Grand Teton National Park

We didn't do anything to mark our anniversary this year (23 years!). Not a thing. Just went to church and had meetings and made dinner and the usual routine. We said "Happy Anniversary!" to each other and that was it. And it was just fine! We have had many years where there just wasn't much time for any sort of celebration, and we haven't minded. All the days with Sam are good days! BUT, this was Sam's year to be in charge of it (we switch off years) and he decided that maybe we would have time to do something if we waited a few weeks. So he asked if I wanted to be in on the planning and I said certainly not, and at the end of May he informed me that we were going to go somewhere for the weekend. Yay! I like being surprised.

Sam decided we would go see the Tetons. We've only seen them from afar, driving through Idaho to Yellowstone. This time we drove up Wyoming way through Cokeville and Afton and Star Valley. I don't think I've ever driven that road before. Highway 30. It was so beautiful!

Drove by the Star Valley Temple, which I remember hearing the announcement for and thinking "Where is that?" This photo looks like an artist's rendering for some reason.

We stayed in a cute little studio apartment above someone's garage. This was our view from the door!

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Yellowstone: Norris Geyser Basin

I haven't been to Yellowstone since I was a little girl, and I've been wanting our family to go for years now! I knew the kids would love it. We finally set aside a time and scheduled it for this last June. As it turned out, our spring and summer got crowded with a couple other trips as well, and even though it made logistics a little tricky, I was kind of glad we had the rental near Yellowstone already reserved, so we weren't tempted to put it off again! I planned a Geology Unit in our homeschool for May and June, and even a little mini-unit on just Yellowstone right before we went, so we were all extremely excited to see the things we'd been learning about!

It was hot and crowded, of course. But there are also lots of good things about going in the summer, like having all the roads be open and no chance of snow! And, of course, that was just when we could go, so no use worrying about it!

We stayed not quite a week (spending two days driving there and back, one day near our cabin, and three very full days in Yellowstone itself), and though we could certainly have stayed longer, we felt like it was a pretty good amount of time and we saw most of the things we wanted to in the park. I'd love to go again sometime in the Fall, though! I feel like I could never tire of that strange and beautiful landscape.

I was totally taken aback by the huge, forested expanses like this one. I didn't remember anything except Old Faithful from when I was younger, really, and I wasn't expecting such vast wilderness! 

Even though we'd learned about WHY all this geothermal activity takes place here, and we'd seen hundreds of pictures and watched dozens of videos—it still took our breath away to be driving along and then suddenly see a scene like this:

Steam rising up from the earth, morning light streaming through. It was spectacular. There are so many geothermal features that aren't even "notable" enough to appear on a map or a guide—but they are amazing all the same! I really loved just driving along and looking out at everything we passed.

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