Last Chance Before School

Well, as a last-resort to try and get out of town before school started, Jennie and I decided to invite our friends, Mike and Courtney Hokanson to go to Yellowstone with us and make a day trip out of it.

It's kind of been a tradition for me over the last several years to make a trip up through there every summer. How could we make this one any different, especially before the baby comes and we'll have to limit our traveling?

Our first stop was Mesa Falls in Island Park. The falls are always breathtaking and so fun to see. We'd gotten an early start, and so it was still very chilly when we got there. You can see Jennie was all bundled up in her jacket, and a hoodie, but I was only wearing a long t-shirt and another short-sleeved one one top. I was freezing.

Later on, we stopped at Big Springs and saw the huge fish there. It hasn't been as good recently as it was when I was a kid b/c of the stupid seagulls that have, somehow, found their way there.


Our drive up through Yellowstone was very pretty, but pretty uneventful.

One funny thing, though, is that while we'd stopped at Old Faithful to see the geyser, we got there about 40 minutes before it was supposed to go off. We ate our lunches and enjoyed some time chatting. After that, we froze to our bones waiting for that stupid thing to go off. We waited a half hour (15 minutes either way of when it was supposed to go off) and decided that if you've seen it once, you've seen it a bunch of times. So, we took off to more interesting things.

On the drive down the south exit of Yellowstone, everybody in the car was already pretty beat. So, while they slept, I drove. They missed a very pretty drive, though.

We ended up in Grand Teton National Forest where we hiked around the south end of Jenny Lake and to Cascade Falls. It was a beautiful hike, but Mother Nature couldn't make up her mind as to the weather. When we first started walking, it was cold enough that we could see our own breath and we could have used a good cup of hot chocolate. But after bundling up and walking for about 15 minutes, the sun came out and we were sweating up a storm. We had to carry our coats with us through the whole two mile hike. Suffice it to say, we were slightly annoyed.

After the hike, we were completely famished and HAD to have something to eat. We'd wanted to wander the stores in Jackson Hole for a little bit, but decided that eating was more important. And, with Jennie pregnant, it's better to take the food.

We had an awesome dinner at Bubba's Barbeque. I swear they have the best beef brisket in the world.

On the drive home, though, I asked Mike to drive the rest of the trip b/c I was running on maybe 3-4 hours of sleep. I didn't sleep well the night before. One of those "little kid on Christmas Eve" kinds of things.

Anyway, we loved our trip and can't wait to do it again next year with our baby. Love to all.