Day 17, 18, 19 Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park.... HUGE!!! I didn't realize how big it really was. Russell woke us up at 545 in Grand Tetons so we could get an early start and see some animals. We didn't see much. We tried to get a campsite (at 8am) and they were already booked!!! Finally, we found a site. But there was no guarantee that we could stay in the same spot 2 nites. Oh well, at least we had a spot somewhere!!! We unloaded and headed to Old Faithful. It really was amazing. The pictures really don't show how big or beautiful. Along the way, we stopped at a lot of hotpots, geysers, and mudpots. They all look different, and smell like sulfur!!! RUssell cooked a delicious chicken dinner and we had leftover sandwiches the next day.

Russell let Sarah and I sleep the next morning while he took Rachel to Montana to the McDonalds!!! (But they don't have gravy or chicken biscuits!!) Then we headed out to drive the rest of the park. Along the way, we were in 2 animal traffic jams. Buffalo (bison) were walking right down the middle of the street!!!! They are HUGE and you could hear their hooves on the pavement. The girls were scared to roll down their window. But of course, Russell had his wide open. He could have touched them!!!! Then we saw some coyotes, another traffic jam.

We drove the park for 8 hours, stopping at geysers, hotpots, mudpots, canyons, upper and lower falls and anything else that looked interesting. We finally made it back to our site and cooked a delicious dinner (hamburgers) and called it a night.

In the morning, Russell once again woke everyone up at daybreak and we headed out of the park to Cody, Wyoming.



Lunch in Yellowstone NP

So, when you don't make reservations, you have to move your tent to another site.

Buffalo really close.

Buffalo coming right toward us!!!

Upper Falls in Yellowstone

You can ride around Yellowstone in this cool car. Russell said it looked like the Von Trapp family in Austria. (The Sound of Music for those of you who aren't into their musicals).

These geysers and hot pots are so full of color. Pictures really don't show how beautiful they really are. Or how smelly they are...

Freezing.... 37 degrees....

Our only eagle

Playing cards and drinking hot chocolate

Our chef decided to marinate some chicken and cook it on the grill.

Day 16 Grand Tetons

FInally made it to the Grand Tetons. We started out at McDonalds in Jackson, Wyoming. It was a crazy, crowded town. A little down the road, we found a tent site and set up. It was a realxing day. We saw a deer run across our campsite. Since Russell can't hike much, we drove around and pulled off at all the sites. While driving, a storm was approaching in the distance. We got some cool pictures with a double rainbow. Back at the campsite, we... Russell... cooked dinner and we all bundled up... low was 37!!!!


A storm approaching and our second rainbow of the trip. Thank goodness the rain was short and didn't get our tent too wet!!!

Storm and dam

Grand Tetons with snow on top.

We had some family time playing cards. We actually had a good laugh every night.

At the park.

Days 13, 14 and 15 (Carbondale, Colorado, Vernal, Utah, Huntsville, Utah and Jackson, Wyoming

Campsite outside of Jackson, Wyoming. Everyone was very scared of the bears!!! No more creams and lotions for a while!!!

Yes, we followed the Oregon Trail in Bear Lake, Utah

Famous raspberry milkshake. Ice cream...again... for lunch!

So, don't you need to try buffalo jerky when you are in Utah and Wyoming??? But we didn't realize 3 oz was $13.oo!!!!

A HUGE thank you to Charlie and Jim for letting us stay with them in Huntsville, Utah. Lani's (our neighbor) parents.

Ralph, their neighbor in Utah, and all of his turned wood... bowls, lamps, spoons...

Our treasures...

Ralph's Model T that he rebuilt with a wood body.

Yes, he made a coffin for his wife and a casket for himself.

Riding horses at Charlie and Jim's house.

Rachel

Utah

Here we are with Jake's (our neighbor) parents in Vernal, Utah.

Dan really knows how to cut dinner for a large family... chicken, beans, potatoes, corn, salad, homemade bread... Yummy!!!

In Carbondale, Colorado with Todd and Carrie Allen and their girls, Cecilia and Emily. The 12,000 ft mountain in the background with snow on top!

Day 10 ,11, 12 (Tues, Wed, Thursday)

Ok... Everyone keeps emailing looking for the blog. So here it is. We haven't had internet access for the last couple of days and we won't have access for the next 2 days. We have driven from the Grand Canyon, thru Glen Canyon, by passing the north rim of the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Red Rock Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Arches National Park and Moab, Utah and now we are in Carbondale, Colorado...about 30 miles from Aspen. We have camped the past couple of nights. Everyone was happy until the girls saw the sign about rattlesnakes and scorpions. Thank goodness it gets too cold at night for snakes and no one touched any rocks to find scorpions. Driving thru the west, we have noticed the terrain changes drastically as you go over mountains. One minute, there we are at the bottom of red canyons that are shooting up for a mile around. Then, as we drive over the mountain, the terrain changes to look like the surface of the moon...gray, ashy, small, sand-looking mounds. We have seen cows right by the side of the road. At one point, in southern Utah, we were driving across the top of the mountain range with no guardrails. The road was about 40 feet across and just dropped off. Russell actually drove about 20 mph. It was scary. You might have heard of the "million dollar highway" or "hells backbone". Once in a lifetime is enough!!!

The girls are doing a great job in the car. We look for exciting stops...like Sonic "happy hour". We have continued our lunch tradition of ice cream. In Moab, Utah (a huge rafting, 4 wheel drive, biking area) we found a great cabin. The 8 inch plastic mattress felt terrific... after sleeping on rocks! Now, we are in a nice, comfortable house!!!! We are staying outside of Aspen with one of Russell's fraternity brothers. It's nice to reconnect after 20 years. (And wash clothes, and eat a homecooked meal and sleep in a real bed!!!)

Next, we are off to Utah, again, for a couple of day, the north to Yellowstone. Then... who knows!!! Check back to see where we end up!!

Total miles so far... 3500.

Zion National Park... Hiking Emerald Pools. This is the girl's favorite spot so far... even better than the Grand Canyon!!!

This is Bryce Canyon... beautiful, sand castle looking mountains.

Here are those cows on the side of the road. We saw this a couple of times. Of course Russell honked!!!

Driving thru Capital Reef National Park, we found an orchard where we picked our own apricots!!!

Here is our comfortable little cabin in Moab, Utah.

THis is the Delicate Arch in Arches National Park.

I know this picture doesn't show all the cool colors, but this full moon rising above the arches was amazing!!!

Our Sonic stop. Yummmmm. Sweet peach tea and 1/2 price!!! Russell ordered a cherry lemon sundrop.... oops... no sundrop out here.

Here is our historical section of the blog... We saw Doc Holliday's gravesite. We met a group of dentist who drove from Pennsylvania to see the sights out west.

SNOW... in JULY!!! How cool is that!!!!

And finally, we drove up to Snowmass. Those lifts and runs were soooo high. Nothing like it in NC!!!

Day 8 and 9 (I think!!)

SO, the pictures loaded backwards. But I guess you don't know they are backwards... Here are the last couple of days worth of pictures. Internet access has not been great. And it will probably be a couple of days before I update again.

When I last left you, we were at the Arizona/New Mexico border spending the night in a hotel. We woke up to a cool Monday morning and headed to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It wasn't too crowded. We spent a couple of hours walking around and taking pictures of the double rainbow over the canyon. How incredible!!! Then, we found a nice campground to pitch our tent. (Yes, tent... ground... under the stars...). Russell cooked a terrific dinner and we were all asleep early. It wasn't toooo bad... until 5am and the airplane took off about a mile from the campground. I thought that thing was coming thru our tent!!!!!

After a healthy breakfast of brats on a bun, we packed and headed back to explore the canyon, until the rain set in. So we headed west to drive ALL 185 miles around to the north rim. But, with all the rain and traffic and stops, we decided to rethink our route. We headed towards Utah. That's where we are now. Right at the base of Zion National Park. We will head there in the am. Then off to 8000 ft. elevation at Bryce Canyon and Moab... unless we change our minds and head to CA. That's still 2 days off and Russell can change his mind a lot in 2 days...
Dinner... steak, chicken, salad, baked potaoes, grilled mushrooms and onions. Yummy. We cooked a bunch of food to save for lunch the next day!!!!

This is the storm that followed us all day. It was reallly wild to watch it form in the distance and drive beside it for miles....

Glen Canyon and the Colorado River... A LONG way down!!!

Grand Canyon and Colorado River

OK... We found this campground outside the Grand Canyon. But they wouldn't let us stay here because Russell was recovering from Dinopeptitis... (Inside joke for some of you...)

Yes, Russell is holding a lighter next to Smokey the Bear... How wrong it that???? They might not let us back in the Grand Canyon...

THese elk were RIGHT next to us... They are huge!!!

Last but not least, this is the picture of the double rainbow over the canyon. Look closely above the bright rainbow above Rachel's head.

Thanks for reading and until next time....

The Post Family