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Green Makes Me Happy

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For a must-see in Montana we were told we needed to go to Libby, MT and spend a day in that area. So we did. It was a few hours drive from where we were in Hungry Horse to Libby so we left in the morning.

It was a scenic drive and when we got there went to the Travel office to see what we could do if we only had a day. The nice lady that worked there suggested Kootenai Falls, the rope bridge and the Ross Creek Giant Cedars.

The hike was a fairly short one to the falls, and I was in complete awe of the beautiful trees! Huge trees and beautiful green forest! Giant green trees and mossy forests seriously make me the happiest gal ever. I can’t wait until we visit Oregon and the Redwoods in California. I’m absolutely itching to get there!

We spent some time overlooking the falls and then hiked the other way to the rope bridge that went across the Kootenai River. It was a little drive to the Cedars so we weren’t able to stay too long.

It was a spectacular drive in the mountains to the Cedar area. As we drove, J and I kinda had an off feeling, but chalked it up to it being in the middle of nowhere.

We had left the bear spray at home and were wishing we hadn’t. When we got there, there were only 1 or 2 cars in the parking lot and one was driving off. So as we were downloading from the truck, we noticed on the message board that there had been a bear sighting with cubs in that area a Ranger had posted and someone else had put a handwritten note that day confirming a sighting. So we were like ok..we will just keep our eyes open. But I think we all had a weird vibe thing going. And everything was just eerily quiet.

  • At the beginning of the trail. Yes, they all had jackets they left in the vehicle.

We got about 50 yards in, none of us really wanting to admit we were a little freaked out and our #2, Mr. Eagleeyes spotted very fresh bear poo by a nearby tree. Our southern, flatlander selves decided we needed to listen to our gut feeling and vacate. So we did.

I was so bummed at missing out on seeing the giant Cedars but I think we did the wise thing by leaving. We have had our fair share of bear encounters, we didn’t need another for the books!

~Enjoy the journey!

White Water Rafting

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FYI: Its cold on a glacier fed river in September y’all. It didn’t stop us from having a blast, but we will sure rethink not renting the rubber suit and boot things next time.

So this was quite different from our float trip down the Snake River in Wyoming. The kids were ecstatic. We knew to wear clothes and shoes that were going to get wet. Because: white water rafting. But I was not prepared for the icy shock that we would be in for walking in knee deep water to our raft on the river. Holy Moly! As our family of 5 and another group of 3 got settled in the raft our river guide gave us the spiel.

Our youngest was the only one without a paddle and he wasn’t completely thrilled about it. He was situated in the middle and I think kept the older man from the other party amused.

Much of the trip was quite windy. So much so, that the wind whipping down into the canyon actually pushed up upstream. We had to paddle hard much of the time just to go forward! So crazy! At one point, we were positioning ourselves to go down some rapids and another raft from the company we were with was at the bottom just kind of sitting there. They were kind of stuck waiting for the wind so all they could do was watch us go down the rapids.

As we got to the bottom, our raft swung around quite dramatically toward their raft and as we swung around, our #1 who was in the back next to the guide, threw her arms out (one with the paddle) in a Gladiator moment and shouted, “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?” Oh lawdy.

We finally made it out of the windy canyon area and into quieter waters as we unloaded at the exit point and hiked back to the headquarters. Wet, sandy, frozen and numb. But totally worth it.

These are the memory-making experiences we set out for when we started this lifestyle. I love that my kids will have these times to look back on and have forever.

~Enjoy the journey!

Ropes Courses and Zip Lining

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When we were white water rafting, we shared a raft with some neat people! They told us about Big Mountain in Whitefish that was a ski resort, but had summer activities as well. They had went zip lining, and done a ropes course up on the mountain. So the kids, now that they’ve had a taste of adrenaline, couldn’t wait to go.

The first day, we signed the kiddo’s up for a ropes course up in the trees. It was the coolest thing. After getting the shpiel on how to work the harnesses and clips, they were sent off to climb. Our #3, who a few weeks previous, had a conniption at his sister mentioning zip lining, was the first to climb the platform and step off onto the first obstacle. My plan for him to be in between the other 2 kids in case he needed help went out the window. It was amazing. My kid who was scared just talking about zip lining was tackling these obstacles high up in the trees like a pro.

They all did amazing and I totally chickened out. The next day, the kids and I went back for zip lining. That’s more my style. Flying down a mountain and not really having time to think about it…ha ha.

Once again, the kids did amazing! No hesitation and #3 wanting to go first. We may have created a monster. Not really. But I think we totally found our “thing.” We can’t wait to find more zip lines as we continue our travels.

~Enjoy the journey!

Big Sky State Bound!

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So we weren’t completely sure which direction we were going to head after our time in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone were through. There is a LOT of Wyoming left to explore and then there was South Dakota..

But some nice people at our campground suggested Glacier National Park, so we figured why not!? There were parts affected by wildfires, but we were still able to see much of the park by the time we finished up our month there. We stayed at Mountain Meadows RV Park in Hungry Horse, MT. I have to say, I think this was our favorite place to stay yet. Getting to stay a whole month and immerse ourselves in Montana living was just loverly. We loved every minute of it.

Our lot was nice and spacious, and surrounded by beautiful trees. The leaves were starting to turn and it was a spectacular show the whole month long! The owners were kind and helpful and the shower house was well done and clean.

Getting to know the area, we frequented Columbia Falls, Whitefish and Kalispell. Kalispell was the larger of the towns/cities in the area and where we did our main shopping. Columbia Falls was a sweet little town and my daughter and I got coffee regularly from the handful of tiny coffee houses in every parking lot. That could be a blog post of its own. It was refreshing to not see a Starbucks on every corner. (sorry Starbucks, your coffee isn’t that great) These little coffee huts were seriously adorable and the coffee was excellent at every one.

  • Giant hanging baskets everywhere! This was in Kalispell
  • Downtown Whitefish

Leaving Montana was so sad! The last week there it snowed and we knew it was time to start heading south. We made some amazing memories and saw such beautiful country! There is nothing quite like the mountains and sky in Montana!

~Enjoy the journey!

Grand Prismatic Spring

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This is probably my favorite area of Yellowstone Nat’l Park. We spent a lot of time here and took tons of pictures.

The Prismatic pools are fascinating. Pools of colorful thermophile bacteria living in crazy hot water coming up from cracks in the earth. What’s not to love?!

Fun Fact: The Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the US and the 3rd largest in the world.

So it was super windy when we went. Much of the walkway has no rails and I again turned into a smother (thanks Goldbergs). “Just stay in the middle of the walkway!” “Don’t run!” J/k, I wasn’t that bad. Everyone survived, as did the rest of the hundreds of people on the walkway while we were there.

~Enjoy the journey!

Float Trip!

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We had another decently early morning as we waited at Jackson Lodge for our float trip to start. The lodge’s huge gathering room is stunning, complete with ginormous windows framing The Grand Tetons. The kids and I had some coffee while we waited.

We shared a van of about 10 people and were put into groups for the rafts. Sharing the float was a lovely family of 4 from Massachusetts and a couple of friends on vacation together.

  • When B found out that there was no white water on this trip
  • Our brave river guide

Our guide was hilarious and knowledgeable about the Snake River and wildlife around there. We spotted Eagles and Osprey. Bison and at the very end a moose! That was on my bucket list and he was just lazing by the river.

To my kids dismay, it was quite the peaceful trip. Not fast moving white water. I’m pretty sure they felt gypped because when they heard “we’re going on the river,” to them it meant “we’re going white water rafting.”

We all had fun though, met some sweet people and saw beautiful scenery and wildlife.

~Enjoy the journey!

Yellowstone!

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Still staying at Colter Bay, we drove north to Yellowstone’s South Entrance. For the area we were in, that was really the only campground with full hookups that could accommodate our 41 ft rig and had room. We toyed with the idea of driving the RV to Cody and finding a campground around there, but we weren’t comfortable driving the RV on some of those roads in Yellowstone and weren’t completely sure the road to there would be okay for something that big.

Really, we got to explore much of Yellowstone starting at the South Entrance and driving around. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that excited about seeing Old Faithful. But when we got there, the area is pretty impressive. The Old Faithful Inn was huge. And made out of logs. We didn’t have to wait long for the geyser to do it’s thing and had front row seats. There are actually 300-500 geysers in the area, this one just being more consistent in its geysering. Amazingly, Yellowstone is home to half of the world’s total geysers.

Fun fact: Geysers occur in just 5 countries: The US, Russia, Chile, New Zealand & Iceland.

As we drove around all of the reminders that you are on a massive caldera is a little sobering. The area is full of steaming (smelly) vents, boiling water, bubbling clay and acidic pools. So crazy.

Periodically there will be people stopped on the road or slowing way down and you learn pretty quick there is probably an animal of some sort within eyesight. We were able to see majestic elk, plenty of bison and another bear.

It was actually pretty funny, we saw TONS of people stopped and we were all looking craning our necks to see what was going on. They had people with huge cameras camped out on the side of the road even. So we finally see what they are looking at: this small speck of brown on a hill far away. We finally realized it was a Grizzly Bear. At this point, we had already been up close and personal with 2. 1 driving and she was by the road bending a small tree in half and the 2nd, meandering right next to us while we were at the end of our hike.

At this point, we are good for seeing bears. The park rangers assured us when explaining how to use the bear spray that bear sightings were rare in that area. Little did they know..

~Enjoy the journey!

Breakfast on Elk Island

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Hubby and I had planned an epic 1st day of school for the kids. Beginning with waking up early, getting on a boat, and having breakfast on Elk Island. That would have made for an awesome 1st day of school picture right? Homeschooling for the win yo…Do people still say that? If not, I’m bringing it back.

So we got the kids up early, bundled up as best we could. (We southerners were so not prepared for August in Wyoming) What?! It’s not 110 degrees at 8 am? It’s not by the way. Made it to the boat launch in record time for this family and we could hear some thunder off in the distance. The boat captain came out a few minutes later to say that they had to cancel due to the weather, so bummer on the epic back to school pic and breakfast I didn’t have to cook.

We did however go to the restaurant at Colter Bay for a yummy hot breakfast and made it back to the camper as the rain was starting to fall.

The rain made it easy to start school, because we couldn’t go outside anyway.

We rescheduled for the Elk Island trip and I’m so glad we did! It was about a 30 minute boat ride to the island and from there, we were greeted with piping hot cowboy coffee cooked on a campfire and a hearty breakfast including grilled trout, sausage, bacon, blueberry pancakes, eggs, yogurt and fruit.

There were tables set up on a flat section of the island with a unique view of Mt. Moran. We ate our hot breakfast and it was so good despite that it was pretty dern chilly. After we ate, everyone was invited to go on a short hike to the top of the hill for an incredible view. It was about a 10 minute hike but man, was it steep! I think we were all huffing and puffing by the time we reached the top and my thighs were on fire. View was totally worth it though!

~Enjoy the journey!

A Hiking We Will Go..

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We spent much of our time (that it didn’t rain) outdoors. As you totally should when you are in Wyoming the climate is loverly. I grew up in Louisiana. And while I love the nostalgia of my “home” state (and the food. Because seriously, Louisiana has the best food arguably in the country) this flat lander gal from a hot an humid state loves the complete opposite of said state.

Give me some mountains and cool weather and I am in my happy place. Ideally, my perfect place would stay shy of 77 degrees on a normal day and the winter down to about 10 degrees. Add a sweet small town where I can own a bakery or coffee shop and solve all the towns mysteries I’m there. My husband says I watch too much Hallmark channel…I don’t know what he means by that.

Whatever. But I LOVE cool weather. Hot and humid just makes me cranky. And life is too short for that. So go to the mountains I say! So we did. Actually, going to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons was my middle’s idea. He requested it and we thought, sure! Where else do we have to go?! So we went. No middle child syndrome there. If he ever mentions he isn’t being heard, we can say, “We did an entire summer trip based on your idea! Bam! Alleviated years of therapy.

But I digress. Or do I? So Grand Teton National Park is truly a must see. I know it doesn’t get as much attention as its neighbor 30 minutes north, *whispers* Yellowstone. shhhhh But it is a lot of beauty packed into a smaller area for sure. We didn’t even touch half of the hiking trails they have and we did a good amount. Obviously with kiddo’s and being we are pretty new to this whole outdoorsy hiking stuff, we kept it off the strenuous trails.

Its amazing how being a parent can make you way more aware of your (dangerous) surroundings. Especially when your #3 bebops down the trails and you’re constantly saying, “watch where you’re going!” “Actually LOOK where you’re going!” “Oh crap! A bear!” (Yeah that really happened) Luckily, I completely managed to do it without giving him a complex.

We got to see beautiful wildlife on our hikes, a momma moose and her baby, a HUGE bull moose, various birds, a hamster or gerbil. I didn’t even know they were in the wild, whaaat??? Oh and a bear. That walked right by and in front of us. That was awesome. Actually it wasn’t while it happened. But now it’s like…yeah, we totally survived a bear encounter.

  • The halfway point
  • Yes..she made a throne of rocks so only her feet would get wet

~Enjoy the journey!

Grand Tetons Here We Come!

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We finally made it! We are SO happy to be at our destination for the next 2 1/2 weeks and it is absolutely gorgeous!

The drive up western Wyoming went without issue. Loved driving through the small communities and towns in the valley’s up until Jackson Hole. I had never been to Jackson Hole before, and was not prepared for the cuteness factor of the town! From the mountain town feel storefronts and big trees in the square, to huge hanging baskets of colorful flowers lining the storefronts and streets. It was a feast for the eyes for sure. What I could not get over though, was the amount of people in that place! Tourists everywhere and to top it off, we came in the weekend of a banker convention of some sort. It was a little nerve-racking driving our giant box on wheels through the city streets to get out the other side.

After that fun, we were on the home stretch to our destination. Driving on Hwy. 191 alongside the Grand Teton mountain range was beautiful! We could not stop staring at the mountains. Pulling into Colter Bay on Jackson Lake was equally amazing. Staying so close to the mountains and the views from the lake were so pretty.

After we set up our campsite, we drove down to the lake for sunset and to see the views. The mountain view was a little hazy due to the smoke from the fires, but I think it added to the beauty of the sunset and the light that time of day.

What do you think?

~Enjoy the journey!