Friday, May 30, 2008

Wyoming Day Five

On Thursday, my Dad, Stepmother, and two sisters arrived in Jackson. We all went out on a *scenic* rafting trip.
I wanted to whitewater raft, but the Bozos are too young for that.

Here they are ready to head out.

My youngest sister, Elizabeth, looked the cutest in her life jacket. The rest of us looked like turtles.

It was a nearly 2 hr. trip, and Miles did very well, considering. He actually slept for awhile...

Until we were hit with a thunderstorm. We all got soaked. But, it was fun.

Max got a chance to row for a few minutes.

And this is the closest I think any of us had been to a Bald Eagle. Not the greatest shot, but we were bouncing down a river.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Wyoming Day Four

Yesterday we mostly just chilled out. It was our last real day to be lazy.
The wedding craziness is officially starting.

We drove over the Teton Pass to Victor, Idaho. You drive right through the mountains. It's really beautiful. Here is a view looking down onto Jackson Hole.

We stopped at this great little gift shop in Victor, called The Emporium. They have an old fashioned soda fountain. If you ever happen to be in these parts, you should definitely have one of their butterscotch milkshakes.
Max bought himself a hat.

Then we stopped by an organic farm that is owned by a friend of my DH's, Jed. He has a bunch of cattle and makes his own manure, compost, and vermipost. It's called the Cosmic Apple Gardens.
But, he doesn't grow any apples.

He grows lots of salad greens, along with lots of other stuff, & sells them to local restaurants. He also does the Saturday Farmer's Market in Jackson Hole.


Here is a greenhouse with lots of heirloom tomatoes & basil. He says his customer's at the market get there early and line up for his tomatoes.

I think my DH is ready to go home & sell the house.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Wyoming Day Three

We decided it would be a great idea to take the Bozos to Yellowstone yesterday. DH and I went there together 15 yrs ago. But, we figured, how could we be so close to Yellowstone, and not go?

Well, they were a bit too young to really appreciate it. We intended on doing the whole lower loop. Which can take about 11 hrs., depending on how often you stop, and get out of the car. But, we only made it as far as Old Faithful before we turned around & went home.

I think the decision to go was still a good one. We saw some of the best stuff there & I know the Bozos will be talking about it for awhile.

In order to get to Yellowstone from Jackson, you need to go through Grand Teton National Park. That was a beautiful drive.

Then it was on to Yellowstone.

This is an example to some of the magnificent views we had. There was a ton of snow on the ground up there.

The snow looked so amazing next to all the burnt trees from the fires of 1988.

One of our first stops was Lewis Lake.

Here's a shot of my little explorer. They could have had fun for hours there throwing rocks in the water. But, I was too scared of bears to stay for long.

Lewis Falls.

The next stop, and my favorite one, was the West Thumb Geyser Basin.


This is a rare shot of Miles. He was not cooperating with taking photos.





Here is a view we had to pull over for on the way to Old Faithful.

We arrived there with a wait time of only 20 minutes until the next predicted eruption. We sat and ate some delicious BLT's that we had brought with us from Creekside Market & Deli. Thankfully, they were right in their predictions. Because, we would have been very bummed if there wasn't anything to watch.

It's hard to see because of the very cloudy sky. But, it was pretty cool.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Wyoming Day Two


We are staying with my Mom's incredibly gracious, high school best friend, Kathy. Her house is amazing, and so comfortable. Here is her living room.

DH taught Max how to play *Chopsticks* on her piano.


This is the bedroom we are staying in,

and the hot tub on the deck. The Bozos favorite part of Wyoming so far.

We decided to take a drive out to Kelly, WY, and check out the Gros Ventre river dam area. That is where my brother is getting married....so, we wanted to go take a look.

First, we decided to stop by my brother's deli for breakfast. He makes a mean breakfast burrito.
Here it is...the Creekside Market & Deli.

On the drive out to Gros Ventre, I commented in the car that I really hoped we would see some moose on our trip. About 5 minutes later we came up on a swarm of cars on the side of the road, and 2 moose!

I think they were pretty young.
Kathy saw the pictures, and commented that they were looking pretty mangy after the 610 inches of snow that Jackson received this winter. Poor guys.

The Bozos got pretty close. This is normally a very bad idea. But, the moose were so close to the road, and had about 20 cars & a ton of people photographing them, at about the same distance. So, I wasn't too worried. They really didn't seem to be bothered.

We also saw some Bison on the drive. They wouldn't take a break from eating long enough to get a good shot.

The rest of the photos are some awesome shots we got out in Gros Ventre. This one is my new screen saver. It's truly unreal out here.




Max climbing...


Later on we had my future SIL's family over for dinner. We all met for the first time. Her family is wonderful.
I cooked.
The food was good. I'll have to post what I made at home.

Today, we went up to Teton National Park, and Yellowstone.
More about that later......

*Note: Make sure you click on the photos to see the full size version. It's spectacular here, and these little thumbnails just don't do justice!

Wyoming Day One


After nearly 12 hours we arrived in Jackson Hole, WY, at about 4:30pm local time. We immediately headed over to the ranch where my brother lives.

He lives in an adorable little cottage on the ranch. And works part-time as the ranch caretaker. The other half of the time he runs the deli that he owns. But, there will be more on that in the next post.

Here's a shot of his cute kitchen. All of the rooms in the cottage have huge windows with amazing views.

Like this one.

He took DH, and the Bozos out to feed the horses some treats. Here they are with *Sundance*. It's the closest to a horse that they have ever been.

Even though Miles has only met his uncle about 3, or 4 times. He latched onto him like glue.

I just can't even imagine what it would be like to look at this every day.


More tomorrow.....
The days events won't be *real time* because we are so busy. But, I plan on documenting every day.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Jackson Hole, Wyoming


We are leaving tomorrow morning at 4am, on a flight to Jackson. My brother and his sweet-as-can-be girlfriend are getting married next Saturday.
Depending on whether, or not, I can find a connection...I may be posting a ton, or not at all.

I really hope I can get online. Because, I know I will be getting some awesome photos. And I can't wait to see some pictures of Maritime, when she arrives, on Mamalizza's blog :)

If I can't get online, I will be returning, with lots of stuff to share, on June 2nd (Miles' 4th birthday!)

Good Luck LIZA!

Stairs


Today, after nearly 2 weeks, DH finally finished the back steps. Here he is rewarding himself with a cocktail. He's drinking it with a straw...such a lush.

Since Turbo & Chico have both been featured on the parsley thief. I thought it was time that Luna made her blog debut...in true Luna fashion.