A Fabulous Trip

Family Trip

Day 1-
The trip did not start off well. We were packing up to leave and Blue Fish started having problems. (He had been licking his foot like crazy the night before. I checked it but didn't see anything.) Blue Fish did not eat his breakfast. Blue Fish pretty much spends 99% of his time plotting how to get more food so of course I assumed he was dying. I rushed him to the vet. He had a foxtail under the skin in his foot that had gotten infected and had to have a little surgery. I called my Mom because her dog had been licking his feet while he stayed with us and turns out he had the same problem. Poor babies now have very ugly shaved feet and a whole bunch of antibiotics for the next little while. If you don't really love dogs- don't get one- they are expensive. Lucky for Blue Fish we really love him.

Next we drove to Jackson, WY. It was a really long drive but Red Fish did great. She was pretty hungry and tired when we got there so she lost it for a little bit. It was the roughest part of the trip. We tried going to the Wild West show and that was a huge mistake because she absolutely hated it. It terrified her and we had to leave. It was really noisy. Don't bother staying in Jackson if you are taking kids. It's overpriced and not that fun. Just move on to the fun parts of the state.

When we got back to our room Red Fish raced around the room like a maniac and jumped on the bed. She was NOT going to go to sleep. I definitely learned on this trip that toddlers are much harder to travel with than babies are. (We haven't gone anyplace for very long in the last six months or so.) I also learned that toddlers are more fun to travel with. I also learned that if you ar genetically predisposed to a bony little bottom and happen to be carrying an extra 30 pounds of weight on top you will have a very bruised hiney after a long drive. Not so fun.

Day 2-
Went so much better than day 1. We went to the Grand Tetons National Park and it was awesome! I know I've been there before with my family but I can't remember and Scott had never been to Wyoming at all. We took the tram to the top (totally worth the money, it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.) We hiked around and Red Fish was in heaven watching all the paragliders take off from the top. She absolutely loved riding around in Two Fish's backpack. We ate lunch in Teton village and it was beautiful. Perfect weather. We got rained on everyday we were on vacation but not enough to stop us from doing anything. We bought this great travel book with maps and guides to all of the National Parks in the US and we followed one of the guides all around the National Park. We hiked around Jenny Lake for quite awhile. Red Fish tried really hard to get at the lake. She's a water baby. At the end of the day we drove back to Jackson and walked around town for awhile.

Since Red Fish apparently was not going to nap or go to sleep on this trip (too much excitement) we watched the Jackson fireworks show from the park across the street from our inn. It was amazing- possibly the best firework show I've ever seen. Wyoming definitely knows how to do fireworks. I was a little afraid that Red Fish would think the noise was scary but she loved the show. When we went back to our hotel and Red Fish was totally asleep within ten minutes she was so tired. It was a really great, really long day.

Day 3- Yellowstone
We drove through the last part of the Tetons on our way to Yellowstone. Jackson Lake was especially beautiful. Southern Yellowstone is pretty, but the northern parts are my favorite. We had a picnic in West Thumb and spent an hour or so walking around the lower geyser basin. Red Fish learned to point at all the steamy springs and say "hot hot." We had to keep a pretty close eye on her to keep her from trying to dive into them. The backpack carrier became invaluable on this trip because Red Fish LOVED riding in it and we didn't have to keep a death grip on her.

There are a lot of rest stops in Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. Some are much better than others- I know because I tested all of them at least three times. Blast my squished bladder. The good thing about this was that I didn't have to change many diapers. Two Fish would would change Red Fish while he was waiting for me. Sadly my lung capacity is also not what it was before I was pregnant.

We went to see the Old Faithful Geyser. Very touristy but everyone has to do it right? Red Fish loved it when it went off. The look on her face was priceless. From there we went to the Midway Geyser Basin to see the Excelsior Geyser crator and the Grand Prismatic Spring. It was beautiful. We went through Firehole Canyon and eventually up to Mammoth Hot Springs.

Mammoth Hot Springs was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I'd never been there before and it is stunning. We ate a picnic before we hiked through them and a whole bunch of Elk basically moved in all around us. It was pretty amazing. Red Fish was so excited.

After the hotsprings we drove to West Yellowstone in Montana and stayed in the Holliday Inn. Red Fish was thrilled and jumped on the bed and sang because she really loved this hotel for some reason.

Day 4- More Yellowstone
We drove through East and West Yellowstone. My favorite part was the Yellowstone Canyon and Yellowstone River. The falls are absolutely amazing. We hiked down to the lower falls to see the drop off and it was breathetaking. Red Fish was cheering. It's a 308 foot drop off-higher than the Niagra Falls. I couldn't get a great picture of them because we were standing at the top of them.

On our way out of the park, we got stopped in a construction zone and two bison walked right up to the car. It was a little scary but very cool. A little while later a moose trotted right past the car as well. Two Fish got to see all of the wildlife he wanted to see (except for a bear but I'm fine with that.)

We had an uneventful drive home. Red Fish can wave to cows for several hours. We tested this out on the drive home. Who knew there was so much livestock between our house and Montana? It was a great distraction for her. We also sang a lot of songs. Red Fish has this bizarre need to be in control of the music the whole time we are in the car. She has her favorite bands and if a song comes on my ipod that she doesn't like, boy does she let you know! At least most of the music she likes is good music. There are a few songs I could do without, but hey when on vacation go with the flow. If she wants to listen to that stupid Rihana Don't Stop The Music song 500 times in a row it's preferable to a sad baby. If she wants to eat fish crackers and nilla waffers dipped ketchup for lunch go with it. (Totally disgusting.) We watched Disney movies on my laptop (she had never seen one before) and she got a huge kick out of 101 Dalmations.

Overall I have to say it was an awesome trip and all three of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was so fun to have a family trip and we squeezed it in just in time. No more travelling for me for awhile.

The best part of all of this besides the beautiful scenery was spending time with my little family. There really is nothing better. The three of us laughed and giggled a ton. Red Fish was a trooper with all the time in the car and handled everything really well. It made me excited for future road trips and I'm all about going to National Parks.