Our Trip to Yellowstone

I am overwhelmed with the amount of updating I have to do, so I keep putting it off, I decided to just skim the surface so I can move beyond this post and keep up with life! here is the short version of our trip out west.

Rich and I celebrated our MUCH needed 10th anniversary get-away at Yellowstone Park. We had the time of our lives! Annie came with us b/c she's nursing. Luke and Abby stayed w/ Grandma and Grandpa on both sides. I was terrified of flying w/ a baby, but Annie proved to be the BEST little traveler! She didn't cry at all on the plane, nursed to sleep, slept most of the flights, smiled at everyone, we couldn't have asked for anything more out of this child. And she truly let us enjoy ourselves on our trip w/out having to fuss over her. And of course she made all our pictures together cuter! so why not!? :)

Our flight went from Cleveland to Denver, to Jackson Hole. Here is where we got off in Jackson. I was surprised to get off the plane outside! and surprised by how the weather felt getting off vs. getting on!! burrrrrrrr!!!! but WOW that was seriously the most beautiful landing I've ever seen. What an awesome close up of the mountains we had, and what a cute little airport! Once we had our car in Jackson we took off on our journey. This was the first car Rich and I had ever rented. Kinda exciting. We rented a Dodge Stow and Go Mini Van and LOVED IT! it was perfect for moving around (while still driving) to attend to Annie! and get our luggage, snacks, you name it! As much as I love my Jeep, I'm starting to drool over the idea of getting a car that will be a little more comfortable for a larger family!

When we pulled out of the airport we saw a beautiful sight of these buffalo all climbing up this ridge and standing w/ their colors against the sky. It was such a nice welcome to the West! We quick pulled over and snapped pictures.

Then we headed to downtown Jackson, where we goofed off in front of the web cams waiting for the grandparents to catch a glimpse online. Then we were off to the Bar T 5 Covered Wagon Trip. (I found it online) but you never know what your in for until you get there. Well this was probably my favorite part of the trip. We loaded up on the covered wagons and traveled back in to the mountains along a beautiful trail. Along the way some "Indians" were threatening our travels as part of the show. Once there they treated us to an all you can eat dinner. It was SOOOOO delicious. Meanwhile the cowboys were entertaining us w/ music and a small show. I got invited to be on stage and help act out one of their songs. It was fun. One of the things that really struck us was how nice everyone was on this trip. They offered to hold Annie so we could get our food, and again while Rich was taking pictures of me on stage.

After the show we headed to our first nights stay in West Yellowstone. The trick was that the show was over about 8pm. the sun went down about 9:30pm and we had 3 hours of driving to do, in the dark.. w/ bison and other strange animals walking in the road. I just would have liked to meet Yellowstone in the day light! There were some pretty crazy high cliffs and deep valleys we passed by, and a bit of friction in the car concerning how close we were to the edge and making sure the driver was fully able to handle this! :)

We picked a lowered price, but decent hotel b/c we knew we'd be traveling all day anyways. This hotel had a pool, and breakfast which was nice. We were just blocks away from the West Entrance to Yellowstone, which was just perfect.

Day Two of our trip we were anxious to get out and see what we could see! the first stop was a beautiful trail along the river. We tried out Annie's back pack/ stroller (which got alllll sorts of ewwws and ahhhhh's on our trip. She seemed to enjoy the ride, but preferred to be carried up high on our backs.

We headed North and visited the Artist paint pots, Beryl Spring, Terrace Spring, Two Ribbons Trail, and Norris Geyser Basin before heading back for the day.

"Terrace Spring" a place we both loved.

It was raining at the Artist Paint Pot area and we needed to hike a 1/3 a mile or so back to the sights. Luckily the rain didn't put too much of a damper on things. Not many people were around, I kept waiting for a bear to cross the path!a view from the hike up top.Beth and Annie What a view!! We spent a good portion of the day hiking at Norris Geyser Basin. This picture just does not do the area justice! you have to put a bunch of pictures together to feel the size of this place!Here is Annie all happy and ready to start our hike.

by the end of the hike, she was a cold and tired little girl. We thought she was warm b/c we felt warm (but we were the ones walking) I think sitting in the pack so long too cut off her circulation.. her hands and feet were blue just minutes after taking this photo. We felt soooo awful and scared for how cold she was! From this day on we did everything possible to keep her overdressed and warm! Too be continued on other days.......