Yellowstone

Most people go to Yellowstone National Park, see Old Faithful go off, and get back in their cars and leave the park. Jared and I have been to Yellowstone 2 summers in a row, camped on the ground 5 nights each time, and still haven't seen much of Yellowstone. This park is so big you could spend a lifetime photographing it. Oh and just a warning plan on getting wet, if it isn't rain then it's the geysers. A couple days into our camping adventure at Bridge Bay campground it started to rain cats and dogs. Last year we left yellowstone because all our gear was wet due to a leaky quick tent. Well a river was running right under our tent and we had to do some quick manouvering in the rain. We pulled up the stakes and moved the tent out of the river. I can say our REI tent didn't leak, this tent saved our trip this year. The tent did happen to leak water onto my sleeping bag because the back fly was open for part of the rain storm, oops(that was my fault.) Now that our tent doesn't leak we can camp in the rain.

White Dome Geyser.

Yellowstone Lake at sunset.

A fawn that came through the campsite with her mom.

Daddy and the boys throwing rocks into Yellowstone Lake. We hiked from our campground down to the lake for a night time activity. I lost my truck keys on this hike.

The boys looking into Morning Glory Pool.

Jonathan watching Riverside Geyser go off, Benjamin mad because he can't have Daddy's soda.

I took this picture while waiting for daddy to take some pictures. There are some bison on the other side of the river.

Grand Geyser. If you see this geyser go off you won't wait to see Old Faithful go off. This trip we didn't see Old Faithful Geyser go off.

Chain Lakes, in Upper Geyser Basin.

Bison, bison, and more bison.

Emerald Pool.





Gibbons Falls

That is the sound of water in the background. Jared is telling me that doing a video "eats the memory card huh?"

To Jackson Hole and The Tetons

From Salt Lake City we drove to Jackson, Wyoming. Upon arrival we checked into our motel, got groceries,gas, and went to Jackson's town square. We ate at Teton Steak House were we met some nice people that were trying to convince the nurse and the future x-ray technologist to move to Jackson, Jared still likes the idea. We woke up early the next morning and repacked the truck and left for Grand Teton National Park. Lucky for us we got the last camp spot at Jenny Lake, not the greatest spot (our tent was in the sun all day, no naps for the boys in the tent), but were grateful to have any spot in this popular campground. That afternoon we went for a swim in String Lake. The next day we took a boat trip across Jenny Lake to cut off 4 miles of hiking (round trip) to the mouth of Cascade Canyon. We hiked up cascade canyon with the boys in our packs. We saw a deer about 10 feet from the trail in some tall bushes. I said "deer" and pointed to the deer, and then Benji said "deer." I was impressed to know that he realized that it wasn't a "dogga," because every 4 legged critter up to this point was labeled "dogga." There must have been some good eating there because a couple hours later on our way down the deer was in the same place.


Benjamin (shivering,) Daddy, and Jonathan.
After we got the boys out of String Lake and started them drying they wanted back in, even though Benjamin was shivering. We went back in got a picture and got out. That rock in the background is the rock Daddy swam to, he didn't have any aqua socks on so he wasn't able to climb it. I stayed back and watched the boys.

As we hiked back further into Cascade Canyon the better the scenery became. Above is a picture of Grand Teton, and Mount Owens to Grand's right (with all of the snowfields).

Oh it is nap time. I was so tired of carrying my pack, that I put Benjamin down so I could rest. I told Daddy I would stay there and watch the boys nap, and he could go on with out us, but he didn't take the bait.

Jonathan taking his nap, I can't imagine sleeping in that position. Daddy resting his back and legs.

Daddy stopped to take a picture, and Mommy had a picture idea to while waiting for daddy. That is Grand Teton and Teewinot to it's right in the background.

Inspiration Point, what a hike to get to this look out point 400 ft. above Jenny Lake. It was just a one mile stroll, but it seamed like more than that due to the quick elevation increase and the heavy pack (thanks Benji!) on my back.

Click on the picture to see the muscle definition of this bull moose. It was really neat to see a moose this close.

Jonathan and Daddy standing in front of Hidden Falls.

We decided to let the boys down to hike back, the trail was smooth, but there were too many distractions for them to keep on the path. Their hiking lasted just a short distance.

Next Stop Salt Lake City, Utah

We initially drove to Spanish Fork, UT to see Grandpa Spotten. The boys were happy to be out of the car and were excited to see that grandpa's TV didn't have a gate around it (much easier access to the on/off button). The boys also loved the banana chair that grandpa has, but it was hard for one to watch the other one having so much fun. After the boys drove their great grandpa crazy we drove to Salt Lake City and got a hotel room and cleaned up. We then had diner at Eat-a-Burger, MM MM those spicy fries! It was great to have hot water to shower in and a mattress to sleep on for 2 nights. While in Salt Lake we got to see my brother Jared, his daughter Kristina, and Aunt Connie and Uncle Roger. We went swimming at the pool at our hotel. Aunt Connie had so much fun sitting at the side of the pool playing with the boys. Also while in Salt Lake we had to stock up with supplies for our next 9 day scheduled camping adventure. Jared had fun in the REI store (we have an REI in Las Vegas, but it isn't that great). Sorry no pictures, Uncle Roger did take some, but I was just relaxing.

Great Basin National Park

Benjamin and I on the way down from the Rock Glacier on Wheeler Peak; looks cold doesn't it? This is in July in Nevada!
Daddy and Jonathan at Teresa Lake, boy Jonny sure loves daddies Camel Back filled with grape Gatorade. Elevation 10,230 feet.
Two of the mule deer the boys chased after. They were in a beautiful meadow below Stella Lake.

Jared and Jonathan at the Rock Glacier, elevation 10,800 feet. This is the only permanent icefield between the Wasatch in Utah and the Sierra Nevada range in California.

On the first day we went on a hike to the bristle cone forest and the Rock Glacier. On the second day we went on the Alpine Lakes Loop trail past Teresa Lake, and then on to Stella Lake. The best hiking the boys did was down from each of these hikes. Jared estimates that they hiked a mile each day during our sojourn at Great Basin National Park. I wish I had the video mode on my camera enabled when Benjamin chased after 7 mule deer in a meadow screaming "dogga, dogga, dogga...." oh and Jonathan was running after them also. The deer were Just looking at the boys like they were crazy. Jared was trying to capture the boys before they got to the deer, but I wasn't helping, I was to busy trying to capture a picture of the fawn before it hid behind some trees. Boy, to carry 30 plus pounds on your back while hiking wears one out quickly!

HT

The boys exploring the forest behind our camp site and the boys hiking.

Our Crazy 3 week Vacation

Benjamin Catching some zzz's in his car seat.
Our tent. Home Sweet Home for 10 nights of our trip.
Family picture on "The Knotty Porch" at Hamilton's Store (Yellowstone National Park).
Jonathan catching some zzz's while strolling through Old Faithful Inn. Did I mention that I showered there once?

YES, we took two 21 month old boys on vacation for THREE weeks! Everyone said we were Crazy. Yes there were moments of Craziness, but I think there were more moments of FUN. We ended up spending TEN nights on the ground when we were tent camping: 3 nights at Great Basin National Park + 2 nights at Jenny Lake in the Tetons + 5 nights at Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone = 10 nights. Motel stay count: 2+1 nights in SLC, UT + 1 Jackson, WY + 5 Thermopolis,WY + 2 nights Price,UT = 11 nights. 3,500 miles later we were ready to be Home Sweet Home.

A more detailed synopsis of our grand adventure will be forthcoming.

Busy Boys

Oh my goodness what work it was to get pictures of my boys. They were so interested in my step mom Marie's photo studio that they were constantly exploring. I hope you enjoy these pictures, they took a lot of WORK.