Another long post that I have been meaning to get to....the last post comprised of 2 weeks of our summer vacation. This post will be the 3rd week of that long vacation. But what a fabulous week it was! My hubby and T flew in on a Thursday afternoon and we headed out the next morning to spend a glorious week in the middle of nowhere. Who could ask for anything more!
My dad turned 80 this year and so for his birthday we rented a huge house for a family reunion to celebrate....it was so much fun. It was located in Victor, Idaho at the end of a remote mountain road with only the sounds of nature all around us....this is the view from the back porch.....
Below is a pix of the house from the main road
It was heaven. ok, so there were 25 of us and we did get noisy playing games and laughing, but... We kind of all did our own thing...unless we were doing the same thing of course...but met up in the evening to eat dinner together and play games. There seemed to always be a game going on at any point when we were at the house.
The house was just over the hill from Jackson Hole, so civilization was not too far away. Jackson was quite the little town..always had people milling around.
Up the road was Teton National Park. We spent lots of time there playing, hiking, getting wet, boating, fishing, sightseeing.....The Grand Tetons are quite the gorgeous mountains and I was just in awe of them.
Jenny Lake
hiking up to Hidden Falls
Hidden Falls
Tetons from Jackson
Lewis Falls
bad morning sun but wanted the shot before we finished a day on the lake
Up the road further was Yellowstone National Park. I haven't been there since I was a kid, so it was fun to go back. We spent tons of time hiking, fishing, boating, wildlife viewing, watching geysers, smelling geysers, getting sprayed by geysers....lots to see there.
Old Faithful
Castle Geyser
This sign made us laugh
Spasmodic Geyser
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Lower Falls
osprey nest
Upper Falls
Dragon's Breath
Mud pots!
Although no matter how hard we looked and how many days we were there, we did not see a single bear. We were so bummed, but we did spot a coyote, tons of bison, and at the last moment, a moose. We loved it when we came upon a traffic jam on the road as we knew there was some sort of animal off in the distance....always hoping for that bear of course.
But of course, the main purpose for this trip was to be with my dad and celebrate this milestone birthday. We had a party for him on Sunday with a yummy dinner and then a "roast" I guess you could say. Everyone got up and told stories and memories of him and it was so much fun. He really is the best dad in the world and I am so glad that he is mine and that he is the grandpa to my children. He is a wonderful example of a man who truly loves his family and wants the best for them. (I love you daddy)
The gang....minus 16 others that couldn't come
My family
My sweet dad
Grandpa with my kids
Life in a small town is so different for me...I am a big city girl and so I love to come visit these kinds of towns. We went into downtown Victor for lunch one day and they could not accommodate us...we had about 12 all together. First off all the restaurants close down about 3:30 so they can get ready for the dinner rush...it was about 2:30 and they turned us away because the chef was too tired and couldn't get us served before closing time and they had to close right at 3:30.
There was a chapel there so we were able to attend church and it was actually quite full...I was surprised. at the last minute, T decided he needed to fit in, so wore his cowboy boots with his suit....it was awesome.
The night before the 4th of July, we went into Driggs, ID for their annual Balloon Glow. We were excited until we saw that it was like one balloon and it was up for about 10 minutes while it was still light outside. But there were a tons of people there and there was a show going on so we watched a local lady do a little dance in her sparkling pink pants. We really did have a great time....all the girls got feathers and sparkles tied in their hair and we stopped by the corner soda fountain for dessert.
The 4th of July was spent on Jackson Lake, fishing! It was a hot day, but lots of fun. Fireworks were banned everywhere this year. We were quite bummed as we had brought our Wyoming fireworks with us so we could shoot them off. So no fireworks at all this year and so it really didn't feel like the 4th.
There was definitely plenty to do. We had a hot tub on the patio which was so nice to have to relax in. K was the first one in it...couldn't wait any longer.
We had a fabulous time! Beautiful country and wonderful family....couldn't have asked for more!
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