Today was filled with fun things and not so fun things. We took it easy this morning, I made a big breakfast and we just hung around camp. Tim took the girls to the river and Noah for a bike ride. Then late morning we headed out to the Moose Visitors Center. What a beautiful building! It had floor to ceiling windows with a view of the Tetons, was made of wood slats and a metal roof and inside it had tons of interactive exhibits for the kids… I am so glad we stopped there. The kids were sworn in as Jr. Rangers and got their third badge of the trip. Then it was off to Snow King Mountain for the alpine slide. It was so much fun! You take the ski lift to the top of a mountain and then there is a slide built into the mountain that you ride a sled on all the way to the bottom. The kids just loved it and so did the grownups. After that is was to the Laundromat (a not so fun part of day). After 2 hours of a bunch of blunders (I forgot the detergent at camp, the bag of quarters had a hole and $20 worth of quarters spilled all over the place, kids fighting, etc, etc…) we got the laundry done. After that it was to downtown Jackson to walk around and do a little shopping. It is a very cute town with lots of T-shirt and souvenir shops but they also had an Eddie Bauer (my favorite clothing store) and it was huge! Then it was time for dinner, we ate outside at a pizza restaurant that was very delicious. Jackson seems very dog friendly and we had a stray dog standing at our table begging for Megan's food the entire meal… that was kind of weird and a little unappetizing, he was a little mangy. We also found a Sheltie downtown that we could love on and tell them all about our Lily. Then came another not so fun thing… grocery shopping. Not so fun with a husband, 3 kids in tow, and in a strange store but we got it done. In the parking lot, Tim noticed the truck leaking radiator fluid… here comes some more not so fun things. Then it was off to the car shop that was closing and they said to come back at 7:30 tomorrow morning. But, we can't…we will be on our way to Yellowstone. We have to though so Yellowstone may be delayed after we find out what is wrong with the truck. Tim has his worried look on his face so I hope this will be done and over with quick tomorrow. That is all of our day; we will take the good with the bad and Praise the Lord through it all as we know He is in control!
This afternoon we did our own things. I relaxed and read a book outside with a view of the mountains, a cool 70 degrees outside. Megan and Leah played stuffed animals; Leah bought a reindeer and Megan an elk so it has opened the floodgates of imaginative play as they incorporate their new characters into all of their other animals. So fun to listen to! Noah and Tim went fishing in the river behind our campsite, they didn't catch anything but Noah doesn't seem to care, it is just the experience and being with his Daddy. After that it was time for dinner and then we headed over to the campground amphitheater for the ranger talk. These are becoming one of my favorite parts of our time here. It is not necessarily the topics (last night it was cougars) but the rangers themselves. I find their stories so interesting and they are all so different. They seem to be so adventurous, giving up their lives to come to a national park for a summer. Last night the ranger was a college student from Texas… he is a city boy but just wanted to do something different this summer so he decided to come to Teton… wow, what a spirit of adventure. I find myself getting excited walking to the ranger talk to hear these interesting peoples stories… then I usually tune out the rest and end up rubbing Leah's back or trying to entertain her. Daddy stayed back last night to clean up the RV so me and the kids started our walk back after the talk and we heard a rustling in the bushes. Then something jumped out at us and it was Daddy trying to scare us… so mean after we just learned how cougars stalk their pray and jump out at them! Then we went back to camp for a campfire and roasting of marshmellows and smores. Then it was showers and off to bed. A wonderful day! Tomorrow we will be in Jackson, Wyoming also known as Jackson Hole… it is a pricey resort town so I better get a shower and look somewhat decent, it's kind of embarrassing when you are all grubbed out from camping and then you see everyone else looking great so we will see what I can do with myself!
Ahhh… the Tetons. They are quite striking when we were driving up and saw them for the first time. They are a huge mountain range with Grand Teton at the center at over 13,000 feet tall. The drive through the Bridger National Forest was beautiful, with lots of pine trees, rolling hills, and the Snake River running through it. We finally arrived at our campsite at 8pm, a long but uneventful day of driving. The set-up of our campsite was stressful, the site seemed a little small for what we have but we made it finally and then had a quick dinner and off to bed.
Wednesday morning we slept in and leisurely got ready for a hike around Jenny Lake. We arrived at Jenny Lake and went straight to the visitor's center. After that we started our hike. The lake is just beautiful and very large, blue- green in color with pine trees all the way to the shoreline. The hike took us around the lake on a dirt trail with tons of foliage, pine trees, and quaking aspen (Auntie Donna's favorite tree!) surrounding us. Shortly into our hike I heard Tim say "Kamisha did you see that?" He was behind me with Leah so I looked to my right and in the forest 5 feet from me I saw a very large mule deer looking right at me and running toward me. I panicked. I grabbed the kids, stood still, and screamed as loud as I could (thanks Mom, now I am a screamer too!). I scared the deer and off he went! We continued on for another 2 miles or so until we finally reached the end of our hike at Hidden Falls. It is a gorgeous waterfall in the Teton Mountain. It is very large and running fast. We had lunch by the waterfall and then we continued back down to the boating dock and took the boat back to the other side of the lake. The kids really enjoyed the boat ride and it was nice to not have to hike a couple of miles back. After that it was back in the car and off to Jackson Lodge which is on Jackson Lake. We went to Lunch Tree Hill where Rockefeller first fell in love with the Tetons and decided to buy them to make them a National Park. The Lodge is nice with huge windows looking out at the lake. We took a couple of pictures and then it was back to camp. On the road to our campground, there were tons of Bison on both side of the road and also crossing the road in front of us and behind us. There were tons of them. We made it back and we will relax a little and take in some ranger programs at our campground tonight. It is much cooler here, temps in the low 70's and it was cool last night. Felt more like camping with the cooler temps and no hook ups... I love roughing it a bit more but Tim, might disagree :)
After some R&R we went down to the river again, this time Daddy got in too. The river is only about 60 degrees so it is too cold for me! After a while it was back to camp to start packing up and putting things away. We had dinner and then the boys went to town to see if they could catch a movie. While they were gone us girls cleaned the inside of the RV spic and span. It is so fun washing dishes with the girls in the RV, it is something I don't do at home but when camping, Leah is the scrubber, I am the rinser and Megan dries. We sing songs and have fun while we clean. The boys came back and said they were hitting the 8:00 movie of Prince of Persia so I think I will take the girls for a nature walk. Then Zion will be a thing of the past for us. I am proposing coming back every summer, I think this is our kind of place… warm, water, great hikes, beautiful scenery, very orderly and clean and it is very well managed. Here is what us girls like best about Zion… Leah- the deer's, Megan- the river, and Mommy- the canyons, water and vegetation. For the next 7 days we will be boon docking which means we will be dry camping. Here we were spoiled with electrical hook ups which means unlimited power, air conditioning, etc. but it will be different there. Not that we will need air conditioning, it will be a lot cooler! Tomorrow will be a 10 hour drive so we will see you at Teton National Park!
This morning it was more about hiking. We started out at the visitor's center and had the kids sworn in as Jr. Rangers and then it was off to the shuttle. We took the shuttle to the end of the canyon where the canyons are steep and it is much cooler. On the shuttle ride we saw a mama deer with her baby. We did a trail called the Riverside Walk that led into the Narrows. The trail was a nice, easy trail that meandered next to the Virgin River. The canyons are so tall around you and they have ferns and other fauna growing out of them and there is water seeping out of the rocks too. We saw another deer a few feet away eating from the tree. When that trail ends it leads you straight into the Narrows which is named this because it is just the river and the tall canyons around you so the hiking is through the river. We went quite far until the water started getting to Leah's waist and then it was time to turn around. The current was quite strong but it was fun… Noah had the best time with this one. After that was done it was back to the shuttle to see Weeping Rock. It was a short hike up to a small cave that had water pouring or weeping from the top of it. It also had a plants hanging down from it… very beautiful! On the way down we saw yet another deer a few feet away. Then it was back to camp for lunch and some rest and relaxation. A great way to spend our last day!
Coming back from Bryce, guess where we went… the river again. The kids love it there, the inner tubes are "shared" meaning people just leave them when they leave and you are free to use them. So, they spent the next hour riding in the tube up and down again. Then it was back to camp for dinner and then a short walk to explore the outside of Zion in a town called Springdale. We were just curious what was on the other side of the river we visit daily so we went outside the park and walked around a little. It really cools down here in the evening so it is nice to walk around at that time. It is a little strange though taking a walk at 9pm at night with the kids but when it is still light out, that's what you do! I just tucked the kids in bed and in my prayers Megan asked me to thank Jesus that she became a Jr. Ranger… how cute! Tomorrow is our last day in Zion, I will be sad to go and I think the kids will be too. I haven't washed my hair in 3 days, the kids haven't showered and Tim is growing a beard but I don't miss home one bit… not yet anyways!
