Kelley and her daughter, Kayla, drove over from Idaho. Carolyn, and her baby boy, Avery, drove from eastern Wyoming. Angelica flew from Tennessee. And of course, I headed over from California.
Angelica and I ended up on the same flight from Denver to Jackson! Since we both had window seats, I switched seats with the middle-seater so Angelica and I could get to chatting right away.
I stayed three nights in Jackson Hole. We rented a small cabin near town. There was lots of outings, lots of visiting, lots of fun.
I hope you are prepared for a long picture post about my trip to Wyoming. I wasn't joking when I named this "The Short Story." I could post so much more but I won't.
Thursday, after everyone arrived, we went to Grand Teton National Park. The weather was not the best but what can you do?
Chapel of the Transfiguration.
Friday morning I woke up at 6:00am even though I was the one on Pacific time. After looking out the window and seeing clear skies, I couldn't resist throwing on a coat, grabbing my camera, and walking around the sleepy town.
After everyone was up and ready we hit the road for Yellowstone. Although the weather forecast was cloudy and rain every day, Friday turned out to be beautiful.
It was unfortunate that we never got to see the tops of the Grand Tetons but I was so grateful to have mostly sun on Friday.
As we got into Yellowstone National Park and kept climbing elevation, there was so much snow on the ground. We stopped to snap pictures at Lewis Lake, which was covered in ice. It was the first time I've seen a lake frozen over.
Buffalo were everywhere. We saw them in parking lots, eating from the road median, and in fields like here, which seemed more appropriate.
Old Faithful was pretty cool.
We ended up having lunch on a porch near Old Faithful and were able to see it erupt a second time. I wonder how many people have gathered by the edge of this old and faithful geyser to watch it erupt since it was discovered.
After Old Faithful, we visited Midway Geyser Basin nicknamed Hell's Half Acre.
Just walking through the area felt like we were in a steam room.
Angelica, Kelley, Carolyn and Avery
Excelsior Geyser
Turquoise Pool
This is the Grand Prismatic Spring, which is the largest hot spring in North America. Okay, not actually this but over yonder where you can see the blue. The orange is part of it but it's not really the pool. There wasn't a good vantage point from the side we were on but it was still so beautiful.
Mama Grizzly and her two cubs.
At the northern point in our loop around Yellowstone we stopped to see Lower Falls on Yellowstone River.
There's a platform just to the right of the top of the falls. If I had more time I would've wanted to hike down to that for a better view. Night was quickly approaching and we still had a few hours of driving ahead of us.
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It sort of looks miniature in the photo but it was so big!
Mud pits.
On Saturday after a lazy morning in the cabin, we spent some time wandering Jackson. Saturday evening we went on a chuck wagon ride.
Kayla ended up being part of the show.
Sunday, I flew home just after breakfast.
I'd caught a cold and was definitely ready to head home. Although after looking at these photos and being in perfect health, I'm ready to head right back with the same girls, maybe more.
1 comment:
Beautiful pictures and what a fun time with internet friends you had never met before! I had never known all the different areas in Yellowstone until I saw your pictures! Now I want to go visit it!
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