The Grand.....

We left our little oasis along the reservoir in “who knows where” Wyoming and drove through some of the cutest small towns, surrounded by green pastures and mountains. Reading the population signs make us laugh, some are as low as 3 others up to 500. All throughout the west it has been this way, unlike the East where when you drive into a new town it will list when it was founded rather than a population count. I’m thinking because the East is so much more populated than the west that it is harder to keep up with.

 

                                                                      

 

 

 

 

 

We passed one small town, Douglas, that had 100 people in it. The homes where all clustered with in a few miles of each other along with the small Elementary/Middle School. ADORABLE! I wish I had taken a picture! It was in the shape of an old school house, you know with the peak roof and made of brick. Along the side was a row of chopped wood, keep that wood stove burning in the winter! It reminded me of my favorite place, Little House on the Prairie. Imagine taking a sled to school in the winter? OR even better driving the kids to school on a snow mobile? It was very picturesque. If work wasn’t an issue than I can see my family living in one of these towns. Joe would love it, driving in the snow, even plowing for the town when there is no one else on the road, driving around the narrow bends and up and down the steep inclines. There are no guard rails so they can push the snow off the sides of the road!

　

　

　 　

　
There were beautiful streams that ran along the windy road with people dressed in full fishing gear, wading through the streams fly fishing! The scenery out our window was breathtaking.

　

　
　
　　

　Being a Travel Agent I have sent many clients to Jackson Hole Wyoming for skiing. It looked like an amazing town on line and in the brochures. It was even more amazing in person. You had that small town feel. The sidewalks were lined with antique shops, restaurants, quaint shops, wooden hand carved benches, twinkly lights in the bushes, hanging overflowing flower pots and a park in the middle of it all with “Antler Arbors” welcoming you in on each corner.

The visitor center was located in downtown Jackson Hole. It was awesome. They had full size stuffed Moose, Bears, Elk, Bison and various other smaller animals that you will find throughout the park. We collected our pamphlets on each park, plus maps and were on our way! 

We are staying at Headwaters RV Park, located right out side the Grand Teton National Park and right before Yellowstone National Park. Perfect spot, right in the middle of both parks and still considered to be in the state park. We were staying for only 2 nights, short time period to do both parks unfortunately. But we were going to make the most of it and start right away. It was only a little after lunch so we still had a full half day to start exploring! There was one main road that brought you into both parks, in through Grand Teton and then into Yellowstone. And of course they were doing construction. The road leading us in had many switchbacks and hills, both up and down. So it was slow going. About an hour to get to our park, As we drove through Grand Teton National Park we made notes of what we wanted to come back and see.  
　

 

 

 

 

Once we were set up..........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we hopped in the car and went exploring through the Grand Teton. First stop was at Jackson Lake Overlook.

 

 

You could walk down the hill and touch the water, Gabe said it was very chillyJ Joe and Gabe spent some time skipping rocks.

What a cute little hiney!

 

So tranquil.

　

So serene.

　

　

REALLY???? We had places to be! Animals to see! Before it got dark! 

Oh and the weather? I bet you were wondering about that....the sky was cloudy, the wind was picking up and there was moisture in the air. Oddly enough, my hair was smooth with no frizz! Loved it!

We had to get moving! No time to skip more rocks! Tina and I yelled to them from above to move their fannies!

　

　

　
　
　 Our next stop was the Visitor Center at Colter Bay Village. It was the closest one to our Camp out of the 5 they had. Actually only 3 were open though, according to the signs they posted, due to the Sequester there wasn’t enough money to open all of the Visitor Centers throughout the parksL 　

Colter Bay Village consisted of a Camp Store, which had a kicking bakery, lunch counter and take out counter as well as essentials. Connected to that was a souvenir shop, camping store and restrooms. There were shower restrooms as well for those who were tent camping in the area to use. I’m thinking not.

The Visitor Center was on the other side. The Grand Teton and the Yellowstone National Parks offer many different options for children to get involved, besides the Jr. Ranger program they also have the Grand Teton Survivor! For 12 yrs to 18 yrs old. It sound really cool, it test your endurance, willpower, dexterity and knowledge. But we only had a few hours, so we wouldn’t be doing that this time around. Gabe went and asked for his Jr Ranger Program and we were off! Besides Gabe learning from these programs, we have come to love doing them as a family as well. Like a treasure hunt we can all do together. Sometimes it takes all of us to finish the booklet!

Grand Teton National Park spans over 310,000 acres. The highest point, and the reason for the park name, is the Grand Teton Mountain at 13,770 feet! From when you pass into the park, up to where you leave the park to go into Yellowstone, there are 70 miles of road to cover, including the 43 mile scenic loop drive.

The main thing we noticed when we parked and went out hiking was the elevation. Besides it being dry air with no humidity, it was also thin air due to the elevation. So between Joe and Gabe, there was a lot of inhaling of medicine!

Jackson Lake Lodge is known for its 60 ft panoramic picture windows overlooking the lake, the wetlands (home to various wildlife) and the Teton mountains. We wandered through the lodge and came upon the windows. I want these in my next house. And I want it to come with a window cleaner!

　

　

　 　 　

We took a trail out behind the lodge called Lunch View Hill. When John D. Rockefeller owned the property, before he donated it to become part of the state park, he would go up the hill to have lunch and enjoy the view of the wild life below.

   While hiking up the hill we spotted 2 moose’s walking through the wetland! We had binoculars with us and saw them perfectly! Unfortunately the camera couldn’t distinguish them between the trees. It was a spectacular sight. They were so big and muscular. Amazing.


Aren't they cute? All of them pointing to the Moose in the wetlands!

　
On our drive down Teton Park Road we saw a bunch of cars pulled over haphazardly with people standing around facing a certain direction, we couldn’t tell what they were looking at until we all turned our heads to look out the back window, and there they were. Majestic looking up on the hill. Bison and their families! Joe pulled over and we all jumped out. There were daddies, mommies and babies all grouped together on the side of the hill. We were all so excited! We’ve seen Moose and now Bison today!

　

　

　
                                      　
It is such an awesome experience that we get to live by seeing these wild animals roaming just a short distance from us.  Not behind a fence or glass wall.  But out in their natural environment.

The clouds where getting darker all around us and we still had more to see. 

 

 

                                              

　

　
There are times when I keep Gabe wrapped up in his security blanket, aka me, and other times when I am forced to let him go, aka with his dad doing treacherous things. Remember the USS Lexington where he was literally hanging over the edge of the big ship, 500 feet above the ocean water that was frigid cold and over 500 feet deep? Or the Arches? Clutching to the edge of the red mountains with no harness? Well, we stopped at Jenny Lake and Joe found a “cool” path that took you down to the water. A steep path. From my minds eye it was 180 degrees steep.


But Joe was going and Gabe wanted to go. So what do I do? I tell Joe he is crazy and that it is dangerous, but Gabe if you want to go than GO AND DON’T CRY FOR ME TO COME GET YOU BECAUSE YOUR FATHER SAID IT WAS OK! And then I walk away. But not to far, I need to take picturesJ

 

 

It was a beautiful spot. Looked like it was in a fake setting, like a movie set, the way the paths were laid out and the benches were placed. The lake was surrounded by mountains on every side. It was just beautiful. There were people kayaking and canoeing, looked like little ants on the water.  　

　
　
　
　
After Gabe and Joe made their way back up we were headed out again. We were half way down the Teton Park road once we left Jenny Lake, then we would hit the bottom and head into Jackson Hole for dinner. Unfortunately Gabe needed his inhaler, that was sitting back in the camper, 30 miles away. So we change our plans, I blame Joe for not bringing it and allowing Gabe to climb up Mount McKinley without it.  Gabe says he‘s fine, as he clutches his chest and tries to take a breath in. The rain is still holding out thankfully. We make it back in record time, I’m thinking it was due to our positive thinking on getting back to the camper as quick as possible, but it was probably due to Joe driving way to fast and running several unsuspecting families off the road.

　
Jackson Hole was even prettier at night than it was during the day. It is definitely a walking town. So we parked at the far end of town and headed for the maindrag”......  

                                               

 

      The Antlers I was talking about earlier located on the different corners around the town square.......

 

                                          

 

  It was a little after 600pm and we were all hungry. What to eat? Well it has become somewhat of a tradition to try the local food at each state we stay in. Well the local food here is game, bison to be more exact. The only one up for that was Joe. So we went with our second choice, something else that we have been trying and comparing from state to state, pizza! There were 3 pizza places. We walked by each one, looked at the menu and decided to go back to the first one we passed! By that time we were all cranky and just wanted to stop and eat.

　 Above the stores were apartments and just off the main streets where the cutest little cottages and cabins. The streets were clean, everyone was friendly and they had some of the cleanest public bathrooms (with heat!) that we have seen yet in a down town.

 

We fell in love with the area so much we even talked about living here. How cool it would be! Open our own little coffee shop or restaurant. Something catchy and different. Or even a ceramic studio, something for people to do while visiting. There really was no “Off” season, so you would be busy through out the year with tourist. But could we handle the cold? Snow? And didn’t we all want space, farm land or to live on a lake? Not to be right in down town were the number of visitors can climb into the thousands at high peak time?

One thing we are all learning on this journey is what we really want to do with our lives. The choices are open, where we want to live? What we want to do for a living? It is scary but also exciting. We live in such a beautiful country with so many options!  It is the land of the free. So where are we going to end up? Not Texas, so then it will be South Carolina? But the mountains in Wyoming are calling. Unfortunately they will be silenced by the frigid temperatures they are known for and the 30” of snow they had last April!

But it is exciting to think aboutJ 　
　

　 It is late by the time we leave Jackson Hole. We still have over an hour and half drive back up to the campground. Through the windy roads of the mountain and the fear of Elk jumping out in front of you. We need to buy those deer whistles for Tina’s car and the camper come to think of it. They worked great in Virginia on the Toyota camper. My dad swore by them. And if you knew Ron Miller, you knew that he loved buying and trying new things!

No campfire tonight unfortunately, it was after 1100pm and quiet time started at 1000pm. Plus we were exhausted. We have loved having them when ever we can. Dinner taste so much better over a campfire, not to mention the roasted marshmallows! It is really nice to sit around the fire in our camp chairs, talking, laughing and enjoying the quiet. Gabe practices building his own fires, gathering what ever he can to start them and keep them going. Joe ends up dousing it with lighter fluid to help him out, turning the whole thing into a raging inferno and irritating me in the processJ We have all decided that where ever we end up there will be a fire pit, (with a built in fire extinguisher for me) and an out door kitchen for Joe.
　

The sky is clear, you can see all the stars above. This part of our country seems so untouched and pure. It will be one of the things I will miss when we head back to the east.

Tomorrow we were spending the day at Yellowstone, 8 miles north from our campground. Up early, pack a picnic lunch along with the inhaler and go...

Are we there yet????

The feeling of pure desolation was overwhelming.  One more hill maybe or one more turn??? Anything? Sign of life anywhere?

It was hard to stay seated without panicking.  We were miles out in the middle of nowhere on a road that the GPS didn't even show!  My phone had in and out service.  We could do nothing but continue driving.  How did we get here you ask?  Read on.......

Monday morning we were set to head out of Moab and make our way East to Wyoming.  We all got up and headed to the shower house.  But we weren't the only ones.  Over the weekend a group of about 20 young adults (they looked like throw backs from the 60's) had popped up in their tents.  They descended on the bath houses and left their hair behind, twirling on the bath mats and around the drains.  It was quite gross.  Another reason to be thankful that we had our own shower, low water pressure and all!

Joe had a stop he needed to make before we left.  We had passed it on the way in, but there was unfortunately no room for us to park.  So he ventured off on his own while Gabe was grumbling under the covers and Tina and I were finishing off the laundry.  After seeing the pictures it would of been a really cool place to visit. 

 

 

 

                                                                          

 

 
 It was a museum made from everything recycled and built into the side of the mountain!!

We ate lunch and on a high from our great weekend we headed to Grand Teton and Yellow Stone Park!   It was about 8 1/2 hours, not counting stops, so we decided we would drive until it got dark and then continue on the next morning.  We couldn't check in until after lunch time anyway, so there was no reason to rush.

We were making really good time, the weather was perfect for traveling and the camper was running good.  There was a new road, a shorter route it looked like on the map than the original way Joe had been thinking of going, so we took it. 

Well it wasn't shorter.  It was the road to nowhere.  Or so it seemed.  We were driving for hours on the road in the middle of the desert mountains.  There was nothing as far as the eye could see.  We passed maybe 3 trucks.  That made me feel a little bit better, if there were trucks traveling on this road than at lease we knew that there wouldn't be any issues with the camper being able to travel on the road. 

It was going to be getting dark soon, we were still having some issues with the headlights so we didn't want to drive much further.  It was after 700 pm and we were all hungry.  The sooner we stopped, had dinner, went to bed, the sooner we can start fresh in the morning!

I didn't like this road and felt very uncomfortable on it.  I kept thinking if we break down we only have enough water and food for a day or so.  What if no one finds us?  What if we run off the road into the sand dunes and sink?  Yes more irrational thoughts.  There were no pull out spots that we have passed where Joe felt comfortable with us staying.  We drove a little bit further and there it was.  Around one of the bends was the perfect spot.  Thank you! A big parking lot on a reservoir.  YEAH!!  Across the reservoir you can see (with binoculars) a small town.  

 

 

                                                                        

 

 

Granted we were in a desolate area, where a group of hoodlums could pull off and kill us in our sleep and no one would know until they find our bodies, weeks later, but we had water on one side of us, mountains on the other, no desert sand in sight and a town not far off.  And it was all free!  We set up camp, ate dinner and went to bed.  Joe and I stayed out front on the 2 beds, while Gabe and Tina took the back room.  Just in case something happened, we would be right by the front door.  Joe immediately fell asleep.  I on the other hand stayed up on night watch until the sun came up, then fell asleep.  I figured no one would stop and kill us in the day time!  Besides Joe was starting to stir and would be up soon, he could take over.



 


 

White water rafting and the stars.....

Have you ever signed up for something that you thought would be exciting and alot of fun and then wished that instead of "actually" doing it, you could just have the fun, feel good effects of it without "actually" doing it?

After riding the rapid rivers at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios several times over the last few years, we were ready to expand our horizons and raft the Colorado River!  We were almost pros by now considering the amount of times we fought the rapids at the parks!  We were finally going to be able use the "moves" we all know we have to fight the rapids, but were unable to due to the ridiculous restraints Disney and Universal put on us.  Free at last!  Free at last!

Well as we were struggling into our 2nd hand, faded and worn life jackets, while following the just woke up bus driver wearing the once white thoroughly stained t-shirt, onto an old white school bus, a thought crossed my mind.  We weren't at Disney or Universal and we could actually DIE out there.  Being swept out of the boat as we were falling, at least 20 or 30 feet, down the waterfall, hitting our head on one of the many rocks strewn throughout the river and end up floating face down the entire length of the river. 

The feeling of hyperventilating was creeping up through my stomach.  The bus lurched forward and the main guide, a young hung over girl who talked way to much about her annoying mother in law than her actual job, proceeds to tell us that it is about a 20 minute ride up to the drop off point.  It was a windy road, no guard rails and narrow.  I think this was preparing us for what was to come.  Thankfully there were only 9 of us so we would have our own boat of 4, a smaller boat, easier to hold onto if we capsize.
 

 

 

The drop off point was surrounded by beautiful mountains. The sky was clear blue and the temperature was perfect, warm with a slight breeze.  Maybe things would be ok after all!

 

 

 Our guide was going to be Katie, thankfully she was not the hung over girl on the bus.  She was all of 100 pounds soaking wet, recently transplanted from Michigan , about 18 years old and this was her first summer being a guide for the River Rafting Company.  She chose this company to work for because you didn't have to pay for classes on how to be a guide, they actually taught you by taking you out one time and seeing if you can handle the river or not.  Really?  Really??   I was not feeling so secure when we climbed into our inflatable boat. 

 

 

As you can see by the smiles on their faces,  my three family members were completely oblivious to the fact that this may be the last time we see each other breathing!

 

                                                                        

There were 4 "Rapids" that we went through.  Katie classified most of them as "2's", which for you novices out there mean they were terrifying for at least 5 minutes.  All in all it was a really good experience.  I think I was more worried about and focusing on not losing Gabe out of the boat when we went through the rapids than anything else.  When we were just gliding like in the pictures below it was so peaceful.  We could take in the scenery around us and be thankful that we were there.

 

 

We had amazing scenery all around us as we traveled the few miles down the Colorado River.

 

At the end of our journey was a simple picnic of sandwiches. 

 

 Joe and Gabe stayed in the water a little bit longer, it was colder than expected and was very murky, but they had a ball.  Gabe did really well on his first rapid, he wasn't nervous or apprehensive at all. 

 

Our adrenalin was wearing off and everyone just relaxed and talked while drying off.

 

 

We were headed back down the mountain, which was easier than going up thankfully!  That or I was just to tired to care at that point.  We were all safe and had a great time.  Take that Disney!

 

After showering and dinner, we packed our thermos with Hot Coco and headed up to the Arches National Park to check out the stars.  There were alot of people scattered all throughout the designated area. We were able to watch the sun set over the mountains.

 

Balancing Rock at night!

It was one of the most magical experiences we have had yet.  We were on top of the world!  It felt like you could reach up and touch the sky.

 
 

 

 

There were shooting stars and meteor showers all across the sky.  The Rangers had the telescopes set so we could see the Moon and Saturn's Rings.  I loved seeing how excited Gabe was over the whole experience, it was an awesome sight to see.

Today was an "aha" moment for all of us.  It was one of those days were we realised how lucky and blessed we were to be living the life that we have chosen.  Not many people are able to do what we are doing and we need to remember to not take it for granted.