The Jasons Great Outdoors

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Geysers (you know the one), Eclipses, Petroglyphs, Hot springs...It's Been a CRAZY few days!

We have been with out power, or running water for a few days now, and with that comes absolutely NO connectivity (not to mention we have NO BARS) We pulled into a site last night with "Full Hook" and the kids almost pooped themselves they were so excited to watch an episode of "Supergirl"! (I have to say I was equally excited to see a "Game of Thrones"). But the morning has come and in a few hours we head back out into the wilderness. So, I am going to keep this short and sweet, and picture packed. They always tell the story better anyway! Quick recap: We were in Wyoming for the eclipse, and Scott found the perfect place to watch. We were in Thermopolis. A strange, tiny town with hot springs that feed a wacky pool that was made in the 1900's and is still there today. It was last updated in the early 70's! We stopped off at some insanely old stone carvings (oldest estimated at around 11,000 years) in the middle of no where down a long dirt road... Went to Yellowstone, saw "Old Faithful" do its thing. Visited the "World Famous Cody Dam" (What? You haven't heard of it? It was free, come on?) Spent an entire day along the Shoshone River building dams of our own and avoiding grizzly bears...seriously. Drove into the Tetons. Basked in the most stunning mountain views. Hiked. Drove some more into Idaho. And that is where I am now.

This is the effect of a huge fire in Yellowstone in the 1980's.

What a simple, beautiful landscape.

Exploring Yellowstone Lake.

Ethan walking away from his and his Dad's sculptures.

See the snow?

O.K. Here are the droves of people waiting for "Old Faithful" (us included).

Right on schedule. (I won the bet...people clapped.)

There was a high dive at the hot springs pool!

And waterslides...

Here comes the eclipse!!!!!

I was sooo excited to capture this with my telephoto! Once in a life time!

The entire thing is naturally heated to at least 94 degrees.

On our way home from the eclipse, we stopped at "Legend Rock" to walk through the ancient petroglyphs.

See the huge eared bunny!

I spy with my little eye a "Thunderbird" and two well endowed young men.

Yes, Ethan. I know it's hot as the sun, but Mommy REALLY needs to see each and every carving.

Cody was a great place to get a new axle.

And a haircut!

Fiona lost a tooth! See the new hole?

What are you looking at?

So very high up. My ears hurt...

Check out all the drift wood trapped at the top of the dam?

This guy was looking at me while I shopped for bear spray.

Quite the location.

A hike around Jackson Lake in the Tetons.

Love the colors of the lichen.

Grizzly bear print. This is seriously scary. The ranger drove around warning us to be careful. These guys will literally eat you. Of course the warning came after this photo, and after we returned to our trailer!

I think this is agate.

My new favorite picture of my husband. Such a water baby. Happily gazing at his new favorite mountains.

Can you see Ethan staring back at you? His sister built a great lake fort.

Fishing...but not catching.

Look at that crazy gold line at the waters edge. The sun was playing all kinds of tricks this day.

Bye, bye Tetons.

Friday, August 18, 2017

Wild Kingdom!

Oh how amazing it is to see wild animals in their home! We have never seen so many actual wild animals! I felt like we were in one of the specials Fiona incessantly watches! After "The Badlands" we headed further west to stay three nights in Custer State Park. The landscape was etherial... meadow grass between clusters of birch and pine, ancient boulders sprinkled all around, cactus poking up and rolling hills against sharp red cliffs. Scott planned an amazing car ride along the "Needles Highway" and "Iron Mountain Road". What on paper is a few hours drive through Custer State Park turned into the entire day. Why? Because you have to stop for the bison, prairie dogs, pronghorn, deer and burros! You can't get out of the car and approach the bison, but as you can see from the pictures, they come right onto the road! Then it was onto "The Needles Highway". This was the most insanely twisted, steep, and glorious drive we have yet to go on. It offered multiple views of Mount Rushmore, which satisfied our "blah" attitude about seeing the monument. We also had the opportunity to squeeze thru mountain passes that felt just barely wide enough to fit "Rolling Thunder"! The geology of the place just leaves one in awe of what the earth was up to long before we came along. We are now about to spend our second night in Wyoming. O.K., I thought South Dakota was remote. I truly admire those who live out here. You MUST be pretty self sufficient to make a go of it. Tomorrow we head to Yellowstone. We plan on taking a three mile hike around "Old Faithful" and the other lesser know geysers. We have read the warnings to stay on the boardwalk paths due to the higher than boiling temperature waters just under a thin crust layer. Super bummer if you fall tomorrow... The view out my window right now looks artificial! Rocky cliffs with bare hills at their base and HUGE random rock steeples jutting out of the ground!

Storm over the edge of "The Badlands".

At our site in Custer. The kids built forts on the hill above our camper.

We had to watch out for these buggers!

Oh, hello.

Roaming herd of bison!!!

Mommy and baby.

Definitely needed to drive carefully.

Ahhh, this looks like a nice place for a picnic.

Safe up on the bumper. We were going to hike into the fields just before this photo. Then we read the warnings: sudden storms, thick poison ivy and rattle snakes. Hmmmm... we looked over our shoulders to see some large grey clouds...went a few more steps and,"YIKES!" Someone ahead of us had stoned a rattlesnake to death right in the hiking trail! Scott nearly stepped on it! Game over.