A Thanksgiving Road Trip

Jeff and I are not just travelers.....we are an adventure seeking kind of couple! And to prove that point, we decided to head off to see three different national parks for Thanksgiving: Arches, Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone National Parks.

Yep. We're crazy.



We started off very late Saturday evening so that we would arrive in Utah in Arches with half the day to spend exploring. It was a tad bit later than we expected, but we had a few hours to explore the park.

We began at the Visitor's Center of the park. Each place we visit, Jeff and I always pick up a patch to sew on our blanket of travels. Then we were off to see Balanced Rock and The Windows.

Seeing Arches National Park in winter was stunning! Snow was on the ground, sprinkling the area with breathtaking beauty! The added bonus was the lack of visitors. We could hike everywhere and get the "perfect" shot.


After our first day visit, we stayed at a cute little inn just seconds from the park, The Archway Inn. It was a large room, but SUPER close to Arches NP. It was great! 

For dinner we headed to  Buck's Grill House. One word....YUM. We used Yelp to find a place to eat, and Yelp was dead on! Loved the food. Jeff had the biggest pork chop I had even seen and I had the BBQ ribs. Both juicy and delicious! I highly recommended stopping here.


Day two was also spent at Arches hiking to see Delicate Arch. We cannot stress how amazingly awe-inspiring seeing this arch was and still is! It was a beautiful hike, one where you're not quite sure where it leads until you turn that last corner. WHAM! The arch is right in front of you. It was a glorious day. Sun out and warm for a November day. Simply breath taking! A definite must see! 


After Archers National Park, we headed to West Yellowstone to rest our heads. Now, let me stress that the entrance to West Yellowstone is NOT open until December. However, being the adventurous couple we are, when we realized our timeshare was open for Thanksgiving, we grabbed it! It wasn't until after we booked that we discovered this little gem of knowledge. 

But would that deter us!? Heck no!

We were determined to see Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. So, we would drive it. Yep, two hours there and back to each destination. 

Told you we were crazy. Or poor planners...

After resting our heads, our first stop was the Grand Tetons. We drove through Jackson Hole (which was a great place to eat, drink, and explore before the way back) towards the southern entrance. I knew that the Grand Tetons was big....but we truly didn't grasp the expansiveness of the Tetons! Wow! So many animals were out and about! Moose, elk, bald eagles! We saw the iconic barn in front of the peaks and the stunning Chapel of  the Transfiguration. You must go inside the church and catch the view from the window. It almost doesn't seem real! Stunning! 

After another night of rest, we decided to take a day to "play" around West Yellowstone. At the time we were there, West Yellowstone was quiet and quaint, but we could see how alive it could be when December rolled along! There were some shops and restaurants open and the Cross Country Ski festival was just about to wind down. Even quiet, there was much to see. There were beautifully painted buffalo statues about and a classic rail car that tourist used to come to West Yellowstone in. It was saved and restored and you can walk through and see the many special touches the rail car had. 

The next day, dark and early, we drove to the northern entrance of Yellowstone. Here is a reason why I am glad we had to make the two hour drive to the northern entrance....through the west entrance, we wouldn't have seen the iconic Roosevelt Arch! It looms right where you turn in with the vastness and elk all around. It is then that you knew you were going to see something great!

Again, because of the winter pack build-up closure, we couldn't see Old Faithful, but there are still many wonderful and once in a lifetime things to see in Yellowstone in November! We trekked to Mammouth Springs, Liberty Cap, waterfalls, including the hike to Tower Falls, hot springs, and even Lamar Valley! It is hard not to feel awe struck in Yellowstone! The snow on the ground, the crisp air, and the buffalo and elk prowling around....it truly humbles you. 


Such an amazing, breath taking, wonderous trip! Pictures and memories for a lifetime. We loved it so much, we are planning a second go round for December of 2014. 


We truly can't wait to go again!

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Adoption! The new and ultimate journey!

That's right!

Jeff and I are well into the adoption process and we couldn't be more excited!

We knew that adopting wouldn't be easy, but is anything worth having easy? Nope. Plus, it couldn't be any more difficult than finding out that we had little possibility of getting pregnant? No again.

So, here we are, about half way through the process. We are about to start our home study, where our agency comes in and checks to be sure that our home is ready for children. Easy, you may think.

NOT!

This is an intense part of the process as our social worker takes our self studies (our 16+ page papers on our selves that EACH of us wrote) and checks our home based on a four page document for the safety of our soon-to-be child. The items they look for include the basic, common sense items like having your medicines and guns locked away. But then there are the more obscure items like household cleaners and sharp tools or kitchen utensils need to be locked (yes with a key!) away. Our fridge must be stocked with the four food groups enough for three days and others!

But it has been exciting and full of hope and wonder. We couldn't be happier or more excited to expand our family.

And like couples who are expecting, we wanted to have maternity type photos to commemorate our adoption journey. We went to the amazing Kori and Jared to have our moments captured. They even blogged about the shoot! 

STUNNING! 

Here is a photobook I created to give to our son or daughter. Just beautiful and clearly captured our love and excitement. 

Until the next chapter! 

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Hiking in the Neighborhood

As I mentioned in my first post, Jeff and I try to escape to some kind of out door activity or adventure each weekend. This past weekend was no different.

Jeff got it into his head that we should go hike and fish in an area that his parents would bring him as a kid. Sounds great right!?

As always, my amazing husband prepares for our adventures. Whether it be with lists, containers of "stuff", GPS coordinates, directions, you name it, he gets it ready for us. (which I LOVE and appreciate!). So Saturday night, Jeff is gathering the information needed to get to the South Rim Trail and the Trail of the Gargoyles for some hiking and then fishing at Herring Creek Reservoir all of which is about an hour and a half from where we live.

Sunday morning arrives and we are out and ready and out the door to go and meet friends. Once we meet friends at Pinecrest, we are off heading up the hill.

Getting to the Trail of the Gargoyles should not have been a problem, but somehow our lovely GPS begins (unbeknownst to us) to lead us on a rugged 4x4 trail. This "road" wasn't too bad until we were heading over rocks and dips and inbetween trees. It was so bad that our friends had to drop off their car and ride with us. Good thing we had the big truck! Continuing on this "road" we discover over a hill that low and behold, there is a PAVED road below us. Strike one GPS.

Once on the paved road, we continued a mere mile or two to the Trail of the Gargoyles. What a lovely view!

There are two trails here, North and South. We chose South as it had the rock formations that look like gargoyles looking over the valley. Quite beautiful and stunning. This is an easy hike for anyone. 

After a short hike, we were off to our next destination. 

Jeff on the Trail of Gargoyles

An amazing breath taking view from Eagles Peak. So we pilled into the truck and off we went!


Or so we thought...

Heading on the road from the Trail of the Gargoyles, GPS tells us to take yet another gravel road. Unlike the previous rocky road, this road (turns out) to be made especially for 4x4 Jeeps, ATVs, and other true off road vehicles. But we didn't discover this until the near end of the trail and discover yet another PAVED road! Yes, we had quite the bumpy adventure! Strike two GPS!

Unfortunately, we skipped the last hike and opted for some water and fishing fun at the reservoir. 

So, lesson of the day....check the coordinates of your GPS and enjoy any adventure that comes your way!

To Travel or not to travel....that is NEVER the question!

Trail of the Gargoyles

On a recent adventure up the hill (that is the mountains), Jeff and I began talking about all of our travels. 

In such a short amount of time together, we have tried to be out exploring and discovering the world. 

We have many pictures, mementos, and stories....but we began thinking...could we do more?

Jeff knows I blog about my classroom and the trials and successes of it all and suggested that perhaps that we could blog about our traveling adventures.

So, we hope to bring you tales of our adventures together, present, future, as well as some blasts from the past.