The hardest part of being travel nurses is being away from family. So when Caleb's sister, brother-in-law and their two kids decided to travel across the county this summer, we knew we need to intercept them when they headed out west. They spent a few weeks hitting up the national parks as they road tripped from Ohio to Wyoming. We were able to see them for a few days in July and the fact that it was in Yellowstone was just a plus! Yet another park we could cross off our list this summer. Caleb and his sister, Tessa, had both been there as kids. My in-laws took a whole month one summer in the late 90's and took the kids on an epic RV trip across the country to the national parks. This is one of my husbands favorite childhood memories and he says it helped shape his love for raw, untainted nature. Now, over a decade later, Nate and Tessa along with my nephew, Arden and niece, Adlee visited some of the same places. Yellowstone was beautiful, but experiencing it with the kids was special. Looking at things through the eyes of a child changes how you see them.
I wish I could say we had perfect weather and everyday was filled with sunshine. But I can't. It was cold and rainy most of the time we were there. Lots of layers were necessary during the day and we were pretty jealous of the Klaiber's sub-zero sleeping bags at night. Rain or shine- we didn't let it keep us from exploring.
And during breaks in weather, the colors of this place came to life. I couldn't get over the palette that this landscape offered. I wanted to take paint samples from the moss, mud pots, glacier water, sulfur pits, and milky blue ponds and design a whole house around them. They were some of the purest and most vibrant colors I have ever seen.
One thing I didn't expect about Yellowstone was the insanity of the tourists. Yes, I know technically we were tourists as well but we try to be as least annoying as possible. However, it seemed almost everyone else in the park was willing to start a two hour traffic jam over ONE ELK by the side of the road. I was warned about this but had no idea the degree of absolute bedlam an animal sighting would create. Most of the time we rolled our eyes and complained as we inched our way through the traffic and dodged tourists as they sprinted across the street to attempt to obtain The Perfect Instagram of the buffalo 100 yards away...good luck with that folks. Other times we watched as they came dangerously close to being board to death in front of 50 cars. But one time while crawling along with the windows down, we heard the one word that the kids have waiting the whole trip to hear. "Bear!" That was it. Before we knew it- we were 'those' tourists. We had to. These kids were going to see a bear. We had promised them. So we followed like ants at a picnic to a spot overlooking the valley. As we bobbed and weaved to the front of the crowd we realized the kids would get more than they bargained for. Not just one bear, but a family! Daddy bear was lumbering down the hill and Mommy bear was walking along two adorable cubs! They looked like little puppies frolicking across the valley. Using Nate's new, incredible binoculars, we all got our Bear Sighting. We made it back to the car- satisfied. (No we did not get a picture. It would have been 4 brown dots.) We thought we saw our bears for the trip, but we came across a young female grizzly on a trail later that day. We followed suit with the smart tourists that turned on their heels and booked it out of there, as we shook our heads at the not so smart tourists that tried to get some pictures. Seriously people are just dumb.
...But I did snap a picture of this 'little' guy on the road. I mean, we waiting in bumper to bumper traffic for an hour and a half because of him so I might as well hang my head out the window like everyone else. (We did not stop traffic.)
...But I did snap a picture of this 'little' guy on the road. I mean, we waiting in bumper to bumper traffic for an hour and a half because of him so I might as well hang my head out the window like everyone else. (We did not stop traffic.)
Caleb and I went for a morning hike around the lake and met another little friend. This coyote pranced passed us twice during our walk. The first time he came around the corner and scared the crap out of us. We hooted and hollered and tried to scare it away. It just stared at us like we were idiots. After we moved off the trail, he just pranced right by. I think we were just interrupting his morning laps.
My husband has developed a slight obsession with night sky photography. It's super complicated and time consuming but he insists on taking at least one midnight stroll everywhere we go to capture the stars. It involves hiking to the perfect spot, setting up the tripod just right, multiple setting adjustments, a camera remote and a shutter speed of at least 25seconds. While all of this is being played with, I am usually sitting in a camping chair, wrapped in a blanket and sipping wine. I like to think I offer moral support. So while I'm sipping and staring, Caleb takes pretty amazing pictures like these:
Check the shooting star in the one below!!
While hiking with our coyote, Caleb and I met a sweet old couple on the trail. We have learned one thing while traveling: if we meet an old adorable traveling couple and they recommend something to do- do it. So they told us to wake up at 0430 and watch the sunrise at Artist's Point over the Canyon. SO- we did! It was cold. Kids were sleepy. There was lots of fog. But we stuck it out- and boy was it worth it. We went from viewing the canyon with 300 other people to being the only ones on the ridge. We even got to play with our GoPro time lapse. Video below.
We missed this family so much. And whether it was running from bears or playing skipbo in 'Thor' the tent, we had a blast with you guys! Love you!