Get-Away :)

In my last post, I told you Timmer had surprised me by planning to sweep me away this last weekend. He had been working on details with his sister Thresa for where to stay and what-not (Thank you Thresa!) We had such a fabulous time!!!

Tim drove us down to Yellowstone National Park through the north entrance so we had a great trip from home enjoying some of the little towns like Livingstone and Gardener and then coming down into the park. We saw lots of fun wildlife including a black bear sow with two VERY small cubs right down on the roadside foraging. We saw numerous bison right along the road, a beautiful herd of elk, and of course all the usual littler critters like deer, antelope, chipmunks, etc.

It has been such a cool, temperate summer that the park was fully in exquisite color -- everywhere we looked the park was lush and green with flowers blooming everywhere. It was breathtaking.


Tim had made a quick trip through Yellowstone with the boys earlier this summer on his way to BSA camp in WY and one of the main things he wanted to show me was the waterfalls on the rim. Both the waterfalls were phenomenal to see even from the parking lot turnout areas but we decided to hike in to the spillways. We tackled the lower waterfall first which ended up being the most challenging by far. The hike is 3/4 of a mile and drops 600 vertical feet which normally would not have been such an endeavor but at present it gave me a great workout. I made a lot of friends as people cheered me on to finish; it was a little embarrassing actually but very sweet. In fact hiking back out we had an older couple who told me that they had challenged each other to finish because if a VERY pregnant lady could get up to the top surely they could too :) We continued to see people in the subsequent attractions and shops and things who came up and congratulated me for making it in and OUT!!!

It was well worth the effort however -- what an AWESOME display of God's creation!!! The water was so spectacularly colored and as it cascaded down off the spillway dropping hundreds of feet the spray came back up in waves making rainbows everywhere. The water was so tumultuous I would get dizzy watching it too long. It plummeted down into a huge gorge called the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone" and then followed a river through the crags. It was really magnificent!!

After we hiked out we followed the lower rim loop out and around we stopped through some of the different viewing areas to get a different perspective. All of them were just amazing!!!

The waterfall on the upper rim was far different but equally stunning. The hike was not nearly as difficult either :) It didn't fall as far from the spillway to the base but above it were two pools that triggered the imagination and the rocks were so close in you could see the blooming fireweed on the opposite bank. The water was a completely different incredible color and the pool at the base reminded me of the "cauldron pool" in C.S. Lewis' book. It was glorious!!!

We did a little shopping and took a break as we left the outer rim; had a snack in the little shops and enjoyed the variety of artistic renderings of merchandise available to look at/purchase. We drove down south through the park stopping at several other things including the "mud volcano" and the dragon's mouth -- both of which were hot pots from earlier volcanic disturbances. The dragon's mouth was most intriguing to me -- a carnivorous opening that would expel water every few seconds lapping out towards the boardwalk we were standing on. As the water would build up and come out the cave would rumble like you could imagine a dragon would as he prepared to attack. The signs said it used to actually come across the boardwalk in years past. As the water would recede it would expose a string of rocks strained bright fire orange from the mineral deposits that easily could be seen as the end of a dragon's tongue. It was very cool.

I told Tim it was so astounding to me that in such a nasty area where much of the close landscape was dead from the heavy minerals and sulphur the grasses around the pools and puddles of hot mineral water were vibrantly colored in rusts, oranges, greens, pinks and reds. We serve such a creative, artistic and awesome God!!!

We stopped at another geyser basin around the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake -- it was so varied. There were pits of boiling mud and dark eerie water boiling sinisterly and then just a few feet from it there were pools of boiling water that were clear and brilliant shades of blue or green. It was a nice stop - the smell was not nearly as strong of sulfur and the steam from the basin was comfortably warm which was especially nice since it had turned off very chilly right then :)

The afternoon was sneaking away from us and we pondered what to do -- we stopped at Flagg Ranch just outside Yellowstone in the Roosevelt Parkway and they provided some great suggestions for us. So we pressed on through the parkway, stopping here and there as we were inclined and headed in to Colter Bay. It had some great little shops and we got some information on the Grand Teton's National Park. They gave us a screaming good deal to stay at the Jackson Lake Lodge a little further into the G.T. park. We got in just in time to settle in, enjoy a few sites and then have some dinner at one of the lodge's restaurants. Everything was very nice: The cabins were comfortable and nicely put together; the food was yummy. We had a great night.

We left early the next morning (about 7) and headed down into the Tetons. It snowed in the night and the Tetons came up out of the fog and clouds covered in snow -- it really would take your breath away -- they were so majestic and grandiose. We enjoyed traveling down through the rest of the Tetons and back around the loop to the parkway. We followed the west roads out to Old Faithful which was fun to see. It spewed as we were walking in so we saw it from about 100 yards off but it was still great. Then we headed out the west entrance and came up through West Yellowstone and Ennis to home.

I told Tim I want to go back and explore some more next year with the kidlets -- maybe stay a day or two in the park. I would also love to explore some of the little towns we passed on the way home.

It was a refreshing time for Tim and I to enjoy each other's company and have some respite from our regular chores and responsibilities. My husband is the BEST to plan out all of this!!!! It was a FABULOUS time!