We started summer off with a bang by loading up in the family truckster and heading into Wyoming.
First stop: Grand Teton National Park. And by the way, it certainly was grand!
And, Viola thinks that her Papa is hilarious!
These are now my favorite mountains. They have no foothills due to being on a fault line so they just pop up out of the ground. Everyone should put the Tetons on their must-see list.
You can't take rocks out of national parks so any special ones must be photographed to remember them. And Viola's graphic interpretation of the Tetons, while eating a gummy worm that she made last for an hour. I think it's a new record.
Boat ride!
Peter loved it.
Our little cabin at Colter Bay.
Viola's feelings about the cabin. It was "crawdid" (crowded). And if you ask her what her favorite part of the trip was she says "staying in the cabin." I guess she likes being crowded.
Look at those mountains!
This guy was the best sport of the whole family. Well done Peter.
Charlie's post fall (hence the tears) rocks to remember. And the only bear we saw. He was from Alaska so... also a tourist.
Not a bad spot for a Memorial day picnic. And Viola got her feet wet every chance she got.
Charlie returned many rocks back to their natural habitat in the lake.
The top of Signal Mountain.
Everything is a race, usually ending in tears.
Charlie was way more excited about this stage coach and horses than the driver was excited about Charlie getting his photo in front of it.
That's ok, these horses were really excited to see us coming.
Photo ops with some very important people (and animals). I honestly did not see the "do not touch" sign until I was editing these photos. But really, they were in a parking lot, how can they expect people not to touch these.
The perfect treat for shivering children: Ice Cream!
Jackets had to be fetched. And the obligatory elk antler arch photo.
This is the last photo of my red glasses. The next morning precious Peter ripped them off of my face and dropped them in a parking lot. We are going to try to glue them but, they well never be the same. RIP red glasses, you will be missed.
The National Wildlife Art Museum had an impressive collection of animal art (and much to Charlie's enjoyment, animal costumes!)
This moose was kind enough to stand very still for a photo.
A great place to get a view of the valley, the only problem was that Charlie wouldn't leave his eyes open. Tricky.
Then a stop a the very spot that Ansel Adams took his famous photo of the Tetons. He had the foresight to have a platform on the roof of his amazing wagon to get a better view of the Snake River. Maybe next time I'll come better prepared.
This was my best effort at an Uncle Ansel-esque shot.
We couldn't keep this girl out of the water, no matter how cold.
As we departed the Tetons on Wednesday morning headed home we passed the road to Yellowstone (23ish miles). Brian said, "we're so close, let's go!" "Ok" I said, "let's do it!"
A U-turn, and off we went.
Bison!
First stop waterfall! (after waiting at the gate to Yellowstone for an hour)
And we had to go to Old Faithful because...it's Yellowstone.
We saw it blow, it was impressive. I must have also been impressive because when I stood up to leave after feeding Peter, and getting spit-up all over me, I was surrounded and photographed by at least 8 Chinese tourists. They must have thought that I was just too beautiful to describe in words and wanted a photo to remember me by. Or they thought Peter was cute. Either way, I will be in several vacation slide shows covered in spit-up. You're welcome Chinese tourists.
We saw some colorful, scary hot, acid water.
There was a pool named after Viola's favorite color, turquoise!
Can you see the excitement in Peter's face?
Yellowstone scary hot water family shadow photo. Classic.
Do not swim in that!
Viola really liked the smell of all that sulfur.
Stinky but pretty.
On the way out of Yellowstone (around dinner time) we spotted a moose on the side of the road.
He seemed like a nice moose so we stopped and had a picnic with him,
We didn't get home until 3am but now we can say that we've been to Yellowstone, Americas First National Park. And we have the t-shirts and the moose hat to prove it.
