We had such a great nature-y trip. I'm really excited to have more kids and have those kids be older so they can enjoy the festivities. But at the same time, there is something cute and quiet about the little group we have now.
Since we didn't leave until about 4:30 on Wednesday night, we decided to stop at a hotel in Pocatello, Idaho (about half way). For some reason they upgraded our room to a suite so it had a kitchen and a living room with amazing views (not that there was a whole lot to look at in Pocatello, but it was still beautiful). We went to the hotel pool around 10pm because Jack looked like a little firecracker and we had to drain him of energy. I will never understand how he has that sort of energy that late at night. We all slept in (a perk of a night owl child) and made our way up the freeway. We went about an hour and stopped to see the Idaho Falls temple. That pit stop might have been my favorite, because we went to the temple visitor's center and took a stroll along the river.
We got to Jackson pretty early. It rained the first evening/night so we grabbed dinner and then stopped at this glorious little used bookstore. There was a St. Bernard dog named Louie that belongs to the shop owner, so Jack was loving playing with him. Even with the rain, we decided to explore the city. We even got ice cream because my sweet tooth cannot be controlled by weather. Jack got one of those small tester spoons and kept using it to dip into both our ice creams. He helped himself as we strolled along the streets.
On our first full day we took a ferry across Jenny lake and went on a 2 mile hike. There was a nice lookout, and a waterfall. Jack was in the toddler carrier on Matt's back, but every time we let him out he ran around entertaining the hikers and running through puddles. He did pretty good in the pack as long as there was a steady stream of snacks. The second hike we went on that day wasn't much of a hike but rather a walk around a historic cabin.
The next day we drove back into the Tetons. We saw a moose on the side of the road, which was pretty fantastic. It's weird seeing something so huge in the wild. The next hike we took was around Colter bay. We found a good spot, near a lake with a shore full of rocks. Jack wanted to throw rocks in the lake all day long. He might have if we let him. It gave us a great view of the Teton peaks. Just before our last hike, we found this perfect spot, right up against the mountains in a shady area. Jack, again, threw rocks in the lake for as long as let him while we just sat and talked and soaked up the quiet. Our last hike was a shorter one, and Jack actually fell asleep in the hiking pack. It was such a calm ending to our trip.
That night we visited Matt's Aunt Terry who lives just a few minutes from our hotel. It was a nice visit. They had this huge deer head on the wall (typical Wyoming decor, I've learned). If you flip a switch it actually moves and talks. Jack was so freaked out by this that he would just scream. It was super funny the first time, and we quickly shut it off. But the entire time he was there he would stare at the deer and make this sad face.
Our drive home consisted of a lot of pit stops and playgrounds. Hooray for travel.
No comments:
Post a Comment