June 4-8 Brant and I went on a trip to Jackon, Wyoming; Yellowstone National Park: and Grand Teton National Park.... With his enitre family ... 15 people in all: 9 adults and 6 kids ranging from 3-11 years of age. I know most people think that is perfectly normal. HOWEVER, I'm used to family vacations consisting of 4 people: Me, My parents and my brother. No cousins, or other family. Needless to say it was hard to adjust to. I'm not acustomed to kids fighting (other than my brother and I when we were little) or figuring out seating in three vehicles. It was total chaos to me ^_^ I just went with the flow of things and I had a GREAT time. I got to know Brant's family SO much better, espcially my three sister's.
We stayed in Jackson Wyoming at a condo that Brant's Uncle David rented for us. It was nice, except for the kitchen. We had to eat dinner in shifts, lol. We also got to eat at a great steak house called the Gun & Barrel Game and Steak. BEST steak house I've eaten at outside of Utah. It was also REALLY expensive. But, Uncle David being the selfless and generous person he is, bought dinner for us all. One day we'll all pay him back for it all.
First day, after we got settled in and all, we went to Grand Teton Nt'l Park. We saw Jenny Lake and part of the Teton's. It rained everyday (with exception to the day we left, Murphy's Law there) so we couldn't see the tips of the Tetons.
The rest of the days we drove all over Yellowstone. I wanted to see mammoth because I remember going when I was little. I LOVED the gysers, hot pots and all the wildlife we saw. But time was limited and it would have taken us all day just to get there. There were several road closes the further north we went because of mudslides andd stuff. Note to self, go to Yellowstone is late July or august. It might be warmer, lol.
Anyways, we saw LOTS of wildlife. Lots of Elk and buffalo, one coyote, antelope, a couple of moose. Some of the family saw an eagle, bear and wolf fight over a carcass (SO jealous. I wanted to see a bear). We got to see the Mud Volcano too. It was a mud type geyser that one day totally blew up and covered everything around it, including the treetops. It was really stinky because of the sulphur, but still really neat.
My favorite phrase during the trip was "it's a miracle!" because with the group being predominantly female, we needed to stop a lot to use the restroom (well and kids too, everyone knows kids need to use the restroom a lot on trips). The guys used the chance to stretch their legs.
Well, below are several of the possibly 3 hundred pictures I took. I'm like my mom. Take lots of pictures and you'll get several really good pictures.
We stayed in Jackson Wyoming at a condo that Brant's Uncle David rented for us. It was nice, except for the kitchen. We had to eat dinner in shifts, lol. We also got to eat at a great steak house called the Gun & Barrel Game and Steak. BEST steak house I've eaten at outside of Utah. It was also REALLY expensive. But, Uncle David being the selfless and generous person he is, bought dinner for us all. One day we'll all pay him back for it all.
First day, after we got settled in and all, we went to Grand Teton Nt'l Park. We saw Jenny Lake and part of the Teton's. It rained everyday (with exception to the day we left, Murphy's Law there) so we couldn't see the tips of the Tetons.
The rest of the days we drove all over Yellowstone. I wanted to see mammoth because I remember going when I was little. I LOVED the gysers, hot pots and all the wildlife we saw. But time was limited and it would have taken us all day just to get there. There were several road closes the further north we went because of mudslides andd stuff. Note to self, go to Yellowstone is late July or august. It might be warmer, lol.
Anyways, we saw LOTS of wildlife. Lots of Elk and buffalo, one coyote, antelope, a couple of moose. Some of the family saw an eagle, bear and wolf fight over a carcass (SO jealous. I wanted to see a bear). We got to see the Mud Volcano too. It was a mud type geyser that one day totally blew up and covered everything around it, including the treetops. It was really stinky because of the sulphur, but still really neat.
My favorite phrase during the trip was "it's a miracle!" because with the group being predominantly female, we needed to stop a lot to use the restroom (well and kids too, everyone knows kids need to use the restroom a lot on trips). The guys used the chance to stretch their legs.
Well, below are several of the possibly 3 hundred pictures I took. I'm like my mom. Take lots of pictures and you'll get several really good pictures.
Can't remember the name of this fall, but this was my favorite view.
These are the 20+ buffalo we 'stumbled' upon on the boardwalk by Old Faithful. We were burning time waiting for Old faithful to go off, when we turned a corner and there were all the adult and several BABIES! They were so cute! This one was fairly curious about us, but stuck pretty close to mom.
Above: Antler Square in Jackson. There is an Elk preserve where thousands of elk spend the winter. They then shed their antlers, so Jacksonians gathered them and put together 4 of these arches. SO cool! I don't evern know (nor could I accurately guess) how many 'sheds' were assembled in each arch.
Dragon's Mouth Spring. Next the Mud Volcano.Aptly named in 1912 because of the growling sounds (caused by steam and othr gasses exploding through the water) and the constant steam coming out.
The HUGE fireplace at the Old Faithful Lodge. It wasn't lit though and it was COLD outside. Not to mention WET. They hadn't see one sunny day there all summer.
Brant and I at Jenny Lake
ALL of the nieces and nephews: Mosers and Blackwells. Can;t you just tell that when they're all together that you can see the gears turning in their mischievious heads? I mean, that's what kids and their cousins do, right?
Of COURSE they do, lol!
