Post by hollynla on Jul 12, 2007 21:08:31 GMT -6
It was an unforgettable and amazing trip and I already miss everything. We first headed to Jackson, WY which is a cute little western type tourist town near Grand Teton National Park. We had dinner and rested and headed into the Teton park the next day. We say moose, elk, and coyotes that day along with gorgeous scenery. The next day, we heaed into Yellowstone and spent the next 3 days there visiting all the waterfalls, geisers, paintpots, wildlife (moose, elk, bison, coyotes, bald eagles, etc) but didn't see a bear or an otter. From there, we headed to Cody WY and stayed in the Buffalo Bill cabins. We visited some historic cabins that Butch Cassidy, Sundance kid, and Buffalo Bill actually stayed at once along with many other preserved wooden cabins filled with old belongings. We then drove south into Colorado (which took 2 days, sleeping in hotels at night) and stopped in Rifle CO. There we visited a few state parks with waterfalls and such, Trapper's lake, and had dinner. We then headed to CO springs which was a dissappointment because everything we wanted to do required a reservation so that blew that city. We drove home through I-70 which is a beautiful drive through CO taking us through canyons and tunnels. It was funny to watch the temp change by 20 degrees within 20 minutes as you go up or down a mountain. It took us 2 days more to get home, which by this time, we were tired of riding. I took over 500 pictures which I will most definitely share when I sort through them. We plan to decorate our walls with them, blown up large and framed in rustic wood frames. We did not see a mountain lion (well dh did before I arrived) but some others who were staying in a camper thought a bear was on top their camper at night only to discover huge cat paw prints when they inspected it in the morning. EEEK!
The only downside to the northwest is the food. It's TERRIBLE. This was my second trip up there and they do not know what good food is. Nothing is seasoned at all, no white rice, and even the steaks suck. You would think with all the cows running around there that they would be experts at cooking beef, but NO. Prime rib is there big thing, cooked with no salt or anything. Everything is blan.As soon as we got close to home, we stopped and stocked up on boudin just to have something for dinner that tasted good.
Life up there seems much simpler than ours. Most people live on ranches with horses, cows, and/or crops. There really aren't any big cities in Wyoming so you have to learn to stock up well on your all day trip for groceries and supplies. It's beautiful up there but I am scared to drive in the mountains. I need flat terrain so my dh drove the entire time in a 1 ton dually no less. I just freak when I'm on the side of a mountain with no guard rails.
DH is heading back into Wyoming Sunday and will be there for a couple more months. His welding machine (which will be in his truck) is also our generator. I told him if a storm heads this way, I'll be heading up there with the kids. I also told him to start looking for real estate if another storm comes cause we won't be able to afford insurance on our house.
The weather is great up there. It seldom rains and the while the temps do reach into the 90's at times, it doesn't feel bad at all since there isn't any humidity. There were times while we were at higher altitudes that it was in the 60's in the middle of the day. We had a picnic at one spot and I was getting chills. The evening that we got home, it felt like a freakin' sauna and I was ready to head north again.
The only downside to the northwest is the food. It's TERRIBLE. This was my second trip up there and they do not know what good food is. Nothing is seasoned at all, no white rice, and even the steaks suck. You would think with all the cows running around there that they would be experts at cooking beef, but NO. Prime rib is there big thing, cooked with no salt or anything. Everything is blan.As soon as we got close to home, we stopped and stocked up on boudin just to have something for dinner that tasted good.
Life up there seems much simpler than ours. Most people live on ranches with horses, cows, and/or crops. There really aren't any big cities in Wyoming so you have to learn to stock up well on your all day trip for groceries and supplies. It's beautiful up there but I am scared to drive in the mountains. I need flat terrain so my dh drove the entire time in a 1 ton dually no less. I just freak when I'm on the side of a mountain with no guard rails.
DH is heading back into Wyoming Sunday and will be there for a couple more months. His welding machine (which will be in his truck) is also our generator. I told him if a storm heads this way, I'll be heading up there with the kids. I also told him to start looking for real estate if another storm comes cause we won't be able to afford insurance on our house.
The weather is great up there. It seldom rains and the while the temps do reach into the 90's at times, it doesn't feel bad at all since there isn't any humidity. There were times while we were at higher altitudes that it was in the 60's in the middle of the day. We had a picnic at one spot and I was getting chills. The evening that we got home, it felt like a freakin' sauna and I was ready to head north again.