Adventures in Yellowstone

Wow, it seems like so long ago that we took our family vacation to Yellowstone, even though it was a few short weeks ago! Time flies I guess when your fiancé comes into town to plan your wedding and you have to see this friend and these friends and do this, do that... But it's all fun of course. :)

Anyway, back to Yellowstone. We spent about 5 days up in that area. A realitivly short drive from Colorado, we took our sweet time exploring Wyoming on our way there, spending the night in Casper on our way. Once we got checked into our cabin at the Pahaska Teepee Lodge, formerly owned by the infamous Buffalo Bill, we spent a whole day in nearby Cody, WY. They have a fantastic museum, Buffalo Bill's Center of the West Museum, which housed some pretty cool exhibits. My dad and brother went crazy for the large gun exhibit, my mom and I enjoyed the Native American jewelry and Western Art exhibits, and then we all enjoyed the natural history exhibit and Buffalo Bill exhibit. I kinda went into crazed designer mode in the natural history one, because the interior design of it was just so darn brilliant, I couldn't contain myself! The way you experienced the space, the way the information was given to you... It was perfect! Makes me curious about museum design a bit… But I digress. After spending the afternoon walking through the downtown area (and me finding the perfect cowboy boots for my wedding!) we ate dinner at a cute family owned establishment then made our way to the Cody Rodeo. It was my first rodeo experience, and it was definitely fun! I have mad respect for those bull riders... That was certainly quite intimidating to watch! 

The next two days we spent exploring Yellowstone National Park. We of course saw all the main sights, watched Old Faithful erupt, etc. The geothermal areas of the park are just breathtaking and mind boggling to me. To think that just up the Rockies from us in Colorado are these awesome acts of nature is so neat. (The geology neard in my dad and I certainly came out in this trip. I am my fathers daughter!)

 Aside from the cool features the park has to offer, some of the coolest memories involve some of the animals we encountered. Now, coming from Colorado, deer and elk are a common sight for me. So when tourists would block the road with their deer or elk sightings we all thought "so what?" But we did really want to see bison, a grizzly bear, and a moose. I've seen bison before up in Custer National Park in South Dakota, but waking up in the morning to see four of them across the small street from your cabin is quite a different thing! And then leaving the park on the first day we came across a mama grizzly and her two cubs on their evening walk... So cool! One of the little cubs starting skipping and I just about died.

 

After we had had our share of the sights in Yellowstone, we made our way back home via Grand Teton National Park. I'm a Colorado girl at heart and have seen many beautiful mountain views in my day, but still the Tetons rendered me breathless. It amazes me the beauty we have on this earth. Gods creations are truly everywhere, and it is so apparent when you look at something like this.

Overall it was a great week, and I loved exploring a part of the country I hadn't seen before, despite it being so close to home. As if I needed it, this trip even more solidified that I am truly a Colorado girl at heart, and that the west is where I belong. And I'm so happy my man feels the same way! (Well, not about being a Colorado girl at heart, since he's a guy but you know what I mean :) )

--Caroline