To: Casper, WY
Miles Driven: 531 Today / 1,527 Total
Miles Hiked: 1.2 Today / 6 Total
Oy, today had things. So many things. Or actually, not very many things, but despite a few beautiful things also rather unpleasant things. That isn't fair though. It was still great.
We started with a 4 hour drive. With over an hour of that being stuck in bumper to bumper traffic going 20 miles or so within Yellowstone National Park. The views were amazing, but traffic sucks. Even more so when we had to stop several times so I could use horrible disgusting outhouse type toilets because apparently my upset stomach from yesterday hadn't completely gone away.
BUT our first real stop was at Old Faithful herself. And we got to surprise the kids with meeting up with some So Cal friends who just happened to be in Yellowstone the same time as us. Parking is stupid so Justin dropped us off at the Visitor Center and went to drive around the parking lot for like 20 minutes. He's awesome.
What isn't awesome? He missed the "geysing" of the geyser (Justin's word because he doesn't like me calling it an eruption or explosion). Since we had a LONG drive ahead we couldn't stick around for the next one. Instead, we had a miserable picnic lunch. Our company was great, but it was like 40 degrees and WINDY. Arctic cold winds that made my entire face and fingers numb. I couldn't open a bag of cheese because I honestly couldn't feel my fingers. Add to that Jordan's motion sickness had not dissipated (she also missed the geysing because she was sitting at my feet trying not to vomit) and we were pretty much "done". Sorry Websters for being horrible friends.
Rob and Tawni gave us a great tip about a short hike with amazing views and the wind was not bad so we could actually move around without limbs falling off.
The views were worth it, but we were now about an hour off schedule. You'll soon learn why this actually matters on this day.
The drive out was through the Grant Teton National Park which was also stunning. We assume it would have been more beautiful without the storm clouds beginning to form blocking some of the mountain tops.
We continued our drive to the hotel. A 6 hour drive. My husband is champ with 10 hours of driving today! That 6 hour drive was pretty much nothing but outdoorness. Beautiful mountains, rivers, lakes, hills, fields, rainbows, you name it we probably saw it. We even pulled over for a few minutes so Jordan could get a handful of snow. Justin's favorite was definitely the sunset. The sky glowed with all the colors as we drove into the rain cloud territory.
Driving on roads with no lights, in areas you don't know, with 2 lane highways with lines that are barely visible in the daylight in the pouring rain is no fun, But we made it to the hotel. Only 1.5 hours later than I hoped (I wanted to get here before sunset). The kids were begging to go in the pool but I was stuck trying to explain that it was already so very late and we have to get up early. I was toying with the idea since they had spent 10 hours cooped in a car today, but the front desk told us that literally 30 seconds before we walked in somebody had puked in the pool so it was closed.
So we saw some of the most beautiful landscapes to date. We got to see some of our favorite people, but I am very glad this day is over.
Wyoming, I'm not sure how I feel about you.
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