Gillette, WY

June 28, 2015 – Day 26

Jackson Hole, WY – Gillette, WY

411 miles/6.5 hours

Fairfield Inn Gillette, Rms 103 & 105

The hotel where we stayed in Jackson Hole was so nice that we could have stayed there for the rest of the trip, and everyone one would've been happy. But sadly, not possible. It was really hard to check out. Really hard.

Before we left, we explored the town square and did a little shopping. I also found a really cool bookstore, which I couldn’t pass up.

Today was a driving day. We crossed the state of Wyoming and it was, you know what’s coming…so BEAUTIFUL! We started out driving along the Grand Tetons and then turned east and traveled through the Grand Teton National Forest. We came upon a number of little dude ranch towns: Moran, Dubois, Kinear, Shoshoni. Once we passed the forest, the mountains took on a more rugged look, and changed to an orangey color, reminiscent of the southwest. At one point the rocks were as red as Sedona’s. There always seemed to be a river or creek running alongside the highway. And then suddenly, you’re looking at canyon. Incredible. Eventually the country side melted into grassy plains.

One town we drove through only had a population of 44 people – so said the sign. And it had a post office! Cumming, GA only has two posts offices (that I’m aware of).

I did the majority of the driving today, and it was a long day. Gillette is a stop-over, because tomorrow we have a lots of sites to see, on our way to Rapid City. Our hotel has a huge water slide/indoor water park, but it’s not the cleanest facility. Unfortunately, there was no stopping the kids, they didn’t look back. Rich and I were very uncomfortable. It was yucky. We gave them 15 minutes.

I went to bed as soon as we got back from dinner.

Cammyism of the day:

Our waiter at dinner asked if everyone was enjoying their meal. Cammy’s reply, “Next time, you have to lower the size of the kid burger.” He opened his mouth wide, “Look, it won’t fit!” It was an exceptionally big burger. If he held it up in front of his face you couldn’t see Cammy.

Jackson Hole, WY

June 27, 2015 – Day 25

Idaho Falls, ID – Jackson Hole, WY

129 miles/2 hours

The Lodge at Jackson Hole

The drive from Idaho Falls to Jackson Hole is another ride filled with miles of scenic pleasure. I have to be annoying all of you with my exclamations, but it is so damn beautiful in this part of the country. To get to Jackson Hole we had to drive over a mountain, and our ears were popping.

Our rooms weren’t ready at the hotel, so we continued on to Grand Teton National Park. I wasn’t sure what to expect of the park, because you can see the Grand Tetons from the highway. Based on my research and conversations with friends who’ve been, I knew we needed to see Jenny Lake. I also wanted to do some hiking. I stopped at the visitor center for maps, and picked a trail round Jenny Lake.

As I mentioned previously, the kids aren’t real big on hiking, and Rich decided to torture them. While I was in the Visitor’s Center, he informed his children that we were going to hike to the top of the mountain. To say they were upset, is an understatement. As we drove to Jenny Lake, they kept asking how long it would take, and “did they really have to?” You could hear he panic in their voices.

We lathered up with sunscreen and loaded a backpack full of water. About fifty yards into our hike, Camden and Audrey were complaining of their impending death. Even our first glimpse of the lake (breathtaking) didn’t distract them from whining. Hunter didn’t seem intimidated, but he was quiet, and Barrett was just along for the ride. It was hot, and surprisingly hilly, for a stroll around the lake. Another five minutes in and Audrey was hysterical, losing her sh** hysterical, “I can’t do it!” Rich finally told her the truth and lo and behold, the hike didn’t seem so bad to her – and she mercifully shut her mouth. Camden, despite the fact that he was indeed tired, kept a good attitude. Hunter ignored us, but led the pack. Barrett just followed the crowd, occasionally singing a verse of Rubber Dubbers.

We hiked to Hidden Falls, which Rich declared was the prettiest waterfall he’d ever seen. In fact, he concluded that Grand Tetons was prettier that Yellowstone. It hard not to agree. The navy blue water of Jenny Lake, the dark emerald pines, and the majesty of the Tetons, which still have dollops of snow at the top, cast an intoxicating spell.

We took the water shuttle back across the lake to get to the car – I could not endure anymore complaining from the children. Rich spotted people swimming in the lake and in no time, he and the children had their swim suits on. Not me. The water was way too cold.

After their swim, on our way back to the car, while walking on flat surface (although I suspect he was being silly), Cammy had a fall. He took a header and landed his forehead on a rock. It scared the Hell out of me, and I didn’t react well. I can’t handle my baby getting hurt. He immediately had a goose egg. Lucky for us, a doctor was walking by when it happened - seriously. He checked Cammy out and told us to get him some ice and all would be fine. It was – but it wasn’t pretty.

Mom and dad were stressed out. We got back to our hotel, which is very nice, and decided to order room service for the kids and escape for an hour or so. We left Hunter in charge – and told him to be prepared for anything – especially a fire alarm, and went down to dinner. And our dinner was out-of-this world! Good food and some wine = a chilled out momma!

Cammyism of the Day:

On the boat ride, all the passengers were quiet (exhausted from hiking, I’m sure).It was kind of serene in that setting. Then Cammy started a rather loud, although cute, soliloquy about how he wished he had a giant mansion in the sky and a yacht with wings, so the boat could fly. “That way we could fly fish!” You could hear everyone laughing quietly and trying not to turn around and stare.

Yellowstone - Day 3

June 25, 2015 - Day 23

75 Miles – all in Yellowstone National Park

Grey Wolf Inn

We got a bit of a late start today, but it was more of the same. Beauty all around. The highlight of the day was seeing Old Faithful, which was a bucket list item for Rich. We sat for an hour and a half, waiting for the geyser to blow. I must admit, it was worth it. We also continued our Yellowstone Park license plate game, and by the time we left the park, we’d spotted 46 different states. It was kind of cool to see how money people, near and far, drive to experience Yellowstone.

We put in another five hours of exploration and then called it a day. It was sad to say goodbye to the park, but even I was done with driving around, parking, getting out, walking around, taking pictures, climbing back into the car, and doing it all over again.  Also, it was disappointing to discover how many rude people there are in this world. I smiled and greeted hundreds of strangers who just looked back at me, with no response and nary a smile. Rich wondered if it was because there are so many foreigners visiting. But isn’t a smile an international greeting?

I must confess, I am exhausted and very down about it. At the end of each of our days in Yellowstone, all I wanted to do was lay down, which is quite scary for me. I’ve been going to bed early, but waking up multiple times throughout the night. I saw a sign in West Yellowstone, listing the elevation as 7000 feet. It made me think that perhaps the altitude is getting to me. I vaguely remember my parents complaining about it during the summer we spent two weeks in Colorado, but Edmund and I never felt any effects. Or maybe I’m just getting…you know the word, but I can’t type it. Nope, I’m going with altitude sickness.

Tomorrow we head west, to Idaho Falls, our furthest point west. Then we turn around and make the trek home – with a few stops along the way!

Yellowstone - Day 2

June 24, 2015 – Day 22

Gardiner, MT (north entrance) – West Yellowstone (west entrance)

135 miles (all in the park!)

The Grey Wolf Inn, Rm 125

The park is amazing! I took more than 200 pictures today, which is ridiculous! We scaled a mountain, by car and foot. We saw the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the amazing lower falls of the Yellowstone River, from vantage points that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It’s very scary when you look down. We also explored the lake area, and rented a boat. We smelled nasty sulfur springs and got up close and personal with some bison.  All in all – a wonderful day. A long day. I am beat!

Hunter's driving...

And Audie's ain't happy about.

Yellowstone Day 1

June 23, 2015 – Day 21

Bozeman, MT – Gardiner, MT – Yellowstone NP

80 miles, then 60 miles driving around in the park!

Best Western Mammoth Hot Springs, Rm 224

Happy Birthday Daddy! We celebrated with a little Starbucks this morning. It’s the little things, right? We were on the road early – on our way to the destination highlight of our trip – Yellowstone National Park. Excitement all around. Okay, seriously, only Mom & Dad were excited. I don’t get it.

It was another pretty (and short!) drive and then we were in front of the Theodore Roosevelt Arch, which was the original entrance to the park (north entrance). Unfortunately, we were detoured due to construction, and I didn’t get a good picture. Our first stop was the ranger station at Mammoth Springs so I could get my bearings.

I won’t bore you with a play-by-play of the day, but we hiked quite a bit and took a stagecoach ride. I don’t think I can adequately describe the beauty of this park without sounding cheesy and over-the-top. I’ll let my pictures do the talking.

Random personal observations of family life in the park:

Barrett likes to hike and is quite fast. He and I will do well as fitness partners in the future. If I’m going to hike, I’m going to burn some calories!

Cammy doesn’t like to hike, and whines about it. He’s gotten too heavy for me to carry, so I basically drag him along, which thwarts my workout - but what am I going to do?

Audrey can take the hikes, or leave them. She’ll complain about it, but physically, she can finally hang. Her competitive nature overpowers her laziness, because she’ll be damned if Hunter is going to beat her at anything.

Hunter and Audrey fight a lot. It can be a joy buster. They both have to have the last word and therefore, it never ends.

Hunter has become a surly teenager. It’s sad. He seems quite miserable spending time with us, and very underwhelmed by the scenery. I think there’d have to be a racetrack in the park for him to be happy. We’re doing our best to ignore his sullenness, but next year we may leave him at home.

Rich is totally in his element. My nature guy gets so excited when he sees wildlife. It’s kind of cute. He’s on a mission to see a bear and said he’s not leaving until he does.

Speaking of bears, the park has hundreds of bears and they have warnings everywhere. They also sell bear spray in the stores. Audrey is freaked out. Rich suggested we get some – just in case. Guess how much they charge for a can of bear spray (which I’m sure doesn’t come with a guarantee)? $50! I told Audrey we’d take our chances. Audrey was not too pleased. “You don’t think my life is worth $50?” Uh-oh. I explained that no bear would get between me and one of my babies. And now, I really hope we don’t run into bears.

We spent six hours in the park and only saw a small fraction of it, so the next two days will be long. We checked into our hotel, and I had to endure a litany of complaints about our accommodations. It seems they don’t care for a Best Western. I should have made them sleep in the car. We’re in one room (a “junior suite”), so you can only imagine. For our first night, we’re staying just outside the park, in Gardiner, MT. I booked our rooms too late for us to get inside the park. Big Mistake.

We took Rich out to dinner for his Birthday and our options were limited in this little town of Gardiner. I apologized, but he didn’t care. He got to spend his day in Yellowstone with his family, He said that it was the best birthday ever!

Quotes of the Day (Cammy’s on a roll):

#1 - A gentleman saw Rich pushing our luggage cart, which was expertly loaded, and he commented that Rich must have played Legos when he was a kid.

Cammy: “Oh yeah, Legos run in our family!”

#2 - Cammy was waxing poetic after Rich and Hunter said they were going to get him a cinnamon roll for lunch, instead of a hotdog.

Cammy: “They replaced my hotdog, and won my heart.”

#3 - Finally, when we were descending the terraces at Mammoth Springs, I offered Audrey the rest of my water. She thanked me and said she’d save it until we got to the bottom. Cammy was holding his water bottle, which was more than half full.

Cammy: “I’m going to die before I get to drink all of my water!” – He didn’t care for the uphill climb.