Grand Teton's and YELLOWSTONE!

We spent the night before Tetons at a Marriott in Idaho Falls Idaho...home of MOST of our potatoes... then we drove the pass up into the Rockies. what a pleasant sight to see the sign for Jackson Hole Wyoming at the top of the pass! Grand Teton's was a "pass thru" for us as we were only 30 miles from Yellowstone and decided to stay up there for two nights...but what a stop it was! The main lodge has a HUGE meadow in front of it with a huge patio that you could watch the wildlife from... there were atleast 3 herds of Elk out there when we showed up and vaious other mammals that could be identified by binoculars... it was awesome! The mountains, as a backdrop for this scene were over the top! We found a good bench and sat for a while.. then traveled a bit north for a picnic on Jackson lake... I'm sorry it's been a while since I posted. We've been up in Alberta since last weekend and Natl Parks don't have WIFI! Here's a sampling of our days in Grand Tetons and Yellowstone! Yellowstone, is... I guess I'll tell as the pictures fly!

This was our picnic spot!

The hot springs inYellowstone Blew us away! They first appeared right next to 45 degree Lake Yellowstone and they were BUBBLING... I didn't really get the concept so, of course, I had to touch it... yup... it was boiling! ouch. (Experiential Learner!) These hot springs were everywhere.... like in the woods, and along the roads and out in a meadow... literally, Yellowstone is a geological timebomb of activity!

This is a snow shoe hare that showed up at our campsite! Krissy took this picture!

Oh! and the buffalo? We started counting them and then gave up because we literally saw hundreds of them...

Sadly... up until Yellowstone, this was the only Moose we saw... but we're still looking!

This is Hayden Valley that we spent some time chatting with a group of people that follow the wolf packs in the park...these people were SERIOUS! Mike ended up spotting two wolves, but thru spotting scopes they were just little dots but this seriously what these people did ALL DAY! God bless em... I needed to move on... but the valley was gorgeous!

Loved this one... not our group but some of the wolf spotters on a hill... with the sun setting behind them... I couldn't resist... it was just too pretty!

The clouds in Yellowstone were really cool... I took this one for Audra...

This wasthe Upper Falls in the Artist Point Region. Awesome power that God has created in water! This was about a mile from the Bear mauling on this day. It took a mans life who found himself between a sow Grizzly and her cub. They decided NOT to destroy the bear as she was simply protecting her cub. It was the first death by mauling in 25 years... they closed Artist Point, but opened it the next day.

This is the lower Falls that you can see from Artist Point (which I learned the next day when I took Krissy there!) The only Artist Point that I ever knew was a restaurant in the Wilderness Lodge in Disney World. The real thing is WAY better... (minus the Grizzly mauling).

This was called Steamboat Hot spring... it was AWESOME! it would just blow like a steamboat but without the whistle!

I was pretty sure this buffalo wasn't real... I was gonna poke it, but Mike didn't think that would be prudent.

Don't worry... I didn't take this picture... just found it in a giftshop and thought it was so cute!

Old Faithful Lodge was our favorite Lodge... we went to all of them!

Watching Old Faithful!

..and then she blew.... it truly was VERY cool. It blows every 90 minutes or so... thus the name "Old Faithful"!

This is Old Faithful Lodge with a hot spring in between.

The PINK girls...

OK. Wolf or Coyote? Krissy and I tracked this bugger for about 15 minutes!

Our sweet Kristin VERY happy to be spending an afternoon on horseback in the back country of Yellowstone! TRuly a very COOL experience! We ran into a herd of elk on the ride and had a hair raising experience on the edge of a canyon but I'll save that story for later!

OK...the answer to my quiz was.... it's a coyote... but Krissy and I were SURE that it was a white wolf, until Michael burst our bubble when we got home so excited to share out 100 pictures with him...grrrrr.... The coyote was still pretty! And we got pretty close!

Remember I said Artist Point was over the top in real life? Here's the view!

On the night before we left we went spotting wildlife and ran into two bull elks... yes, I had a 210mm camera but it was still pretty cool to be so close that I couldn't get the whole rack in my lens!

God didn't just blow us away with this interaction but even had the two bull elk swim across a river right in front of us! OVER THe TOP!

A mile from our campground we found another herd of elk so we snuck up on 'em...

I think this is a panarama that Kasey stitched. GREAT PANARAMA!

...and this is a Panarama Kasey did of JAcob Lake down in the Grand Tetons where we had our picnic! Yup... I'm lovin' this vacation!

The North Rim of the GRAND CANYON!

What a TREAT to spend 4th of July on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon! Mike and I have been to the south rim a few times and I MUST SAY that I absolultely prefer the North Rim! It took a 41 mile drive in from the nearest town which had a country store NOT McDonalds! The south rim is so comercial. The north rim is much harder to get to but is truly pristine and still very natural. We arrived around 9:30 and got acclimated. Sat on the deck...stared into the canyon. All of us were hungry so we took note that lunch was served in the dining room at 11:30. At 11:28 I asked the host if we could be seated in a window seat to which he replied "certainly, but lunch isn't served until 11:30"...to which I replied, "that's in like 2 minutes" to which he replied, "no ma'am, it's 10:30!" HA HA HA! I had NO IDEA that Arizona, though really in mountain standard time, does NOT keep to daylight savings time. IT really CRACKED me up! So, we used our extra hour sitting in what the lodge calls the "Sun Room... it's a huge room with 30 foot ceilings and a big fireplace... hardwood floors and three HUGE windows that look out over the canyon. The room was filled with plush leather sofa's and chairs. We lounged for an hour catching up on our journals. It was possibly the most relaxing part of the trip thus far.

Thou it wasn't planned this way it was AWESOME for the girls to have visited both Bryce and Zion prior as CLEARLY the crescendo was the GRAND CANYON! They don't call it "Grand" for nothin'! It's two miles deep and 18 miles across! God's creativity and color palate continue to astound us!

North of the Canyon we went thru many miles of burn...

Also north of the Canyon we went thru these BEAUTIFUL meadows... no wildlife, but a great place for those Beefalo heards to congregate (Beefalo were breeded in the Canyon area as a cross between Buffalo and Cattle to produce a less fatty kind of meat) they now roam freely in the area. We were hoping to see them but never got a glimpse.

I thought this was a cute shot. Michael was showing the girls where he hiked to the basin of the canyon back in college.

I really liked this lodge. It's my favorite thus far.

OK. Within 5 minutes of us arriving, this is where we "parked". How could you not? It was one of the most picturesque places I've ever been.

I had to... it was just too peaceful.

This was such a great view spot...granted, it was on this tight little precipice...Mike and Kasey wouldn't even come down with us! Kristin and I are so much alike!

Mike and his girls!

I know this was past the little railing but I just HAD to venture out!

Me and my girls!

Me and my guy! (Awwwww.....)

We had lunch in the North Rim Lodge Restaurant. Yup... that was our view...

This room is called the "sun room". These were the sofa's that we sat in for like two hours, writing in our journals... in front of the girls are three HUGE windows...and the canyon... it was heavenly!

Check this out. This is called "Angel's Window"... we walked out on top of it...to the end...

This was Pueblo ruins from 1060AD that the girls thought was "lame".

Me and my "K"...

We've had a "few" of these moments!

Mike was in the bathroom so we played with the camera... not exactly what I was looking for but it worked.

41 miles north of the rim entrance is a little town called "Jacob Lake". We stopped for a pitstop but found that they had an on site bakery that made KILLER bakery items. We all bought one for a snack and decided that they were so AMAZING that we needed to get some for breakfast the next morning. We got two apple turnovers (my favorite!) and two cinnamon raisin and nut sticky buns with about a half inch of frosting on the top (mike's favorite). I found Krissy eating her apple turnover at the picnic table and she said to me, "this is the best breakfast I have EVER had!" So sweet! Literally!

ZION!

Totally didn't expect this but as we spent our first day in southern Utah yesterday it got to be almost 100 degrees...BUT... last night, as soon as the sun went down it plummeted to the 60s! So great for sleeping! We were actaully COLD! So nice! Today there was so much symbolism that needs to be noted: First, it's Sunday and we needed to find a place of worship, so we chose ZION NATIONAL PARK! God's Cathedral! And it was amazing! We drove into the park from the east side to Third Day's "Show Me Your Glory!" It was such majestic, breathtaking creation! Secondly, we have chosen to read John Bunyan's "Pilgrims Progress" on this trip which has prompted alot of conversation. Christian's goal is to get to the Celestial City (aka Zion!) and we made it! (though we're not done with the book yet!) The park has different parts to it but in 1927 the National Park system constructed a 2 mile tunnel to connect the east and west of the park. From the west side you can take a shuttle to the north part of the park but because of the heat it was suggested that we get our hikes in early. We got to the Zion Lodge by 8:30 and did a river walk hike to Emerald Pools... there are three levels...so we went under the waterfall, and then on top of the water falls were the pools are... so pretty. We finished up with a shuttle ride to the absolute north of the park where we meandered around a bit. By the time we got back to the lodge it was 102 degrees! The park was for the most part founded by the Mormons with some influence of Protestant Settlers and therefore most of the peaks are named after biblical things such as Angels Landing, the West Temple, The Court of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), the Alter of Sacrifice and the Great White Throne. Though mormon, it was really cool to hear so so many biblical references. So enough jibber jabber... here's some pictures of this park...

This is the Great White Throne!

Here's the girls contemplating the symbolism...

One of the waterfalls that Kristin and I stood under which felt GREAT!

The Court of the Patriarchs!

Checkerboard Mesa!

This is Zions Arch. The two mile tunnel is kinda carved behind this.

Just south of the park is a funky little town called Springdale. Our host at the campground suggested we try a restaurant down here called "Oscars Cafe"...turned out to be TOP KNOTCH! They had two specialties, their MURDER BURGER and Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos... guess who got which? Another FABULOUS DAY!

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Bryce Canyon National Park was amazing... We caught the afternoon sun there which highlighted the hoodoos dramaticly. Such a beautiful place...

We asked an older lady working at the gift shop where the best place to get home made food and she directed us out of the park to a place called "Bryce Canyon Pines". She told us to have pie while we were there... turns out the place was "real america"... so cute... joke books on the table, a counter with tractor seats on posts... Mike had an elk burger! but the real treat was the pies... we had both coconut cream and banana-blueberry cream pies... amazing! We would definitely recommend this place... while were were scarfin' down our dinner in comes...(que the cowboy music)... this twenty something authentic cowboy... granted, he rode his fourwheeler in and not his trusty stead, but this guy was legit... He was dusty, had the Wrangler Jeans on... big belt buckle...a ten gallon hat...AND... cowboy boots...WITH SPURS! I secretly got a picture of him with my cell phone (because my daughters were too embarrassed to take a picture with him!) for Kasey's friend Justine who has vowed to marry a cowboy... it was so funny... Justine, we found your man, at the Bryce Canyon Pines! Just remember to order PIE!