes and paddle around the lake, but we had to get to Jackson. The kids finished up their activities and were presented with their badges!

We made it to Jackson in the early evening and I think Big Daddy is in love. Surrounded by the mountains, you could see the ski slopes and it looked like you could ski right into town. We ate dinner at the Snake River Brewery- yummy. We decided to share a smore for dinner. It was made with a homemade graham cracker and cooked in the wood oven. It was fantastic! Yum! Yum! Yum!

We then walked around Jackson for a little bit - such a cute little downtown and then when back to the hotel for swimming and bed.

We started out for Boise on day eleven of our trip. We were all tired and weren't not sure if we were going to make it to Craters of the Moon. The kids were very disappointed, so I called AAA and realized they told me that it was the same time difference to take the freeway or go the route by Craters of the Moon, so we decided to stop there. Wow! I am glad we didn't miss it. It was so amazing! I had no idea and now I wish we had more time there. We only had time for a quick walk and a ranger program, so they could earn another badge. Four badges in two weeks!

After staying the night in Boise, we decided to just make the trip all the way home from there. We also decided to stop at the Oregon Trail Historical Interpretive Center. It was up on a hill and had gorgeous views of the valley. Lovey was a bit more interested in the center's displays than Littlebit was. Big Daddy was set to walk around, but Littlebit and Lovey were tired and so was I. We did take a short walk to stand in the wagon ruts. So cool!

Up next was to drive along the Columbia River and head home. What a fantastic trip! There was so much we saw, but so much we didn't get to see. I would love to go back and explore some more.

Days 7-9

Sadly, we had to leave our friends. It is so hard to now only see them once a year, when we used to see each other a few times a week. Now we just talk on the phone everyday. Sometimes multiple times a day. Sometimes for hours. We can't wait until we see them again.

After a quick stop at Safeway to stock up on food and get gas, we said good-bye to Helena. Our first stop on this leg of our trip was the Wheat Montana, thanks to our friend's suggestion.Their sign made me crack up, but unfortunately I did not take a picture. It said: We sow it, grow it and dough it. This was a great place to stop, use the bathroom, and eat lunch. We made our own lunch, but had to buy one of their enormous cinnamon rolls. Yum!

Here is where we had to decide whether to go to the Lewis and Clark Caverns or head straight to Yellowstone. We decided to not do the Caverns, and although I was sad about it, there was so much to see in Yellowstone.

We finally reached Gardiner, MT and checked into our hotel. They upgrade our room to a suite! There was a living room, kitchen, and two bathrooms. It was fantastic. The only part I didn't care for was it backed up to the rodeo. Thankfully, there was not a rodeo that day.

After checking in, we decided to explore the Mammoth Hot Springs part of Yellowstone. This is where we saw our first bison and elk. We also walked a lot of stairs here. It also started raining big, fat rain drops on us and then there was thunder and lightening.

Our second day in Yellowstone, we decided to explore the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was beautiful. We started walking to the lower falls, but the kids only made it to the first look out. We didn't stop at the upper falls. We also stopped at the petrified tree. Their is just so much to see, that I felt like we were on a whirlwind through there because we wanted to see it all. This was also the day that a herd of bison came rushing down the hill and crossed the road right behind our car as we were rounding a corner. The car behind us had to stop and pull over. We also saw a bear. We probably wouldn't have seen it, but all the cars were stopped and a few fools were walking out to the bear.

On our third day in Yellowstone, we went to Old Faithful. This was Lovey's favorite part. They attended a ranger program while Old Faithful erupted, so we didn't get to be up close, but we did get to see. Big Daddy had a front row seat for it. We walked around Old Faithful and then explored some of the other geysers. It was hot that day and the kids were tired from all the walking previously, so we only took short walks.

Road Trip Day 3-7

After leaving Glacier we drove to Helena to spend time with our friends. It has been a year since we had seen them. The kids were so excited, so was I!

 It took most of the day to get to their house, but we finally made it in the afternoon. They showed us their city. We went to a farmer's market, swimming at the lake, watched fireworks, had a wii dance competition, played outside, and went for a hike. It was very sad to leave these wonderful friends. I miss them terribly, but I am thankful we were able to visit them.

12 days, 5 states...

It has been a few weeks since I posted because we were on vacation. Nearly two weeks of vacation! We had so much fun, but it was so nice to finally get home and sleep in our own beds.

We visited five states, three national parks, one national monument, and part of the Oregon Trail. There were still so many things that we wanted to see and didn't have time for or were just too tired to see.

Our first day was a lot of driving! We left our house at 5am and finally reached Kallispel, Montana by 7pm. We had a lot of stops, plus we took a longer route to get there. I don't know why we didn't realize the other way before we left. In Kallispel, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. The hotel was new and nice. They had a hot continental breakfast and the kids loved the cookies in the lobby in the evening.

Our second day (our 10th anniversary) was our day to spend in Glacier National Park. Unfortunately the Going to the Sun Road was closed, so we drove a few miles in from the west and then around the south end of the park and a few miles from the east. We were told that it would only be about 2 hours to drive around the south of the park, it was more like 4 hours. Oh, well.

The first wildlife we saw.

We were able to take a few hikes on each side of the park. It was beautiful! It rained on us off and on all day. The kids received so many compliments on their hiking sticks, which of course, thrilled them. They also earned one of their many Junior Ranger badges here.

West Glacier



I had to take a picture of the pink road, although you can't quite tell in the photo.

 

East Glacier

We finally made it back to our place to stay for the night, The Traveler's Rest Lodge. I was very nervous about this place, but it was so cute. They had about eight cabins with little porches. Our cabin had a little kitchen, two queen beds, a gas fireplace and a bathroom. It was clean and the owners were very friendly. I would stay there again.

30 Day Challenge Day 30

Day 30: Three good things that have happened in the past 30 days.

1. I got a job teaching preschool!
2. Summer vacation started!
3. 10 Year Anniversary!

30 Day Challenge Day 29

Day 29: Something you never get tired of doing

Reading. I love to read and could read all day.

30 Day Challenge Day 28

Day 28: Your favorite movie

My favorite movie???? I can't choose. I like How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. I don't like to watch movies over and over, so I don't have a favorite.