Out West

So our trip began Friday night, the same day I got out of school for the summer. We left Pontotoc around 10:00 p.m. It was after graduation, hot, and we were ready to get on the road. And Cullen, my Culley, said he would drive the first leg of the trip. I thought he had lost his mind...did he not remember our bed time was 8:30? Well, he made it to 6:00 the next morning thanks to the first red bull he ever drank along with a five hour energy and a bag of sunflower seeds. We spent all day Saturday driving through Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. We stopped to eat in Nebraska and managed to make it to Kadoka, SD by about 6 Mountain time. We stayed in a small hotel and ate at an ever smaller diner/dive. We awoke Sunday morning and headed to the Badlands, which I found breath taking. I was amazed at how big they were. From the Badlands which may have been my favorite stop we headed to Mount Rushmore...mm..I didn't love it. I am glad I have crossed that off my 'bucket list' but I wasn't really impressed with it like I thought I would be. Yeah it took Borglum from 1927 until 1940 to do it and it still isn't finished, but I think I would have loved it if I could have gotten closer to it. Also, there was a trail you could hike that I didn't know about until afterwards so that will be what I do next time like in 20 years when we bring kids back to see it...maybe or when we go with the Keenagers group at the church or something. :)

From Rushmore we headed west. We skipped Crazy Horse and Devil's Tower, which I am sad about but add that to my next trip out west and I can deal with it. We made it through Wyoming and to our Condos by 3 a.m. Monday morning. We all slept a little later than normal and woke up to take on Teton National Park and a portion of Yellowstone. That meant more time in a vehicle. As we made it into Teton National Park we stopped at Jenny Lake. It was beautiful. It wasn't a clear day so we couldn't get a great picture, but on a perfectly calm day you can see a perfect reflection of the mountain in the lake.

Next we traveled into Yellowstone. We were on a mission headed toward Old Faithful. I will say now that at no point in time does one want to break down in Yellowstone. It would take forever to get help and you can't get anywhere quickly. I spent a lot of time in the vehicle.

Finally, we made it to Old Faithful. We stopped along the way to look at the huge gorges that we were winding past in our car, and to see the snow, and to stretch our legs. Old Faithful, another one of the stops on my trip I was so excited to see. Guess what it looks the same in person as it does on t.v. minus the smell. But, I can check that off the bucket list now, too. I did enjoy seeing the Old Faithful Inn which was really neat completely covered in wood and just really undescribable.

We grilled that night in Yellowstone and then headed back to the house to crash. The next day we toured downtown Jackson which Cullen and I had done two years ago when we came to ski. I enjoyed it much more that it was warmer. That afternoon half of us decided to go back to Jenny Lake and hike the 2.5 miles to find Hidden Falls. About a quarter of a mile in I was talking and walking...until I found the great brown wall of fur which was a moose that wasn't 10 feet from me. Well, I took off running praying that I would be faster than the seniors we were chaperoning. After my heart slowed I realized that everyone else was taking pictures of the dern thing. They were scared a bit. So I calmed my nerves and snapped a picture. We waited for it to move and then kept hiking. We found the falls and then headed back. It was a quick hike and yes my outta shape self became very sore. We spent Wednesday in Yellowstone seeing Mammoth Springs, The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and getting to see the Upper and Lower Falls. It was absolutely breathtaking. We saw countless elk, buffalo, and moose. We also got to see a wolf, a black bear and a grizzly bear.