What I can't wrap my brain around is the fact it is June 6th and it's snowing! The morning started out looking a bit bleak, then in began to rain, which turned to hail, which turned into sleet, which turned into snow, which continued to fall and fall and fall until everything was pure white! G was absolutely fascinated with the snow. We had to run out and purchase snow boots for her because I was under the impression it was summer when I packed.
The landscape here is dotted with steaming geysers and herds of Bison & Elk. We can't get over how many Bison there are...everyday we run into Buffalo traffic, literally. It takes anywhere up to 15 minutes to wait for them to cross the road. One of the neat parts about being in Yellowstone this time of the year is seeing all the newly born babies...to date we've seen the baby moose, elk and bison...super cute!! We even had a Bison and her baby stop in the middle of the road to nurse, now you don't see that every day. Unfortunately, due to the extreme cold, (ok, 32 is extreme for this So. Cal. girl) the geysers are hard to see b/c of all the steam. I remember seeing crystal blue sparkling pools in the past. One thing remains the same - that all familiar smell.
After close to 20 hours in the car we have finally arrived at our destination. Much has changed but much remains the same too! One can really see the devastation that the 88' fires had on this place. Lots of burned out areas but the new trees are making a comeback. Already we have seen quite a bit of wild life...Elk, Bison every where, a mother Moose and her baby, a Bald Eagle...but of course our mission for Greg's sake this week (cue drum roll) to spot a bear. We'll see about that. Our time share is beautiful, it's right outside the entrance to West Yellowstone. Tomorrow we're off to explore the park.
Pictures: We stopped in Jackson Hole, this was one of the spots our family always stopped in our way to Yellowstone. This place has really changed...I can't say it's a "Hole" any more...they've really built up the area around what they now call the "historic" district. Is it right that I've been around long enough to go back to a place from my child hood and it's now being called historic? It was good to see the familiar arch ways and experience the fun with Greg and our little family.
We woke up, packed and hit the road for another jaunt...7 hours this time...only it's been quite a bit longer. On one of the long stretches of endless road, we were held back for an hour while a burning semi was being removed. We also had to take a good hour pit stop at Cracker Barrel so G could run around and C could be fed. We're off again and should get to Bear Lake before 10 pm (hopefully ;-)
For a while Rachel, Jason and their kids were caravaning with us and we stopped of at the Chevy station for a little DQ...here are all the nieces and nephew (minus little C) on the big rocking chair. Traci & Tami, do you remember stopping here on our way to Colorado?? How funny that we happened upon it again!
Call us crazy...we're taking an 18 hour road trip with the babies! Not all at once of course. We're taking three days to get to our ultimate destination, Yellowstone Nat'l Park. Yellowstone holds very fond memories for me. As a child my family vacationed here every summer. Greg has never been so I'm especially excited to share this bit of my childhood with him. We were able to get permission to take the girls with us so they wouldn't have to be disrupted and put into respite care. It definitely was an experience packing for two babies and making sure we had everything we'd possibly need...We rented a mini van so we'd have plenty of room and my parents are with us, which has been a true blessing. They sit in the back and entertain the babies while we navigate the roads. So, today our destination was St. George, Utah...about a six hour trip. Our fabulous friends let us borrow a computer connection to keep us on line while on the road, so here we are driving and blogging. I actually might keep up on the blog more b/c I'm detained to a seat for so many hours. The girls are doing great, sleeping for the most part...and praise God for Baby Einstein dvd's...G absolutely is fascinated by them which helps when she starts getting a bit antsy. Tomorrow...Bear Lake, Utah...
Explanation of the picture...I have been known to be the rescuer of all animals from tarantulas and crows to your domestic dog and cat. For some reason, they seem to seek me out. I guess today was no different. We were just about packed in the car to go when two pit bulls meandered down the street and the one just hopped right in the car and sat in the drivers seat. Fortunately, they were incredibly sweet dogs that just wanted to go for a ride. 
